Observing Rams QB Matthew Stafford through an entire practice — his first in pads of 2024 (2024)

LOS ANGELES — Look, I know nobody asked for this.

Yet I always wonder: Do people outside of the football ecosystem know what an NFL quarterback actually does throughout practice? Do they care?

I guess we’ll find out, as I set out to accomplish both the detailed (and deranged). I lurked around the sidelines throughout Tuesday’s padded practice to focus specifically on Matthew Stafford during his first practice in pads of the 2024 season. The Los Angeles Rams’ star quarterback is entering his 16th year in the league, and recently agreed to an adjusted contract that slightly bumps his pay and guaranteed money over the next calendar year. He’s also coming off perhaps his best season, after lifting a very young roster to 10 wins and a playoff berth in 2023.

It was a second run-heavy day after a less-than-impressive (and Stafford-less) session from the offense on Monday. But there was still plenty to see:

• Stafford walked out to the main practice field about 30 minutes before the 4:40 start time, carrying his own pads, but made a quick stop at the Sirius XM broadcasting table before heading to the far side of the area to get some pre-practice warmups in (I followed around the perimeter and tried to not look like a creep). Some of this involved moving hip-twists and throwing small weighted balls against the side of the weight room. These exercises were popularized for rotational athletes by biomechanics and throwing specialist Tom House, who has worked with Stafford as well as with his offseason private coaches.

• At 4:31, Stafford walked toward the bleacher side of the field with his pads and red non-contact jersey on (obviously the quarterbacks can’t get hit in practice). The other three — backups Jimmy Garoppolo (the former 49er who seems to take scattered heckling by the Rams fans in the crowd in stride), Stetson Bennett and Dresser Winn — had started warming up with each other. As Stafford began throwing to Garoppolo and veteran running back Boston Scott, a young boy in the bleachers wearing a Cooper Kupp jersey stood up and shouted his name. Stafford waved, and the boy was so overwhelmed he promptly sat back down.

• After stretching lines, much of the opening third of practice is devoted to individual position drills around the perimeter of the field, and some special teams work in the middle. The quarterbacks, led off by Stafford, began with snap-to-handoff reps with their respective center. Stafford is partnered with second-year player Steve Avila, who is in his first year at center as a pro. Avila and Stafford talked constantly between snaps. Avila is also a left-handed center (Stafford’s second lefty in as many years), which means the ball rotates in the opposite direction on the snap as a right-handed center’s would. Avila’s snap has a little slant to it from his left hand up into Stafford’s right hand.

Year 16 never looked so good 😎 pic.twitter.com/KkzmcXI7wo

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) July 30, 2024

• Quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone led the group through rollout drills next, which is exactly what it sounds like as the quarterback collects the snap and rolls to his left or right. With skill players running drills for their respective positions elsewhere, these snaps and throws came from and went to a team of rotating equipment managers — and the crowd let them hear it if they dropped a pass.

• Footwork drills over step pads were next, on the bleachers sideline. Ragone arranged low, rectangular pads in a ladder formation for the quarterbacks to run through facing the field, then throw on the move. At various points, he pivoted one of the pads to simulate a pocket movement he wanted the quarterback to work around. As they did, Ragone either pointed left or right and they had to flush that way and throw on the move.

• Next, you guessed it, more drills: In the Rams’ offense, every change in their cadence and count, every step in their drop and how long they hold the ball are paired with different route combinations. So … this was what they practiced. If I told you any more, I would get a dart to the neck by some shadowy figure in a royal blue T-shirt while shopping at the local Vons.

• Would you believe more drills came next? Ragone simulated pressure against the quarterbacks as Stafford and the rest of the group had to hop-throw over his outstretched arm.

• Almost there … a drill that involved weaving through a line of hit dummies came next, and again throwing while on the move.

• Finally, the receivers arrived! Stafford always begins throw-and-catch reps (“individual” drills or “individuals”) with veteran receiver Cooper Kupp. The order the receivers line up matters, because generally in training camp two quarterbacks throw at once (the starter and the backup, then the No. 3 and No. 4). Observers can get a genuine feel for the first- and second-team players (and who might be cracking into a higher level) by watching these. Stafford threw to Kupp, Puka Nacua and Demarcus Robinson in sequence. All players go through a series of short, mid-range and longer routes through this period.

