Jared Goff will make his return to Los Angeles this weekend to play the Rams and the Lions’ quarterback says he’s leaving his own emotions out of it.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Goff admitted that there is still some “sourness” over the way his tenure with the Rams ended. But that won’t be the focus once it’s time for kickoff at SoFi Stadium.
“It’ll be fun to see all those people and it’ll be fun to be there and of course you’re motivated,” Goff said in his press conference. “Of course you have the chip on your shoulder — I’ve spoken about that. There was some disrespect felt toward the end. There was some sourness toward the end. And you still feel that, you still have that chip on your shoulder.
“But at the same time, when the game starts, if I let any of that come into how I’m going to play the game, it would be selfish. And I’m going to play the game just how I would any other game. And to be honest, I’m not worried about feeling some type of way once the game starts. I really don’t.”
The Rams traded up to select Goff with the first overall pick of the 2016 draft. He was a Pro Bowler in 2017 and 2018, helping lead the club to Super Bowl LIII. But his performance dipped in 2019 and 2020, and Los Angeles sent him to Detroit as part of the deal for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Goff has completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,505 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions so far in 2021. He’s also fumbled a league-high six times, losing four of them.
That’s one of many factors as to why Detroit is the league’s only winless team entering Week Seven. And Goff sees getting a victory as his most important objective, whether the Lions were competing against L.A. or anyone else.
“It’s another game,” Goff said. “Again, the easy answer — the reality is that we need a win, regardless of who we’re playing this week, regardless of my history or [Michael Brockers’] history or that anyone had with this team and with the Rams. It’s more of the reality is that we need to win and we can’t focus on that, really.”