Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is expected to miss the rest of the season with a spinal-cord contusion. He’s not expected to need any type of surgical procedure when the season end.
“No, he’ll be good,” coach Sean McVay told reporters on Friday regarding the possibility of Stafford requiring surgery. “To my knowledge, there’s nothing like that that’s going to be required or necessary. I think it’ll be great for Matthew to be able to have a healthy offseason and do a lot of the things that I think he’ll feel good about being able to do.”
McVay recently attributed the team’s struggles this year to, in part, the inability of Stafford to throw in the offseason, due to an elbow injury.
In the interim, Stafford is with the team, and actively participating.
“Really, what’s so impressive about Matthew is just being able to contribute and connect with his teammates, stay connected with his teammates in any way that he can,” McVay said. “He was even on the headset on the last drive and making sure that he was able to add in a couple things that would be helpful to kind of relay specific information to Baker [Mayfield]. That tells you everything that you need to know about Matthew and who he is. So, I think sometimes being able to get a different perspective can be beneficial. Obviously, he would be better equipped to answer it, but his vantage point, his understanding, his ability to still be able to contribute in spite of I know he wants to be out there competing with his teammates. [He] has just continued to impress me with the man he is.”
Stafford remains the unquestioned starter for the Rams, when healthy. It remains to be seen whether they’re willing and able to keep Mayfield as a backup in 2023. Given the way he played on Thursday night, Mayfield could end up with a starting job, somewhere, by March.