THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Rams head coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford each held press conferences with local media Wednesday, discussing Stafford's performance through the first six games, Stafford facing his former team this week, and more.

Here are some of the highlights and key takeaways from those conversations, which you can watch in their entirety below:

"He has been better than I thought, and I thought he was going to be really good." – McVay

• Suffice to say, Stafford has exceeded McVay's expectations in a short amount of time.
• Stafford has thrown for 1,838 yards – fourth-most in the NFL so far – and thrown 16 touchdowns against four interceptions.

"No question (defensive lineman Michael Brockers' absence is one still felt around the team). I mean, he was a great leader for such a long period of time." – McVay

• McVay still has an appreciation for Brockers and the impact he had on the Rams during his nine seasons with the team, four of which were played under McVay.
• Players like defensive linemen Sebastian Joseph-Day, Greg Gaines and A'Shawn Robinson "have done a really nice job filling the void," McVay said, but "you miss (Brockers') presence, you miss his personality, his production."

"Appreciated my time in Detroit, I appreciate all the players I played with all the coaches that coached me and everybody else on our team." – Stafford

• Stafford did not want to compare his time in Detroit to his time in Los Angeles so far, instead expressing gratitude for his time spent with his former team.
• "I'm just kind of locked in on what we're doing here and trying to do everything I can to make sure we succeed here," Stafford said.

"A lot of the guys that, when I was leaving, a lot of these guys were young players and are continuing to really develop and get better. I watched the tape and really that's probably the biggest thing I see is, man, this guy was here and I was playing at this level he's playing really well." – Stafford

• Stafford's biggest takeaway from watching film of the Lions defense is the ascending young talent the unit has.
• One example he pointed to was cornerback Amani Oruwariye, a player he said he could see the potential in whenever he practiced against him.