The Rams have little to play for in the remaining weeks of the 2022 season, one in which the team has fallen well short of expectations. They will all-but assuredly not have their starting quarterback available again this year due to his most recent injury, but one dating back to the summer was named as part of the reason for the defending champions’ struggles.
When speaking to the media, head coach Seam McVay was asked about Stafford’s preseason elbow injury. That ailment left him sidelined for much of the summer, and limited his ability to work with the rest of the team during training camp; both he and the team, however, repeatedly played down the significance of the injury with respect to his ability to perform during the regular season. McVay struck a markedly different tone when reflecting on the issue, though.
“I definitely think it had an impact because you talk about rapport, establishing a rapport, a rhythm, a comfort not only with, everybody wants to talk about he and [wide receiver] Cooper [Kupp], but even just some of the newer pieces,” McVay said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “I think it definitely had an impact without a doubt.”
Stafford played through the lingering effects of the elbow injury throughout the year, as the Rams’ offense was decimated by injuries up front and struggled to establish any consistency amongst its playmakers aside from Kupp. He missed Weeks 10 and 12 while in the league’s concussion protocol, and has ultimately been placed on IR. That leaves him eligible to return no sooner than Week 17, making it quite possible the former Lion joins Kupp and Aaron Donald in being shut down until 2023.
On that point, McVay further pointed to Stafford’s campaign being over. He said the expectation is that his latest injury – a spinal cord contusion – will not be long-term, and should allow for a “healthy offseason” (Twitter link via Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic). With Stafford sidelined, Los Angeles will likely rely on John Wolford as their starter, barring the acquisition of a veteran like the recently-waived Baker Mayfield.
Given the substantial investment the Rams made in Stafford this past offseason, approaching the coming months with caution would come as little surprise. A return to health would bode well for the team in 2023, and allow them to avoid a repeat of this summer’s issues which played out over the course of a lost season.
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