Seahawks have brought Brett Rypien home as a new 3rd QB—and to give intel on Rams
The last time the Rams played, Brett Rypien was their quarterback.
Now he’s on the Seahawks — who are playing the Rams Sunday in the suburbs of Los Angeles.
“It’s nuts,” Rypien, 27, said Thursday.
He was at his new locker, under his nameplate with the new number 15 inside Seattle’s Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton.
“But you come to not really be surprised by anything in the NFL,” the five-year veteran said.
The Seahawks signed the native of Spokane, former Boise State quarterback and nephew to former Super Bowl-champion and (very briefly, in the summer of 2002) Seahawks QB Mark Rypien to their practice squad last week.
The Rams waived him two days after he started their 20-3 loss at Green Bay, because quarterback Matthew Stafford is back from injury. Stafford will start Sunday when the Seahawks (6-3) play L.A. (3-6) at SoFi Stadium (1:25 p.m., channel 7).
Rypien is with Seattle’s to be its third passer behind Geno Smith and Drew Lock.
He’s also with the Seahawks to provide intelligence on the Rams.
No, it’s not a coincidence Seattle signed Rypien heading into its game against its division rivals he just started for. He knows coach Sean McVay’s 2023 Rams offense better than anybody in the Pacific Northwest right now.
“I had a good conversation with John (Schneider, Seahawks general manager) before I signed here,” Rypien said. “It just felt like a good opportunity here, especially with the way things happened in L.A. I was excited to come up here.
“Obviously, playing them this week is good timing for the Hawks, for sure,” he said, smiling.
As of Thursday, he still didn’t have all his stuff yet flown in from Los Angeles. He’s been sleeping at the houses of aunts, uncles and cousins in Snoqulamie, about 30 miles north and east of Seahawks headquarters, until he gets settled in his own place in the Seattle area.
“The nice thing about being from Spokane, I have a bunch of family in Spokane and I have a bunch of family over here, too,” he said.
“So I’ve kind of been couch-hopping a little bit.”
Learning under Sean McVay
Rypien has been in the NFL since Denver signed him as a rookie free agent in 2019. He was on and off the Broncos’ roster and practice squad that season, 2020 and ‘21. He was on Denver’s roster as a backup to Russell Wilson last season. He made one start in 2020 and two starts in 2022 for the Broncos.
The Rams signed him as a free agent this May. When Stafford injured his thumb last month playing against Dallas, Rypien became L.A.’s quarterback for the rest of that game (a 43-20 loss) and the Rams’ loss at Green Bay Nov. 5.
The Seahawks signed him last week, after L.A. waived him during its bye.
Rypien learned what NFL teams that have played the Rams the last few years have learned: Sean McVay is sharp.
Los Angeles hired McVay to be their coach in 2017, at age 31. The former Washington Redskins offensive coordinator became the youngest head coach in the NFL’s modern era. He had the Rams in the Super Bowl the following, 2018 season.
McVay is 9-5 against the Seahawks as the Rams’ coach. That includes a playoff win in Seattle, plus a 30-13 upset romp over Seattle at Lumen Field in this season’s opener.
He may be the Seahawks’ biggest challenge Sunday in Inglewood.
Rypien had an interesting view of what makes McVay “one of the best, if not the best, play caller in the NFL,” as Seahawks Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs said this week.
“He does such a good job of seeing the game from an all-22 perspective. What I mean by that is, he knows not only what he’s doing on offense but he understands the role of every defensive player — and for most systems throughout the league,” Rypien said of McVay.
“He sees the game from such an interesting perspective, and because of that he is able to put guys in the best position on offense to make the plays. He understands match-ups and how certain defenses are going to act to certain movements, and how they’re coached to do certain things.
“I think that gives him a huge advantage.”
Shane Waldron learned under McVay
Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron learned much of his offensive play calling from McVay. Waldron was the Rams’ tight ends coach (2017) and passing game coordinator (2018-20) before Pete Carroll brought him to the Seahawks before the 2021 season.
Waldron agrees with Rypien that knowing defenses so well is what makes McVay so good calling offensive plays.
“I think Sean has the unique ability to really — like right when we got there Wade Phillips as a D-coordinator, I am sure it’s the same with Raheem (Morris, L.A.’s current defensive coordinator) — where he was able to really understand and digest the full defensive structure of the Rams defense.
“For me it’s opened my eyes to understanding how important that is as an offensive coach, making sure that you’re really up to date, whether it’s your own defense that you’re going against, understanding their calls, understanding the things that they’re going to look to bring to the table, and then throughout the league.
“I think looking at it through the defensive lens is just as important as anything we can do.”
Carroll is a former defensive back, secondary coach and defensive coordinator. He often talks about how impressed he is with McVay’s preparation and in-game coaching.
He did again this week.
“A lot of guys are well-schooled,” Carroll said Friday, “but he’s really good at it. It’s just part of why I have respect for his game and what he’s done and all.
“He’s very well-versed and makes very good decisions. In that regard and also using his own people to their special talents. He’s a really good personnel coach. He gets the most out of his guys.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2023 at 4:58 PM.
