‘Give the city hope’: Rams open up about Los Angeles wildfires ahead of Eagles playoff game

Ahead of the Los Angeles Rams’ 27-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings, fans could be seen holding an “L.A. Together” banner on one side of State Farm Stadium. Fast-forward to this week and, “L.A. Together,” is the message the Los Angeles Rams seem to be carrying with them heading into their next challenge in the postseason.

“There’s a lot of devastation going on in Los Angeles,” safety Quentin Lake told the team’s website. “Our job as a football team is to give the city hope through how we perform each and every week going forward. Obviously, we put on a good show last Monday night so that was hopefully a good shining light in the city of Los Angeles.

“We’re trying to do the same thing this Sunday too. Just go out there, put our best foot forward and make sure we’re representing not only the logo but the L.A. community and doing our best to bring back a W.”

Amidst wildfires damaging thousands of structures in the L.A. area, the Rams will make their way to Lincoln Financial Field for their divisional-round matchup against the Eagles. Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp hopes the team can bring the L.A. community another glimmer of hope with a second playoff victory.

“Fans have sacrificed a lot in the midst of all this that’s going on and continue to support us,” Kupp told reporters. “We feel that. There certainly is a piece of us that, man, you want to play for the people that are trying to find some utility that comes from being able to cheer on their football team and watch your guys go to work. We want to be able to provide a good product for them, provide a good show and get them a W for sure.”

» READ MORE: Los Angeles wildfires hit close to home for Sixers with ties to area: ‘I’m just praying, praying for the city’

Rams coach Sean McVay praised the players for representing L.A. in a positive light during these trying times in the community.

“I was incredibly impressed with our guys’ ability to say, ‘Alright, what can we do to make sure that first things first, our family, friends and everybody is taken care of? How can we use this platform to be of service to the people that are doing the real work as they’re trying to get all of it under containment,’” McVay told reporters. “‘But then also can we be totally and completely present and can we continue to represent the right way?’ That was the thing I was as proud of as anything. I think our guys represented L.A. the right way.”

But the Rams aren’t the only team based in L.A. that is hoping to serve as a temporary relief for fans suffering from the damages of the wildfires. Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua attended the Lakers game on Wednesday in their 117-108 win over the Miami Heat at the Crypto.com Arena. Nacua noticed one thing about the team that stood out the most.

“Resilient would be the word that I use for the game that I watched last night,” Nacua told reporters. “I think that’s been used in our facility over these last couple weeks as we’ve been playing football. With what’s been going on and the events that we’ve been faced with, being resilient will pay off. So that’s something I definitely saw last night and it’s being preached here as well.”

Said Kupp: “In all this tragedy, in all this stuff that’s so terrible, there are so many people that want to help and I do think that’s the flip side of this thing. You’re going to get the opportunity to see Los Angeles people — who are often times in media showed in a bad light — but you’re going to see the generosity. You’re going to see the people who are selfless and wanting to help and step outside themselves for a little bit and step into other people’s shoes and say how can I get my hands dirty and help people out. I’m excited for that.”