Matthew Stafford has a back injury and that\u2019s the only thing that Rams fans can be confident in right now when it comes to the quarterback\u2019s health. Fans can\u2019t be sure if the injury will go away tomorrow, linger throughout the season, or turn into the worse case scenario, which is surgery. Because regardless of whether or not the situation is worse than the team is letting on, or better than the pessimistic aura of speculations about a Stafford-less training camp, you\u2019d be a fool to believe the next update you hear on the matter.<\/p>\n
Quite literally, the only possible report that would give fans any clarity on Stafford\u2019s 2025 outlook would be the one update that nobody wants to hear and Sean McVay doesn\u2019t want to entertain. That would be injured reserve.<\/p>\n
Anything other than season-ending news is merely speculation of what might happen tomorrow. Don\u2019t believe me?<\/p>\n
\u201cStafford will practice next week\u201d part 1 \u2014 No he didn\u2019t\u201cStafford will practice next week\u201d part 2 \u2014 No he didn\u2019t\u201cStafford looked great on Saturday, he\u2019ll practice tomorrow\u201d \u2014 He didn\u2019t\u201cStafford could return on Tuesday\u201d \u2014 He didn\u2019t<\/p>\n
All reports coming directly from the head coach. All followed up by new updates a day later or a week later of soreness, setbacks, and reports that McVay either didn\u2019t know, didn\u2019t want to share with the fans, or didn\u2019t want to believe. But make no mistake:<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Rams have known more about the severity of Matthew Stafford\u2019s back injury than they\u2019ve admitted in the past (that is on the record, as you\u2019ll see) and McVay has moved back Stafford\u2019s return-to-practice date multiple times in training camp, claimed to have \u201cmisspoken\u201d when plans have changed, and claimed that Stafford could play in a game right now prior to then later saying that he actually doesn\u2019t know if Stafford could have played in a game at the time that the coach said he could have.<\/p>\n
The team has sent their 37-year-old quarterback to the California back specialist who perhaps only deals with severe situations, and they did it at least twice, while at this exact same time telling the media over and over again that Stafford \u201cfeels good\u201d, \u201cis in good shape\u201d, and \u201clooked good\u201d as of just a couple of days ago. McVay says that Stafford could do everything on Saturday in a closed throwing session, had no setbacks the next morning on Sunday, and would practice on Monday.<\/p>\n
Instead, Stafford\u2019s soreness apparently waited 48 hours because he did not feel good on Monday morning and has now missed another two practices with no return in sight.<\/p>\n
As of the latest news on Tuesday at the close of practice, passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant relieved McVay of the \u201cgiving false hope\u201d updates by telling the media that there were no updates on Stafford<\/a>. If anything, this is perhaps the least encouraging report we\u2019ve had on Stafford all year:<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no update on Matthew,\u201d Pleasant said, \u201cbut what I will tell you is it\u2019s very tough for not only him and for the organization. I would say is that he\u2019s trying his best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is very tough on the organization\u201d? Two days ago this organization said he was fine!<\/p>\n How twisty and turny have these last three weeks been when it comes to Matthew Stafford\u2019s aggravated disc? From not having any known injury in late July to only needing to sit a couple of days to suddently being in a \u201cvery tough\u201d situation, updates on Stafford from the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McVay only share one thing in common:<\/p>\n They\u2019re almost always wrong and underselling the severity of the issue.<\/p>\n April 21 – \u201cExcited to jump into offseason workout program\u201d<\/p>\n From trade rumor and contract drama to no drama, there was apparently nothing to worry about after the Rams re-did Stafford\u2019s deal to keep the quarterback happy for a 17th season, foregoing the chance to take an offer from the Giants or Raiders. In a report from TheRams.com\u2019s Stu Jackson in April, Stafford was just happy to \u201cget that out of the way\u201d and get to work with Davante Adams and Tutu Atwell<\/a>, stressing the importance of that time together:<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to have that done and kind of out of the way as we get this thing going,\u201d Stafford said Monday. \u201cJust obviously happy that I\u2019m going to be coming back and doing it again here, which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n With that resolved, Stafford turns his attention to this spring\u2019s offseason workout program, which kicked off Monday morning as players returned to the practice facility for those voluntary sessions.<\/p>\n Stafford\u2019s approach to OTAs evolves every year as he gets older and as the team changes.