The on-again, off-again, on-again relationship between the Rams and running back Cam Akers fell off for good after the first game of 2023. On Wednesday, the Rams traded Akers to the Vikings.
On Thursday, coach Sean McVay was asked about the move by reporters.
“Sometimes you have to be able to make tough decisions and I’m very grateful for the things that Cam did over the course of his career,” McVay said. “I’m always going to make decisions that I think are in the best interest of the football team and that’s not a personal indictment on him. He’s a very good player, did a lot of really good things. Sometimes you’re looking at the situation for him and for our team and we felt like Minnesota was excited. He knows [Vikings coach] Kevin [O’Connell], he knows [Vikings offensive coordinator] Wes [Phillips], [Vikings quarterbacks coach] Chris O’Hara, [Vikings assistant inside linebackers coach] Thad Bogardus is there, [Vikings V.P. of player health and performance] Tyler Williams, so there’ll be some comfortability and some familiarity there and so feel good and I wish him nothing but the best.”
McVay used that phrase three times — I wish him nothing but the best — once in response to each of the three Akers-related questions.
The seventh-year coach was asked whether he feels any sense of failure, given that he is seen as a “player’s coach.”
“No, I wouldn’t say that,” McVay said. “I think that’s kind of an easy narrative. Like I said, I think what we’re interested in is making decisions that we feel like are in the best interest of the team and there’s a lot of layers to it, but I am grateful for Cam and I wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
Did this happen because Kyren Williams won the starting tailback job?
“I wish Cam nothing but the best,” McVay said. “We’re moving forward. We’re looking towards Cincinnati and I am very pleased with that running back room. I thought Kyren did a nice job. I think Ronnie Rivers is capable of being able to supplement him a little bit more. Whether it be Royce Freeman or Zach Evans, [I] feel good about that group and [running backs coach] Ron Gould’s leadership in that group.”
An issue arose between the Rams and Cam in 2022. They mended fences after he wasn’t traded.
This year, it started again quickly. And now it’s over.
Still, we don’t specifically know what went down. At least we do know that McVay wishes Cam nothing but the best.