Matthew Stafford turned in a great performance against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, throwing a season-high four touchdown passes with just one interception. He did so despite still dealing with a lingering thumb injury that goes all the way back to Week 8.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Stafford admitted he’s not 100% healthy yet, but his thumb is getting better with each passing week. That’s highly beneficial for the Rams as they push for a playoff spot in the NFC because Stafford’s release and control of the ball is only going to keep improving.
“It’s not all the way back. I’m still having to do what I have to do tape-wise and all that kind of support-wise to get it feeling right,” Stafford said. “But it’s definitely a little bit more streamlined than it was in Seattle, what I’m able to play with. And I think the control is coming back a little bit more able just to kind of fine tune some of those throws at the end as you’re releasing it, being able to change it if you need to. It’s not all the way back, but it’s definitely trending in the right direction.”
This is an injury Stafford has played through before, so it’s nothing new for the resilient quarterback. And while it’s still affecting him slightly at the moment, he hopes it can get back to 100% at some point this season.
“Yeah, I hope so. Yeah, I think so,” he said. “What is it? Is it four weeks since the Dallas game this weekend coming up? So we’re still – four weeks isn’t that long of a time for what we got going on. I think it can continue to get better.”
The Rams have six games left, with a matchup against the Browns up first on Sunday afternoon. It’s one of the best defenses the Rams have faced all season, and it’ll be up to the pass protection to keep Stafford upright and help him avoid hits in the pocket. If he has time, we’ve all seen what Stafford can do to a defense – even the best ones.