<\/p>\n Last year was \u201ca little bit unique,\u201d Stafford said, alluding to the contract situation \u2013 though he still attended and participated in every OTA and minicamp session while that was ongoing \u2013 but as he gets older, his focus is on being as physically and mentally fresh as possible. Being around teammates is also important to him, especially with a new face like wide receiver Davante Adams joining the team and returning wide receiver Tutu Atwell due for an expanded role.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cObviously getting work with the guys, being around them as much as I can, culturally is a great thing,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cAnd then getting to work with some of the guys like Davante and Tutu in some new spots and doing all of that kind of stuff will be beneficial.\u201d<\/p>\n The team was preparing us for a modified approach to Stafford\u2019s offseason program as early as April, even compared to the summer before, and Stafford did end up getting some on-field work in with Adams in May during the offseason program:<\/p>\n But these light throwing sessions during OTAs and minicamps three months ago are still the most recent times that Stafford has had a chance to develop any chemistry with his receivers or given McVay a chance to practice with the offense he expects to have in the regular season.<\/p>\n June 25 – Biggest red flag on Rams: Stafford\u2019s health<\/p>\n Not really a report, just a kudos to Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports for saying something that looks even more apt six weeks later: The Rams must be wary of Stafford\u2019s health<\/a>.<\/p>\n Age is just a number, they say. And certainly Stafford is part of that argument, given he nearly knocked off the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles ahead of his 37th birthday to close 2024. But this is a gunslinger who\u2019s also battled real bumps and bruises over the last half-decade, to the point he\u2019s openly contemplated retirement. Sean McVay\u2019s offense always has a Super Bowl ceiling with No. 9\u2019s big arm at the controls, but if Stafford can\u2019t stay upright to feed new weapons like Davante Adams<\/a>, well, there could be big trouble in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n July 22 – \u201cMatthew\u2019s feeling good\u201d but will miss 5 days of practice<\/p>\n Right as the Rams opened 2025 training camp, McVay prepared us for merely a truncated absence by Matthew Stafford because of \u201cback soreness\u201d. McVay said that the problem \u201cwasn\u2019t anything new\u201d and Stu Jackson reported on the team website that Stafford would return after 5 days<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMatthew\u2019s feeling good. He had a little bit of soreness in his back that kind of crept up,\u201d McVay said as players reported to Rams Training Camp presented by UNIFY Financial Credit Union. \u201cHe\u2019s been throwing, feeling good. It\u2019s not anything that\u2019s necessarily new, something that he\u2019s dealt with before.\u201d<\/p>\n McVay said that during that five-day acclimation period, Stafford will work to the side on his own, \u201cget himself feeling as good as possible,\u201d and then be ready for the second block of training camp, which begins after the conclusion of the acclimation period. In the meantime, Jimmy Garoppolo will step in and handle Stafford\u2019s reps with the first-team offense.<\/p>\n \u201c(Stafford) feels good about that, I feel good about that,\u201d McVay said. \u201cAnd ultimately, it\u2019s about having him feel as good as possible, mentally, physically, emotionally, going into Year 17.\u201d<\/p>\n McVay also indicated it\u2019s not something he\u2019s concerned about, and that they feel good about Stafford returning to a full practice schedule in that second block of camp.<\/p>\n It is at this point that we\u2019ve now officially entered a period where Sean McVay updates the media on Stafford\u2019s back with information that would indicate a positive update in the near future but several days later the timeline is proved inaccurate. McVay also said of Stafford at the time, \u201cHe\u2019s so in tune with his body, and talking with him, I feel really good.\u201d<\/p>\n As pointed out by Blaine Grisak here at TST in article asking if the back was really the non-issue that McVay made it out to be at the time,<\/a> a very similar narrative was being built around this time in 2022 regarding Stafford\u2019s elbow.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you really look at the totality of it, want to try to have him operate in as little as pain as possible. I think anytime that you\u2019ve played as long and are as tough as he is, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re ever truly pain free.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, injuries became a huge issue in 2022.<\/p>\n July 24 – \u201cHe should be good to go in a couple of days\u201d – McVay<\/p>\n Talking to Kay Adams at the start of training camp, McVay said that the Rams had always planned to take a \u201cmodified approach\u201d to Stafford\u2019s offseason regiment and therefore any concerns about his absence from practice were overblown.