McVay admits Ferguson’s play on the scout team is what earned him opportunities on game day

The transition from college to the NFL isn’t always quick and easy for players. Sometimes, it takes longer to develop into a player who can contribute consistently on game days.

Los Angeles Rams rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson experienced that this season when he missed part of training camp with an injury and was a healthy scratch early in the year. He was barely getting opportunities on offense but in the last four games, he’s received more playing time and is taking advantage of his chances.

Ferguson has now caught four passes for 117 yards and a touchdown since Week 7, playing at least 30% of the snaps in each of the last four games. Sean McVay admitted on the “Coach McVay Show” Monday that Ferguson impressed him on the scout team, to the point where he felt dumb about not finding more ways to get the rookie tight end involved.

“I’ll be honest with you, a lot of the stuff that he showed where he made those guys better, you’re saying, ‘How dumb am I to not figure out ways to get this guy involved?’” McVay said. “And a lot of the things that were kind of unfolding on the scout team where he’s making plays and you can’t help but notice him. You’re saying, ‘Well, shoot, man. Why don’t we put some of those plays in?’ And he started to bring those things to life in the opportunities that you’ve seen.”

Ferguson has become a big-play weapon for the Rams, with all five of his catches going for at least 18 yards. The majority of his targets have been deep down the field, too, with Matthew Stafford showing plenty of trust in the first-year pass catcher.

McVay never lost confidence in Ferguson while he was a healthy scratch and struggling to carve out a role, admitting that he got off to a slow start due to his injury in August. But Ferguson has maximized his chances and should only get better as time goes on.

“What he’s done is just continue to work,” McVay said. “There’s always been confidence in him. You just never know throughout the course of a season, guys are going to get their opportunities and usually it’s going to be earned and sometimes it organically works itself out. He’s a guy that’s stayed humble, just worked in the background. There was never a loss of confidence. It was really just, ‘OK, how do we figure out what is the offensive identity? How do we maximize his skill set?’ I do think there was something to be said about the time he missed in camp that you get a little bit behind and then you’re getting your feet wet again, but I’ve been really pleased with him.

“I think the best is yet to come. He’s got an incredibly bright future and more importantly, I really love the character of the human being.”

Ferguson is technically the No. 4 tight end behind Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen and Tyler Higbee (in no order), but even in a somewhat limited role, he’s making plays that have stood out to fans, his teammates and coaches.