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With the pocket collapsing and a defensive tackle bearing down, Matthew Stafford didn’t flinch. He slid left, bought a sliver of space, and unleashed a 50-yard strike to Puka Nacua for a big gain during the Rams training camp practice on Monday.
As the reigning NFL MVP jogged to the sideline, an assistant coach greeted him with two emphatic hand slaps and a yell: “Freddy F— Kruger is back!”
Stafford just smiled and nodded.
“It was fun to be back out here today,” Stafford said after making his camp debut.
And just like that, the rest of the NFL felt it.
If this is what Stafford looks like on his first day of camp, what’s it going to look like in December and January?
Honestly, the day could’ve ended right there, and it would’ve qualified as a win. Stafford, Nacua and the Rams offense looked far closer to midseason form than a group still installing a Sean McVay playbook that probably grew by a hundred plays since last year.
“You give that guy too much time in the offseason, there’s going to be some tweaks and some fun stuff to come back to,” Stafford said, laughing.
Turns out, it was only the opening act.
In front of a packed crowd at Loyola Marymount University, the Rams put on a star-studded show that had fans buzzing from start to finish.
It all flowed through Stafford, who carved up the field with an efficiency and rhythm that felt more October than late July.
And while his 50-yard connection with Nacua turned heads, it wasn’t even his best moment. That belonged to Nacua’s spectacular one-handed snag on a crossing route that he turned into a long touchdown.
Not to be outdone, Davante Adams added his own highlight-reel moments, hauling in multiple catches and rounding out a receiver duo that already looks in sync with its quarterback.
“I’m surrounded by great players,” Stafford said in one of the understatements of the early season.
Lost in the offensive fireworks, the defense had its say, too.
A few snaps after Nacua’s one-handed grab, new Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie ran stride-for-stride with him on a post and broke up a would-be completion from Stafford.
Later, in the red zone, Myles Garrett blew through a double team for what would’ve been a sack.
The competitor in Stafford wants to win every rep, no exceptions. But the football player in him understands the give-and-take, because soon enough, it won’t be teammates pushing back. It’ll be opponents trying to survive a Rams defense that got a whole lot nastier this offseason.
“It would be concerning if we were out there just launching it over our defense,” Stafford said. “It’s so competitive out there and that’s so fun, right?”
And it was a reminder: this roster is loaded on both sides of the ball, and the possibilities are obvious.
Which makes McVay’s biggest challenge something most coaches don’t have: managing expectations, not masking flaws.
On a day like Monday, with stars flashing everywhere, it was easy to fast-forward to the fall.
McVay knows that.
“I think what’s great is people care about this game,” he said. “But I respectfully say that your guys’ opinions don’t mean S— to us.”
He smiled, but the message landed.
“I think you acknowledge it, but you also talk about how that doesn’t do anything,” McVay said. “In all seriousness, we’ve got to be inside-out. There’s going to be adversity that inevitably we hit. How we handle that will be key.”
McVay is right.
In a long season, it’s a given that unforeseen bumps in the road will rear their ugly head.
But on a spectacular late July afternoon in Los Angeles on Monday, and Freddy Kruger throwing daggers and a loaded Rams team putting on a show, you had to squint pretty hard through the sunshine to see any semblance of trouble.
English (US)