On the surface, Monday’s news regarding Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was positive. He practiced. He looked good.
But there’s still a lingering mystery regarding his status.
The transcript of coach Sean McVay’s press conference says it all. In scattered but unmistakable words peppered throughout his comments.
Here’s an edited collection of the things McVay said that do little to erase the question of whether Stafford will be good to go when Week 1 rolls around in 20 days: “We’re going to keep it a day and really a week at a time. . . . I’m not going to pigeonhole myself into any plans and so we’re just seeing how he feels. We’re truly taking it a day at a time and a week at a time right now. . . . We’re trying to get our hands on it. We’re trying to do right by the player number one and our team.”
As to McVay’s confidence that Stafford will face the Texans on September 7, McVay said, “I think that would be putting the cart way before the horse.”
On the team’s overall approach with Stafford and his back issue, McVa said, “I think what’s really happened is when you look at it, there were a lot of things that we had talked about at the beginning and it’s gone a little bit differently than what we had planned. I think the right thing to do for everybody involved is to truly take it a day at a time. . . . That’s where you just take it a day at a time because it’s a very fluid situation that demands flexibility as well.”
So, yes, the situation is far from resolved. Stafford practiced on Monday. That’s good. But the back issues clearly aren’t done and gone. If they were, there’d be no reason to take things “a day and really a week at a time.”
In less than three weeks, it’s time to play a game that counts. And it seems like this is something that will continue to be an issue, especially once Stafford starts playing — and starts getting hit.
