Matthew Stafford in concussion protocol: Will he play on Sunday against the Cardinals?
In the event that Stafford can’t recover, the Rams will turn to their backup who has only started once before, but interestingly enough it was in a win against the Cardinals.
As they prepare for their Week 10 clash against the Arizona Cardinals, there remains the possibility that they will face their rivals without their starting quarterback, which of course would not be ideal.
Rams’ Matthew Stafford is in concussion protocol
According to the comments of Rams head coach Sean McVay on Wednesday, starting quarterback Matthew Stafford was placed in the concussion protocol on Tuesday. What that means is there is the possibility that the Rams who now sit on a 3-5 record and are in third place in the NFC West, will face their division rivals the Cardinals who are 3-6 without Stafford.
“What ended up happening was (vice president of sports medicine and performance) Reggie (Scott) and his group doing their kind of clean-up after the game,” said McVay. “You ask the questions and you do the right follow-ups and determined that they felt like that was the best thing for (Stafford). That’s kind of where we’re at with it. It’s more importantly about the person, then the player, in these types of things as we know, and nobody is more of a competitor and wanting to be out there with his teammates than Matthew. He’s in the protocol, so we’ll take it a day at a time with him. That was what our medical experts determined just based on some of the things that they gathered was the smart and the right course of action.”
Will Matthew Stafford face the Cardinals?
To be clear, there’s been no official word to suggest that Stafford won’t play on Sunday, but given that he’s being placed in concussion protocol at midweek, there is definitely doubt about whether or not he will play this weekend. In his last game, Stafford faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and though he was able to complete 13 of 27 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown, it wasn’t enough to prevent the Rams from losing 16-13.
Should Stafford finally be unavailable this coming Sunday, John Wolford will be handed his second career regular-season start. Out of Wake Forest, Wolford’s first was back in 2020 during Week 17 of the NFL season. On that day, he completed 22 of 38 passes for 231 yards with one interception in what turned out to be an 18-7 win against who you ask? The very same Cardinals. Wolford would then start the Rams’ playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks just a few days later but was forced off the field in the very first quarter with a neck injury. Ultimately, the Rams and Stafford will likely be pulling out all the stops to ensure that he takes the field on Sunday. Don’t be surprised if he’s a game-time decision. At the moment, the former No. 1 overall pick is averaging 241 passing yards per game and has thrown eight touchdowns and eight interceptions, in eight games played. That’s to say, it would be very good news if he’s cleared to play on Sunday.