After months of celebration and ramp-up, the Los Angeles Rams finally take the field this week on Thursday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills to kick off the 2022 season.
The reigning Super Bowl champions face a gauntlet of tough projected playoff teams during the regular season, but they’ve got all the ingredients to mount a surmountable defense. One of those is Matthew Stafford, who proved to be the conversation of elite quarterbacks currently in the NFL.
All eyes have been on Stafford’s throwing elbow as he worked through pain and discomfort during the offseason, but the quarterback says he’s all systems go for Week 1, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN:
“I feel good,” Stafford said. “I’m ready to go. No limitations. … I feel great. I’m ready to go play. Can always be better. Can always try to feel like I’m 21 again. I’ll keep trying. But no, I feel really good. I feel like I can make every throw.”
Players will always typically say they’re healthy enough to play, but head coach Sean McVay believes Stafford is indeed ready for a full workload and has no problem calling as many passing plays as it will take to beat the Bills:
“I tell you what, he’s throwing the ball excellent,” McVay said. “And he feels good. Everything that I’m seeing is reflective of everything he’s saying to me. And so I feel really good about that.”
If the Rams need Stafford to throw 50-plus times on Thursday night?
“No hesitation,” McVay said.
The signal-caller was able to elevate McVay’s offensive scheme because of his ability to make every throw at different arm angles, adding more dimensions to an already creative playbook. Against the Super Bowl favorite Bills, Stafford will most likely need to sling the football in order to get the Rams off on the right foot.
