The Los Angeles Rams knew they needed to upgrade their backup quarterback spot after Brett Rypien floundered in Week 9.
The Rams lost to the Green Bay Packers, and Rypien’s performance was enough for them to waive him just days later. Shortly after, the team announced they signed veteran Carson Wentz to come in and back up Matthew Stafford.
Wentz last played for the Washington Commanders but finds himself in a good situation Los Angeles to stick with an NFL team. The former No. 2 overall pick has had struggles in the past with taking care of the football, but lands on a team like the Rams where he’ll play a much smaller role.
Sean McVay gave his thoughts on the Wentz signing once the news was made official. “Yeah, I think it’s really just a chance to upgrade the quarterback room. He’s a guy that’s played. Feel good about (QB) Matthew (Stafford) returning and obviously when he’s out there you feel great about the leadership and everything that he provides.
“But God forbid if something were to happen where he wasn’t available, felt like this would offer an opportunity for somebody that’s played a lot of high level football to get him in here, get him kind of familiar with some of the things that we’re doing. That’s what went into the decision.”
McVay elaborated why he and the Rams felt comfortable bringing in Wentz at this point of the regular season. “Yeah, I think just experiences. You learn through those experiences and he’s a guy that had played a lot of football. He has been somebody that we had discussed.
“There were a lot of things that led into it, but the situations and some of the things that we had went through ultimately led us to feel like, alright, let’s make that decision. Let’s hope that we have a situation and scenario where Matthew is healthy the rest of the way but if for whatever reason he wasn’t available, this was the direction that we wanted to go and have Carson be able to take that role over.”
With Stafford on track to return for Week 11, Wentz will be on the bench but his presence might give the organization more comfort in the event their starter goes down again.
Sean McVay leaves open possibility Carson Wentz stays on Rams roster past this season
Although Wentz hasn’t been with the team long, McVay didn’t rule out re-signing him for next season.
“I think that’s to be determined. I think we were just excited about being able to get him in the building. We had a need. And like I had mentioned, we’re excited about getting (QB) Matthew (Stafford) back, but I think to have somebody that’s played as well as he’s played, has had as many experiences as he’s had to be out there and available is kind of rare. So we were excited about the opportunity to be able to get him into the building and that’s kind of where we’re at right now as it relates to that.”
