Matthew Stafford’s back issue not the only big injury question the Rams are dealing with right now

The Los Angeles Rams have been in training camp for nearly three weeks now and during that time Matthew Stafford hasn’t practiced a single time due to a back injury. Rams coach Sean McVay is hopeful that Stafford will be able to practice by the end of the week, but even if he returns, the Rams still have another equally big issue to worry about and that’s at left tackle. 

Stafford’s absence from practice has overshadowed the fact that Alaric Jackson has also missed all of training camp. The left tackle, who started 14 games at the position last year for the Rams, hasn’t been able to practice due to blood clots. Although the Rams have left the door open for him to play in Week 1 against the Houston Texans, there’s certainly a chance that he won’t be ready. 

McVay was asked on Sunday if Jackson would be able to play in the opener.

“We’re still evaluating that,” McVay said. 

With Jackson’s status up in the air, the Rams have been holding an open competition in training camp between Warren McClendon and D.J. Humphries, who was just signed in June. McVay also mentioned David Quesenberry as a possibility. 

“I think it’s been really good,” McVay said of the play at left tackle. “I think D.J. Humphries has come in and done a really good job. I’ve been really impressed with Warren McClendon. He’s done an excellent job at right tackle and I think he’s shown that he’s capable of playing at left. David Quesenberry is another guy that’s really been able to show he’s a really good player in this league for a long time. He can play the right or the left spot. It’s a good thing to be able to have that kind of depth, but we’ll continuously evaluate.”

McVay also made another comment that suggested the Humprhies is probably the frontrunner to start in Week 1, if Jackson can’t go. 

“I’ve been pleased with those three guys. I think D.J. has really played his best ball as of late, which has been cool to see,” the Rams coach said. 

Looking at D.J. Humphries

The former first-round pick, who was taken 24th overall by the Cardinals in 2015, has 10 seasons of NFL experience under his belt, but he has had some trouble staying healthy. He missed nine games in 2022, and in 2024, he only played in two games. 

Humphries hit free agency in March, but he didn’t get signed right away due to questions about his health. The 31-year-old tore his ACL during Week 15 of the 2023 season, an injury that happened so late that it knocked him out for a good chunk of the 2024 season. Humphries ended up signing with the Kansas City Chiefs last season, but he didn’t sign until mid-November and he only ended up playing in two games for Kansas City due to a hamstring injury. 

The Chiefs had hoped that he could be THEIR left tackle, but things didn’t work out. Humphries was a Pro Bowler with the Cardinals in 2021, but the 31-year-old hasn’t been the same player since going through two injury-filled seasons over the past three years. 

Rams’ other options at left tackle

The Rams signed Quessenberry back in May and it appears they weren’t quite sold on him, because the signing of Humphries came just two weeks later. Quessenberry has been a backup for most of his career. Although he did start all 17 games for the Tennessee Titans in 2021, he’s only started seven out of the 49 games he’s played in the three seasons since then. 

On McClendon’s end, the former Georgia offensive lineman is at least familiar with the Rams’ offense. He’s going into his third season with the team after being taken in the fifth-round of the 2023 NFL Draft. In two years, he’s only made five starts and all of them came on the right side of the offensive line last year. 

During the Rams’ joint practices with the Cowboys last week, McVay came away impressed with McClendon, who spent some time at left tackle against Dallas, but it remains to be seen how well he’d handle possibly being the starter. 

“I’ve been really pleased with Warren,” McVay said on Aug. 7. “He’s obviously very comfortable playing on the right side. I thought the times that he had to come in for Rob Havenstein last year, he did a great job. Now you’re seeing a guy that has also shown that he can be really functional and is continuing to get better playing the left tackle as well. [He’s] getting comfortable to play in both of those stances. I’m really proud of Warren. I want to continue to see him take those steps, but he did a nice job.”

No matter who starts, this definitely isn’t an ideal situation for the Rams. Even if Jackson is able to play in Week 1, he won’t have very much practice under his belt before the Sept. 7 home game against Houston. 

With a defensive front that includes Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, the Texans are potentially a nightmare opponent for a team with a left tackle problem. Also, it doesn’t help that Stafford is dealing with an aggravated disc in his back. It only takes one big hit for an injury like that to flare up, so Stafford could be in for a long day against the Texans due to the Rams’ situation at left tackle. 

Although Stafford is expected to play in Week 1, he has to return to practice first, and the Rams are hoping that will happen over the next few days. 

“I think that’s probably something that at some point this week we would potentially explore,” McVay said on Sunday. “I think we’re going to take it a day at a time.”

Stafford did throw roughly 60 passes on Saturday and according to McVay, the Super Bowl winning quarterback didn’t look rusty. 

“It was awesome. He looked good,” McVay said. “He threw the ball really well. There were no limitations in terms of the types of throws. Deep, intermediate and short, we were moving the launch point. He felt really good and we’re looking forward to progressing him back into practice on Monday. It was a good step in the right direction.”

Stafford was in street clothes on Monday, according to the LA Daily News, but that’s not a total shock. McVay had said on Sunday that if Stafford did anything in Monday’s practice that it would be similar to what he did on Saturday, 

“[Monday] will represent a chance to be able to do some similar stuff and maybe even ramp it up a little bit more and then we’ll see where we’re at after that,” McVay said. 

Of course, the fact that he’s not participating at all could be a concern. 

As things stand, Stafford’s still not practicing and the Rams still have no idea who their starting left tackle is going to be in Week 1. It’s not quite panic time in Los Angeles, but with the start of the regular season less than four weeks away, the Rams are running out of time to get things figured out.