Even though the 2023 NFL season is only a week old, there has been some significant developments at the quarterback position across the league.
The most notable is the New York Jets, who unfortunately lost Aaron Rodgers to a season-ending Achilles rupture just four plays into his tenure with the team. Former Rams outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, who now plays for the Buffalo Bills, sacked Rodgers on Monday Night Football, causing the devastating injury.
New, former second overall pick Zach Wilson will take over as the Jets’ starter although they are said to be looking outside the organization for a qualified veteran to back him up.
The Los Angeles Rams have also seen some movement at the quarterback position behind Matthew Stafford as earlier this week, rookie backup Stetson Bennett was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list for an undisclosed reason.
Bennett already missed Week 1 with the shoulder injury and now it remains to be seen if he will be back at any point this season.
With that being the case, Rams practice squad quarterback Brett Rypien backed up Stafford in Week 1. He was then elevated to the 53-man roster and will continue to be L.A.’s backup moving forward.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN though, the Rams moving Rypien to the 53-man roster was in response to the Jets expressing interest in bringing him in to back up Wilson:
#Jets showed interest in #Rams QB Brett Rypien before L.A. promoted him from practice squad to 53-man roster today, per sources. Rams were elevating Rypien for gameday as QB2 regardless, but they were aware of the Jets’ looming presence and protected him with a roster spot.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 14, 2023
Even though Rypien is nothing more than an average backup, it made sense for the Rams to elevate him to the 53-man roster to avoid losing him given the uncertainty surrounding Bennett’s future.
Rypien spent all of training camp with the Rams and is the only qualified quarterback to take snaps for L.A. if something happens to Stafford, so that is not someone you want to lose after the season has already started.
Despite Rypien’s history with Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, he will be remaining with the Rams where he can learn under Sean McVay and Stafford.
Meanwhile, the Jets, who previously expressed interest in trading for Stafford as well, will have to continue their search for a veteran quarterback to back up Wilson.
