Last year, the Los Angeles Rams selected former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett in the fourth round of the NFL Draft and he went into the season as the team’s backup behind Matthew Stafford. But just before the season opener, the Rams placed Bennett on the Reserve/NFI list and he would miss the entire year.
Details on the reasoning behind this move were scarce as both the Rams and Bennett kept things private. But the quarterback has now returned to the team during offseason workouts and confirmed that his absence fell under the umbrella of mental health, via Stu Jackson of Rams.com:
Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett confirmed Tuesday that he spent last season back home in Georgia after going on the Reserve/NFI list. Bennett declined to get into the specifics of his time away from the team, saying he wanted to keep that “in-house,” other than confirming that it was related to his mental health.
“Yeah, I’d say that,” Bennett said, when a reporter asked if it would be “accurate to say that it fell under the umbrella of mental health.”
While this is still pretty vague, it does sound as if the time away from football was needed for Bennett, who thanked the Rams franchise as a whole for allowing him to step away:
“Thank goodness that (general manager) Les (Snead) and (head) coach (Sean) McVay and everybody involved allowed me to do that,” Bennett said.
There can be so much pressure and so many things going on in a person’s life that the public knows nothing about. Hopefully Bennett was able to truly get himself in a great place mentally and can now focus on progressing in his career with the Rams. While he admitted there have been some struggles since his return to the field, Bennett believes things are improving as the days go on:
Although Bennett said he was “nervous the first day” back with the team during the offseason program, “it’s gotten better each day.”
“You hadn’t played football in a while and hadn’t talked to dudes in a huddle, right, which is a huge thing, and you’re relaying the play to ’em,” Bennett said. “A lot of nerves first day, but it’s going, I wouldn’t say seamlessly, but it’s gotten better each day just like you try to make it.”
The Rams did add veteran Jimmy Garoppolo to serve as Stafford’s backup so the pressure is on Bennett to prove he is still worth a roster spot. If he has put those issues behind him, Bennett has the opportunity to show the potential which got him drafted in the first place.
Sean McVay believes Stetson Bennett had ‘good look in his eyes’ during Rams OTAs
Early returns on Stetson Bennett since his return have been pretty positive, at least in the eyes of Rams head coach Sean McVay.
“I mean, he looks good,” McVay said during OTAs. “He’s had a good look in his eyes. He’s been attentive in the meetings and then I’m looking forward to next week to being able to get out on the grass with all of our players and Stetson being one of them.”
