The Rams held John Wolford out of the preseason opener last week, seemingly as a precaution to ensure their backup quarterback doesn’t get hurt before the season begins. That will change on Friday when the Rams host the Texans.
Sean McVay revealed after practice on Wednesday that Wolford will play the first half of the game, and Bryce Perkins will come in for the second half.
“John is gonna play the first half and Bryce will play the second half, so it’ll be good to get John Wolford some experience,” he said.
McVay explained the decision to give Wolford some playing time in this preseason game, knowing the Rams only have three quarterbacks on the roster right now. He felt it was the best way to “set up John for the most success.”
“I think these are valuable experience opportunities for a player like John, who we have a ton of confidence in but he hasn’t played a whole lot,” McVay continued. “He played against Arizona and he played a quarter against Seattle in those real-game experiences, so you can’t really substitute where you’re able to get tackled, get out there and play with some of the other guys and operate in a situation where you want Matthew to be able to stay as healthy as possible, but if he did have to do something, we feel like this would be the best opportunity for John to get in there, get into a rhythm and routine.”
Wolford threw only four total passes last regular season, completing one of them for 5 yards. He also played against the Cardinals in the season finale in 2020 and a quarter of the postseason win over the Seahawks, but his lack of experience is evident.
It’s a good idea for the Rams to get him some work this week.
