All eyes have been on Matthew Stafford’s practice availability the past few weeks as the Los Angeles Rams quarterback has been recovering from a back injury.
There wasn’t much concern over Stafford’s back initially, but the situation grew with the more time he missed.
Fortunately for the Rams, Stafford was able to recently return to training camp practices and seems set to play in Week 1. He has practiced all four days this week, although one of them was just a team walkthrough.
Following his return to practice, the quarterback admitted it was hard for him to be off the field, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“It’s challenging,” Stafford said, speaking to the media for the first time Thursday since the start of training camp. “All I want to do is practice and play and get out there and be with the guys, and I wasn’t able to do that.”
Stafford noted he felt better than he thought he would on his first day back and is beginning to feel more like his usual self:
“I think the first day, I wasn’t expecting to do as much as I did, and I felt pretty good, so I just kind of kept going,” Stafford said. “And coach was cool enough to let me kind of push myself. And he knows that I know myself and how I feel, and so he let me kind of go. And it felt like I hadn’t been out there in a while. Physically fine, but just seeing the defense operate and doing all this stuff, and it’s my third day, call it in a row, whatever that is, our third practice day of a four-day block, and definitely felt a whole lot more like myself out there today, and just want to continue to do everything I possibly can to be ready for the guys in the locker room.”
Stafford also expressed how much he’s enjoyed being back on the field with his teammates as they get ready for the season:
“I’ve played a bunch of games in this league. I still love playing, and all I want to do is be out there in practice and play with these guys,” Stafford said. “So it’s been fun the last couple days to get going.”
Los Angeles knows they’ll go as far as the 37-year-old takes them, so ensuring he’s as healthy as possible needs to be the top priority now and through the regular season.
Matthew Stafford given 88 rating in Madden NFL 26
At his best, Matthew Stafford is an elite quarterback and that was reflected in his NFL Madden 26 ranking as he received an 88.
