Stafford says he feels ‘great’ after taking some hits and playing a physical game on Sunday
Matthew Stafford came out and played a great game in Week 1, which came as a surprise to many after there were questions about how his health would be coming into the season. Stafford didn’t seem to miss a beat from the end of last season when he threw four touchdown passes and no interceptions in two playoff games.
As he does each week, Stafford appeared on SiriusXM’s “Let’s Go” Monday and was asked about how his back feels after playing his first game. His response was predictably encouraging.
“I feel good,” he said. “First time playing football in a while. As a quarterback, we go through training camp, we don’t get hit all of training camp, at least in our camp. And then you show up Week 1 and it’s a physical game against a really good front.”
Stafford then went deeper into how his body physically responded the morning after the game, while also having an understanding that simple soreness comes with the position.
“So there’s some soreness but nothing to deal with my back,” he said. “I feel great, excited that I came out of it the way I did. And looking forward to having a good week of practice.”
Jim Gray, the host of the show, then followed up and wasted no time trying to gauge Stafford’s fear and the thought process of re-aggravating the injury, but once again, the response seemed promising and was music to every Rams fan’s ears.
“I don’t really feel like that’s a part of it,” he said. “I feel like I get so immersed in the game. If people are running around me, you spend so much time in the pocket, as you get older and a little longer in the tooth, it becomes a little bit more natural.”
Stafford will try to lead the Rams back to the playoffs for the third consecutive year as that would be his fourth time making the playoffs with the team. He’s off to a great start after finishing the week with the best grade of any quarterback in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
