The 3-5 Los Angeles Rams currently sit in third place in the NFC West, and host a division rival this Sunday in the 3-6 Arizona Cardinals. They may be without their quarterback, however, as Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters Wednesday that Matthew Stafford had been placed in the concussion protocol. Stafford entered the protocol Tuesday, per a team spokesman (via The Athletic). He did not participate in practice on Wednesday or Thursday.
"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."
With Stafford being placed in the protocol mid-week, that puts his availability for Sunday into question. Stafford completed 13 of 27 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown in the 16-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday.
If Stafford is not able to go, John Wolford would make his second career regular-season start. The Wake Forest product's first start came in Week 17 of the 2020 season, as he completed 22 of 38 passes for 231 yards and one interception in an 18-7 win against the Cardinals. Wolford started the Rams' playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks less than a week later, but exited in the first quarter due to a neck injury.
Stafford will surely do everything he can to suit up this week, and he could even be a game-time decision. 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.
