Matthew Stafford Hoping 'Trust' Will Pull Rams Out of Even Bigger Dismal Start

John Robinson | Sep 21, 2024

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck (45) sacks Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) on Sept. 15, 2024, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In week two of the 2024-25 NFL season, the Los Angeles Rams continued to be infected by the injury bug. The most injured team in football lost Cooper Kupp to an ankle injury in the second quarter of their game against the Arizona Cardinals and to make things worse their secondary took another hit after safety John Johnson III suffered a hairline fracture to his scapula.

After being routed by the Cardinals 41-10, the Rams are desperate to avoid a 0-3 to the season. Head coach Sean McVay and franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford both share the same mentality of not using the injuries that their team has experienced as an excuse for their lack of wins to start the year.

McVay spoke with reporters on Wednesday about the Rams' week three matchup with NFC West rival the San Francisco 49ers who are also down two key players in Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffery. The lead man in Los Angeles is very familiar with 49ers' head coach Kyle Shanahan going back to their time as assistants for the Washington Commanders. Despite the loss of two key players, coach McVay is still aware of how dangerous this San Francisco offense can be.

"(Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey) are great players that are tremendous assets for them... But they've got a lot of other guys that they are doing that with as well, you look at the way their backs have stepped in and done an amazing job of continuing to produce at a really high level in the first two games... With those two guys out, I'm hopeful that they'll be okay, but I'm not sad that they're not playing against us." 

With the Rams' offense down both of their star wide receivers and several offensive linemen out with injuries, quarterback Matthew Stafford will have to adjust around his young team. The Los Angeles passing attack will be reliant on Tutu Atwell, Demarcus Robinson, Tyler Johnson, and Jordan Whittington to be effective against a well-oiled 49ers secondary. During his conversation with reporters, Stafford touched on how he has to adjust to the tendencies of his new look-receiving group.

"whoever they put in there, I trust those guys." Stafford said "Just try to be as clear and concise as I possibly can. The way some of these guys might run routes might be different than how Puka and Cooper run them... It's body language. I don't mean they run completely different route trees, (it's) more in the fact that the way they might separate is going to be different."

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