Sean McVay & Matthew Stafford On Starting 2024 In Detroit, New Practice Facility & Player Growth

Sean McVay okay guys um as far as participation the only guys that'll be limited today will be Rob havenstein Darius Williams and Kobe Durant everybody else will be full so in good shape darus have a set back or anything or no he's doing good I mean it's just you know he got uh got his ham shring good earlier in Camp but uh he's making progress and then Rob do you expect him to be a go on Sunday we'll see how today's practice goes any changes because of this heat the way you're going to practice this week yeah you know we'll just have to change you know how many consecutive plays we go on a row we've had you know Reggie and his group have done a great job being able to adjust you know with just some of the you know you see we got a tent here we'll have a tent on the field and so um you know it'll it'll help us but we also want to be cognizant and making sure that we're as fresh as possible uh By the time Sunday night rolls around Waring I've foreen change will Trey white be ready to go Sunday oh yeah he'll be good from a coaching standpoint a lot of players last week were saying going back to where it ended is motivating obviously it's not a playoff game where does that stand for you and some of the coaches every year is a new year um what I do know is this is an excellent football team um they're great in all three phases they've got great Personnel they're incredibly well coached and so um and it's going to be a great atmosphere and environment so for that we're excited but um every single year is a new year there's been a lot of time that's passed there's a lot of new faces um there's a lot of hopeful development that's occurred since then and I would imagine they would say the same thing there's going to be they've made some great additions um to their personnel I know they'll have some good things you know you know schematically and so what it is is a great opportunity for us to start the season uh against what you know is going to be an incredibly quality opponent I saw um just the comment you made about this being kind of the playoff game last year being the wildest atmosphere since that NFC Championship came in New Orleans do you learn anything from what you guys kind of experienced there as far as the atmosphere last year that you can take into this you know Lindsay I think it's just about the importance of the communication especially when our offense is out on the field you know when our punt operation is out there hopefully not too often um but that it's just really using that experience for the guys that were here the importance of the non-verbal communication and so um but it was it was rocking it's a real credit to that City those fans and um and what that team has earned based on what they've done and then for you personally when you hear fans like yelling at you or maybe your dad heard fans yelling at you what does that make you feel inside I think it's great yeah I love it I mean it's it's awesome because they're passionate about their football team and uh and they said some things that you better have some thick skin uh to be able to handle but hopefully they don't mean him personally but it it was I mean I thought it was an incredible cool example of a football City rooting for their team it's one of the you know I'm still a fan of this game you know even though you're the enemy going in there uh you walk away and you say a ton of respect for you know the type of environment and atmosphere that those fans created and and that that team's earned talk about how much you enjoyed coaching last year's group and last year season um what residue does that have this year a lot you know cuz there's a lot of the same people you know it was all about the people that we were around I think A Renewed perspective I think certainly you know being a dad has has helped you know gain an appreciation and the appropriate perspective and really just the experiences you know I'm still young you know continuing to grow mature and try to be better in every part of my life um but I think when you look back on you know some of the shortcomings or different experiences that you've had um you realize that um these are all great learning opportunities and and what a fortunate blessing it is to be in this role to be around people that I love and you want to work hard to do right by them um and also balance you know being the best competitor that you can be while understanding there's some things you can control and some things you can't but uh these these players these coaches they've certainly um you know got me feeling really excited about trying to work as hard as I can to do my part to not let them down we asked you about the heat how do you think this heat is brutal would do you prefer this to the wind situation I mean you right now no you know here's what I would say though I mean it is part of what you can control right this is where we're at so we're going to do the best we can to minimize any of the distractions now you can't deny that this heat is very real you put the pads on so I think Reggie his group you know really our Sports Performance has done an excellent job of understanding all right what are the things that we can do um to counter it with the hydration um the importance of just moving some things around schedule wise and then still be able to go attack our preparation the right way uh my understanding is is that it'll cool down at some point um but we do want it to be as minimal of distraction as possible uh but you can't ignore that this heat is real and and the guys feel it but I I think we've got a good plan in place so that it won't be um any reason for us not to be ready to roll Sunday night between the noise and um the combinations they have up front particularly on the inside it sound Dan Campell said DJ reader might be able to go on Sunday um what sort of a challenge are those things in tandem with each other you know I mean yeah I think you know I'd be better you know there's so much unforeseen you know things to occur especially in the first game of the year you know you have to be able to trust your rules you have to know you know some of the things without Chasing Ghosts and so um that's why you have sound foundational rules in place and then um you know some of the Personnel that they've added is is very good and what are the strengths of some of their players that they added you mentioned reader you know mcneel I think is one of the best players in this league that people don't talk about enough um and they've got some really good players on the edges they're they're excellent on all three levels they've added really good Personnel whether that be through the draft or free agency and I thought they were really hitting their stride you know when we played them last year especially on the defensive side and um their offense is well documented so as far as what you're asking Jordan you know those are questions that uh can't really have the answer to until we play the game just because there's such a limited