[AvengerRam]

Here's some good news:

Vincent Bonsignore
@VinnyBonsignore
Sean McVay on Eric Weddle: "I anticipate him playing"

I suspect he didn't suffer a concussion but, rather, only was cut. It was pretty nasty, but something he can play through.

We'll need him.

[Elvis]

[Neil039]

This is a game I’d love to attend. Besides playoff games and trouncing the 49ers, seeing the Saints lose to the Rams in person would be priceless! Well IMO

[Elvis]

TRANSCRIPT: Saints Head Coach Sean Payton - Conference Call - September 11, 2019

(On if he has gotten over the non-call from last year's NFC Championship)
“It feels like it was a long time ago. It’s part of our game. These are two different teams now, a lot of roster moves from last year to this year. We’re playing each other early in the season, so it doesn’t feel like that many games ago relative to the distance between when we played. You’re looking at two different teams.”

(On if he is surprised with the rule changes and all that has come out of one particular moment)
“If you really watch in the preseason and in Week 1, New York clearly is going to be fairly conservative, we’re still with two challenges as coaches. It’s going to have to be something egregious to get overturned. That was the intent to begin with, so I don’t anticipate more challenges because they didn’t increase the amount of challenges coaches have. Year-to-year, our league kind of works that way when there’s something that they feel like need to be adjusted. You go back to 2009 in the NFC Championship game, we won the toss and received the ball and drove down the field and kicked a game winning field goal. It was that very next year that the other team is going to have the possession if it’s a field goal. That’s kind of the nature of our game.”

(On his experience with how the emotions of a situation like this game play out on the field and it being considered a revenge game)
“It’s the NFL, it’s not college. These are paid professional players on professional teams. It’s Week 2 of the regular season. Two playoff teams from a year ago, two good football teams playing. I think a lot of that maybe is blown out of proportion.”

(On what stands out to him about the Rams offense after seeing their tape from Week 1)
“They won a tough road game at Carolina. It’s always a tough place to go play, the weather was warm. They’re healthy, (WR Cooper) Kupp’s back in the lineup, there’s a couple of changes in their offensive line. Their skill (positions), for the most part returns and (Head Coach) Sean (McVay) and his staff do a great job with giving you a lot to defend, they come off similar looks that are different plays. You really have to have good eyes in a game like this.”

(On if he noticed any differences from RB Todd Gurley II while watching the tape)
“He looks good. He’s an extremely, extremely talented player. He’s one of the top backs in the league. You see that. Everyone wants to have some type of rotation, it’s hard to play every snap at that position. He’s one of those guys that can do it in the base, he can do it in third down, he can block the pressure, he’s effective as a receiver. All of those things make him tough to defend.”

(On what happened to Gurley in the NFC championship))
“I think that the difference between the earlier regular season game and the postseason game can be fairly dramatic. We had a tough time moving the ball, both defenses played well in the championship game. That’s the nature of playoff football.”

(On how he felt about his team’s Monday night game)
“There’s a lot to clean up. One of the challenges on a short week is you don’t want to skip past that tape, because there’s so many different things situationally that came up - some of them good some of them not so good. I think teams early in the season, especially in the first three or four weeks of the season, really have a chance to improve rapidly. I think that timing that up, but also getting on to this game, practicing today and slowly getting the players leg’s back underneath them is something that was important for us this week and will be important. I thought the effort was good Monday night and yet there’s some things, as to be expected, that you want to correct quickly.”

(On thoughts on playing Monday night and traveling across the country to play the Rams on a short week)
“No. I think when the schedule comes out you look at travel. It is what it is and you’re focused more on the things that you can control.”

(On what progression he’s seen from QB Jared Goff as a rookie and where he is now)
“It’s been dramatic. I credit Sean and his staff. I think that the scheme fits, he does a great job of getting the ball down the field, he’s a big accurate passer, can move in the pocket and you see the confidence he’s playing with compared to, obviously, his first year.”

