Sean McVay Gets Candid About 49ers Stars Missing Rams Game: 'I'm Not Sad'

Valentina Martinez | 2 Hours Ago

Aug 24, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay walks the sidelines as he coaches against the Houston Texans in the fourth quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Rams are playing their NFC rivals at a favorable time. The San Francisco 49ers are short their two best offensive players, Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel.

With the current state of the injury-filled Rams, the absence of McCaffrey and Samuel will even the playing field a bit more.

"(Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey) are great players that are tremendous assets for them," Rams head coach Sean McVay said via the team transcript. "But they've got a lot of other guys that they are doing that with as well, you look at the way their backs have stepped in and done an amazing job of continuing to produce at a really high level in the first two games. With those two guys out, I'm hopeful that they'll be okay, but I'm not sad that they're not playing against us."

Although the 49ers are short two of their biggest playmakers, their offensive arsenal still includes Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, and Jordan Mason.

On the other side of the ball, the 49ers have one of the best defensive units in the league that features top-tier players such as linebacker Fred Warner.

Nevertheless, San Francisco is coming off an ugly loss against the Minnesota Vikings. If the 49ers play as poorly as they did in Week 2, the Rams have a legitimate chance to clinch a victory over the NFC rival.

After a blowout loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Rams are hoping to bounce back in Week 3. Los Angeles had a week of practice to clean things up on both sides of the ball.

Matthew Stafford has faced an uphill climb since the season opener against the Detroit Lions. He's lost a slew of starters on offense, which has forced the veteran quarterback to make unprecedented adjustments in little time.

Stafford will be short his two starting wideouts on Sunday. Puka Nacua was sidelined by a knee injury in Week 1 and Cooper Kupp was injured the following week.

Stafford has been tasked with building a rapport with a new-look offense in just a few days. It seems almost impossible to have a cohesive game plan with the myriad moving parts of the unit.

The Rams quarterback will have to build trust with his receivers as well as his rookie center Beaux Limmer and backup offensive lineman as well.

The odds continue to be stacked against Los Angeles this season.