This is not an April Fool’s post, nor is this a drill, Sean McVay was not in the most recent 2026 annual coaches’ photo. How? Why? There seems to be no answer, but we know that Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken missed the photo for a hair cut.
If Monken missing the photo constitutes as “news”, then why haven’t writers and scholars explored the reasons for McVay missing the most recent public right of passage for NFL head coaches?
Probably because the Los Angeles Rams aren’t perceived to be as
funny as the Browns. “The Browns is the Browns”.
Has McVay ever missed the all-important photo before? Yes, back in 2019 when he blamed his “PR guy” for the mix-up.
Said McVay at the time,
“I was dressed, ready for that photo yesterday. That is Artis Twyman, our PR guy’s fault,” McVay said jokingly. “Artis said the photo’s canceled, I was at the pool relaxing and they said the photo’s back on. … I was ready for it yesterday. It was not an intentional move to miss the photo. I didn’t want to be the guy thinking he’s too cool to miss the photo. Artis Twyman, great at everything else except the photo yesterday.”
That was 2019, so who remembers? This is 2026, and so far, no word on why McVay missed the photo? It appears that McVay and Monken were the only two head coaches absent for this most prestigious of photographs, and we know why Monken missed it, but not why McVay wasn’t there.
Troubling.
Is it possible McVay was busy trying to shop Davante Adams? Perhaps he was getting his oral arguments ready for why NFL teams shouldn’t be able to trade picks 5-years out?
I’d say “April’s Fools”, but we don’t know how much of a joke either of those above scenarios are.
Of course, coaches can miss the photo, it happens, but the Browns getting some heat for it and not the Rams, that seems like a double standard to me, and double standards ain’t right.
