Schefter: Rams Don’t Sound Concerned About Matthew Stafford’s Back Injury

Rams QB Matthew Stafford has yet to practice during training camp as he deals with back soreness. 

During NFL Live on Monday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave an update on the situation. He downplayed the severity of the injury and said the Rams believe Stafford could play if there were a regular-season game this week. 

“Matthew Stafford still hasn’t practiced in training camp due to a lingering back injury, but the Rams do not sound concerned,” Schefter said. “This sounds more like a maintenance issue where they’re being smart with their 37-year-old quarterback who they feel like doesn’t need the work necessarily right now. And they feel like if there were a game today, Matthew Stafford would be able to play. So again, disconcerting that your quarterback’s not practicing, but it doesn’t sound overly alarming right now.”

Stafford, 37, is a former first-round pick of the Lions, who took him with the No. 1 overall pick out of Georgia in 2009. He was in the final year of a five-year, $76.5 million contract when he and the Lions agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension back in 2017.

Stafford was involved in a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for QB Jared Goff and draft picks in 2021. He signed a four-year extension worth $160 million that included $135 million guaranteed a year later. 

The Rams and Stafford later reworked that deal going into the 2024 season, moving money up from the back of the contract. Stafford was due $27 million and $31 million in the final two years of his deal when the two sides reworked his existing contract again in 2025. 

In 2024, Stafford appeared in 16 games for the Rams and threw for 3,762 yards while completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.