inventory of film out there 100% where you want to yeah he's feeling good Sarah you know he's um you know he had the knee that he tweaked you know a couple weeks ago but he's feeling good he's got that good look in his eye and I'm excited for him Sean it was only three games but what did you learn the most about the new pickoff probably about as much as you I here's what I would say I I think that like I kind of mentioned to you guys the schemes were incredibly regulated um we saw a lot more returns but you saw a much more regulated scheme you know in terms of man blocking systems um I think you're going to see a lot of different types of schemes I think this week will'll give you the better indicator of what's to come I don't believe the preseason gave us much of a feel for uh for what that play is going to be full in full transparency like usually we don't read too much into the initial depth charts that are released but we note Blake Corum listed as kick returner is he going to return kicks for you guys yeah he'll be back there it's a possibility first real game for you and your career here without Aaron Donald those new guys who are kind of filling that yeah to make such a good day negative linday no go ahead I'm sorry go ahead ask your question bring that with me right um just with your first without Aaron Donald on the roster really I mean what do you want to see from that group and and I want them to play the way that they're capable of the way that they've played throughout the offseason through training camp I want them to be able to play within themselves um go enjoy it I want them to have a great week of preparation so that they can go play with a quieted mind and cut it Loose I really love this group that we've been around and we've said it over and over and you know this too Lindsay you're not ever replacing an Aaron Donald and that's not what we're asking of our guys I want Kobe Turner to be Kobe Turner I want Bobby Brown to be Bobby Brown Braden fist to be Braden fist you know um you know and that's that's really what we're looking for and all the guys around him this is about 11 as one uh we were so fortunate and blessed to have such a special player in Aaron Donald um be around what I thought was cool is he set a great example for guys that on play I can use him as stories all the time um he was around last week you know I just saw him the other day and um it's pretty special that he's earned the right to be able to be so content complete and full to use his words um he's coaching his son's football team um loving that you know is his his year-old son Eric had a great birthday at their house the other day and so I'm really happy for Aaron and uh you know I do miss him but I'm excited about the opportunity for these guys to go do their thing and and start to uh etch their uh their names in this thing is there any difference last one guys there any difference in your approach going up against a quarterback that you know well in Jared G you know Jared's played really well I think um you know he's he's earned that contract you know he takes him to an NFC championship did a lot of great things for us here um I think you have a a appreciation for what a good quarterback what command you know you hear them talk about the ownership that he has and being able to take on more um what a great job he's done leading an outstanding offense he and Ben Johnson you can see have a really good rapport um I think if there's anything there's a a tremendous amount of respect but it's been a few years since we've been together but you've still seen a lot of the great things that he did here show up there okay thanks guys how are you doing how are Matthew Stafford you feeling out there feel good I'm excited um you know obviously a big challenge this week going to a team that uh you know was really successful last year and just pretty much added pieces so uh it's a really impressive roster obviously great coach um quarterback's playing at a high level defense is playing uh you know last year coming off a great year so um it'll be a big challenge for us hostile environment we know that we did it last year understand um you know just kind of what it takes to go in there and operate and try to play at a high level um but looking forward to the season starting and a new challenge like to go back toer season uh um you know to it's the start of something something something brand new something totally different um so um like I said I'm just excited to start this season off um it is no doubt a big challenge um you know to go play their team you know in that environment um will be a lot of you know a test early for us and it's something we're looking forward to you spent all all spring working with Steve at at Center and and so now what has it been like with Jonah um and I know you guys practiced a little snap he said you practiced a little in 2020 yeah snapping but U what what's it been like with him so far yeah he's been great you know his command the offense is really uh really impressive for a guy that you know hasn't been here for a bunch of years and and um understanding what we're trying to do um you know from an offensive standpoint so it's been great um you know I have some experience with him in the past and then obviously just been talking about it um you he didn't get to practice a whole lot during training camp so when he's been out there um you know the last couple uh you know 10 days whatever it is two weeks has been really good from from now until the end of your career whenever that is whenever you would go back to Detroit it would be something special for this game do you take anything mentally and emotionally that can benefit you by having gone back last year um I don't know I don't think so you know I think each game we play no matter where it is or when it is is its own singular event you know just because something happened a year ago doesn't mean it's going to happen again good bad and different um that's kind of how we live our lives and how we have to play um you know you go to a stadium and beat somebody doesn't mean the next time you show up you're going to go beat him um you know for me emotionally obviously it's it just is a little bit different in the fact that um you know it's it's not a playoff game and the fact that if you if you lose your season's not over you're not going home um doing everything you can to possibly win the game but uh just the circumstance of it being a regular season game is is a little bit different I guess going back to Jonah and Steve obviously 2021 switch from Austin Bryan Center do you draw any of that experience at all or do anything different when a change like that happens no I mean I I just continue to play continue to try to push and help these guys uh you know grow as much as they possibly can and and they do a great job of doing it themselves I mean I don't know how many guys we played at Center in 2022 uh I took snaps from all sorts of people so I'm not too worried about it uh you guys uh you know obviously have to have to cover that kind of stuff but from a from an internal