(On how his offensive line did and keeping DT Aaron Donald’s stats up)
“It’s always week-to-week. We feel like with (DT) Aaron (Donald), he’s probably the best defensive player in our game. We’ve got that much respect for him. The players around him, when you look at that front, the addition of (Lcool smiley Clay Matthews, (DL Michael) Brockers is playing well. (LB Donte) Fowler came in last year in a trade, (OLcool smiley Cory Littleton is playing well and the secondary is extremely talented. I think each week you go in with a plan to suit that game and that game exclusively.”

[Elvis]

[Elvis]

Wednesday's Injury report:

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Position Name Injury Wednesday
DL Michael Brockers Shoulder DNP
LB Clay Matthews Back DNP
S Eric Weddle Concussion Limited

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Postion Name Injury Wednesday
WR Ted Ginn Illness DNP
DT Mario Edwards Hamstring Limited
DT Sheldon Rankins Achilles Limited
LB Craig Robertson Hamstring Limited
S Marcus Williams Groin Limited

[Elvis]

[Elvis]

[Elvis]

Transcript: Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay Conference Call - Wednesday, September 11, 2019

NewOrleansSaints.com

Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay
Conference Call With New Orleans Media
Wednesday, September 11, 2019

The last time you guys played (it was a) pretty high stakes, high emotion type of ending. Does that matter at all in your mind this week with the Saints coming back to L.A.?

“No. I think if anything, what it does is it continues to give you a great amount of respect for the caliber of football team that they are. Well coached, great players all over the place. I think really more than anything, just having played them twice last year, just makes you realize what a great football team it is coming in at our place and what a high level of game we're going to need to play to compete with them.”

The Saints and Rams have played three times now in the past two years – four if you include a preseason game. Does that familiarity, I mean, is it almost like a division game at this point, just with the amount of times you guys have played each other lately?

“Well, we've seen each other a lot, but I think this is a great football team. They've done an excellent job. They've had some consistency and continuity on both sides of the ball in terms of obviously with Sean (Payton) running the offense and then coach (Dennis) Allen running the defense, transition with coach (Darren) Rizzi on the special teams. But one of the things that you see that's consistent in all three phases, (they are) very sound, fundamentals, techniques, good schemes, great coaching and great players. You see why they’re the reigning No. 1 seed in the NFC and why they were one of the best teams in football and why they still are this year.”

The Saints are getting David Onyemata back from a suspension. You guys saw a lot of him last year. Do you have to account for that this week when you’re preparing for a team that Week 1 you didn’t see any of that guy in there?

“Absolutely. Yeah. He's a really productive player. I think when you just look at their front across the board, you see why they were one of the top rush defenses in the league. And really when you look at the latter half of the year starting when we played them and then going on until the end of the season, they were one of the best defenses in the NFL. I thought they played at a really high level. They’re physical. Coach Allen does a great job mixing it up and then when you got great players to match it, it's a great challenge and getting David back will definitely give them a boost on the interior for sure.”

We haven't really necessarily been following it too closely with Todd (Gurley) and the whole knee thing, but it looked like he played pretty well last week. How would you kind of assess that performance for him?

“He played well. It was good to get him in the flow. I thought he did a great job closing out the game right under a hundred yards. He was productive, but there’s always some things we can improve on. It was great to be able to have Todd out there looking like the Todd that we all know and love.”

When you're watching Alvin Kamara either from afar or up-close, what's kind of the one thing, if there is one thing, that really kind of separates him from other people? What makes him special in your eyes?

“The versatility and the elite balance. You talk about a guy that's got an unbelievable forward body lean. He's always breaking tackles going forward. I've heard somebody refer to him that he's like a kickstand guy. It's like he's got an extra leg. He's able to just stay so balanced and so grounded. He's got incredible hands. He's got a great feel for space. And when he's running the football, he's one of the best in the league for a reason and one of the most versatile and he's one of the best players in this league. And it shows up week in and week out.”

Have you ever had a chance to sit down and talk football with Drew Brees and just kind of pick a brain that's been around the game for 20 years now?

“You know what? I really haven’t and I've heard so many great things about him from guys like Aaron Kromer and obviously when I talked to coach Payton about him and you can just see from afar, he is somebody that I have an unbelievable amount of respect for the way he handles himself, the way he leads and obviously the way he plays his game. I am a coach but I'm also a fan of this game and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a huge fan of Drew Brees.”

[Elvis]