<\/p>\n I feel good about it too. You can\u2019t be smart enough with him and going into year 17 we were going to take a modified approach so that he can feel as good physically, mentally, and emotionally anyway. We did that in the offseason, I thought he was awesome. Had a little bit of soreness creep up and so, Reggie (Scott) and Matthew have confirmed that he should be good to go in a couple days.\u201c<\/p>\n This was still at the time that McVay insisted that Stafford would probably be back to practice \u201con Monday\u201d, which is now becoming an infamous day of the week for how often Stafford is not practicing when he\u2019s anticipated to practice.<\/p>\n July 26 – Scratch that, Stafford will actually miss the \u201csecond block\u201d of training camp too<\/p>\n Two days after McVay told Adams that Stafford was about to return to practice and that so far nothing about his absence was unplanned, the Rams coach updated the media to say that back soreness would also keep Stafford out for the second week of practice too<\/a>. McVay even went as far to literally say that he just misspoke earlier.<\/p>\n McVay clarified his comments by indicating he misspoke at the start of camp and that Stafford\u2019s status will be considered a \u201cweek at a time\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Outsiders were still mostly not concerned in late July, taking McVay\u2019s word for it and believing that it was too soon to sound the alarm bells:<\/p>\n McVay called Stafford \u201cweek to week\u201d and said that the end goal was Week 1 against the Texans, basically just glossing over and ignoring previous statements that the quarterback would only miss the first week of training camp. If McVay had said at the start of camp that the Rams were going to consider resting Stafford for most, if not all of the month, then fans wouldn\u2019t have much to question right now. That\u2019s not what happened.<\/p>\n In fact, McVay said that Stafford\u2019s back injury was \u201cnot new\u201d despite there being no mention of an aggravated back injury prior to the first announcement in late July that the quarterback would not be throwing or participating in practices as he had been \u2014 light practices \u2014 in offseason workouts.<\/p>\n Now on July 26th, McVay is saying that this is all part of the planned \u201cmodified approach\u201d, while also name-dropping Dr. Bob Watkins. We found out from former NFL QB Matthew Hasselbeck on Tuesday that the only time he gets worried for a quarterback is when he sees Dr. Watkins.<\/a> He literally said this and had no idea that Stafford has actually seen Watkins (twice) in the last month.<\/p>\n August 3 – \u201cSaw Dr. Watkins again today. Everything is in good shape.\u201d<\/p>\n Saying that a quarterback saw the preeminent NFL back specialist for a second time is anything but indicating that the player is \u201cin good shape\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Rams have an Aug. 5 joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> and an Aug. 13 practice with the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>. Stafford appears unlikely to go in either session.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Cowboys, no. The Cowboys, I would say that\u2019s less than likely,\u201d McVay said. \u201cWith the Chargers, and I know I\u2019m probably irritating you guys, but it truly is a week-to-week thing and what I don\u2019t want to do is set a timeline. I know he\u2019s making good progress, saw Dr. Watkins again today. Everything is in good shape. But to answer your question, the Cowboys is a no and then we\u2019ll see about the Chargers.\u201d<\/p>\n Stafford of course didn\u2019t participate in anything last week \u2014 joint practices, regular practices, or the preseason game (which would have been the case no matter what shape he was in) \u2014 and the Chargers joint practices were actually canceled, which McVay indicated was Jim Harbaugh\u2019s decision because of their own injury problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n August 6 – It gets a name: \u201cAggravated Disc\u201d and \u201cEpidural treatment\u201d!<\/p>\n On August 6th, two weeks into training camp \u2014 a week longer than McVay\u2019s initial indication of time Stafford would miss \u2014 Ian Rapoport tweeted that Stafford received an epidural to treat an aggravated disc<\/a>. Furthermore, the shot wasn\u2019t that day or the day before, but at least a couple of weeks earlier, meaning around the time that camp started and McVay was hopeful for a short absence. Or at least, telling us that it would be a short absence.<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter also reported at the time that \u201cthis sounds like a maintenance issue where they\u2019re being smart\u201d with Stafford due to his age, and \u201cthey feel like if there were a game today, Stafford would be able to play.\u201d<\/p>\n Keep those words from Schefter \u2014 six days ago \u2014 in mind.<\/p>\n On the same day, PFT\u2019s Mike Florio, with his usual spotty track record of insider info, wrote the words that Stafford\u2019s absence \u201cwill soon be ending\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Stafford is on track to resume working out this week. He\u2019s expected to do on-field work in the coming days.<\/p>\n Florio wrote that the injury happened after the conclusion of the offseason program and that the team simply wants to avoid an in-season relapse.