During the first day of the 2022 NFL draft, Sean McVay was in the headlines for a rather peculiar incident. The Rams head coach had a great reaction to Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots drafting Cole Strange in the first round. While some found it humorous, others took offense to McVay's reaction,
A few days after that clip went viral, Sean McVay made sure to clear any misunderstandings with Bill Belichick. The Rams head coach stated that he had nothing but respect for the Patriots head coach. McVay also stated that his laughter was directed more towards general manager Les Snead. Here's his full statement on the matter.
Because Twitter's character limit prevented me from posting the entire statement, here it is. pic.twitter.com/9QUDHlKUcr
— Bernd Buchmasser (@BerndBuchmasser) April 30, 2022
That makes complete sense considering what McVay said in that clip. The Rams coach just simply remarked that he thought Strange would drop to them at 104, which means that he also had an eye on the offensive lineman. McVay was hoping that he would be able to snag him, but alas, Bill also saw what McVay saw in him.
Still, that did not prevent New England Patriots fans from getting annoyed at McVay's reaction. The optics of a coach laughing at a team picking a particular guy in the first round does not look good out of context. No matter what McVay said, the Rams coach would've been misinterpreted either way.
Well, the Rams eventually did snag their own offensive lineman at 104, snagging Wisconsin's Logan Brass. We'll see how both the Rams and the Patriots' picks pan out this season, but it's safe to say both teams got exactly what they wanted from the draft.