Matthew Stafford is 33 years old and has taken a beating over his career.
Most men start feeling this way in our 40s, but Stafford feels the pain right now at 33 and in the latter half of the NFL season.
He needs a break, but the Rams can’t afford to sit him down. That is one of the gambles of trading for an older player, the possibility of injury is higher.
Who knows the type of things that Stafford will have to inject into his body to play.
A back injury limited Stafford to eight appearances in 2019, but he didn’t miss a single game in 2020. That isn’t to say the 33-year-old was fully healthy, as he later revealed the problems he was dealing with while continuing to play.
Los Angeles fell lucky in training camp when Stafford hit his thumb on a helmet but avoided any structural damage. He has started every game so far in 2021, throwing for 3,014 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
The franchise made a big bet on the 2014 Pro Bowler in the hope he was enough of an upgrade over Jared Goff to significantly improve its odds of winning a Super Bowl. Because of that, losing Stafford for any stretch of time would be a setback.
The impact of any absence would be compounded by the fact that John Wolford is the backup quarterback. Wolford went 22-of-38 for 231 yards and one interception in his only start last year.
The Rams, after a fast start, have looked mortal on both offense and defense.
Robert Woods tore his ACL, and Odell Beckham Jr. is trying to get acclimated to the new system. The real problem is on defense.
Even though the Rams have a bunch of star players, they are giving up a lot of points and yards lately.
Flip the pages for the breakdown of all Stafford’s injuries and some of the Twitter reactions.