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Sean McVay takes partial blame Jared Goff's decline with Rams: 'I could have done better'

Jared Goff led the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl in 2019.

Now, two years later, the former No. 1 overall pick is out of Los Angeles. Coach Sean McVay is moving on — but he’s not doing so without any of the blame.

“When you look back at the four years that we did have together, there’s a lot of times you can smile on,” McVay said, via the NFL Network. “And I would say there’s a lot of things that when I self-reflect, I certainly wish I was better for him in some instances … I’m not going to run away from the things that I could have been better for him as a leader and as a coach."

Goff traded to Lions for Matthew Stafford

Goff and two future first round draft picks were traded to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford last month.

Though the team had signed him to a massive extension after their Super Bowl appearance, Goff declined ever since — both statistically and in his standing with the team. McVay and the Rams even decided to start backup John Wolford in their playoff game last season, even though Goff said he was good to go after minor thumb surgery.

By the time the trade went down, Goff could tell he wasn’t wanted in Los Angeles anymore.

“I'm just excited to be somewhere that I know wants me and appreciates me,” he said.

McVay: ‘I could have done better’

While it’s easy to blame the quarterback for offensive struggles, McVay said that doing so “exclusively” in this case is “an unfair narrative.”

A lot of it, he said, falls on him.

“I’m not going to make any excuses about it, but there’s a lot of things, even some of the decision making in games,” he said, via the Los Angeles Times. “Are you consistently putting him in the right positions to be successful?

“And so, as a coach, as a leader, your job is to try to make situations and people you’re around better, and there are certainly some moments that I know I could have done better really for our team and for Jared in particular.”

Quarterback Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams
Quarterback Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams with head coach Sean McVay on Saturday, August 22, 2020. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/Getty Images) (MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images via Getty Images)

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