Sean McVay and the Rams just got through two days of practice against Sean Payton’s Broncos, which was beneficial for both sides. McVay came away impressed with the team Payton is leading in Denver, and he expects them to be “a problem with the schemes that they can present in terms of coaching and player skill sets aligning.”
McVay has always shared a high level of respect for Payton dating back to his days with the Saints, and that isn’t changing now that he’s the Broncos’ head coach. It also gives McVay an opportunity to steal plays from Payton again, something he’s never been ashamed to admit.
McVay said Thursday that Payton knows he likes to take plays from him based on the film he watches and he’s looking forward to doing that again this year – as he will with every other team.
“Oh, he knows that,” McVay said. “He knows the respect and admiration and appreciation I have because I think the thing that I’ve continued to grow with my respect in regards to him and some of these guys that have done it for such a long period of time is the consistency and how hard it is to be able to recreate yourself and figure out new ways to evolve, to adapt, but then still have an identity philosophically with how you want to operate. How do you adjust to your team? I think that’s always been a staple of Sean’s and so yes, I am looking forward to being able to have another team that I can look to steal stuff from, but I’m not too proud to admit that we’ll do that from everybody so it’s a good thing.”
Coaches across the league take plays and concepts from each other all the time. It’s why so many people call it a “copycat league.”
McVay certainly has his own unique offense, which is what has made the Rams so successful during his tenure, but he’ll take a wrinkle here and there from another offense and toss it in the Rams’ playbook. Teams are certainly doing that with the Rams, too. It’s part of the reason there’s been such an uptick in jet motion since he became a head coach.
