The Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings are set to face off on Monday night for the final matchup of Wild Card weekend.

The head coaches for the contest—Sean McVay and Kevin O'Connell—have a history together, and have even been described as "best friends." O'Connell notably served as the Rams' offensive coordinator under McVay from 2020 to '21, winning a Super Bowl with L.A. before being hired as the Vikings' head coach in '22.

Prior to Monday's contest, O'Connell was asked about facing off against his former boss—and relayed a blunt response:

"There's really no room for emotion now," the 39-year-old said.

"I will say that it's always great to see those folks," O'Connell continued while on a call with UK NFL reporters. "It brings back incredible, incredible memories when I see a lot of those players, whether it's Matthew [Stafford] or Cooper [Kupp], Rob Havenstein, you know. The list goes on and on, and then obviously Sean and a lot of the staff that I was able to work with over those two years.

"Make no mistake about it—Sean McVay is one of my best friends. But he would tell you, when that ball gets kicked off, we're trying to do everything we can to win. ... I love them to death, but that's what we're going to go try to."

O'Connell led the Vikings to a 14-3 record in 2024—claiming the NFC playoffs' No. 5 seed after failing to with the NFC North. McVay's Rams, meanwhile, won the NFC West at 10-7 and will play host to Minnesota.

Due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles, Monday night's game will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. Kick off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST with the game airing on ESPN.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kevin O'Connell Gives Blunt Assessment of Facing Former Boss in Sean McVay.

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