Rams backup QB Stetson Bennett is learning on the job

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Rams drafted Stetson Bennett in 2023 with the hope he would be Matthew Stafford 's backup in the short term and perhaps become a long-term option at the position.

But last September, the Rams placed Bennett on the reserve/non-football illness list -- something that he said this spring was related to his mental health. That made the Rams' preseason opener on Sunday his first game action in nearly a year.

Bennett played the entire game, throwing four interceptions before he threw a game-winning touchdown pass with 11 seconds to go. Bennett completed 24-of-38 passes for 224 yards in a 13-12 victory. The 26-year-old quarterback said he felt he "played well and then just made a bunch of bad decisions, if that's possible."

"I'm proud that we fought back and were resilient in the end to make that drive," Bennett said. "And like you said, we did have a lot of long drives and then it seemed like it was me pretty much who stopped us today. ...Good things to learn from and things we can build onto."

Rams coach Sean McVay acknowledged the turnovers, saying "those plays will stand out" but also said it was important for him to see how Bennett responded.

"I think it's just about how do you stay together?" McVay said. "How do you respond in the midst of it? How do you know that all I can do is the next right thing? That's exactly what he did on that last drive."

Brett Rypien was the Rams' backup quarterback last season with Bennett away from the team. Rypien struggled in Stafford's place for six quarters, so Los Angeles signed quarterback Carson Wentz to replace him during their midseason bye. Wentz started the Rams' season finale against the San Francisco 49ers and led the team to a win -- in a game both teams were resting their starters. The veteran quarterback signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs this offseason to back up Patrick Mahomes .

During the 2024 offseason, Rams general manager Les Snead acknowledged that the team had seen up close just how critical the backup quarterback position was, as the loss in the game Rypien started against the Green Bay Packers would have affected the tiebreaker for their playoff seeding.

Los Angeles signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a one-year deal this spring to back up Stafford, so when Bennett returned for the offseason program, it was as the third-string quarterback. And while Garoppolo is undoubtedly the No. 2, he will miss the first two games of the season while serving a suspension for violating the NFL's performance enhancing substances policy.

That means unless the Rams sign another quarterback, Bennett will be Stafford's backup against the Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals .

On Tuesday, when asked if he felt comfortable with Bennett in that position, McVay said, "I think we've got to be able to see some more body of work."

Bennett is likely to get the bulk of the reps in the Rams' final two preseason games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans . Stafford left joint practice early Wednesday with hamstring tightness, but McVay hasn't addressed the severity.

"What I did like [was the way he was] able to stay together," said McVay. "That's a tough deal when you have the ball, when you turn it over a handful of times. And he kind of mentioned it I think in the postgame to you guys where he thought he was seeing some things and then the mistakes ended up being pretty costly. But he just kept playing. He kept fighting. The guys kept believing around him, and I was really impressed with just the resilience that he demonstrated.

"But we do need to take better care of the football. That's a very important thing. ... He's got to continue to improve and we're still in evaluation mode."

Bennett said there was a benefit to getting every snap at quarterback against Dallas on Sunday, "if only for conditioning, mental and physical." And while he called it the "weirdest game" he's ever been a part of -- a result of the turnovers combined with his otherwise strong play -- Bennett said he could feel himself learning as he was going, something he was missing after not playing in almost a year.

"It's all those reps that I've missed in the past year, not making excuses, but there are things that definitely will be and need to be cleaned up," Bennett said. "But just knowing what it feels like to be in there in the fire, bullets coming at you and having to make the right decision and throw the right pass."