{"id":1003883,"date":"2026-09-18T05:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T05:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1003883\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T05:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T05:51:16","slug":"rams-sean-mcvay-wants-no-part-of-playing-in-australia-ever-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1003883\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams’ Sean McVay wants no part of playing in Australia ‘ever again’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sean McVay would like to remove Australia from the Rams\u2019 travel itinerary.<\/p>\n

Possibly forever.<\/p>\n

The Rams coach was discussing putting the 27-7 loss to the 49ers in Melbourne behind his team <\/a>when he offered a suggestion that probably will not make it into the franchise\u2019s international marketing materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not playing in Australia ever again, I hope,\u201d McVay said. \u201cNot because it wasn\u2019t a great atmosphere, that\u2019ll get taken out of context.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay (front) and his assistant coaches look on during the second half of the Rams\u2019 Week 1 loss to the 49ers on Sept. 10, 2026 at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

He saw the headline coming and supplied it anyway.<\/p>\n

Half serious and fully aware of how the comment would travel, McVay sounded like a man who enjoyed the hospitality considerably more than the football.<\/p>\n

There is one small complication with his proposed travel policy: Australia is part of the Rams\u2019 international marketing territory. <\/p>\n

The people responsible for growing the franchise\u2019s presence there might have thoughts about abandoning the continent after one loss.<\/p>\n

McVay\u2019s vote has been recorded. It might not carry the room.<\/p>\n

What he really wanted was some distance from a game the Rams would prefer not to revisit.<\/p>\n

Preferably with assistance from Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat game is so far. \u2026 It\u2019s almost like you try to do the \u2018Men in Black\u2019 thing where you say, \u2018Hey, I don\u2019t remember what happened. That was so long ago,\u2019\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n

Matthew Stafford looks to pass during the Rams\u2019 Week 1 blowout loss to the 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the NFL does not issue memory-erasing devices alongside its game film.<\/p>\n

The Rams will have to settle for playing better.<\/p>\n

With the Giants coming to SoFi Stadium on Monday night<\/a>, McVay emphasized preparation, concentration and bringing an edge to the next challenge.<\/p>\n

His players, meanwhile, were not treating the trip as an explanation that needed to follow them home.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Matthew Stafford offered a straightforward assessment of any lingering effects.<\/p>\n

Davante Adams makes a catch over San Francisco cornerback Jack Jones during the first half of the Rams\u2019 Week 1 blowout loss to the 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

\u201cNot too bad, not too bad,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cObviously, the travel was what it was. But no, I feel ready to rock and roll.\u201d<\/p>\n

Receiver Davante Adams was even more direct about separating the flight from the football.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can sit here and try to make excuses and say it\u2019s because of the flight all we want. But at the end of the day, I didn\u2019t feel tired. I didn\u2019t feel crazy fatigued in the game and I felt good enough to go out there and put what we\u2019ve typically put on tape,\u201d Adams said. \u201cWe can make excuses all we want, but they played better than we did and that\u2019s what I attribute that to more than the flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the Rams are moving forward, with their quarterback feeling ready and their receiver declining to blame the airline.<\/p>\n

Their coach would simply prefer that the next flight come with fewer time zones.<\/p>\n

And no return ticket to Melbourne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sean McVay would like to remove Australia from the Rams\u2019 travel itinerary. Possibly forever. The Rams coach was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1003884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[7,1014,58,2444,2611,6,424,9],"class_list":["post-1003883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-rams","tag-football","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesrams","tag-nfl","tag-rams","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117290485951273914","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1003884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}