The Commanders Vs Rams meeting on Sunday is more than a routine cross-country trip for the Los Angeles Rams. It brings Sean McVay back to Washington, where he spent seven years before being hired by the Rams in 2017, while Kam Curl and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. also have links to the same football landscape.
That is what gives this game an added layer. The Rams are still chasing results, but this is also a personal return for McVay and a familiar stage for players who know what Washington football feels like from the inside.
McVay’s return carries real meaning
McVay has never hidden the appreciation he has for the time he spent in Washington. Looking back on that spell, he said he thought about how much patience Jay Gruden showed him when he was working as an offensive coordinator.
“I look back and think of what a pain in the butt I was as an OC, now being in this chair, and how patient [Gruden] was with me and how protected I really felt,” McVay said.
That is the voice of a coach who still remembers where part of his development came from. The Rams have built a clear identity under him, but Sunday adds a different tone because it is a return to the place where that path began.
Kam Curl knows the feeling too
Kam Curl is in a similar position. He spent his first four NFL seasons with the Commanders after they selected him in the seventh round in 2020, and he has made no secret of the emotional layer that comes with facing his old team.
“Had a little bitter breakup, you know, but it is what it is at this point,” Curl said.
He also made clear that the return means something to him personally. “I haven’t been back to [the region] since, so it’s going to feel good. Somewhat at home. Emotions will probably be high but keep them in check.... It’s going to be fun,” he said.
That is the sort of detail that can make an early-season or mid-season game feel bigger than the schedule line suggests. For a player moving between clubs, the emotions are real, but the challenge is keeping them from affecting the performance.
Why this matchup feels different
There is also a wider Rams thread running through the week. Quentin Lake spoke about text messages he sent to Justin Herbert after comments he made on a podcast earlier in the week, and he said on Friday afternoon that he had not heard back.
Lake said, “I don’t know if he read it,” before adding that he felt it was right to apologise even if the message was not returned.
“He probably says, ‘I don’t care about it anymore. I’m not trying to see this. It doesn’t matter. You said what you said.’ But at the same time I … felt like it was right for me to at least say,’ Hey, man, I didn’t mean it in any disrespectful way.’”
That is not the central story of Commanders Vs Rams, but it does fit the broader feel of the week: a Rams group dealing with personalities, history and accountability while trying to keep the focus on football.
On the field, this remains a straight NFL test. Off it, the game carries memory and familiarity for the Rams, with McVay, Curl and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. all part of the Washington connection. For McVay especially, Sunday is a return to old ground with a new standard attached to it.
The Rams have already shown they can win in Washington, with McVay guiding them to a road victory there in 2020. This time, though, the homecoming angle makes the matchup feel more layered, and that extra edge should be hard to ignore when the ball is kicked off on Sunday.
