LOS ANGELES — Sean McVay has heard the noise.
If the Rams win Thursday night – or Friday morning in Melbourne, Australia – McVay will be hailed as having the right game plan for international travel, a plan not too dissimilar to their in-and-out trip to London during the 2025 season when they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-7 at Wembley Stadium.
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If they lose, he’ll hear the opposite.
“I think (the reaction) will be circumstantial based on what happens,” McVay said on a conference call with local media Friday morning.
The San Francisco 49ers are already in Melbourne – set for nearly a week of training and activities ingratiating themselves to local fare Down Under. They’ve already attended an Australian Rules Football match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where in six days the Rams and 49ers will kick off their respective seasons.
The Rams, however, are not in Australia quite yet. They’re still in Woodland Hills, and will be practicing in the San Fernando Valley through Tuesday before flying across the sea.
“What I think is the most important thing is, is we make decisions that we feel like are with the players’ best interest. And that’ll guide every approach,” McVay said. “I understand the narratives … I get it. I understand. I think that’s just part of the nature, but what you have to do is be able to separate the actual result for what is actually sound in terms of your process. I’m comfortable with that. That’s the world that we live in.”
During a conference call on Wednesday, Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president of club business for international and league events, said the league had been aware of the Rams’ travel plans for “five to six” months and that it’s up to the teams on when they’d prefer to travel to Melbourne.
“That’s strictly a team decision,” O’Reilly said. “… of when they come into the (Australian) market.”
McVay, who had been mum on the Rams’ travel schedule throughout training camp and the preseason before saying earlier this week that the Rams were heading to Australia later than most would have anticipated, said Friday that he expected all players to travel for the game in Australia.
Aaron Donald, who returned to the NFL after a two-year retirement on Sunday, is not a certainty for Week 1 action.
“This week will be a big week for him in terms of how he feels, and then we’ll just kind of take it a day at a time and see where he’s at,” McVay said. “If he feels good enough to go, great. If not, I got a lot of confidence in the other guys that’ll be ready to step up if that’s the case, that have really gotten all the reps anyways.”
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When asked about wide receiver Puka Nacua (psoas) who returned to some individual drills over the past week of practices, McVay said that the star wideout is “making good progress.”
“(Nacua has) been hitting some high speed yards at a really good clip with Reggie (Scott, the Rams senior vice president of sports medicine and performance) and his group,” McVay said. “And when we get back out there, it’ll be fun to have him.”
Star edge rusher and blockbuster trade acquisition Myles Garrett (knee swelling) has hardly practiced since the training camp turned to the preseason, a decision made to keep him fresh for Week 1 in Australia, McVay has repeated and said again Friday.
Garrett has endeared himself to his teammates, McVay said, adding that he has seen the mentorship on full display between the two-time Defensive Player of the Year and his peers.
“Obviously, the times that he has practiced, he’s been incredibly impactful, and everything’s been, ‘Let’s get him as fresh as possible into the season,’” McVay said. “He’s played a lot of football. You’re not minimizing the importance of practice, but that was kind of the priority for us.”
‘2A and 2B’
While the Rams’ depth chart was revealed Thursday, McVay said not to read into Stetson Bennett IV’s status as the backup quarterback and Ty Simpson’s listing as third on the depth chart.
“I’ll tell you when I decide who’s going to be the actual two in the game and I’ve talked to the players about it, but that’s something that they’re both going to continue to train regardless of who ends up being up and and who’s the emergency third,” McVay said. “I look at it as, like both of those guys are going to play, but you saw we listed Stetson as the two, Ty as the three, but I look at it as a 2A, 2B and we’ll see how we approach the game.”
Extra points
The Rams cut their seventh-round pick, defensive lineman Tim Keenan III on Thursday. … In a corresponding move, the Rams signed former Seattle Seahawks linebacker Jamie Sheriff to the practice squad.
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