In the lead-up to last week’s season-opening game between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, a lot was made of the Rams’ decision to arrive in Australia just one day before the game. That didn’t seem to work out well for the Rams, and it sounds like head coach Sean McVay is wholly uninterested in trying again.
The Rams suffered a blowout 27-7 loss as the team looked slow and anemic on both sides of the ball. Whether the poor performance was due to jet lag or something else, McVay made it pretty clear that he never wants to play another game in Australia.
‘We’re not playing in Australia ever again’
As the Rams look to turn the page from the lopsided loss, McVay addressed the game one last time during a press conference on Thursday.
“It’s almost like you try to do the Men in Black thing where you say, ‘Hey, I don’t remember what happened. That was so long ago,’” McVay told reporters on Thursday via Pro Football Talk. “We’re not playing in Australia ever again, I hope. Not because it wasn’t a great atmosphere, that’ll get taken out of context.”
While the concept of playing a game in Australia might have been a fun idea, it seemed to be quite a burden on the teams making the trip, given the time zone difference. Clearly, one team handled it better than the others.
Rams face off against Giants
After the season-opening loss to the Niners, the Rams now have a chance to bounce back against the New York Giants. And it sounds like McVay has been pleased with the way his team has prepared in the lead-up to that game.
“Bottom line is, I like the way that I feel of our preparation, eyes moving forward, chest out, chin up, eyes forward, and let’s go be about it,” McVay said. “Let’s go prepare the right way. Let’s have great focus and concentration. Let’s have a great energy and an edge in which we prepare and compete with and then let’s go be ready to go against a really damn good football team. What they looked like in Week 1, we got a great challenge ahead. That’s what every week is. We’re excited to compete. All we can do is really have a great day of preparation today.”
Of course, the Rams will be without one of their biggest stars as Myles Garrett was placed on IR this week after undergoing surgery.
About Kevin Harrish