LOS ANGELES — It's been a long year for Stetson Bennett. The former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback had a strenuous start to his Los Angeles Rams career -- a start that saw the two-time national champion step away from football.
Nearly 365 days after Bennett departed the team to head home for reasons he insinuated were mental health battles, he is back with the team and feeling like his old self. Now, Bennett has a prime opportunity to show the Rams why he deserves to be the team's backup QB heading into the season.
His chance to do that has already begun but will be put into even more focus when the preseason begins for the Rams. That's because Bennett should command a lion's share of those reps and have a chance to prove himself to head coach Sean McVay and the rest of the Rams coaching staff.
As of now, the Rams have three quarterbacks on the roster with a legitimate chance to make the 53-man roster -- starter Matthew Stafford and backups Bennett and the newly-signed Jimmy Garoppolo.
But Garoppolo is set to serve a two-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs. McVay said that he is not planning to play the former Patriots, 49ers and Raiders signal-caller during the preseason unless he specifically asks to play, according to LA Times Rams reporter Gary Klein.
McVay had positive things to say about Bennett when asked about the state of the quarterback position with his team.
"Here's what I will say is, (I'm) super impressed with obviously Matthew in the offseason," McVay said. "I thought Stetson made tremendous growth. I thought Jimmy Garoppolo looked like the guy that I've seen playing at a really high level, and that gives me confidence."
Bennett has expressed the nerves he felt being back out on the field during offseason camp and his love for the game.
“A lot of nerves the first day of the offseason program," Bennett said of his return to the Rams earlier in the spring. "It’s gone — I wouldn’t say seamlessly, but it has gotten better each day, just like you try to make it," before adding, “It's been great to get back to football. It's what I love.”
