A lot of things went wrong for the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, but perhaps a lot of their struggles on offense can be attributed to the limitations of Matthew Stafford during the offseason program. Stafford got an injection in his right elbow following the 2021 season and was unable to throw during OTAs or minicamp as a result, so he couldn’t build a much-needed rapport with Allen Robinson, Tutu Atwell and his other receivers.
Stafford was limited in training camp, too, which only made matters worse as the season approached. Throughout it all, the Rams downplayed the entire situation, but it was probably a bigger issue than they thought.
Fortunately, Stafford is now fully healthy and taking part in everything the Rams have done thus far, throwing as he normally would in OTAs and minicamp. For Sean McVay, it’s made a “night and day” difference for the entire team.
“Oh, it’s night and day. I mean, and he’ll be the first to tell you,” McVay said. “You talk about being able to enjoy it. I don’t think I realized it or anybody, and he would never say it because he’s so tough, the amount of pain that he was working through, how limited he was, and he’s a special player. He’s the guy that we all know he is. He’s a mentally, physically tough competitor. He elevates everybody around him. But to have our quarterback out here, the command, the way that he elevates really defensively, offensively his communication skills, it’s been huge for us. He makes a significant difference. He’s our guy and I’ve really enjoyed this offseason with him.”
The Rams had a lot of returning veterans last year following their Super Bowl run, but the roster looks very different this year. Nearly half of their roster is made up of newcomers in 2023, so it’s even more important for Stafford to be on the field with his teammates.
Puka Nacua, Davis Allen, Demarcus Robinson, Hunter Long and Tyler Johnson are all in their first season with the Rams so getting as much time with Stafford as they can has been valuable.
Stafford is happy to be out there after missing significant time last offseason, too.
“Yeah, it’s nice. I love to be out here and practice and compete, play with these guys,” Stafford said. “So it’s tough to sit on the sideline like I did last year for so much time and just not getting any kind of reps. So it was great to get a bunch of reps this offseason. I feel good and excited about getting back in July.”
