The Rams expected their first taste of playing at SoFi Stadium to come in a preseason game against the Saints on August 14, but the NFL’s decision to call off the preseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant they had to wait a week to get on the field.
For quarterback Jared Goff, the wait was worth it. The Rams practiced at their new home on Saturday with crowd noise piped in and the giant video screen showing the action to members of the team and the small group of reporters in the press box.
While that wasn’t quite what the team had planned for a debut, Goff was impressed with how the stadium looks and how it feels to play there.
“It was really amazing,” Goff said, via Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “It’s truly unbelievable and truly one of the crown jewels in sports right now. . . . As a quarterback, anytime it’s indoors you love it. And it’s a little bit of both -- there’s that little breeze you can feel at times. But it is fairly indoors for the most part. The ball jumps here.”
It wasn’t a perfect session. Head coach Sean McVay said there were headset malfunctions “that made it very chaotic” for the coaching staff, but added he’s “never seen anything like” the stadium and they’ll be back next weekend for another chance to iron out the kinks during a scrimmage.