{"id":511390,"date":"2026-01-12T18:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/511390\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T18:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:14:18","slug":"matthew-stafford-nursing-finger-sprain-ahead-of-rams-vs-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/511390\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Stafford nursing finger sprain ahead of Rams vs. Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\/story\/2026-01-10\/matthew-stafford-leads-another-rams-comeback-win-panthers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Matthew Stafford<\/a> suffered a sprained right index finger in the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\/story\/2026-01-11\/matthew-stafford-proves-again-hes-most-important-athlete-in-la\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rams\u2019 wild-card victory<\/a> over the Carolina Panthers, but he will be ready for Sunday\u2019s divisional-round game against the Bears in Chicago, coach Sean McVay said Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s as tough as it gets and will be good to go,\u201d McVay said during a videoconference with reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Stafford injured his finger Saturday when his hand hit the helmet of a Panthers player during the Rams\u2019 <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\/story\/2026-01-10\/matthew-stafford-leads-another-rams-comeback-win-panthers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">34-31 victory<\/a> in Charlotte, N.C. He played through the issue and passed for <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\/story\/2026-01-10\/puka-nacua-pick-denying-playing-saved-rams-panthers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">304 yards and three touchdowns<\/a>, including a game-winner to tight end Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds left.<\/p>\n<p>           <video playsinline=\"playsinline\" loop=\"\" preload=\"none\" title=\"Takeaways from Rams\u2019 playoff win over Panthers\" data-video-id=\"0000019b-ac24-dcbf-a1db-fe6c21450000\">               <\/video>                 <img class=\"image\" alt=\"\"   width=\"473\" height=\"840\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768241658_9_.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>             <\/p>\n<ul data-element=\"action-bar-menu\" class=\"flex gap-2 list-none  absolute w-full h-10 top-0\">\n<li data-element=\"action-bar-share\" class=\"flex  w-full h-10 top-0 lg:items-center lg:justify-center \">\n<p> Share via     Close extra sharing options  <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"video-enhancement-title\">Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 34-31 wild-card playoff victory over the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n<p>In his postgame news conference, Stafford said he did not know what happened until he saw video that showed his finger bent backward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t pleasant. It wasn\u2019t great. We\u2019ll see what it is,\u201d said Stafford, who was not wearing a brace or splint. \u201cOnce the ball\u2019s snapped, the adrenaline\u2019s pretty good so we\u2019ll hopefully just keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stafford and the Rams are traveling to a cold-weather region, but Stafford has plenty of experience in those conditions, having played 12 seasons in the NFC North.<\/p>\n<p>Temperatures in Chicago could be in the teens or lower when the Rams play the Bears, who defeated the Green Bay Packers, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\/story\/2026-01-11\/rams-will-play-caleb-williams-bears-in-nfc-divisional-playoffs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">31-27<\/a>, Saturday at Soldier Field.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeems like it\u2019s going to be pretty damn cold,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n<p>McVay said he was optimistic that offensive lineman Kevin Dotson, who has been sidelined for three games because of an ankle injury, would play against the Bears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to really push that thing and see how he feels with the optimism that there\u2019s a good chance he makes it,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n<p>Tight end Terrance Ferguson (hamstring) and defensive back Josh Wallace (ankle) also could return after sitting out the last two games, McVay said. Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon reinjured his shoulder against the Panthers and will be placed on injured reserve.<\/p>\n<p>While the Rams are preparing for Sunday\u2019s game, defensive coordinator <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/rams\/story\/2026-01-07\/rams-defense-looking-to-improve-against-panthers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Shula<\/a>, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur and passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase will interview virtually with NFL teams hiring head coaches.<\/p>\n<p>According to reports, Shula will interview for the Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders head coaching jobs.<\/p>\n<p>LaFleur will interview with the Cardinals and Raiders.<\/p>\n<p>Scheelhaase will interview with the Cleveland Browns, Raiders and Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not at all concerned about it being a distraction,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matthew Stafford suffered a sprained right index finger in the Rams\u2019 wild-card victory over the Carolina Panthers, but&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":511391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[65912,7140,10809,1582,276,8996,960,210175,228620,228622,2961,224,5337,56082,72006,50909,90726,7138,1404,228621],"class_list":{"0":"post-511390","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ankle-injury","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-bears","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-carolina-panthers","14":"tag-chicago","15":"tag-defensive-coordinator-chris-shula","16":"tag-divisional-round-game","17":"tag-finger-saturday","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-matthew-stafford","22":"tag-mcvay","23":"tag-raiders","24":"tag-ram","25":"tag-rams","26":"tag-sunday","27":"tag-wild-card-victory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115883492293040276","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511390","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=511390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}