Rams relying on Jared Goff to rebound against Seahawks

Jared Goff needed every day of Los Angeles Rams' bye week to separate himself from one of most disappointing games of his career.

When he was asked to discuss that clunker in Miami again this week, he chuckled and said: “I was really trying to get rid of it.”

“I h time to reflect on it and got better from it,” Goff ded. "We all did, and we feel good moving forward.”

quarterback is back at work determined to improve on his four-turver performance in a 28-17 loss to Dolphins when Rams (5-3) host Seattle Seahawks (6-2) on Sunday.

Miami's defensive strategies in that defeat gave Rams' opponents plenty to copy over final eight weeks of season, but y also raised Goff's attention to importance of avoiding mistakes that doomed Los Angeles two weeks ago.

Goff is always fairly nchalant about his b games in immediate aftermath, invariably confident he will rebound. $134 million quarterback h same attitude about his struggles against Dolphins.

“I just keep being me," Goff said. "Just keep working, keep getting better. Obviously that game didn’t go way we wanted it to, but you’re going to have those, and you try to limit m. But (I'll) just bounce back and be myself.”

Goff is 11th in NFL with 2,145 yards passing, but his completion rate (65.5 percent) is 24th among players with at least 100 attempts after his 35-for-61 effort in Miami. Although he missed on a handful of big throws, his biggest mistakes against Dolphins were turvers: two interceptions and two fumbles, one returned for a game-changing touchdown.

After a strong start to season, Goff hasn't put up impressive numbers in Rams' past three games. Opposing defenses and ir pressure played a major role in Goff's slump, but Rams clearly need more out of ir franchise quarterback, even if a coaching staff led by Sean McVay would never dream of calling out any individual player for mistakes.

“Jared and I have talked a lot about him individually, as well as our group, making sure that we’re rey to go rest of way,” offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell said Thursday when asked about offense's recent discordance. ”It comes down to little details sometimes, and that's where leership and poise come in, t only our quarterback, but our whole group."

Goff's inconsistency often appears to be among biggest factors holding back Rams from recapturing form of ir Super Bowl season in 2018-19, particularly since Rams have built one of NFL's top defenses this year. Rams remain wholeheartedly committed to Goff, both because of his massive contract — which kicks in next year — and because he alrey has shown ability to be an elite NFL quarterback when he's ing.

“I think you kw what it looks like when he’s playing at a high level,” McVay said.

Goff will face nearly optimal conditions for a bounce-back game Sunday at SoFi Stium. NFC West-leing Seahawks have NFL's worst pass defense, and y might be without ir two starting cornerbacks because of injury.

Goff has h several big games against Seattle in his career, racking up an aver of 331.8 yards passing per game over past four meetings. Moreover, Goff has always bounced back before, and Rams expect him to do it again.

“Me and (Seahawks quarterback) Russell (Wilson) have h our fair share of shootouts," Goff said. "If that’s case, we’ll be rey. But I’ve got a lot of faith in our defense, and I kw that y do, too.”

TES: RB Darrell Henderson is expected to play Sunday. He returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday with a thigh injury from Rams' game at Miami. “ big man is feeling good,” McVay said. “He'll be rey to go (against Seattle) unless re's something that happens between (w and) game time.” ... McVay also expects WR Cooper Kupp to play Sunday. Kupp is nursing injuries to his wrist and an oblique muscle. ... LG David Edwards returned to practice Thursday, while LT Andrew Whitworth (back) and LB Leonard Floyd (knee) sat out. McVay is confident all three will play Sunday.

Im credits: AP