LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay provided an update on quarterback Stetson Bennett's status Wednesday after the former UGA standout missed his entire rookie season on the non-football injury and illness list.
It's been several months since McVay last spoke about Bennett. It was back in late October when he told team media that Bennett would likely not return to the team during the 2023 season.
During an end-of-the-year virtual press conference on Wednesday, ESPN Rams reporter Sarah Barshop asked McVay, "Do you expect Stetson Bennett to be with the team next year?"
"You know, I don't know that. I think that's a conversation for another time, Sarah," McVay said. "I think he's doing better but I wouldn't be in a position to answer that accurately right now. That's probably a long ways away for me being able to answer that."
Bennett has been away from the team since Sept. 13, when he was placed on the non-football injury list by the Rams for an issue that McVay at the time described was "bigger than" the game of football.
A few days later, on Sept. 23, McVay told reporters that he had spoken to Bennett over the phone the previous weekend and that he was doing "very well."
Bennett made his first public appearance since he stepped away from the team back in November when he accepted the Burlsworth Trophy when UGA played Ole Miss inside Sanford Stadium. The award is given to the nation’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on.
The requirements for going on a team's non-football injury list include the following options:
- A player suffering an injury away from the team’s practice facility.
- A long-term illness outside of football.
- An injury that occurred during a college season prevents a player from practicing at the start of his rookie season.
Bennett was a fourth-round pick by Los Angeles in the 2023 NFL Draft and would be in line to backup starting QB Matthew Stafford if he is, in fact, back with the team in 2024.
