Back soreness to keep Matthew Stafford out of Rams practice

LOS ANGELES — Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is dealing with back soreness, will not return to practice next week as anticipated, coach Sean McVay said Saturday.

Last week, McVay said Stafford, 37, would be limited to start training camp but is “absolutely” expected to be ready for the regular season. Even after Stafford returns to practice, the Rams intend to keep the quarterback on a modified schedule, along with a few other veteran offensive players.

On Saturday, McVay said Stafford did not experience a setback, but that it feels like “the smart thing to do a week at a time with him.”

McVay reiterated that the goal is for Stafford to be ready for the Rams’ season opener against the Houston Texans and that he doesn’t “have any reason for concern” that Stafford will not practice Monday.

“I don’t think we can be smart enough with somebody like Matthew and I think it’s best for him, best for our football team, and that’s kind of the plan that we’ll have moving forward,” McVay said.

For the first week of training camp, Stafford has spent most of practice away from the field working with the Rams’ training staff. On Saturday, he watched part of practice from the field.

In 16 games last season, Stafford completed 65.8% of his passes for 3,762 yards and 20 touchdowns. He did not play in the regular-season finale because the Rams had clinched the NFC West.