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Injured thumb? Matthew Stafford made us – and probably the spectators at UC Irvine’s Crawford Field on Tuesday – ask, what injured thumb?
Just nearly 24 hours after it was revealed the Los Angeles Rams‘ quarterback sustained a thumb injury in his throwing hand, Stafford was taking first team reps and looked like the QB the Rams traded for.
And it was during a day when the full football armor was on.
Stafford Threw Through Swollen Thumb
As reported by both the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, the Rams’ QB1 suffered a swollen thumb, but no broken bone, following Monday’s practice.
Stafford smacked his thumb onto a defender’s helmet following the completion of his throwing motion, Rodrigue wrote in her Monday report. The injury forced Stafford to not only see sports medicine and performance director of the Rams Reggie Scott, but prevented Stafford from completing practice.
However, Stafford walked into Crawford Field not in street clothes, but clad in helmet and shoulder pads. Rodrigue captured QB1 warming up.
ESPN Rams reporter Lindsey Thiry then captured Stafford throwing a bomb, swollen thumb and all, to Robert Woods… further proving the thumb is OK.
Then Stafford was captured warming up the arm by the Rams Twitter account.
Fans Show Relief Online
Once the Rams video went viral, relieved Ram fans reacted on social media including this proud Rams hard hat wearer.
Another fan reacted with this gif.
One Tennessee State graduate admitted Stafford’s thumb injury left him scared.
One fan told Thiry that Stafford has toughness.
Stafford additionally jammed handoffs to running backs with the force of his right arm, per Rodrigue.
Even Rams All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald showed rare sympathy for quarterbacks as he’s spent his Sundays terrorizing them. Donald checked in on Stafford, even hoping he would move his thumb.
What X-rays Read
Before Tuesday’s full contact session, X-rays were revealed to be negative on Stafford’s thumb.
Rams head coach Sean McVay revealed after practice that Stafford, however, suffered a contusion on his thumb. The team did have plans to sit him, but Stafford let it be known he’s getting practice time in.
Turns out, McVay himself let the cat out of the bag: Speaking on Sirius XM radio before practice and said: “We’ll be good to go with him today.”
Stafford later said that he “felt decent” about throwing the ball despite the contusion.
Stafford spoke to reporters after Tuesday’s practice. Why did he chose to risk it and throw the football on a bad thumb? Seeing his teammates in full pads inspired him.
“It’s our first day in pads, and I want to be out there,” Stafford told the L.A. media. “I want to be out there with these guys. Every opportunity I get, whether if I’m 100% or not, every opportunity I get to call plays and run against our defense and with our guys is an opportunity I need to get. And I don’t want to waste them. If it was good enough to go, then I’m going to be out there to go.”
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