Since Sean McVay and Les Snead helped turn the Los Angeles Rams into a playoff contender, the two have prioritized bringing in seasoned veterans to augment the team’s young core.
Most recently, the Rams signed Eric Weddle and Clay Matthews to join Aqib Talib alongside younger defensive players like Marcus Peters and superstar Aaron Donald.
Matthews is playing for just his second NFL team ever after a long and illustrious career with the Green Bay Packers. However, the Packers fell into disarray in recent years, highlighted by a public clash between quarterback Aaron Rodgers and then-head coach Mike McCarthy.
McCarthy was fired last year and eventually replaced by former Rams offensive coordinator Matt LeFleur.
Matthews remained the rock of a struggling Green Bay defense over the past few seasons and played in at least 12 games in every season of his 10-year career with the Packers. He has endured some injuries along the way, though.
He attended Day 3 of the Rams’ training camp on Monday but did not participate, getting a scheduled day off along with several teammates.
As a veteran player looking to make another Super Bowl run in the twilight of his career, Matthews has come away very impressed by how the Rams’ training staff has handled him and other veterans, per Lindsey Thiry of ESPN:
“As far as from a strength and conditioning standpoint and from the athletic trainers, I think they do a fantastic job of taking care of some of the vets on the team. Some of the guys who might be exerting more energy than others, if that’s such a thing. To have a day off like this, I didn’t get many days off in Green Bay. But you look at what they were able to do last year, I think they took some heat in the preseason when they didn’t play their starters but that seemed to work out well for them. It sounds like they’re kind of on the forefront of sport science, taking care of players, and making sure we’re as healthy as possible.”
The Rams drew some criticism after they held virtually all of their first-stringers out throughout the preseason in 2018. However, the strategy generally worked as the team enjoyed another year of general health throughout its roster that season, which resulted in their first Super Bowl appearance since 2004.
Two notable exceptions were wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who tore his ACL in Week 10, and superstar running back Todd Gurley, who was limited by an arthritic knee throughout the second half and postseason. Gurley is also getting plenty of regular rest during this year’s Training Camp.
