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Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has an ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right thumb and is day-to-day, coach Sean McVay said Monday.
Stafford injured his thumb in Sunday’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys and did not return to the game after leaving in the third quarter.
McVay said the Rams are taking it a day at a time with Stafford’s availability for Sunday against the Green Bay Packers but added it would be “silly to not try to get our ducks in a row” if Stafford cannot play.
“I think it’s exclusively a result of how quickly that thumb turns over,” McVay said. “I mean, there’s obviously some swelling and some bruising. It’s a significant part of being able to throw the football.”
The Rams are expected to sign another quarterback to the roster who could back up Brett Rypien if Stafford is unavailable. Rypien has served as the Rams’ backup quarterback this season and completed 5 of 10 passes for 42 yards in relief of Stafford on Sunday.
Los Angeles drafted quarterback Stetson Bennett in the fourth round to serve as Stafford’s backup this season, but he has been on the reserve/non-football illness list since Sept. 13. McVay said Monday that he doesn’t have an update on Bennett returning to the team but said it’s “probably less likely than it is likely he would” be back with the Rams this season.
McVay said that while Stafford hit his right thumb twice on throws earlier in the game, it was how he hit his thumb while making a catch on a 2-point conversion that forced him to leave the game. After that play, the medical staff “felt like there was potentially some instability” in his right thumb.
McVay said “this is an injury that [Stafford has] previously had,” but that there isn’t any concern about any potential reaggravation from that injury. The Rams were “encouraged” that the testing done showed it was a sprain, McVay said, because “there were some potential concerns that it could be worse.”
“So hopefully it was just a good scare,” McVay said. “That’s what the scans revealed, and then we will see how quickly some of that stuff that is key and critical to being able to grip and throw a football, some of those symptoms, subside with Matthew and how quickly that makes him available to return for us.”