INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Thirty minutes before the biggest game of Matthew Stafford’s N.F.L. career, the Los Angeles Rams quarterback tossed passes during warm-ups with his coach, Sean McVay, standing close by.
Soon afterward, the two dapped each other up and embraced; McVay then tapped him on the helmet as the team jogged to the sideline ahead of the formal player introductions.
It has been nearly a year since the partnership was formed between McVay and Stafford, then the frustrated face of the moribund Detroit Lions, when both of them were eliminated from the postseason and on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.