Anyone who watched Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs could not have missed the latter’s head coach, Andy Reid, imploring the officiating crew to throw a flag on the Eagles’ vaunted Tush Push.
Before the play – a quarterback sneak that Philadelphia has turned into an art form as Jalen Hurts is helped across the line to gain by his teammates – both Eagles guards were seen moving forward early in multiple instances on Sunday, leading Reid to call for a false start penalty, to no avail.
With the Rams (2-0) preparing for their own rematch with the Eagles next weekend eight months after their season ended with a divisional playoff loss in Philadelphia, head coach Sean McVay said Monday that he plans on communicating with officials from the NFL about the play.
“Any time that you see certain things, you have conversations with the league office to just make sure you’re understanding how is it officiated, how can we coach it,” McVay said over Zoom. “I did see some of those things last night and that’ll obviously be a big talking point because they’re such a damn good team and it’s such a successful play for them. So those are conversations with the league office, but I’m sure they’ll have the same ones and operate within the confines of not getting a little bit of a rolling start before the ball is snapped.”
A member of the NFL’s competition committee, McVay has previously expressed his disapproval of pushing the ball carrier when the league considered banning the play this offseason.
The Eagles lined up twice for the Tush Push during their regular-season meeting with the Rams last year; the Rams stopped it on third down, then jumped offsides on fourth. Philadelphia was also called for a false start when attempting the Tush Push against the Rams during their playoff matchup.
INJURY REPORT
Rams cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon likely will not need surgery after breaking his collarbone in Sunday’s victory over the Tennessee Titans, McVay said. The expectation is that Witherspoon will require a 12-week recovery time, which means he could return at some point this season.
“You don’t eliminate the total possibility, if we’re fortunate enough to extend our season,” McVay said. “I would not cancel out him playing again for us this year.”
McVay added that the Rams do expect to add someone at the cornerback position, but he was happy with the play of Emmanuel Forbes and Cobie Durant against the Titans and with how veteran Darious Williams stepped in after not playing in Week 1.
“I thought it was a really good reflection of his maturity to be ready to go,” McVay said. “I think using all three of those will be to our benefit.”
Defensive end Braden Fiske tweaked his oblique during warmups Sunday, which led to him having a lower workload against the Titans. McVay said they’ll be monitoring Fiske’s recovery this week.
Receiver Jordan Whittington was experiencing groin soreness after this weekend’s game, and will be monitored this week, McVay said.
The coach said he believes that tight end Colby Parkinson (AC joint) and left guard Steve Avila (ankle sprain) are making progressing in their efforts to return to the field after being inactive in Week 2.
McVay said he was unsure whether or not Avila will be able to play against the Eagles.
“I know he was encouraged with how he felt afterwards and he’s making good progress today,” McVay said. “We’ll take that a day at a time.”