Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford spoke to reporters for the first time since the start of training camp on Thursday, after head coach Sean McVay had said the QB got through the week healthy.
Stafford has been dealing with a disc issue in his back. While McVay and Stafford did not formally declare that the quarterback would play Week 1, it appears Stafford is now on track to do so.
“Backs are sometimes interesting things,” Stafford said, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN. “It’s not cut and dry what’s what and how you’re going to feel, so I really appreciate our team and our head coach and everybody taking a day-to-day approach with me doing everything they can to try and help me out.
“And I have obviously a huge feeling of responsibility to our team to do what’s right by them, and I’m trying to do that as best I can day in and day out.”
When asked if Stafford will have to manage lingering back soreness, Stafford pointed to the fact that he’s entering his 17th pro season.
“There’s soreness all over the place every time I wake up,” Stafford said. “But no, it’s something that I’ll manage, like I do a million other things throughout the year.”
Stafford noted that he’s been doing “everything under the sun” to get back on the field, including a lot of research. He was able to do more than he thought he’d be able to do on Monday in his first practice.
“I think the first day, I wasn’t expecting to do as much as I did, and I felt pretty good, so I just kind of kept going,” Stafford said, via Stu Jackson of the team’s website. “And coach was cool enough to let me kind of push myself. And he knows that I know myself and how I feel, and so he let me kind of go.
“And it felt like I hadn’t been out there in a while. Physically fine, but just seeing the defense operate and doing all this stuff, and it’s my third day, call it in a row, whatever that is, our third practice day of a four-day block, and definitely felt a whole lot more like myself out there today, and just want to continue to do everything I possibly can to be ready for the guys in the locker room.”
While Stafford called the back issue “something that crept up on me a little bit,” he’s feeling better — which is good news for the Rams.
Stafford will not travel for Los Angeles’ preseason finale against the Browns in Cleveland, but that’s not completely out of the norm. McVay has not played key players in preseason games for the vast majority of his Rams tenure, with some individuals occasionally not making the trip to get in a workout at the team facility.
