After a week of mystery surrounding the starting quarterback of the Rams, it was John Wolford who ran onto the field for the first photo of Saturday’s game against the Seahawks, earning the start on Jared Goff.
Sean McVay spent the entire week giving vague updates on the quarterback situation, saying Goff was making progress, feeling fine, and doing everything the Rams actually asked of him. McVay also made it clear that he wouldn’t publicly call a starter before kickoff – and he kept his word.
But at the beginning of the week, McVay knew who to start against the Seahawks. He just didn’t want to tell the media and give his opponent an advantage, knowing who the Rams would start with.
‘I made it last week. I think it is a real asset to our players. I told the team early in the week, ”said McVay after the game. “I thought it was the right decision based only on the fact that Jared was coming back from an injury. He had had thumb surgery and there were some limitations when he could even take a picture. As soon as we started our prep this week, I announced it to the team and I think it’s pretty good that it stayed in the house. “
Were there any restrictions? Certainly. But it’s not like Goff’s passing chart looked any different from every other week – and it actually featured two deep shots.
With Goff only 12 days away from undergoing thumb surgery, McVay opted to go for the healthier quarterback, despite Wolford never having scored an NFL touchdown, playing his first career game against the Cardinals last week. It wasn’t a shocking decision, but the way the coach handles the whole situation is a bit confusing and raises some questions.
The first (and biggest) question coming out of the game pertains to McVay’s decision to have only two quarterbacks active.
If Goff was healthy enough to be Wolford’s backup and the only other active quarterback, why wasn’t he healthy enough to start? Goff played 58 snaps and while his thumb seemed to bother him at times, it wasn’t bad enough to keep him off the field.
McVay knew that Goff would be just one moment away to be thrown into the game if Wolford were to be injured, yet he put Blake Bortles inactive, leaving Goff the only other option behind Wolford.
“If Jared’s thumb couldn’t respond like this week, our number would have been number two,” McVay said. “But it was great to have Blake around. His presence, his experience and just being around him, he is one of those guys who is hard to find. That was just a coach’s decision, with only two quarterbacks. “
McVay admitted after the game that “there were a few restrictions, as you saw, that led to the decision to go with John,” but again, if he knew Goff was going to be limited by his thumb, why was Bortles? not active in an emergency?
And then there is the question of how to choose an appetizer so early in the week.
After Goff underwent surgery on December 28, McVay said, “He should actually be available for the playoffs.” Obviously he wasn’t sure what Goff’s timetable would be, but all reports were early that Goff would be ready for the playoffs – and even before the game against the Cardinals, it was reported that Goff would likely be back for game card weekend.
Still, at the beginning of the week, McVay apparently saw enough of Goff to determine that he wouldn’t be healthy enough to start Saturday? If Goff was making progress, why not at least give his quarterback a chance to prove he could start and play an entire game? There is an advantage to telling the team early in the week who would start, but it seems McVay simply thought Wolford gave the Rams a better chance of winning – no matter how sane Goff might be on Saturday.
After the win, Goff said definitively that his thumb didn’t hurt him, he didn’t apologize for his game and said finally to open his press conference, “My thumb is fine.”
‘It’s coming. It’s not 100% because it was operated on 10 days ago or 12 days ago or whatever, but it’s in a good place. I am very capable with what I am doing now, ”he said. Frankly, it doesn’t hurt. There is no pain. It has screws in it and it’s a little swollen, but the pain isn’t the problem. “
Based on all we know now, it seems pretty clear that McVay was encouraged enough by Wolford in week 17 to determine that he would be the Rams’ best option against the Seahawks in the wildcard round. He didn’t give Goff a chance to prove in practice that he should be the starter, as he was determined to start Wolford early in the week.
So now the question becomes, if Wolford is healthy enough to play next weekend, will he get the start in the division round again? Goff isn’t 100% healthy right now, but another week of healing should put him in a better place than Saturday.
And since he played 58 snaps, threw for 155 yards and a touchdown, and still got out of the game saying “there’s no pain,” it’s hard to imagine Goff wasn’t ready to play in the division round.
Now we’ll see which quarterback McVay really prefers, assuming Wolford is healthy enough to play next weekend. This is what he said after the race when asked who will start in the next round when Wolford is healthy.
“We work through all of these things,” said McVay. “Jared did a great job today. He’s our quarterback. Much of it will be based on how Jared’s thumb controls, how he feels, what are those limitations in the future. If Jared keeps making progress, you will feel good about that, but as you have seen, it is a shame that John was injured. I’m really happy, I’m happy with what Jared did today, but John was starting to get into a rhythm. I thought he saw the field very well. I’m really mad at myself for calling that stupid game that left him vulnerable to injury. “
Though Goff is the Rams’ quarterback, it’s hard to ignore the “but” McVay threw in. He wanted to see Wolford play the entire game. He thought Wolford found a groove. He clearly thought he was giving the Rams the best chance of winning, and if it were healthy it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Wolford nod again next week.