Chris Simms Reveals Real Reason for Sean McVay's Bad Mood on Draft Night

One of the more viral moments of the 2026 NFL draft came after the Los Angeles Rams picked Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick.

During L.A.'s media availability after the Simpson pick, McVay looked less than thrilled that the team took a quarterback who's unlikely to play for at least a season or two over USC wide receiver Makai Lemon or Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq, who both could help the team win a Super Bowl championship next season.

But in reality, McVay's scowl seemingly had nothing to do with Simpson himself, according to Pro Football Talk's Chris Simms, who revealed what McVay actually told him about why he was in a mood on draft night.

"What he did tell me was the reason he, in the press conference, was pissed off had neither to do with him acting or the pick, but had to do with some sort of volatile situation that happened before they went out there," Simms said.

"There was some little argument about something. He assured me it was nothing major, but he was a little peed off. That's what he told me. I don't think he'd have any problem with me sharing that and that was that."

It came out after the draft that McVay was actually on board with the Simpson pick. Simpson himself even disclosed that he had "secret meetings" with the Rams and McVay despite telling reporters after he was picked that he'd never spoken with McVay.

"We tried to keep this under wraps as long as we could," Simpson said. "It was something to where I knew they were interested, but they wanted to make it private and didn’t want people to know that they were interested.

"So, I had some secret meetings with coach McVay, and I just was trying to be on script and do what everybody told me and not to tell anybody."

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 6:39 PM.