Things ‘Started’ To Slow Down for Stetson Bennett vs. Raiders
How much game action does it take before things start to slow down for a rookie NFL quarterback? According to Los Angeles Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett, not a ton.
Following a 34-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders Saturday, Bennett was asked if the game is starting to slow down for him at all. The rookie quarterback gave a pretty candid answer to the question.
"It started to towards the end of this game," Bennett admitted. "You know, that's what reps do for you, repetition. Coach McVay says it's the mother of all learning and it's hard to disagree with him. There were times tonight where it did slow down for me and then there were times where it felt fast out there and you try to get the fast times to slow down each and every time you're out there."
The obvious retort to Bennett saying the game started to slow down would be to point to the pick-six that he threw to Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao late in the second quarter. Clearly, that was one of the moments where things still felt fast for Bennett, who took full responsibility for the mistake after the game.
"Yeah, I mean, that was completely my fault," Bennet acknowledged. "I thought he was going to run a different route than he did and anticipated it and he ran the one that was called and I threw the one that wasn't and I paid for it."
In his second preseason game, Bennett completed 15 of 24 pass attempts for 142 yards and an interception. He also scrambled for a four-yard touchdown in the third quarter. From the perspective of McVay, that's probably a pretty successful preseason game -- there are positives to take away from Bennett's performance, but enough that needs to be cleaned up that can be the focus for the final days of Training Camp.
McVay is right, though, there's no substitution for reps. Bennett had a ton of high-leverage reps against NFL-caliber competition during his collegiate career in Georgia. He's seen extended action in the first two preseason games for the Rams this year, and is likely to do so again in the team's preseason finale in Denver next Saturday.
The key for Bennett will be taking what he learned during his first NFL Training Camp and preseason and building off of that, even if his rookie season turns into a redshirt year of him sitting behind veterans Matthew Stafford and Brett Rypien. Because eventually, the opportunity will probably present itself for Bennett to play in meaningful game action, whether that's in 2023 or sometime in the future.
You can follow Tim Kelly @TimKellySports on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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