Rams QB Stetson Bennett hints at why he mysteriously missed most of his first NFL season

When the Los Angeles Rams opened the 2023 season in September, it appeared that Stetson Bennett would serve as the team’s backup quarterback behind Matthew Stafford. However, this never happened.

Ultimately, the rookie quarterback, who was taken in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, didn’t even prepare for a single game last season. Bennett missed the Rams’ opener with a shoulder injury and three days later was placed on the non-football injury (NFI) list. At the time, the Rams offered no details on why Bennett was placed on the list or when he might return.

“There are certain things that I consider a little bigger and more important, and out of respect for particulars and specificities, [I] I want to be able to keep him at home,” Rams coach Sean McVay said in September when asked about the situation.

Eight months later, Bennett is back with the Rams, and on Tuesday he held his first press conference since last year. During his meeting with the media, Bennett was quite vague about why he missed the season, saying that he wanted to “keep it at home“, but he admitted that his mental health played a role in his absence.

“Yes, I would say that,” said Bennett, via ESPN.

While Bennett didn’t offer many details about why he was away from the team, the Rams were a little more open about why he missed nearly all of his first year with the team. NFL.

During a recent interview with News 19 in AlabamaRams general manager Les Snead made it seem like Bennett might have been burned out after leading Georgia to two consecutive national titles.

“I know this: last year was very beneficial for him. I think he enjoyed that year out of the game,” said Snead, via RamsWire. “You know what, he’s an exhausted human being based on everything he’s done to move forward, to go to JUCO, to come back, to turn down small schools, to say ‘I’m going to try to do this Georgia thing.’ To win a job, then to win the thing and then determine: ‘I’m going back’. And when you come back, it’s really win again or you failed. And that takes a toll on human beings, so I was excited that Stetson could take that moment and breathe a little.

With the Rams going to two Super Bowls in four seasons (2018, 2021), Snead said the organization understood what kind of physical and mental toll it can take on a player to constantly play at a championship level.

“We had gone through this the previous year, where we won a Super Bowl and it really started when we lost the first one, but we were exhausted, so there was an element of understanding the cost it takes to put together a team, to do your part,” Snead said.

Due to this fact, the Rams had no issues with Bennett’s decision to take a break.

“The responsibility of the QB, and for our sake, we saw what to take a break, take a break from the game for some guys to cool off – I call it that, to get bored and fall in love again with the game you grew up playing in the backyard,” Snead said.

The former Georgia QB was grateful the Rams allowed him to miss most of the season and then return.

“Thank God that Les, Coach McVay and everyone involved allowed me to do this,” Bennett said.

Bennett returned to the Rams in April for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the team’s off-season workouts. He was also at OTAs this week and caught McVay’s attention.

“He did a great job,” McVay said on May 21. “He has good vision. I really appreciate the way he comes to work. [quarterbacks coach] Dave Ragone did a great job with the quarterbacks as a whole. His command, his communication skills and Stetson had some good days and it was good to have him here.”

Based on his actions this offseason, it appears the Rams weren’t sure if Bennett would actually return this year. In March, the signed team Jimmy Garoppolo for serve as a backup for Stafford, but Garoppolo will serve a two-game suspension to start the season, which will leave the door open for Bennett to earn the backup spot for the first two games of the year and possibly even longer if he can outplay the veteran quarterback.