LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matthew Stafford looked across the Los Angeles Rams ' line in his first practice of training camp Monday and saw both the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the highest-paid cornerback in the league. When he dropped back, he could throw to last season's NFL leader in yards receiving last season or touchdown receptions.
Stafford is the reigning NFL MVP and a Super Bowl champion himself, but he also spent enough seasons of his career
on mediocre teams to recognize just how good he has it here in his 18th year.
“It was a blast to be out here today,” Stafford said. “I’m surrounded by so many great players, and I don’t take that for granted, both on our side of the football and on the defensive side. It’s a blessing to come out here every single day and compete against these guys and play with the guys on the offensive side. Just an exciting time.”
After sitting out of Sunday's opening practice as part of the Rams' plan to keep their franchise quarterback in top shape for the season ahead, Stafford looked remarkably sharp in his first workout of training camp. He repeatedly found All-Pro Puka Nacua and Davante Adams in solid coverage with long, precise throws that had the crowd at Loyola Marymount cheering.
The Rams made a handful of bold personnel moves in the past four months to maximize the size of their remaining championship window with their 38-year-old quarterback, but coach Sean McVay said on the opening day of camp that he won’t measure his team’s success or failure “by whether or not we win a Super Bowl."
“That’s not what I believe,” McVay added. "I’m not living that way. I’ve gotten caught up in things like that before and those are things that are way beyond our control.”
Stafford agrees with his coach's mindset, realizing the journey is more important than the destination.
Having said all that, he's still thrilled by the chance to start this trip by going against pass-rushing monster Myles Garrett and elite cornerback Trent McDuffie in practice each day.
“We can't help but make each other better, (but) pieces of paper and names on a roster, those don’t win football games,” Stafford said. “Teams and players and groups do. ... Sean said it the other night, we’ve got potentially a high ceiling, right? We’ve got great players that have done a lot in this league. What can we do to continue to raise our floor, so if I’m off a little bit, we can still go find a way to win a football game? If our defense is off a little bit, we can still find a way to go win a football game. Continuing to raise that floor is something that’s going to be a huge part of our journey this season.”
Stafford is coming off arguably the best season of his long career after throwing for 4,707 yards with 46 touchdowns and just eight interceptions for the league's most productive offense. He led the Rams to 12 wins and the NFC championship game, where he passed for 374 yards and three touchdowns without a pick — and it still wasn't enough to hold off the eventual champion Seattle Seahawks, largely because LA's defense couldn't get off the field when it mattered most.
The Rams addressed that defensive failure head-on this year, acquiring Chiefs cornerback duo McDuffie and Jaylen Watson before swinging the blockbuster trade last month for Garrett.
Los Angeles is loaded on paper — but it's also theoretically just one Stafford injury away from lining up with rookie Ty Simpson or backup Stetson Bennett running the offense.
That's why McVay and Stafford are doing everything possible to keep his sometimes-balky back in top shape along with the rest of him. The Rams’ plan for their quarterback is just the latest instance of the preseason-hating McVay’s overall determination to expose his veteran players to the least amount of wear and tear possible before Week 1.
“That's part of the plan, to be able to keep him on a pitch count,” McVay said, noting that the Rams' plan to cut Stafford's camp practices in half is the product of six years of preparation and experience. “Hey, whether it was a weird way or not, we learned a lot about how to try to be able to maximize him.”
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