• The offense next broke into “11-on-0” formation with a full field, with the defense finishing up individuals on the converted softball field the Rams are using as a secondary space. I checked my watch and it was 5:10 p.m., and I thought, do you mean to tell me that all of those drills only took 30 minutes? I questioned my life choices. The 11-on-0 period basically works like an elevated walk-through or installation session before the defense jogged out to the field for 11-on-11 (“team”) drills. The fun part of this (besides the fact that everything about football is fun) was watching head coach Sean McVay and assistants Mike LaFleur, Ryan Wendell, Zak Kromer and Nick Caley act as defensive players during the reps.

• Guess what? More drills. This time, Stafford led the quarterbacks and running backs through the same “hop throw” sequence as earlier in the day, but dumped the ball off to the running backs instead of the equipment managers. These plays simulate checkdowns or outlet balls under pressure or if the quarterback baits a blitzing defender.

• You definitely need to know this point as hyped-up clips of camp circulate on social media: The Rams organize team drills so that the first-team offense goes against the second-team defense, and vice versa through a large part of the practice. There are key ultra-competitive periods where first-team goes against first-team, that are designed to often include down-and-distance parameters or are in the red zone. Tuesday, the Rams opened with “2s” (offense) against “1s” (defense). Some of the idea behind this is to get starters and depth competitive reps while simultaneously getting the “1s” better looks to run/install certain concepts.

• When Stafford took the field against the 2s defense, he handed off to lead rusher Kyren Williams on an outside run, then hit Robinson on an out-breaking route to the right side, then Kupp in the middle of the field off a motion play.

• When Garoppolo and the 2s offense retook the field, Stafford went to the side and immediately began talking to assistant coaches (McVay called plays for Garoppolo) and teammates and looked at the play card and the giant video boards replaying the downs on the side of the field.

• Stafford’s next sequence (against the 2s): Another run play, a dump-off ball to tight end Colby Parkinson on a dead play and then another handoff. Again, Tuesday was a pretty run-heavy day as McVay seemed to want to troubleshoot some of what didn’t quite click Monday.

• During the first 1s vs. 1s period, Stafford wanted Nacua on a throw but he was nearly intercepted by safety Quentin Lake. He handed off to Williams again, and hit Robinson on a short catch-and-run.

• After two handoffs on the next 1s vs. 1s series, Stafford threw downfield to Kupp but veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White stretched out to disrupt the pass. Stafford and Nacua connected on a mid-range ball just in time, because rookie defensive tackle Braden Fiske was bearing down on, and into, the pocket.

• One of Stafford’s starting offensive linemen, left guard Jonah Jackson, left practice with an athletic trainer and did not return. McVay said after practice he “did not know” what had happened; on Monday starting left tackle Alaric Jackson tweaked his ankle and did not practice Tuesday. The Rams spent the offseason bulking up and investing into Stafford’s offensive line. While it’s still the early days of training camp, it’s less than ideal to be without two starters.

• An exclamation point for Tuesday (besides several run plays on, again, a run-heavy day) came at the end of practice in red zone drills — just not for Stafford and the first-team offense. Lake broke up a would-be touchdown pass Stafford intended for Kupp. The starters and some second-team players were pulled with several minutes left in practice because McVay wanted to get the players who will actually be participating in preseason games some practice reps where they otherwise do not get any work in team periods (including Bennett).

As the final buzzers sounded for the day, I completely mentally lost the plot and headed to the lectern to ask McVay about injuries — not toward wherever Stafford went next.

Much like the Rams’ offense in these first couple days of padded practices, you win some and you lose some.

(Photo: Ric Tapia / Getty Images)

Jourdan Rodrigue is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Los Angeles Rams. Previously, she covered the Carolina Panthers for The Athletic and The Charlotte Observer, and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times. She is an ASU grad and a recipient of the PFWA's Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer award (2021). Follow Jourdan on X @JourdanRodrigue Follow Jourdan on Twitter @JourdanRodrigue