Rams News: Matthew Stafford's Hit Count This Season is Ridiculous

Ricardo Klein | 3 Hours Ago

Oct 6, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws a pass during the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Rams 2024 season has not gone according to plan. The Rams will enter their Week 6 bye week with a 1-4 record and are still dealing with injuries to many of their significant players.

The Rams get a well-needed rest this year and will look to come back in Week 7, renewed and refreshed. The Rams have lost seven of their 10 vital players so far this season, and luckily one of them is not quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The 36-year-old is still upright although he has taken a beating behind depleted line this season. The Athletic's Jourdan Rodrigue shared that Stafford has been hit 40 times through five games, the third most in the league according to TruMedia.

Stafford has been hit 40 times so far this season, the third-most in the NFL according to TruMedia. Sixteen of those hits were sacks. https://t.co/DaNoRcP3n9

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) October 7, 2024

One of the top priorities this season was to keep Stafford healthy and upright. So far that has not been the case, but it has a lot to do with the injuries suffered by the offensive line.

Two of L.A.'s star offensive linemen, guard Steve Avila and Jonah Jackson are both dealing with significant injuries. Jackson is dealing with a shoulder injury and Avila is dealing with a knee injury. Both are expected to come back this season but it may be too little too late by then.

The offensive line is depleted and that is bad news for Stafford. Because of this, Sean McVay shared with the media that Stafford is dealing with back soreness although he is expected to be fine for Week 7.

“I think there were a couple more than one hit, so I’m not exactly sure,” he said. “This guy’s been playing for a long time. He’s as tough as it gets. He took some shots yesterday. He’s taken some shots this year and throughout the course of his career. I think he just had a little bit of back soreness and it’s something that we want to monitor is all I was really getting at. I didn’t want to make it too big of a deal because we don’t expect it to be something that does limit his ability to participate in practice when we do get back either.”

Stafford is one of the toughest guys in the league; however, there is only so much he can do with a depleted offensive line and weapons.

Nonetheless, he is expected to be out here in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders at home.

More Rams: Rams HC Sean McVay Explains Decision in Benching DB