As Matthew Stafford got to the podium on Thursday, he joked that he was sure reporters wanted to ask him questions about the paper cut he suffered.
The Rams star quarterback then fielded inquiries about the subject that clouds all conversation about the Rams: The back injury that sidelined Stafford until this week.
Stafford practiced for the fourth day in a row, another small milestone for the 17th-year pro and a team aiming to make a Super Bowl run.
“The good thing is I feel pretty good,” said Stafford, who practiced for the fourth day in a row. “The last couple days out there practicing, I was able to do even more than I thought I was going to be able to do the first day, and then I’ve just been trying to stack days.
“Backs are sometimes interesting things. It’s not cut and dry, what’s what and how you’re going to feel. So I’m really appreciative of our team, our head coach and everybody taking a day-to-day approach with me and doing everything they can to try and help me out.
“I have a feeling of responsibility to our team to do what’s right by them and I’m trying to do that as best as I can day in and day out.”
Stafford, 37, declined to discuss specifics of his injury, which coach Sean McVay has described as an aggravated disc that required at least one epidural injection.
Stafford said there was not a particular offseason incident that caused the condition, which apparently flared while training between the time the Rams returned from Maui in June and the start of training camp in late July.
“It wasn’t like one thing where I knew right away,” he said. “Just kind of something that crept up on me a little bit.”
Stafford said he had done “everything under the sun” to be able to return to the field.
Asked if he expected to be ready for the Sept. 7 opener against the Houston Texans, he said, “I’m not going to answer questions like that. … It’s probably a day-to-day thing. I’m just doing everything I can to try and be out there for the next practice.”
Rams coach Sean McVay, left, talks with quarterback Matthew Stafford, right, during training camp in Woodland Hills on Thursday.
(Gary Klein / Los Angeles Times)
Stafford’s return to the field began on Monday, two days after he did not go through a scheduled individual throwing session. Stafford recovered well enough from Monday’s workout to practice again on Tuesday. He participated in a team jogthrough on Wednesday, and then went through a full practice on Thursday.
Throughout the week, he looked sharp and showed no discernible signs of discomfort or limitations.
“I’ve seen a guy that’s gotten better and better,” McVay said. “He looks like the stud that we know.”
Stafford’s availability will be paramount for a team aiming to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2021-22 season, when Stafford led the Rams to a victory in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.
During the offseason, the Rams adjusted Stafford’s contract — he will carry a salary-cap number of $47.5 million this season, according to Overthecap.com — because they believe that with the addition of star receiver Davante Adams and a rising defense, they have a shot at another title.
During training camp and joint practices with the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, veteran Jimmy Garoppolo took first-team snaps in place of Stafford. Third-year pro Stetson Bennett also made major strides during training camp and two preseason starts.
Yet Stafford’s availability and performance will dictate whether the Rams can improve their performance from last season, when they advanced to the NFC divisional round before losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.
So the Rams and Stafford must manage the back issue.
The Rams play their final preseason game at Cleveland on Saturday, but Stafford — and perhaps other veterans — will not travel, McVay said.
Stafford sounded as if managing this back issue will be nothing new for a quarterback who played through numerous injuries during 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions and four with the Rams.
“There’s soreness all over the place, every time I wake up,” he joked. “It’s something that I’ll manage like I do a million other things throughout the year.”