Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay rarely exchange heated moments. The Los Angeles Rams quarterback has delivered Most Valuable Player chatter under McVay in 2025. But one tense argument surfaced during the dominating win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — which got both to clear the air.
McVay looked like he yelled at his star signal-caller following a late incompletion on third-and-eight. The Super Bowl winning head coach, however, denied that was the case during the Coach McVay Show.
“We love each other enough and I can get a little bit upset, but he knows the people you’re most comfortable with – but that was me being a basket case,” McVay told J.B. Long.
McVay added: “There was a different approach, but there were still expectations of how I want to communicate. That doesn’t do anything to move us forward when I get that way. I can do a better job with the clarity with communication, but I think we love each other enough to know that hey, I always will apologize. I'm not going to be perfect.”
What Matthew Stafford said about exchange with Rams HC Sean McVay
Stafford revealed his side of the story on the Let's Go Podcast with Jim Gray and Maxx Crosby Wednesday.
Was there indeed “miscommunication” as McVay described?
“A little miscommunication. Really, probably on me more than anything, to be honest with you. But we always joke with each other. We were texting after the game, like, ‘We’re basket cases when we’re up 30,'” Stafford explained.
“It’s happened in our past. I remember playing in 2021, we’re playing a game against the Giants at the Giants, and we got a big lead at halftime and the second half, I mean, we’re just at each other trying to keep scoring more points and, ‘Why isn’t it every time we touch the ball we’re scoring a touchdown?', and all those kind of things. There’s been tons of those fun instances. Now, in the moment, we’re heated, and then afterwards we walk up to each other and be like, ‘Alright, we good? I love you, man. Alright, let’s keep it moving.’ And I think that’s a positive thing to have. I don’t know that I’ve had that with any other head coach, but we are close in age, we’re great friends. I have a very, very healthy respect for him as our head coach, and I feel like he understands that I’m doing everything I can as the quarterback to try and score points and play at a high level. But it’s an emotional game, and you wanna score and you want to really put the nail in the coffin every single chance you get. And when that doesn’t happen, sometimes you can get a little fired up… We have so much built up, so many positive experiences built up over the years, that we understand.”
Turns out something similar happened before — during the Rams' Super Bowl season. Stafford and McVay, though, ultimately realize their competitive nature in those moments before falling back.
The relationship between QB and head coach is arguably one of the strongest throughout the league. Both men have delivered three playoff runs together since the '21 season including capturing two NFC West titles.
