LOS ANGELES — As he approached the lectern for his first press conference since May, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford smiled coyly at the gathered media.
“You guys all want to talk about this papercut I got last night?” he asked. “Fire away.”
The questions he answered all centered around another injury, however, one that didn’t require a little glue to hold the skin on his index finger together.
Stafford missed the first four weeks of training camp with an aggravated disk in his back. But he returned to the field this week, participating in full in three practices and one jog through, and came out the other side feeling positive about his progress.
“I’m in a good place mentally,” Stafford said. “It’s been fun the last couple days to get going.”
Stafford, 37, said he first experienced discomfort in his back while training this summer. It wasn’t a sudden moment, he said, but a gradual build-up before he realized he needed to be checked out.
The aggravated disk required an epidural as Stafford sat out the first weeks of camp. In addition to his consultation with the Rams’ training and medical staffs, he did some research on his own for his peace of mind.
But he missed two targeted dates to return to practice and, while he was happy to see backups Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett get extra work in his absence, there was the impatient itch to get back onto the field.
“I obviously have 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,” Stafford said. “Backs are sometimes interesting things, 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 help me out.”
When he first took the field on Monday, Stafford expected some limitations to what he would be able to do. But as he began to move and throw in the heat of Woodland Hills, his back felt better than expected. Head coach Sean McVay and VP of sports medicine and performance Reggie Scott trusted Stafford’s feel for his body, and he was able to complete the full practice.
This was a welcome development, as even entering his 17th season, Stafford still needs reps to get comfortable reading defenses, moving in the pocket and adjusting to new targets like Davante Adams.
But by Thursday, Stafford said, he was feeling like himself. And others around the Rams had taken notice, too.
“He looks like the stud that we know,” McVay said. “Each of the last couple days, he’s played really fast, he’s activated all parts of the field. I thought our rush on defense did a great job and you can feel that pocket collapsing, he’s getting through progressions quickly. So he looked outstanding today.
“It gives me a lot of confidence. And again what I want to make sure that I’m at least acknowledging that I’m very excited and optimistic, but I’m not a doctor. I know he’s doing everything he can to take great care of himself.”
Despite his previous back issues, Stafford – who won’t travel to Cleveland for this weekend’s preseason finale – said he couldn’t lean on those experiences as this aggravated disk is a separate issue. While he wouldn’t say if he expects to play in Week 1, he acknowledged he’ll be dealing with the soreness moving forward.
“This will be 17 years now, there’s soreness all over the place every time I wake up,” Stafford said. “It’s something that I’ll manage like I do a million other things throughout the year.”
But this week was a step in the right direction, and won’t be taken for granted.
“Progress a lot of times isn’t just a straight line. It’s not just like this, it’s going to be, ‘Hey, I got a couple good days in a row.’ This was a flat day or a down day, just knowing that I’m going to wake up tomorrow and have a chance to feel good and go out there and go again,” Stafford said. “And there were a lot of those days and a lot of that time during training camp and I imagine for the rest of my life there’ll be a lot of those days one way or another.
“That’s why I try to have good perspective. Easier said than done a lot of times, but I try to take that approach to it and it’s given me a little bit of peace of mind.”
Notes
Offensive lineman Willie Lampkin (ankle and knee sprains) is expected to be put on injured reserve, McVay said.
Rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson will make his preseason debut against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. Dresser Winn will be the starting quarterback as the Rams preserve Stetson Bennett for the regular season.