Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay acknowledged 2022 has been "a very humbling season" after the Super Bowl champions were eliminated from play-off contention.
Less than a year on from winning Super Bowl LVI, an injury-wrecked Rams side slipped to a 24-12 loss against the Green Bay Packers on Monday to officially put the postseason beyond their reach.
No Baker Mayfield heroics were able to save them this time around, and with a 4-10 record, they are tied with the 1999 Denver Broncos for the most losses coming off claiming the sport's biggest prize.
Asked whether he could have imagined his side's underperformance just months on from the greatest high of all, McVay acknowledged it had been a chastening campaign for his team and himself.
"I think it's hard to say that you could [have expected this]," he said. "You certainly can't, but this is the reality that we're in, and this is where we're at.
"My job is to focus on [finishing] up the season with the right competitive spirit, with the mindset and mentality that's reflective of who those guys are in the locker room and who those coaches are.
"There's been a lot of things I've thought about that I think you can make sense of, but it still doesn't make it any easier. It's a very humbling season, for sure."
McVay was adamant the Rams will not fold in the remaining weeks of the campaign, even with only pride to play for now, and credited his team for their performances amid a number of trying situations.
"This has been a real struggle in a lot of instances, a lot of adversity that we've gone through," he added. "But I think what we've seen from our guys is they're going to continue to battle.
"They're going to finish up these last three games the right way, with the right mindset and mentality, and we'll compete to the best of our ability.
"That's all I know how to do, and I trust that that's exactly what we'll do collectively as a group."
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