Sean McVay says decision on Rams starting QB could wait until Saturday

L.A. figuring out if starter Jared Goff can play with injured thumb

If you’re looking for clarity on who will start at quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams in this team’s playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks this weekend, it could be a while.

“Yeah, Saturday at 1:39 (p.m.),” Rams head coach Sean McVay said, when asked if there’s a timetable for making a decision.

The Rams did not practice on Tuesday, and McVay indicated he likely won’t make an announcement on who will start between Jared Goff and John Wolford.

“We’re taking it a day at a time,” McVay said. “Jared is our starting quarterback. The reality is that he had a thumb surgery. We’re monitoring that every single day and that’s something that we’re taking a day at a time, but the anticipation is both those guys are getting themselves ready to go.”

Both Goff and Wolford will speak to reporters via video conference call on Thursday.

Goff had thumb surgery a week ago on his right, throwing hand -- which included screws placed in the broken bone to provide stability -- and missed his first career start due to injury in his five-year NFL career in his team’s 18-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals last week to reach the postseason.

John Wolford made his first NFL start in that game, subbing in for Goff. Wolford played solid, finishing 22-of-38 for 231 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception.

“The good thing is, you have a guy that’s won a lot of games, taken us to a Super Bowl and done a lot of great things over his career in Jared,” McVay said. “Then with John having had his first experience in an NFL game, I did like a lot of the things that he did the other day.

“That gives you some flexibility with how you handle this week, but I feel good about having two guys. How much Jared is able to do this week and how that thing feels will definitely go into how we handle the rest of the week and what it looks like for Saturday.”

A good bit of McVay’s decision will be based on how Goff looks at practice this week. McVay said Goff got a chance to throw and take some snaps on Tuesday, and his progress will be monitored daily. 

McVay indicated as of now there are no concerns with Goff putting his long-term health at an unreasonable risk by playing, and that it’s more about whether he can function as a quarterback and do all the things necessary in his system.

McVay also did not rule out both quarterbacks potentially playing on Saturday.

“You have to really just be able to see, from a functionality standpoint, how is he feeling?” McVay said about Goff. “What does it look like? You know, just being able to get out there tomorrow and the following day. But I think really just evaluating the totality of the situation, while not minimizing the fact that he did have thumb surgery.

“I know he’s been attacking everything the right way. He’s done his part and we’ll just take it a day at a time. That’s kind of what’s going to go into it. I don’t want to really get too far ahead of myself. I think you just want to be able to see and evaluate, when he’s getting out there in a practice setting, what does that look like. Get his feedback on how it feels, because playing the position and then being able to just kind of play catch and long toss is a little bit different, and I think we all know that.”