standpoint we're excited about where we're at Mat after Matthew after that last game in Detroit how did you challenge yourself to grow um you know I think every SE every season you go back you look at it um you know find ways to try and get yourself better I think every year for me now is just how can I get myself back to as close to zero as I can physically um as quickly as I can that takes more time every single year and then also just emotionally kind of let myself refill the tank you know it's it's uh takes a lot out of me to uh uh play this position um you know and do it uh you know for a bunch of years now so um just try to make sure I step away get away and when I do come back when I did come back just to make sure that uh you know I was I was all in ready to go Sean was saying um just given that atmosphere in Detroit last year that communication is something that you guys could learn from or improve is there anything specific that you guys have maybe worked on given that that's an area that could improve well you know I uh I think we did a pretty good job last year getting in and out of a lot of plays um I can't think of one off the top of my head where you know we were you know delay a game or any of those kind of things we want to continue that you know we want to continue to make sure we don't have any delay games we don't have any pre- snap penalties all those kind of things that are you know going to get their crowd going going to set us back you know you know first and 15 those kind of things um so just continue to do that at a at a high level um uh but it is you know communication and environment like that is is such a key you know component both for us on offense they have to do it on defense and the noise we know that and then on the other side of the ball it should be nice and quiet but um uh you know I think for us it's just continue to pick up where we left off make sure that we're verbally and non-verbally on the same page as much as we can be missed a lot of a lot of training came the first four games last year you what do um you know I think he's done a fantastic job of getting his body back to where he wants it to be as far as you know uh feeling good going out there running and and doing all the things it takes to be Cooper cup and uh I'm just happy for him and the way that he's feeling the way that he can go kind of attack a week from a mental standpoint on hey how am I going to go execute how am I going to go play rather than how am I going to how am I going to get myself ready to play you know um how am I going to find a way to be out there for the guys so uh just happy for his health at the moment and hopefully it continues to be that way counts like The Vibes are pretty Immaculate last year is that something that carries over for season season uh no I don't you know I think um the big it's there's so much turnover um you know in the NFL and and uh no I I don't know that uh it does I know that we have a new set of guys and a new set of coaches and and you know and so many new faces around we got new building we're in um so we're all just uh doing everything we can to work to put ourselves in the best chance to win and um The Vibes as you say uh you know that that comes with winning football games so we're going to continue to try to do that alluded to the challenges that you go through physically mid-30s so um what do you think the advantages you have now at this stage of your career and are there any older facts that you've watched through the years and seen how they've navigated late 30s to 40s and how they've handled it yeah I mean uh I'm always watching the game studying the guys that were you know came before me um from a physical standpoint um you know everybody kind of has their own stuff going on right my injury history isn't the same as somebody else's so I'm doing whatever is best for me to try to be physically as ready to go as I possibly can be um try to pick up as much as I can mentally you know watching the game and how can I create advantages before the snap after the snap get our guys in in good positions to go be successful and then just try to make sure that uh when my opportunities to make plays come that that I can still do that and I feel like I can um feel like I did a decent clip last year and looking forward to the challenge of trying to do it again this year do you ever hear uh in pregame fans and specifically last year when you were in Detroit uh you mean like individuals or do I feel the crowd yeah I feel the crowd 100% um motivating factor love it uh you know I'm I'm one of the guys that walks into the you know opposing Stadium everybody has their headphones on I don't I want to hear all of it I want to smell it I want to feel like it's football and um that's part of football especially going to an away game so that uh that stuff you know just motivates me but I remember last year we were asking you about going to the different locker room and all that having done that will it be different this year uh possibly I'll let you know afterwards but uh no I mean I think yeah I mean I'm going to be obviously be one more game comfortable being an opponent in that uh you know in that uh field than than uh I was I guess last year Sean excuse me Matthew and Sean says he jokes uh often that um sometimes you need something to work through or like last year he said maybe we should you know I do not agree but but you don't need more motivation or ways to get into that zone at this point in your career but but what going into a new season what is it that you sort of hold or hold in your mind as you kind of need to get to that place no I just I love to compete you know um it's so much fun to have an opponent to dial in on to spend a week preparing for and and uh to try to get a plan together that everybody feels laser sharp on and I can try to help lead the way from the guys that are on the field um and try to get us in you know into the right plays and let us go cut it Loose I mean that's what it's about um you know you spend all week uh you know preparing night and day trying to figure out hey get yourself ready to go physically get the team ready to go mentally get the offense operated at a high level and and uh then you go cut it loose and let the chips fall where they may sometimes it works out for you sometimes it doesn't but I love that opportunity hook had a great last one guys hooka had a great rookie season now he worked with Cooper and the offseason a little bit what if anything do you think that he can improve on and heighten his game on this season I think it's just another year of experience right um he's going to find ways to you know hone his craft and play his game at the highest level that he possibly can um he's a he's a kid that's always looking for you know how can I get better how can I work an edge here how can I um you know make it easier on myself mentally here there whatever it is um but you know every season is different you go out there and play he's going to be a big part of our team we know that I'm just excited that he's back on the grass with us thank you