NFL Media's Oklahoma Drill series presents exclusive, quick-hitting one-on-one interviews with players and coaches from around the league. No nonsense -- just football experiences directly from the source.
Robert Woods
Wide receiver, Los Angeles Rams
Born: April 10, 1992
Experience: Sixth NFL season
Interview by Brooke Cersosimo | October 16, 2018
Last year, everybody looked at us as a good team but young. And it was the first year with [Sean McVay]. This year, we're just so much more mature in this offense. On the defense, everybody's so focused and locked in and it just shows everybody's maturity. That's the difference in Year 1 to Year 2.
Our guys are focused. It's how we practice and go into the week. We have a whole team of guys who are focused and locked in on our game plan to the point where our practices are harder than our games. So when we're in the games, we're able to play smooth, look smooth and play confident.
We know we're going to get everybody's best shot every single week, but I feel like that's what we expect. That's not going to faze us when you're playing with that mindset.
**It's hard to say who the best AFC team] is.** Kansas City looks very explosive and very threatening. They might be the best team, but it's always hard when you have Bill Belichick and [Tom Brady to consider.
Playing in Buffalo going against [the Patriots], their game plan is different every week. [Bill Belichick] really game plans their opponent and has a different one every time.
A couple of weeks ago in pregame, Coach McVay comes up to me and Cooper [Kupp] with a new play. He goes, "What do you guys think of this?" We're like, "Yeah, we get it." Then he walked off. He's always thinking. He literally put a concept that we had in a different formation and made it look a whole different way. He's always thinking of new ways to get guys the ball, and he's very, very creative.
I would put [McVay] in the same category as Belichick [when it comes to game-planning]. I feel like he's always picking at New England or New Orleans. Even with [former New England Patriot] Brandin [Cooks], he's asking him about his experiences or coaches. He's always trying to learn from his past experiences and others', and it shows in his creativity and even his route concepts. He's literally creating some routes for us.
McVay has created a lot within this offense to allow Jared [Goff] to bring out his talents and shine. He always had it -- that's the reason he was a No. 1 pick -- but I think he's just getting the opportunity to be protected and stand tall in the pocket and have some receivers to catch it. But really he's protected with our O-line.
[I credit my career year to] attempts, having the opportunity to touch the ball a little bit more and having space to do so. Jared [Goff] putting the ball in front of me allows me to catch it and run.
You can see a lot of growth in all of our routes and concepts. All the timing's there from offseason work, all the way back to our throwing sessions in OTAs. From the work we get, we don't catch with anybody else and it shows on Sundays.
[The biggest personality in the locker room is] probably still Todd [Gurley]. Everybody loves Todd. He's a great teammate, hard worker, speaks to everybody. That's not just even on the team, just everybody in the facility. He's really our leader.