It was noted ahead of their game against the Seattle Seahawks that Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was placed on injured reserve.
Most of the focus surrounding the Super Bowl quarterback’s injury issues dealt with a concussion he suffered Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After missing Week 10’s action, Stafford was able to return the following week against the New Orleans Saints. Unfortunately, Stafford suffered another concussion — pretty much ending his season in the process.
Following Sunday’s narrow loss to the Seahawks, head coach Sean McVay noted that Stafford is also dealing with a spinal cord contusion in addition to his concussion issues. This likely guarantees that he will not return before the end of the season.
By virture of their defeat at the hands of the Seahawks, Stafford and the Rams have lost six consecutive games. They sit at 3-9 and four games out of the final NFC wild card spot with five games remaining. It makes absolutely no sense to bring Stafford back given Los Angeles is finishing up shop on a lost season. Add in the fact that we’re talking about a spinal cord injury, and that’s magnified further.
After playing at an exceptional level in his first season with the Rams en route to helping them win the Super Bowl, Stafford struggled big time before these injuries popped up.
- Matthew Stafford stats (2022): 68% completion, 2,087 yards, 10 TD, 11 turnovers, 87.4 QB rating
For comparison’s sake, Stafford will finish the 2022 season with his worst stat line since he was a rookie with the Detroit Lions back in 2009.
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Despite these injury issues, there’s no reason to believe Stafford will hang his cleats up. The former No. 1 pick inked a four-year, $160 million contract extension with Los Angeles a short while after leading the team to the Lombardi Trophy last February. He’s under contract through the 2026 campaign.
Even then, any time we’re talking about a spinal cord injury, it’s not great.