NFC Notes: Pete Carroll, Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford, Rams, Seahawks

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay had high praise for Matthew Stafford‘s leadership around the team and how he breeds confidence in other players. 

“I don’t even think the stats do justice to what an impact he’s making on our team and that’s saying a lot because I know the stats are really impressive,” McVay said, via Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic. “The level of play, the confidence that he breeds with everybody else, the command, the leadership, the things that he enables us to be able to do offensively that you wouldn’t be able to do with other quarterbacks, it’s all of those things.”

Rams OC Mike LaFleur pointed out that Stafford can make all the throws, including from odd angles and no-look passes. 

“He’s got every club in the bag,” LaFleur said. “I don’t know … how many clubs you get, but he’s stealing.”

Rams DT Kobie Turner said Stafford brings a “sense of calm and peace” on the field and has a different swagger about him. 

“The dude is a legend,” Turner said. “I just feel a complete sense of calm and peace whenever he’s on the field. … And then he got a little swag to him, when he puts his guns in the holsters. I remember (McVay) detailing, he was showing us some of the film from a previous game we had played and he said, ‘You should never get tired of seeing good ball.’ … He’s the guy.”

Rams

Rams QB Matthew Stafford feels attaining the No. 6 seed going into the playoffs is a testament to the entire team after many people wrote off Los Angeles early on in the season. 

“Exciting for this team just to get to where we are right now, to be honest with you,” Stafford said, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN. “So many people out there didn’t think we’d get to this point, and the ability to get to this point is a true testament to everybody in this locker room — coaches, everybody. It’s awesome.”

As for the Rams’ Wildcard game against the Lions, Stafford is excited to play against his former team. 

The opportunity happens to be in Detroit, which is fun for me on a personal level. … I know it’s going to be rocking there. Haven’t had a playoff game there about 30 years or whatever it is. So it’ll be a great atmosphere. It’ll be a tough task for us, but definitely excited.”

Stafford is grateful for the 12 years he spent in Detroit and will be glad to see many people around the organization. 

“It will be fun to see some of the people that I haven’t seen in a while, that I know are still around the building,” Stafford said. “And obviously it’ll be a different scenario and won’t be wearing their colors. But still, appreciate so many of the people there that gave me my start in this league and took care of me for 12 years, too.”

Seahawks

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll reiterated that he’s planning on returning to Seattle to coach the team in 2024.

“I plan to be coaching this team,” Carroll said, via ESPN’s Brady Henderson. “I told you that I love these guys and that’s what I would like to be doing and see how far I can go. I’m not worn out. I’m not tired. I’m not any of that stuff. I need to do a better job and I need to help my coaches more and we need to do a better job of coaching, and there’s a lot of area for improvement.”

Carroll hinted that there could be changes upcoming this offseason.

“This time of year comes around and this is the time when the real focused planning begins,” he said. “There’s planning that’s been going on. There’s discussions and conversations that go on about how you’re going to go on, how the future is going to be and what’s coming. [General manager John Schneider] and I are always talking about that stuff forever. But this is when the real business starts to take place, and there’s things that have to be done and decisions have to be made, choices and all kinds of stuff. That’s what this time of the year is, and we’ll see how we go.”

• Carroll said he expects to be back in Seattle next season: “I do. At this point, I do, yeah,” via Bob Condotta.  
• Carroll feels they had a “young” team in 2023 and they have a “good nucleus” going forward: “I think this team is going to really move. It’s got a good nucleus and a good element about their makeup. … there’s a lot of positives.” (Condotta)