<\/p>\n August 7 – \u201cYou\u2019ll see him in practice next week\u201d says McVay<\/p>\n Keep in mind that this is all BEFORE Stafford\u2019s throwing session on Saturday because it indicates that McVay\u2019s message is that something really crazy would have to happen over the weekend for Stafford to miss the next week of practices. Here\u2019s what he said last Friday<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cThe aggravated disc is what led to the sore back. \u2026 He\u2019s due to get a good workout in on the day of our preseason game where he\u2019s going to throw,\u201d McVay told reporters. \u201cThat was on par with the schedule that we always had. You\u2019ll see him in practice next week. He won\u2019t participate in the Chargers practice (on Aug. 13) just because we\u2019re looking at it like he\u2019s got an acclimation period that will really start on Saturday once we play the Cowboys.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou will see him in practice next week.\u201d<\/p>\n It was also at this time that McVay told reporters that if there was a real game that week, Stafford would be playing in it<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cWe have taken a very cautious approach, but if we were playing a game this week, he would be playing in the game,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n Based on the information we have now, this also appears to be untrue.<\/p>\n August 10 – He\u2019s back! (no pun intended)<\/p>\n On Sunday, McVay told the media that Stafford threw over 60 passes on Saturday and that he would be back in practice on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was awesome,\u201d McVay said of the scheduled workout Stafford went through on Saturday, in which he estimated Stafford threw 68 passes. \u201cHe looked good. He threw the ball really well. There was no limitations in terms of the types of throws \u2013 deep, intermediate, short. We were moving the launch point. And he felt really good, and so looking forward to progressing him back into practice on Monday, but it was a good step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n August 11 – He ain\u2019t back (back)<\/p>\n These hopes and expectations were, of course, crushed when Stafford didn\u2019t practice on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n McVay did not try to claim this time that the absence was all part of a plan or a \u201cmodified approach\u201d to keep his quarterback out of harm\u2019s way until Week 1. Instead, the coach told the media that the reason for his absence was directly related to \u201cnot feeling good\u201d on Monday morning. That mini-timeline would be:<\/p>\n Saturday: Does \u201cevery kind of throw\u201d over 68 attempts and looks\/feels greatSunday: Will practice on Monday!Monday: \u201cDidn\u2019t feel good\u201d in the morning and can\u2019t practice<\/p>\n McVay didn\u2019t go as far to say that he was more worried now, however, instead going with the story that he hopes to have Stafford back on Tuesday. This of course opens the door for fans to be optimistic for a Tuesday return which you know by now would be all for nothing.<\/p>\n The question then becomes: Is Sean McVay pulling our strings and hiding the truth from the public or is he also on this rollercoaster of changing stories with Stafford\u2019s back on a day-to-day basis with every dr. visit and throwing session test?<\/p>\n Because let\u2019s make sure everyone is very clear on what has been established during this timeline:<\/p>\n Offseason workouts: No reported issuePost-offseason workouts: Something happens to his back before training camp startsLate July: McVay informs media Stafford will only miss 5 daysAlso Late July: Stafford is diagnosed with aggravated disc, has epidural, but this is kept secret from publicStart of August: Stafford absence extended from one week to two weeksLast Friday: Stafford will have a throwing session but \u201cwill\u201d return to practice the following week per McVaySaturday: Great throwing sessionSunday: Stafford will be back on Monday, per McVayMonday: Stafford is not back, McVay says he could be back TuesdayAlso Monday: \u201cI don\u2019t know (if Stafford could play in a game today),\u201d per McVayTuesday: Stafford is still not practicing<\/p>\n This is not a situation where the Rams expected Stafford to miss multiple weeks of training camp, let alone possibly the entire training camp, and were prepared for Jimmy Garoppolo to be with the starters for the entire month. At least, that\u2019s not what McVay has told us \u2014 directly \u2014 that he expected to happen. The only other explanation is that the Rams have been deeply concerned about Stafford\u2019s injury for the past month and don\u2019t want to incite panic by telling fans that they should be panicking\u2026which is exactly what fans would do if they found out that Garoppolo could start Week 1\u2019s game, if not beyond.<\/p>\n And a week after McVay said that Stafford would be ready to play in a game, he backtracked on that line of thinking on Monday:<\/p>\n Now he\u2019s backtracking on the severity of Stafford\u2019s injury as it pertains to being able to play. Will McVay next backtrack on the chances of Stafford having back surgery?<\/p>\n August 12 – Stafford out again<\/p>\n