5 things we learned from Sean McVay’s Thursday media session

DeSean Jackson, Rams Secondary, and other topics from Sean McVay during Thursday’s press conference

Thursday marked the second day of training camp for the Los Angeles Rams. Sean McVay took to the podium, here are 5 things we learned from his media session.

Darrell Henderson is taking a full workload despite being the only veteran back currently on the roster.

Though the snaps may be precious to continue Henderson’s development within the offensive scheme, after losing Cam Akers many expected to McVay to restrict Henderson’s practice time to avoid injury.

(00:45) “He’s taking a full workload. He’s our most established back right now. Thomas [Brown] does a good job of rotating guys through based on, sometimes we will have unscripted periods, sometimes we will have scripted periods. He is taking a good workload with the first group. He’s done a nice job. We kind of talked about that pitch count… I think that’s going to be kind of an evolving conversation as we get closer to the regular season but been really pleased with him so far.”

DeSean Jackson has been impressive during camp so far.

Fans got a glimpse of what is to come when Jackson took a Matthew Stafford long-ball to the house during Wednesday’s training camp, which the two then repeated during Thursday’s training camp. McVay took the time to praise the ageless speedster during the press conference.

(02:43) “It’s unbelievable. He is a freak. For him to be able to sustain that level of speed; even when you just look at some of the data it shows even last year after he came back from the ankle injury one of the fastest speeds when he catches the long touchdown against the Cowboys late in the year… He is a special player. I’ve really enjoyed being back with him again and he definitely looks like the same DeSean I’ve seen.”

Sean McVay has a lot of confidence in his secondary, even after losing John Johnson and Troy Hill this year.

The Rams currently boast arguably one of the best players at his position in Jalen Ramsey, followed by Jordan Fuller, Terrell Burgess, Darious Williams, Taylor Rapp, and David Long. Rookie Robert Rochell may also see some playing time this year as well. There may not be a lot of depth in many of the positional groups for LA other than Wide Receiver, but the secondary appears to have a lot of young talent this year.

(3:30) “There’s a lot of confidence in the guys that we have in-house, whether it guys that we invested in the draft, some other younger players that have kind of just started to ascend. Feel really good about the depth of that secondary. I’ve been really pleased watching some of these guys get an opportunity that have been here who are going into their second or third year. Mentioned David Long, Terell Burgess, I’m really excited about watching Taylor Rapp come back. I think you look at our safety position in general with two really versatile players with Burgess and Rapp coming off of injuries, obviously Fuller has established himself as a really good player for us last year. Then you got Darious and Jalen, I’m really encouraged what I’ve seen from David Long.”

Despite the hype surrounding a Super Bowl run out of the Rams this year, Sean McVay is taking it one day at a time.

This offseason has seen many football analyzers trending the term “Super Bowl or bust” towards the Rams. McVay seems to be unfazed by the talk outside his camp, and is looking for weekly improvement out of his team in preparation for the season opener on September 12^th against the Chicago Bears.

(06:25) “It’s a motivation without a doubt, but I think our guys also know that we can’t do that right now; we cant beat the Bears right now. We can just get better and stack blocks one day at a time. I think our guys are confident but they know that they earn that confidence… Every single year is a new year. Think we feel good about the pieces we have in place, but a long way to go and we are just trying to get better this week.”

McVay appears to be ecstatic about the depth and talent he has on the defensive side of the ball.

The Rams are coming off a season where they ranked number one in total defense, but with the departure of Brandon Staley to the Los Angeles Chargers many have questioned what the Rams defense could do under first year coordinator Raheem Morris. If McVay’s praise towards the defense during the press conference is any indication of what is to come this season, the defense will be just fine. He had this to say about Jalen Ramsey:

“Great competitor. I just think the energy, the play energy, the consistent competes that he has- he just brings it. He’s got a way of bringing everybody up around him similar to how you’ve heard me talk about Aaron [Donald] and those two lead the way with a lot of other really good players we have on defense is exciting. Been really pleased with Jalen; 99 Madden rating is very earned so far.”