Rams practice
Quarterback Stafford injures his thumb during practice, raising fears.
IRVINE >> Among the questions hanging over the Rams’ high expectations this season, one looms like a pin over a Super Bowl party balloon.
What if quarterback Matthew Stafford gets hurt?
The Rams found themselves facing that worry head-on Monday when Stafford went to the sideline after hitting his right thumb on a teammate’s helmet as he followed through on a pass late in a training camp practice.
There was no immediate indication of the severity of the injury, which affects the thumb on which Stafford had surgery in March to repair a ligament tear that hampered him the second half of the 2020 season.
“I don’t know anything yet. No more information yet,” said coach Sean McVay, who dispenses all official Rams injury information.
McVay was asked what his gut reaction was when he saw this happen to his offense’s $27 million-per-year leader, for whom the Rams traded quarterback Jared Goff and three draft picks to the Lions in January.
“Probably what you’d expect,” McVay said with a slight smile. Let’s guess: Two words. Oh, blank. “I think he’ll be OK. We’ll just see what happens,” McVay said.
The injury happened during the Rams’ last practice in shorts and helmets before they’re permitted to start working out in pads today, and five days before they scrimmage against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday in Oxnard. Scrimmages are the closest thing to game action Rams starters will get before the regular season opens on Sept. 12. McVay holds them out of preseason games to reduce the risk they’ll get hurt.
Other context only worsens the blow if Stafford has to miss any time.
It comes after the Rams lost No. 1 running back Cam Akers to an Achilles tear sustained in an offseason workout on July 19, leaving Darrell Henderson as the team’s only experienced ball carrier.
And the way it happened bears an eerie resemblance to Goff’s thumb injury in the second-to-last regularseason game of 2020.
Goff needed surgery, missed the final regular-season game and was benched in favor of John Wolford, one of the first public signs that the 2018 Super Bowl quarterback had fallen out of favor.
On Monday, Wolford, 25, stepped up and took first-unit practice reps as Stafford, 33, had the hand bandaged by Reggie Scott, the Rams vice president of sports medicine and performance.
Wolford, former Steelers backup Devlin “Duck” Hodges and secondyear undrafted player Bryce Perkins are the other quarterbacks on the 90-man roster.
Stafford walked off the field with the rest of the team after practice, the thumb wrapped, his helmet dangling by the face guard from his other fingers, briefly covering it all with a towel as he walked past reporters.
Later, Stafford was seen walking out of the Rams’ UC Irvine facilities with the right hand still in a wrap, working his phone with his left.
McVay wouldn’t speculate immediately after practice, at which point Stafford hadn’t been examined.
But the coach sounded hopeful that it’s not serious — or that if it is serious, Stafford could return sooner than most players, the way legend says he did in 12 seasons in Detroit.
“Look at what he played through all last year, having to get the thumb cleaned up,” McVay said.
Without referring to Goff’s identical incident, McVay called a hand-onhelmet mishap “something that consistently occurs” as quarterbacks follow through on throws over a rush.
“It’s one of those things where I’m saying to myself, man, I feel stupid that I didn’t implement some of the things to prevent that,” McVay said. “I’ve seen some teams around the league that have those shells on their helmet where you can at least soften the blow when you do come down on top of it.
“What you say is hopefully you don’t have to learn the hard way, and you start to implement things like that to try and minimize the risk of injury.”
In other injury news, McVay said he had no updates on rookie defensive back Robert Rochell (wrist) or defensive lineman Bobby Brown III (thumb).
But suddenly, those weren’t the biggest questions.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz is expected to miss five to 12 weeks because a broken left foot, coach Frank Reich said.
He was to have surgery Monday to remove a piece of bone, Reich said. Doctors determined Wentz had broken the foot years ago, probably in high school. Part of the bone came loose during practice last Thursday.
Wentz hasn’t practiced since and instead has been making the rounds with doctors. Reich said the Colts will have a better timetable about two weeks into Wentz’s rehab.
Reich made the announcement following his return to the practice field after missing all of last week’s workouts because of a positive COVID-19 test.
For now, Indy plans to use Jacob Eason as the starter. Eason was a fourth-round draft pick in 2020 and has not appeared in an NFL game — regular season or preseason. The Colts also signed veteran quarterback Brett Hundley on Saturday.
• Nick Chubb signed a three-year, $36.6 million contract extension with the Cleveland Browns. He had one year left on his rookie contract.
in three seasons, Chubb has rushed for 3,557 yards and 28 touchdowns, and he gained 1,067 yards in 2020 despite missing four games with a knee injury.
• The New York Giants resigned Alfred Morris to add depth to the running game in case star Saquon Barkley isn’t ready for the start of the regular season coming off a major knee injury.
• Miami Dolphins receiver Preston Williams joined three tight ends already on the team’s COVID-19 reserve list, and co-offensive coordinator George Godsey was absent Monday for unspecified medical reasons. Tight ends Mike Gesicki, Cethan Carter and Adam Shaheen went on the list Sunday.
• Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, is out indefinitely with a knee sprain. from earning money from endorsement and sponsorship deals.
• LSU quarterback Myles Brennan, a fifthyear senior competing to regain the starting job he lost to injury a season ago, now needs surgery to repair what coach Ed Orgeron called a severe left arm injury.
Brennan’s “timeline is yet to be determined,” Orgeron said.
Brennan’s injury to his non-throwing arm means sophomore Max Johnson, who went 2-0 as a starter late last season, will enter the start of fall camp Friday with the inside track to start LSU’s season opener Sept. 4 at UCLA.
• Quentin Hillsman resigned as the women’s basketball coach at Syracuse, whose team is under review by a law firm over his alleged threats and bullying of players.
Syracuse had 12 players enter the transfer portal after the season. Hillsman blamed their departure on attrition, COVID-19 and the transfer portal. But allegations of threats, bullying and unwanted physical contact by Hillsman were reported by The Athletic, which spoke to nine former players and staff. The report prompted the university to hire an outside firm to investigate.