{"id":154306,"date":"2025-08-17T23:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T23:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/154306\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T23:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T23:43:18","slug":"matthew-staffords-back-injury-raises-serious-concerns-for-rams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/154306\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Stafford’s back injury raises serious concerns for Rams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rams coach Sean McVay<\/a> was not talking.<\/p>\n

Aubrey Pleasant<\/a> deferred to McVay. And Stetson Bennett<\/a> was so busy leading a comeback victory, he said he did not notice.<\/p>\n

No one in the Rams\u2019<\/a> organization could answer these questions:<\/p>\n

How did Matthew Stafford<\/a>\u2019s scheduled workout on Saturday play out? And was he at the Rams\u2019 23-22 victory<\/a> over the Chargers<\/a> at SoFi Stadium?<\/p>\n

A team spokesman declined to comment, saying McVay would address the situation on Monday.<\/p>\n

So the Stafford saga plays on, incrementally worsening as the Sept. 7 opener against the Houston Texans draws near.<\/p>\n

Stafford, 37, is preparing for his 17th NFL season.<\/p>\n

Check that: He would be if not for a back issue that has prevented him from taking a single snap or throwing a single pass during a team practice.<\/p>\n

In late July, when the Rams reported to training camp at Loyola Marymount and Stafford\u2019s back issue came to light, the situation was cause for concern.<\/p>\n

For everyone, it seemed, but McVay.<\/p>\n

The Rams had a plan, he said. He was not concerned. Stafford would not practice for the first week, but he would be out there with teammates in Week 2.<\/p>\n

It did not happen.<\/p>\n

Nearly a month later, it still hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

McVay said last week that the Rams were \u201ctrying to get our hands around\u201d the situation.<\/p>\n

But time is becoming shorter.<\/p>\n

The Rams are three weeks away from the season opener at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Garoppolo<\/a> has taken first-team snaps during team workouts and joint practices with the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints. Bennett has started preseason games against the Cowboys and the Chargers.<\/p>\n

Garoppolo led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl. Bennett is playing with the confidence he displayed while leading Georgia to two national titles.<\/p>\n

With a physically sound Stafford, the Rams would be regarded as a legitimate Super Bowl contender.<\/p>\n

With Garoppolo or Bennett…<\/p>\n

How much time Stafford would need to be ready for the opener is an open question.<\/p>\n

Three weeks? Two? One?<\/p>\n

No one questions Stafford\u2019s toughness or grit. Or his desire to win another Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

But for now, his physical condition and availability \u2014 and the Rams\u2019 prospects this season and beyond \u2014 remain in doubt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rams coach Sean McVay was not talking. Aubrey Pleasant deferred to McVay. And Stetson Bennett was so busy…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":154307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[90139,1582,276,7151,8998,90137,75773,2961,224,5337,56082,72006,7138,5950,90138,23427,58326,80086,21686,6666],"class_list":{"0":"post-154306","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-back-issue","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-chargers","12":"tag-dallas-cowboys","13":"tag-first-week","14":"tag-jimmy-garoppolo","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-matthew-stafford","19":"tag-mcvay","20":"tag-rams","21":"tag-season","22":"tag-serious-concern","23":"tag-situation","24":"tag-sofi-stadium","25":"tag-stetson-bennett","26":"tag-super-bowl","27":"tag-workout"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115046764152649626","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}