Rams QB Matthew Stafford was supposed to make positive progress starting this week as far as his return from back soreness he has been experiencing over the course of training camp. However, Los Angeles’ quarterback is apparently just as limited today as he was a week ago. Sarah Barshop from ESPN’s NFL Nation tweeted the […]
Rams QB Matthew Stafford was supposed to make positive progress starting this week as far as his return from back soreness he has been experiencing over the course of training camp. However, Los Angeles’ quarterback is apparently just as limited today as he was a week ago.
Sarah Barshop from ESPN’s NFL Nation tweeted the latest out on Stafford’s status this afternoon from the Rams’ camp. She noted that Stafford is still not practicing today, which was not the expectation for this point of his recovery.
“QB Matthew Stafford is in street clothes and doesn’t appear to be practicing today,” Barshop posted this afternoon. “Sean McVay previously said the plan was for Stafford to participate individual drills today.”
With that, McVay had an update on Stafford while speaking to the media after practice on Monday. He said that the Rams are starting to feel for their quarterback as his back just again wasn’t in a place today for him to take the field with that being the latest setback for Stafford coming into this season.
“You know, like we’ve said. We’re going to be flexible and fluid. I think, more than anything, I feel for Matthew because of how much he wants to be out there and feel good,” said McVay. “Ultimately, what ended up happening? Had a great workout, felt good but then, you know, coming into today, it doesn’t feel great. And so, didn’t think that was the right decision to be able to push him. We’ve kind of always talked about flexibility, being fluid with some of the plans. And, I think, more than anything, you know, I feel for a guy that, you know, I really care about that wants to be out there more than anything else.”
“It didn’t respond the way that you wanted it to. You know, when he was out here working out, it was great and then, you know, it’s like anything else, you know,” McVay said. “We are going to still be safe. But I think, more than anything, it’s like, you know, he wants to be out there more than anybody, you know. His teammates can’t wait for him to be out there…We just felt like, you know, it wasn’t in alignment with how he was feeling to progress accordingly.”
Stafford is dealing with an aggravated disc in his back that has led to soreness and pain. Again, the intention was for him to work out this weekend going into their first preseason game and be ready to return to practice in some capacity today. Instead, Stafford was again out on the sidelines to work on restoration and rehabilitation.
With that being the case, and with the season opener being less than four weeks out, surgery came up as a question this afternoon. However, McVay said that they’re not there yet when it comes to Stafford’s options.
“That hasn’t been a conversation that we’ve had,” said McVay. “You know, I think it’s more along the lines of – you know, this week kind of represented that target date of really starting to be able to implement him back. The workout was a step in the right direction and then, you know, I’m glad that he’s able to give us the feedback so we can say let’s pull back here. But that isn’t something that we’ve talked about.”
“You know, I haven’t gone down that road yet in terms of those types of conversations,” McVay continued. “There’s been a lot of conversations about what’s the best method of how we want to approach it. That hasn’t been something that’s come up yet.
Based on the reporting coming out of the weekend, Los Angeles is still optimistic about Stafford’s availability by their season’s start on September 7th. Still, that said, this latest absence is now another cause of concern when it comes to this point with Stafford with still no official timetable set for how he’s trending.
“I think, ultimately, what we want to be able to do is take it a day at a time. I think that’s healthy for everybody. Sometimes, when you set expectations, they’re not met. You know, what’s the first response? There’s frustration, you know, and that’s okay to feel that way,” said McVay. “How can we move forward accordingly and, most importantly, support a guy that, when he gets out here, you know, we’re going to be really excited about it? But, kind of like I’ve told you guys from day one, you know, I’ll defer to the experts, I’ll defer to Matthew…We’re going to be smart with it.”
“We’re going to be smart, you know, but he didn’t feel good enough and we didn’t think it was the right thing to do based on, you know, how he woke up feeling today,” McVay said.
Category: Football
