CINCINNATI – Come Tuesday at 1 p.m. pacific time, the Rams must reduce their roster to 53 players.
Two players who have made strong cases: Quarterback Bryce Perkins and wide receiver Lance McCutcheon.
"Both of those guys have done a great job," McVay said after the team's 16-7 preseason finale loss to the Bengals. "You'd be hard-pressed to think that they haven't done what they could to earn that and, and love both those guys."
Perkins and McCutcheon both saw extensive work Saturday afternoon.
Perkins started at quarterback and remained there the entire game with John Wolford dealing with a thumb injury that McVay said impacted Wolford's ability to grip and deliver the football.
Perkins accounted for the Rams' lone points of the contest when he ran for a 3-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. He also had an impressive run where, after keeping the ball, he spun off a defender to pick up a few extra yards. He also connected with McCutcheon on a 32-yard pass that set up the score.
"I knew I just had to keep my eyes and stepped up, and I felt some pressure, stepped up," Perkins said. "And I knew if it's in the air, he was going to come down with it. So just trusting him, I mean, I feel like we have a great chemistry. He's a baller, you know, and I'm excited for his future. I'm glad we got a chance to go out there, and have some positive plays and continue to move drives and sustain drives, and I'm glad we ended up scoring on that drive."
Perkins' touchdown added to his eight carries for 33 yards on the night. He also completed 14 of 19 passes for 143 yards.
For McCutcheon, the catch punctuated continued the consistency shown as a target in the passing game throughout the preseason. He had five catches for 76 yards overall, but his focus wasn't so much on that as it was trying to prove he could be an asset for the Rams on special teams too.
"My biggest emphasis this game, especially being the last preseason game, was just really contribute on special teams," McCutcheon said. "I kind of felt like my first few games, they weren't up to the standard here. I always strive myself to be better, and I can tell you guys straight up the first few games, my special teams were not very good on my part. And so I really had to come out here and show all these coaches, everyone in this organization that I can play."
McCutcheon didn't want to "speak too much" on making his own case for the 53-man roster but felt like those who played in these preseason games showed they belonged.
Perkins also feels like he put out good tape in the preseason, but knows all he can do is wait.
"The work is done now," Perkins said. "Like I said, let the chips fall where they're gonna fall, and we'll see what happens."
