Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has been dealing with “bad tendonitis” in his right elbow that kept him from throwing on Wednesday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Stafford has had this issue for a while, as he didn’t throw in spring practices either.
“It is a tendon issue in his throwing elbow,” Rapoport said, via NFL.com. “[He] had a little of a procedure—not a surgery, but a procedure—more of a PRP-type deal in the offseason to try to manage it. Did not get to a place where he really needs it to be. I think long-term, everyone in L.A. thinks this is going to be fine.”
Despite Stafford’s limited reps so far, head coach Sean McVay said he isn’t concerned long term about the injury.
“It's just more of, when you really look at the totality of it, want to try to have him operate in as little as pain as possible,” he said after practice on Wednesday. “I think anytime that you've played as long and are as tough as he is, I don't know if you're ever truly pain free but the goal would be for Sept. 8 and really looking towards 17 games then hopefully some games after that if we earn that opportunity.”
Since taking over as Rams head coach in 2017, McVay has been very conservative during the preseason, keeping key starters out of preseason games as much as possible.
As Stafford has dealt with this elbow issue before, and with the Rams willing to take the quarterback’s progression to health slowly, McVay is comfortable with Stafford being limited right now.
“I am optimistic that it’ll give us the best chance for him to feel as good as possible,” he said. “Would you say, ‘Hey, you’d love him to have no issues and be out here playing and getting all these reps?’ Of course. But this is the thing that we think is best.”
