The good news? The Los Angeles Rams found a way to get captain Robert Woods into the end zone against the Arizona Cardinals.
The bad news? Woods threw the football after scoring — in an action that was described as “clear disgust” by L.A. Times NFL reporter Sam Farmer who watched it unfold.
Robert Woods made that touchdown catch then tossed the ball aside like a crumpled Dixie cup. Clear disgust.
Woods entered the 2021 season with back-to-back 90-catch seasons with the Rams. The arrival of Matthew Stafford in free agency pointed to Woods potentially seeing an increase in production.
Instead, Woods has caught 15 passes through the first four games of the year — giving him an average of 3.75 catches per game for the Rams. Woods has also seen a decline in his yardage through the first quartet of contests from a season ago: Going from 229 yards in the first four games of 2020 to 172 so far.
Is the frustration worrisome for Woods’ head coach Sean McVay?
“I’m not worried about Robert Woods’ demeanor and disposition,” McVay said Monday, which can be heard near the 8:45 mark of the Monday presser video below. “He’s a captain. He was frustrated because I think that was a flip of, ‘we scored’, but that was a frustrating day for all of us. Nobody wants to be in that situation with the standards, the expectations that we have. But if you look at that drive, you talk about a guy that’s competing the right way. He made a handful of plays on that drive. Looked at him, compete without the ball on the one screen that we threw to Van Jefferson.”
McVay’s Plan for Woods
Woods’ numbers are clearly not on par to his early production from a season ago, or in 2019 when he caught 26 passes for 307 yards before finishing with his first 90 reception season in L.A.
But McVay says this has nothing to do with a slip in production. It’s more about creating opportunities for Woods.
“This guy’s a stud in every sense of the word,” McVay said. “It is important to be able to get a handful of guys involved. That’s something that I always want to continue to be intentional about. I think that’s one of the benefits that we do have is we’ve got five eligibles. Want to be able to spread that wealth while also making sure that sometimes I’m calling plays where guys are the primary and the coverage doesn’t necessarily dictate where the read goes. So, when Robert’s involved, that’s a good thing for the Rams offense.”
Woods currently has a 28-game streak of catching a football. During that trend, Woods has four games of hauling in more than 10 catches. He’s been moved around as well. Per Pro Football Focus, Woods has lined on 68 plays at the slot WR spot and 64 out wide.
Now, it comes down to getting him more touches.
Woods vs. Seattle
Though it’s a short turnaround from the 37-20 debacle from Sunday, October 3, against the Cards, the Rams have a great opportunity to get Woods more involved against a team he’s had success against in the past in Seattle.
According to Pro Football Reference, Woods has caught 55 receptions for 729 yards and has scored three times in 10 games against the Seahawks — winning six of those contests including the NFC Wildcard game that eliminated the Rams’ division rival. Woods has also been targeted on 81 passes throughout his career against the ‘Hawks.
Woods and the Rams can put aside the Sunday disappointment in two more days. But again, it all falls on how much Woods gets involved in this offense on Thursday Night Football.
“Robert is a leader, he’s a captain and he’s been doing a great job up to this point. We just need to get him some more opportunities and that starts with me,” McVay said.
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Sean McVay Addresses ‘Frustrated’ Rams WR Robert Woods