Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has dispelled any speculation of tension between his star quarterback and the team’s new rookie.
The Rams selected Ty Simpson out of Alabama with the 13th overall pick in the NFL Draft, despite the quarterback being widely expected to be a Day 2 selection.
However, McVay’s seemingly furious reaction to the pick and Simpson’s subsequent revelation that the team’s starting quarterback Matthew Stafford had not spoken to him following the draft raised eyebrows among fans.
Yet, the coach was quick to insist that Stafford welcomed the Rams’ decision to use their first-round pick on his heir apparent.
‘He couldn’t be more of a stud,’ McVay said of Stafford, per Pro Football Talk. ‘When you’re an elite competitor the way he is, he responded exactly the way I would want to. He’s going to put his arm around this guy.
‘He’s like, ‘I understand it.’ He’s earned the right to be year to year, and if he tells me he wants to play three more years, no one would be more excited about that than me.’
The Rams selected Ty Simpson out of Alabama with the 13th overall pick in the NFL Draft
Rams head coach Sean McVay insisted that Matthew Stafford (pictured) supported the pick
While McVay made it clear that the former Super Bowl winner will remain the starter in Los Angeles, he did admit that having Simpson on the roster will ease the workload on veteran Stafford in practice.
‘Going into Year 18, you manage his workload,’ McVay said.
Stafford, 38, is heading into the final year of his contract and stirred retirement speculation at the end of last season.
The Rams appear to be preparing for Stafford’s departure with Simpson now waiting in the wings when the veteran does eventually hang up his cleats.
Simpson raised eyebrows on Friday when he was asked if he had chance to speak to Stafford following the draft.
‘I have not,’ Simpson told reporters on Friday. ‘Kelly (Stafford) has actually texted me on Instagram and welcomed me and told [me] to hit her up if we need anything but I can’t wait to talk to Matthew. I’m super ecstatic because I just want to pick his brain about everything.’
Meanwhile, McVay was accused of being angry with the Rams’ selection of Simpson when his less-than-enthusiastic reaction in the team’s draft room was picked up.
But the coach insisted that he was upset about an unrelated matter, which clouded his reaction.
McVay raised eyebrows when his unenthusiastic reaction to Simpson’s pick went viral
McVay admitted to being in an unusually somber mood during Thursday’s press conference, when he would typically be expected to boast about the team’s incoming first-round pick: ‘I get my demeanor last night.’
But as McVay explained Friday, he ‘couldn’t be more in lockstep’ with Snead.
‘We’re excited about it,’ McVay said of the Simpson pick. ‘Always want to be mindful of how things come off, things like that. Very excited about last night, very excited about [Friday] and couldn’t be more excited about us continuing to lead together, but every decision that we make is collective and collaborative.
‘That was never my intended way to come off, but sometimes I can be a little grumpy.’
