NFL sends message to coaches after Sean McVay's revelation

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

NFL sends message to coaches after Sean McVay's pass-interference revelation

By Olamilekan Ajayi | Last updated Oct 2, 2026 4:11 PM ET

Josh Wallace had what looked like a game-sealing interception late in the Los Angeles Rams' Sept. 27 game at Denver. A defensive pass interference flag against the cornerback on Broncos receiver Pat Bryant wiped it out and extended the drive. Denver scored the touchdown with 47 seconds left and won 30-26 on "Sunday Night Football."

Three days later, Rams head coach Sean McVay said the league told him the flag should not have been thrown.

On Friday, the NFL sent coaches and team personnel a memo, according to Ian Rapoport. It said the league encourages referees to answer questions candidly, but all such conversations are "confidential" and not to be discussed publicly.

McVay had asked the league for more information on the play, which teams routinely do each week to teach technique and points of officiating emphasis. He framed the request in those terms.

The NFL has sent out a memo reminding coaches and personnel that while it encourages referees to respond to questions candidly, all conversations are “confidential” and not to be discussed publicly.

This comes in the wake of #Rams coach Sean McVay’s PI disclosure this week. pic.twitter.com/SVwif2mDzR
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 2, 2026

"Like I've told you, the only thing that matters to me is how to educate our players," McVay said on Wednesday. "And it's like I said to you guys afterwards, I wouldn't change the way that I'm coaching Josh Wallace on how to play the cycle of that snap. Whether it was or wasn't right, that wasn't the point. The call was made, and that was what the call was. What I am interested in is if there's any sort of feedback that says this is in alignment with what would correctly be officially as a DPI."

Why McVay's disclosure drew the league's attention

There is a recent precedent for a coach sharing the league's private feedback. Last year, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh disclosed that the league had acknowledged an error on an unnecessary roughness call involving a hit on Pittsburgh's long snapper. Harbaugh said he had the league's permission to share it. McVay made no such claim.

McVay also holds a seat on the competition committee, the group that shapes the rules officials enforce. He was asked this week whether pass interference should be reviewable; he pointed back to the last time the league tried it.

"I think it's a subjective call," McVay said. "We've tried some of those things after the situation happened in our favor in 2018 and that opened up a can of worms, so I don't have a great answer for you on that note."

The 2018 situation was the missed interference in the NFC Championship Game that sent McVay's Rams past Sean Payton's New Orleans Saints. Eight years later, a flag in a game against Payton's Broncos went the other way.

The memo leaves the league's verdict on the play where McVay put it in public. The result in Denver stands, and the Rams are 1-2 heading into Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Olamilekan Ajayi

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