McVay: Rams 'built' for handling unique circumstances surrounding Wild Card game

TEMPE, Ariz. – As the Rams wrapped up their preparation for Monday night's Wild Card playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, they did so in a much different environment.

Practice on Saturday was held at the Cardinals' training facility.

Between having the family members of players and coaches travel to Arizona, Los Angeles continued to work to make the rest of this week feel as normal as possible in light of the circumstances that forced the game's relocation.

"Really incredible hospitality by [Cardinals President/Chairman/Owner Michael] Mr. Bidwill and the Cardinals organization," head coach Sean McVay said after Saturday's practice. "A lot of people deserve a ton of credit for making this as seamless and as smooth as it's been. We were able to get here. I think it's a real credit to our organization as well."

Saturday brought a sense of stability after a hectic past two days that went from some players and coaches being impacted by the Kenneth Fire that broke out in West Hills, Calif. and triggered evacuations Thursday, to practicing in Woodland Hills Friday and then flying out to Arizona later that evening. Bidwell made two planes available to help transport the Rams' travel party.

"It was very eerie," defensive end Kobie Turner said. "And the best way I can put it is, when you step into that building, it's supposed to be a place where you can drop everything at the door, where you don't have to worry about too much, and that's what all of us tried to do, and I think we did a really good job of that, honestly, still being able to get all of the work that we were able to early. But then to also be able to walk out on the practice field and just see huge clouds of smoke, and then turn, and now another one is starting up. And now it's like, 'okay, are our families affected?' And look, that fire is now in an area where some of our players are at. And even closer to where I was at, we had an evacuation warning, not an order, so just different things like that, they kind of eat away at your peace of mind, but at the end of the day, the organization handled it awesomely.

"... to be able to get out of here, to get away from all of those things, it feels like we're back to normal a little bit. But at the end of the day, we put in a great week of preparation, and we're looking forward to going out and going to winning this game."

The peace of mind of having family members safe and with them on this trip is a blessing not just for the players and coaches' peace of mind, but also the natural connectedness brought forth.

"There's something about being together, something cool about having guys that are here, and being able to be around the families, being around guys," wide receiver Cooper Kupp said. "This is not just you going about your business when you're here. It's like, 'hey, when we leave here, we're all together.' Our families are all there. Everyone's watching out for each other. And so there's something really powerful about that."

Still, there is nothing routine about practicing in your own facility for two consecutive days, then doing so at the facility of a team in your division for the third.

Acknowledging how abnormal the circumstances are, Kupp at the same time emphasized the importance of being present and understanding they have a task to accomplish.

"There's nothing normal about practicing at the Arizona Cardinals' facilities, everything that's going, all the implications that are going around," Kupp said. "But at the end of the day, it is nice to be able to be out here with the guys and have a task, have something to work towards."

The Rams are no stranger to adapting to situations out of their control this season. After all, they overcame a slew of bad injury luck and a 1-4 start to win nine of their next 11 games, win the NFC West and clinch a playoff berth.

Part of McVay's message to the team this week is that the Rams are "built for this" given what they're already overcome, and that's no different in these unique circumstances surrounding their playoff opener.

"I think our group is built for this," McVay said. "This is a unique situation, but I think all the things that we've been through this year, this group is built for this, and we're looking forward to going and competing on Monday."