New generation of players and coach says a lot about the Rams and the league

Is winning still a big deal to the new generation of NFL player? The Los Angeles Rams decided to sit its best and all seemed OK with it, and possibly even OK with losing a game.

When Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay announced that many starters would not play in Week 17, you also heard a fairly nonchalant attitude accompanied by the news.

A new normal in the NFL?

Listening to NFL pregame shows, it’s a new frontier as players like Rams quarterback Jared Goff are good with a “week off” and MVP candidate Todd Gurley seemingly perfectly content to not be on the field, and sacrifice a league award in exchange for a day off.

And please, don’t harp on me about injury risk or the playoffs ahead. You can get hurt in a non-contact practice in preseason as readily as you can in an NFL regular season or postseason game.

This isn’t about throwing “shade” at any Rams player, but let’s not ignore the fact that it’s a new generation, and even a coach like McVay is fine serving one up for a division rival as he is today against San Francisco.

Is this a good trend for this team or the league as a whole?

Probably not.

When winning, especially against a division rival becomes relatively meaningless, know that eventually such a mindset catches up to you and a team. Meaning, if you’re willing to criticize the player who sits out for a new contract, do the same when they willingly do so for a regular season game.

Related Story: Tough for Gurley to win an MVP award on the bench

Bottom line, hypocrisy is defined the same in Week 1 or 2 as it is in Weeks 16 or 17.

Goff and Gurley are a new breed of player that the NFL fan will have to get used to. I mean, if winning isn’t a big deal to them, maybe it won’t be to the rank and file fan either.