Quarterback Jared Goff has clearly taken significant steps in his development from his rookie season to Week 9 of 2017. All that has been well documented on this and many other outlets around the league.
But after seven games, Goff and the rest of the Rams had their bye last week. And the quarterback used that time wisely to rest up after a long road trip and recuperate for the season's last nine matchups.
"I was a little banged up — seven games in a row will get you," Goff said Wednesday. "So I got a little bit of rest in and was able to recover and massage therapy and that stuff. Help me get my body right and just rested. Watched some film. Did a little bit of self-scouting all myself and I know some things I want to work on for sure."
What are those things?
"I want to continue to work on the details, and continue to stay detailed, and try to clean my footwork up as best I can every game. Be as accurate as I can," Goff said. "There's little different tweaks that I'm working on in practice with everything every day. There's a million things. I don't know if there's one in particular. Just continue to try to get better and lead our offense the best way that I can."
According to two of Los Angeles' offensive lineman, Goff has been successful in the latter endeavor.
"He's just starting to mature," left guard Rodger Saffold said. "He's been extremely accountable. He's been real critical of himself, and it's forcing him to play above even his own expectations."
"I think he's always learning. He's always taking advice from the older guys, like [left tackle Andrew Whitworth] and [center John Sullivan] and feeding off those guys and the knowledge that they have. I think he's really being a sponge and just allowing himself to grow," right guard Jamon Brown said. "And on top of that, he's allowing himself to grow into that leader that this offense needs. And I'm actually excited to see where he's headed. And I'm just excited to be a part of his growth."
So far in 2017, Goff has completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,719 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. He'll take those stats with him to the East Coast this weekend, as the Rams take on the 1-6 Giants.
Though New York's record is poor, the team is also coming off a bye. And Los Angeles isn't taking Giants' defense lightly.
"I think they're talented across the board on all three levels," Goff said mentioning defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, cornerback Eli Apple, and safety Landon Collins. "They're all great players all across the board and you have to be wary of them and be careful."
To that end — despite the fact that former Rams corner Janoris Jenkins has been suspended for violating team rules — ball security will once again be critical against a defense that's recorded three interceptions in its last three games.
"Nothing more important than turnovers — other than points in this league — that determines the outcome of the game, and we've got to do a great job offensively of taking care of it," head coach Sean McVay said. "[Goff] touches the football every single snap, but I think anytime that you go on the road, especially as a young quarterback dealing with the elements and some of the things that you have to do with your cadence, it's a great challenge for him — one that he's responded to so far this year when we've gone to places where you do have to change up some things because of that noise. And I'm looking forward to seeing him command that as well against the Giants."
"Obviously, we've done some good things in the first seven games to get to 5-2," Goff said of the offense in general. "I think one thing we look at is, what's our record when we won the turnover margin? And it's 5-0. The two games we've lost, we've lost turnovers.
"I think if we continue to take care of the ball and the defense keeps playing the way that they are, we'll be happy with what we're doing," Goff continued. "But we have some room to improve for sure."
