Rams QB Matthew Stafford in concussion protocol, status vs. Cardinals unknown

Things are going from bad to worse for the defending Super Bowl champions. 

Per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay surprised media members when he confirmed Wednesday that quarterback Matthew Stafford entered the concussion protocol on Tuesday coming off this past Sunday's 16-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that dropped the Rams to 3-5 on the season. 

It's unknown if Stafford will be cleared to face the 3-6 Arizona Cardinals this Sunday. 

"[T]hey felt like that was the best thing for him," McVay said after the team's training and medical staff evaluated Stafford. "That’s kind of where we’re at with it. It’s more importantly about the person than the player in these types of things, as we know. And nobody’s more of a competitor in wanting to be out there with his teammates than Matthew. He’s in the protocol, so we’ll take it a day at a time with him. That’s what our medical experts determined, just based on some of the things that they gathered, was the smart and the right course of action." 

McVay added he's "confident" in backup John Wolford if Stafford remains unavailable through this weekend. As noted by Sarah Barshop of ESPN, Wolford made his only career NFL regular-season start, to date, in Week 17 of the 2020 campaign against none other than the Cardinals. The 27-year-old completed 22-of-38 passes for 231 yards and also contributed 56 rushing yards in an 18-7 victory. 

"I know Matthew is going to do everything in his power to try and be able to be ready," McVay said about his QB1. "We’ll just take it a day at a time. But John’s a guy that when he’s been in these situations, he’s stepped in and done a really good job. It wasn’t too long ago that he had to come in, in a game that we had to have to be able to get into the playoffs, and he performed incredibly well." 

According to ESPN stats, Stafford is 23rd among eligible quarterbacks with an 84.9 passer rating and a 46.0 total QBR this season. In eight games, he's completed 68.4% of his passes and matched eight touchdowns with eight interceptions.