Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay stood at the podium at Ford Field on Sunday night, still in disbelief that his team's season had ended with a 24-23 playoff loss to the Detroit Lions in the wild-card round.

A little more than a year ago, McVay stood at a different podium, this one in Los Angeles, and said he was unsure if he would be back as coach of the Rams in 2023. But not long after the regular season ended -- with a 5-12 record, McVay's worst since he was hired in 2017 -- he decided he wasn't ready to walk away.

After a 3-6 start to the 2023 season and injuries to quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Kyren Williams, it looked like the Rams were headed down the same path. Instead, Los Angeles won seven of its last eight games of the season to clinch the No. 6 seed in the NFC.

"I'm so proud of this football team," McVay said via Sarah Barshop of ESPN. "And the finality of it is still kind of ... it doesn't totally resonate. But man did I learn a lot and really appreciate this group. They helped me find my way again and how much I love this and love the people that I'm around."

Although the loss to the Lions was still settling in, McVay said he thinks there's "a lot" the Rams can build on going forward.

"I think the further that you get away from the raw emotions of it, the more appreciation they'll have for what they did," McVay said. "And I think there's a lot of things that we can build on, but you got to do it. ... And this group is an example of it. The preseason stuff doesn't mean s---. You got to be able to go earn it. And every single year is a new year, but I do think we've got a lot of really key and critical guys that we're excited about building and continuing to develop and work with."

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