LOS ANGELES -- After the Rams' Week 6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals dropped Los Angeles to 2-4 on the season, safety Quentin Lake had a reminder for a few of his teammates.
We've been here before.
Three seasons ago, the Rams were 3-6 during their Week 10 bye. Los Angeles won seven of their last eight games to finish 10-7 and the No. 6 seed in the playoffs.
The next season, the Rams were 1-4 during their Week 6 bye. They lost only three games the rest of the way to finish 10-7, win the NFC West and make a run as the No. 4 seed.
"We found a way," Lake said. "So it's still early in the season. We got a lot of ball left to play, and I think guys are still motivated, everybody's still connected."
The Rams have a favorable stretch coming up before their Week 11 bye, with their next four games coming against teams with a combined six wins: The 3-3 Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7 (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox), followed by the 0-6 Los Angeles Chargers, 1-4-1 Washington Commanders and 2-4 Cardinals.
The Rams' past three games (one win, two losses) have come down to the final play. Though the games were close, veteran tight end Tyler Higbee said, they've also been full of moments when the Rams are "hurting ourselves, sometimes in critical moments, especially offensively."
Lake said the focus now has to turn to "having the competitive stamina to make sure that we're being disciplined enough to get those wins."
"Our past three games have all been decided on the last play, which has been wild," Lake said. "... And at the end of the day, it's how can we put ourselves in better positions to make sure that we don't have to even be in those positions? We don't have to make it where it comes down to the last play or a fourth-quarter drive or anything like that."
After the loss to the Cardinals, Rams coach Sean McVay said he's "not really sure" why the self-inflicted wounds, like penalties, continue to be a problem.
"I've continued to talk about it," McVay said. "We try to be able to harp on it. We've got to be able to figure it out and I don't have those answers right now. ... We've had some really critical errors at really unfortunate times. That's what our narrative has been for this year. We can't keep saying, 'Oh, that we haven't done that before.' Well, this year we are doing it. We have to be able to fix it."
On Monday, McVay was asked whether he thought the Rams looked like an undisciplined team at times.
"I can't deny that because we had some critical moments in critical situations," McVay said.
If the Rams are going to "be able to not beat ourselves," as McVay said, they're going to have to do it while missing some key starters because of injury. In the Rams' loss to the Cardinals, Los Angeles lost nose tackle Poona Ford for the season after he ruptured his triceps, defensive end Kobie Turner for "a handful of weeks" because of a groin strain, wide receiver Davante Adams for six to 10 weeks because of a hamstring injury and kicker Blake Grupe for the season because of a torn ACL.
The injuries have been a blow to a group still without defensive end Myles Garrett, who has sat out the Rams' past five games after needing mid-September knee surgery. Garrett is eligible to come back from injured reserve after sitting out the minimum four games, but McVay said Monday the Rams would not open his practice window this week.
Lake said he doesn't think there's "a sense of panic" in the building after the slow start, but that "there has to be a sense of urgency in terms of making sure that we're putting ourselves in position to do the right things."
The Rams entered the season as 5-1 favorites at DraftKings to win the Super Bowl. After McVay announced the injuries, their odds fell to 12-1.
Entering Week 7, ESPN Analytics gives the Rams a 36% chance to make the playoffs, and less than a 1% chance to win an NFC West led by the undefeated San Francisco 49ers. McVay said he didn't think the Rams played the way they were "capable of" in Week 6, but despite the injuries, the team is "going to continue to fight."
"We're going to continue to swing," McVay said. "These moments force you to learn a lot about yourself and about the people around you. ... We're looking to see us play better quality football, continue to establish identities that we feel like are in alignment with suiting our players the best that we can.
"It's unfortunate that a couple of those guys are out, but we're going to continue to work. We have to be able to fight and that's exactly what we're going to do."
