Sean McVay wanted to clear the air.
The Rams head coach said Friday he reached out to Bill Belichick after his reaction to the Cole Strange pick went viral. When the Patriots selected the Chattanooga guard at No. 29 overall, McVay burst into laughter.
He said he wasn’t mocking Belichick, but rather expressing how much he and general manager Les Snead liked Strange as well.
“I wish that it wouldn’t have gotten misunderstood,” McVay told reporters, via MassLive. “It was more of a reflection of, I was actually giving Les a hard time because when we started watching him, I think we both were in agreement, there’s no way he’d be there (at 104) because we like the player so much. If there’s anybody that has more respect for Coach Belichick and what he’s done than I do, I’d like to see them because I have tremendous respect for this profession and the players that play at this level and I would never want it to get misunderstood for Cole Strange or the Patriots organization that anything but respect for the player. That was my reaction and any misunderstanding was my fault for the way I probably communicated that.”
On Thursday, McVay said the Rams thought Strange would’ve been available to them at No. 104. As it turns out, the Rams drafted a guard (Logan Bruss) at that spot anyway.