“He’s At the Age Where…”: Insider Reflects on Matthew Stafford’s Back Injury & Camp Absence

After 16 years of wear and tear, some believe that the cracks are beginning to show in the armor of Matthew Stafford. According to recent reports, the star quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams has now been sidelined from the team’s training camp activities with back soreness. 

The former NFL quarterback and titled host of the Chris Simms Unbuttoned show clarified on Monday that the news is of “no concern,” even though Stafford’s status has changed from day-to-day to week-to-week. According to Simms, the veteran status of Stafford, let alone his pedigree, should be more than enough to warrant Los Angeles taking a cautious approach to his training and conditioning. 

“He’s at the age where they are going to be more safe than aggressive in this type of moment… It is Matthew Stafford, who is tough as hell… I’m not concerned by it. I expect the Rams to be awesome and I think that’s why they are playing it safe. They have a Super Bowl team and they are not going to risk f**king that all up right now in the end of July.”

While Stafford has certainly garnered a reputation for being one of the most durable signal callers in all of football, both he and the Rams certainly deserve some credit for knowing when to be tough and when to be smart. To Simms’ credit, now is obviously one of those times. 

Considering that the franchise recently agreed to pay him a $44-million salary this year, it’s more than understandable to see them treating Stafford like the precious gem that he is. 

Matthew Stafford’s injury history

The former Detroit Lion has incurred a laundry list of injuries throughout his soon-to-be 17-year career. Everything from torn ligaments and concussions to shoulder separations and a tailbone fracture helps to round out an injury history that dates all the way back to 2009. 

In regard to the ongoing issues with his lower back, this isn’t the first instance in which Stafford has been documented as having this issue. Following the Rams’ Week 5 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Stafford was reported to have been contending with lower back soreness, suggesting that this problem has been a recurring one for quite some time now. 

Should that prove to be the case, then Los Angeles is likely being cautious out of fear that prolonged activity might reaggravate or even potentially worsen what was already a preexisting problem. Nevertheless, the Rams’ head coach, Sean McVay, has stated that the goal is to have Stafford available by the start of the regular season. 

Given Stafford’s aforementioned propensity for playing through pain, it’s safe to say that, unless there’s some kind of serious setback, fans can fully expect to see him in shoulder pads come September 7th.