LOS ANGELES -- New Rams cornerback Roger McCreary hasn't been in Los Angeles for very long, but even before he was traded from the Tennessee Titans earlier this week, he had seen a glimpse of what it would be like to play for the Rams.
In Week 2, McCreary saw this Rams team beat his Titans 33-19. And on Wednesday, after his first practice in Los Angeles, he said that how the Rams played during that game stood out to him.
"They were having fun beating us," McCreary said. "So, I see it in person now. Still having fun, guys joke [but know when it's] time to get serious. You can tell that they trust and have fun with each other."
That was a similar sentiment to what veteran wide receiver Davante Adams experienced when he signed in Los Angeles this offseason, saying he felt rejuvenated because of "the vibe and the aura of the building."
The atmosphere that McCreary experienced in Week 2 and during his first practice in Los Angeles feels in stark contrast to where the Rams were coming out of the bye and even in the weeks before the NFL trade deadline the past two seasons.
It is a decidedly different feel from last season, when the conversation in mid-October was whether the Rams would trade away veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp. That Rams team, which started the season 1-4, would go on to win nine of its next 11 games to clinch the NFC West.
This season, defensive captain Quentin Lake pointed out the team's health compared to last season, when Kupp, wide receiver Puka Nacua and offensive linemen Steve Avila, Jonah Jackson and Joe Noteboom were on injured reserve early in the season.
Now, as the Rams get ready for the second half of their season -- they're projected by ESPN Analytics to have a 86.7% chance of making the playoffs and a 48.2% chance of winning the NFC West -- Lake said he thinks what the team has learned from those late-season playoff pushes will help them this season.
"The same mindset and mentality that we had the last two years where we were three games behind [at] the bye, I think we can apply it to this year to know that we now know what it takes to get out of a hole, but we also know what it takes to play good football in the months of November, December," Lake said.
"And it's great that we actually learned those things for the past two years because it's like now it's not new to us: This is the standard of football that Rams need to play to win games in November, December."
The Rams' 5-2 record at the bye is their second best in the past 20 seasons, according to ESPN Research. With just one game before the Nov. 4 trade deadline, the Rams are guaranteed a winning record at the trade deadline for the first time since their Super Bowl LVI winning season in 2021, when they were 7-1 and traded for outside linebacker Von Miller just before the deadline.
And while this Rams team does have Super Bowl aspirations -- and two first-round picks to make a big acquisition -- they are unlikely to use either to make a splash move.
Still, two days after acquiring McCreary, Rams head coach Sean McVay was asked whether he expects the team to make any other moves before the trade deadline.
"I wouldn't say no," McVay said. "It's not something that we've really talked about. I think if certain opportunities arise that you feel like give you a chance to be able to significantly upgrade your football team, but I feel really good about our group and the growth that I still think can be had from us in spite of doing some good things. That's really in all three phases.
"It hasn't been something that we've really talked about, but I certainly would never rule that out."