Rams' Sean McVay Unpacks Level of Confidence in Stetson Bennett For First Two Weeks

How do the Rams feel about Bennett as their backup?

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Rams are putting their trust in Stetson Bennett to backup quarterback Matthew Stafford for the first two games of the regular season. With Jimmy Garoppolo out for the first two games of the 2024 regular season, while he serves a suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, the Rams will rely on Bennett, who has yet to play in a regular season game.

In preparation for those first two games, Bennett played the entire first two preseason games for the Rams at quarterback. Bennett got off to a shaky start in the first preseason game, in his return to game action after spending the 2023 season away from the team to take care of his mental health.

Against the Dallas Cowboys, Bennett threw four interceptions as he struggled throughout the majority of the game. He ended up leading the Rams to a comeback win with a game-winning touchdown, but that touchdown was far from enough to erase the worries his turnovers left.

Bennett did rebound the following week, going 17-31 with 213 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in a 13-9 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. His performance was enough for the Rams head coach Sean McVay 'feel good' about having Bennett as their backup to start the year.

"He did a good job," McVay said, via Rams.com's Stu Jackson. "I think he got a body of work in terms of both of those games going from wire to wire. I think he's done really well in some of the practice settings. And when you do look at it, you're obviously very fortunate to have Jimmy that will be coming back on Week 3, but he's done enough that we feel good about him for those first couple weeks."

Bennett did not play in the Rams' final preseason game, with Dresser Win taking over at quarterback for the 17-15 loss to the Texans.

The Rams of course hope to not have to utilize Bennett, or even Garoppolo, at any point this season besides end-of-game mop-up duty. Stafford has missed at least one game over each of the last two seasons because of injury and did miss part of camp this summer because of hamstring tightness, but the Rams have taken a cautious approach with their 36-year-old quarterback to try and keep him healthy.

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