After no preseason, Jared Goff eager to unveil Rams’ offence
Jared Goff watched the Los Angeles Rams’ entire preseason from the sideline. He hasn’t thrown a pass in a game since last January, when he lost his first NFL playoff start.
When he steps under the Monday night lights in his native Bay Area, the third-year quarterback is eager to show what he’s learned and how he’s grown during eight long months without real football.
And for fans expecting a thrilling encore to last season’s utter transformation by Goff and the Rams’ offence, he plans to have a little something for them, too.
“There’s a bunch of stuff we’ve been working on this off-season that we’re ready to display on Monday night,” Goff said. “A lot of the stuff is from last season that we’re going to continue to do, and then a lot of new stuff that we’re doing. What we’re going to do, and how we’re going to do it, I don’t know.
But there’s a lot of stuff that we’re excited to Goff put on the field finally that we’ve been working on for so long this off-season.”
Goff is aware of the expectations on him as the Rams begin a season with Super Bowl expectations against the Oakland Raiders. With new coach Sean McVay guiding him last year, Goff shrugged off a disappointing rookie season and became one of the NFC’s most productive quarterbacks as the Rams doubled their point total from 2016 and made a seven-win improvement in the standings.
But Goff also knows he and the Rams haven’t actually proven much in the areas that matter, beyond winning a division title and asserting themselves as a contender. Goff’s 3,804 yards passing were 10th in the league - although he probably would have been higher if he hadn’t been rested for the season finale - and his completion percentage (62.1) was 17th.
Goff went into the off-season knowing he had ample work to do. His teammates and coaches say he has done it well, and they’re already seeing the results in practice.
“Just little stuff, like him telling me stuff when he doesn’t need to,” running back Todd Gurley said. “You just see his progression. Just going through his routes, going through the first receiver all the way down to his checkdown and to me. He’s been getting better each day, just taking those little steps. (He) doesn’t like when he’s out there messing up, and that’s what you love in a quarterback.”
Goff got no preseason snaps because McVay decided he didn’t want to play his firststring offensive line, which started 15 consecutive games together last season and played a major role in keeping Goff upright and effective. So even though Goff probably could have used the work, however brief, he sat out in August along with Gurley and all of the Rams’ top skill-position players.
That means Goff will go into Monday’s game at Oakland having never thrown a pass in a game to Brandin Cooks, the Rams’ high-priced new receiver.
The way Goff looks at it, the inactivity means no opponents will know exactly what to expect from Los Angeles’ inventive coach and talented group of playmakers.