Getty Stetson Bennett on August 26, 2023 in Denver.
Turns out Stetson Bennett is dealing with more than a shoulder injury. He’s been placed on the non-football injury list.
Without getting into details, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay shared with the L.A. media on Wednesday, September 13 that the rookie fourth-rounder was going on NFI. McVay, though, opted to keep the Bennett situation within the Rams organization.
“Out of respect for him and the situation, I’m going to leave all the specifics in particulars in-house and want to be able to do that out of respect for that situation, so not going to really have any follow-up information or anything that I’ll give in that regards after that,” McVay stated.
And for clarity, McVay stated that the NFI decision has nothing to do with Bennett’s shoulder.
“No, and that’s all I’m going to say, and I really hope that you can please respect my wishes in regards to keeping that in-house. I understand you have a job to do, but there’s certain things that I think are a little bit bigger and more important and out of respect for the particulars in the specifics, we want to be able to keep it in-house and that’s where I’d like to leave it please,” McVay said.
Reactions Surface After Bennett Move
From the sound of McVay’s voice, it sounds as if the rookie quarterback is dealing with a personal matter.
The news became a surprise one for the “Rams House” and also for Bennett’s past fan base from Georgia. The reactions for support started to surface.
“Hope everything is okay with Stetson Bennett,” New York Giants analyst for FanSided Doug Rush posted on social media.
One fan began to speculate if Bennett’s situation was mental health-related in response to Rush’s post.
A Georgia fan posted his support for the multiple national title game-winner.
“I’m not sure what’s going on but I hope Stetson Bennett knows Dawg Nation is praying for him with whatever he is going through…always a legend, always my QB,” that fan shared.
I’m not sure what’s going on but I hope Stetson Bennett knows Dawg Nation is praying for him with whatever he is going through… always a legend, always my QB1 🥺🙏♥️
Matthew Stafford Reacts to Bennett News
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, a fellow Georgia great, was also asked about Bennett’s situation.
Stafford, though, was another who opted to not get into the specifics of what’s going on with Bennett.
“Obviously, one less guy in there. One less guy in the red jersey at practice. A lot of love for Stetson,” Stafford said to the media. “Hopefully, I don’t know, can you get off that list? Can you not get off? I don’t even know. I appreciate him as a teammate and right now we’ll roll with it as we go.”
This once again leaves the Rams with Stafford and veteran Brett Rypien as the top two quarterback options for the Rams ahead of their Week 2 showdown with the reigning NFC West champion San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium.
Rypien, though, is the only other Rams quarterback option left on the roster. McVay got asked if having Bennett in this situation effects the team.
“I think there’s certain things that are a lot bigger than that,” McVay said. “The fortunate thing for us is that Brett Rypien has been in-house, he’s on our practice squad, he was the backup last week and he’ll continue to be in that situation until anything changes on that note.”