LOS ANGELES — A few days after expressing frustration with his placement of passes in Sunday’s 33-26 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said Wednesday that there’s no secret or trick to moving forward from the performance.
“Just continue to do what I always do, just know that those kind of days are going to happen,” Stafford said. “Frustrating when it happens, but was able to kinda get it going and feeling better. That two-minute drive was putting the ball right where I wanted to every time for the most part. So just continue to throw, trust the process, trust what I do to get ready week in and week out and go play.”
The loss to the Eagles was Stafford’s most uneven performance of the season. He was held under 200 yards passing while completing 19 of 33 attempts. He threw an interception on the opening drive, which led to Philadelphia’s only first-half score.
His 64.5% adjusted completion percentage – a stat from Pro Football Focus that measures the percent of passes thrown on target – was a season low. And his 1-for-7 mark on third downs took the ball out of his hands earlier than he would have liked.
Stafford said he doesn’t dwell for long on the cause for those kind of off days as he and the Rams (2-1) turn their attention to this weekend’s opponent, the Indianapolis Colts (3-0).
“I don’t try to think too much about it,” Stafford said. “You go to an NBA game, you watch guys shoot the ball, the best shooters in the world, the guys that can make it every time and sometimes they have nights where it doesn’t go down and maybe they gotta get to the hole a little bit more and find different ways to score. So it happens. I’m not too worried about it.”
INJURY REPORT
Rams left guard Steve Avila returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since he sprained his left ankle in Week 1.
Head coach Sean McVay estimated that Avila would be limited to about half the practice reps on Wednesday as the team eased him back into action. The third-year guard wore a black brace on his injured ankle during practice.
Asked if Avila will play this weekend against the Colts, McVay said, “We’ll see.”
Avila’s backup Justin Dedich (chest) was also limited on Wednesday, as were tight end Colby Parkinson (shoulder), defensive Braden Fiske (oblique) and safety Kamren Kinchens (shoulder).
Right tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle) and wide receiver Davante Adams (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday. The two veterans have taken non-injury rest days on Wednesdays this season, but this week was different, with the Rams canceling Adams’ usual Wednesday press conference.
“Not expecting it to affect their game status. But we’ll take it a day at a time,” McVay said of Adams and Havenstein.