Los Angles Rams head coach Sean McVay was careful with his word section when discussing the NFL organization's decision to move on from Jared Goff.
After refusing to give Goff a long-term deal with big money in 2019, the team upgraded by trading the QB for Matthew Stafford two years later, and were rewarded with a Super Bowl for the franchise the following year, justifying the team's choice.
When asked by reporters about his opinions on the move, coach McVay was cautious with his reflections, especially after the media-friendly Rams head coach previously expressed his words being taken out of context.
After telling the media that he was "very happy" and "in a better mood" during the offseason that the Rams acquired Stafford, McVay clarified that he wasn't trying to slight Goff's abilities. Instead, he was excited about how all the pieces for the team during that offseason were seemingly falling in place on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
As a by-product of how his observations of Goff were previously mismanaged, coach McVay's newest statements on the quarterback were carefully crafted, leaving no room to take his words out of context.
“I think Jared’s played at a really high level,” McVay said via a transcript obtained by NBC Sports.
"I’ll tell you what, though, when you watch what he did last year, he played great. And I think because he’s so conscientious, repetition is the mother of learning.
"The more you play, the more you learn. You can really see he’s able to get through progressions quickly. They were asking a lot of him. He got a lot of different guys involved, took great care of the football, and so I think he’s only gotten better. He played really good football here for us, really grateful for those things.
"But I was impressed with just how he led and demonstrated a lot of the things we want to embody, that mental toughness. I think he was like 29-7 in terms of touchdowns, interceptions, one of the better ratios, and threw for a bunch of yards and they were one of the top offences. I was really happy to see how well he did. I think that’s probably a fair assessment because he’s only getting better.”
Since the move, Goff's game has drastically evolved as the quarterback for the Detroit Lions. Goff completed an efficient 65.1 per cent of his passes for 4,438 yards, coupled with a 29-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio marking for arguably the best season of his NFL career other than his 2018 Pro Bowl campaign.
Trading Goff for Stafford ultimately led to a mutually beneficial move for both parties. Now that the Lions are considered playoff contenders, the Lion's QB will again have to prove he has the tools to lead a team to a Super Bowl.
