With the media and fans watching Matthew Stafford closely to make assessments of his throwing arm, the Rams quarterback had one message for them: just watch him throw.
“I don’t know if you guys were watching, I felt like I could make any throw I wanted today,” Stafford said. “I’m just trying to be smart when I get those opportunities to make sure I can get here, let it go, let it go like I did today and go from there.”
Throughout the off-season, Stafford dealt with an ongoing elbow injury that required an anti-inflammatory shot and kept him from pitching in the spring. And with the season just weeks away, questions are still swirling about how Stafford will be able to deal with the pain and how much it may affect him throughout the season.
But head coach Sean McVay, who earlier this week said the Rams gave Stafford a lighter workload in light of the issues, still said the team is not at all concerned about Stafford’s ability to play at his best in Week 1. , and repeated Stafford’s claims. that anyone who saw him throw on Saturday could see that he was doing well.
“He threw it all over the yard today, looked really good, felt good. We’re right on track with what we hoped for and I think you could really see,” McVay said. “The ball jumped out of his hand and made all kinds of throws, so I think he was trying to show you that there probably aren’t many questions you can ask him, based on how he felt about the way he threw the ball. .. around today.”
While Stafford and McVay both downplayed the injury during Saturday’s talk, with the quarterback saying it was just “a little bit of pain,” the problem could be even more serious, with NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reporting that Stafford is also dealing with bad tendonitis, also known as “thrower’s elbow.” Rapoport said that while Los Angeles doesn’t seem to be concerned about the long-term effects, when it comes to a franchise quarterback, any throwing arm problem is taken seriously, which is why the Rams have been so careful to limit the number. number of reps Stafford takes.
As the preseason heats up in anticipation of the start of the season, and with it the potential strain of an injured elbow, we’ll have to see how Stafford holds up and if his reassuring words turn out to be true. But in the meantime, after seeing Saturday’s practice, McVay said at least he’s not worried about his QB.
“I know this, the way he looked today, I don’t think you would know anything was up,” McVay said. “He felt good. So I know I’ll sleep better tonight.’