Rams QB Matthew Stafford goes to locker room with apparent thumb injury

As if the first half couldn’t have been more disastrous for the Los Angeles Rams, Matthew Stafford appears to have injured his right thumb before halftime. He was taken to the locker room early to get it checked out before the break and did not return from the tunnel.

While the injury could have been much worse — Stafford returned to the game after halftime in an attempt start the second half. After the first drive, he went back to the locker room where Stafford received a “significant tape job,” per Tom Rinaldi. He came back on sideline but did not have his helmet with him, indicating he was done for the day.

Stafford’s injury comes as a slew of starting quarterbacks have gone down with injuries on Sunday. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Kenny Pickett and New York Giants’ Tyron Taylor were both taken out of their respective games with injuries as well.

Taylor was taken to a local New Jersey hospital for his rib injury, but Pickett and Stafford made it back on the sideline in time for the second half.

The Rams trailed the Dallas Cowboys 33-9 at halftime, but came out of the gates hot with an opening drive touchdown. Catch the remainder of the game live on Fox.

More on Matthew Stafford

Stafford spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the Detroit Lions, attaining individual success but failing to lead Detroit to more than three playoff game appearances which all resulted in losses. That changed in March of 2021 when Stafford was traded to the Los Angeles Rams and had the best season of his NFL career. 

He led the Rams to a 12-5 regular season record, tying a career-high 41 touchdown passes in the process, and led them on a historic playoff run that ended in Los Angeles securing a 23-20 win in Super Bowl LVI over the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Last season was a complete 180-degree change for Stafford and the Rams. He only appeared in nine games due to injury, and the Rams finished the season 5–12 marking the NFL record for most losses of a defending Super Bowl champion.

Now, he’s set to star in Season 2 Netflix documentary series ‘Quarterback,’ which will be filmed throughout the 2023-24 NFL season as the Rams look to bounce back from a less-than-stellar season in 2022.

The first season of the Netflix documentary series was widely popular, as it followed NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariotathrough the entire 2022 NFL season. And according to Jake Ellenbogen of SB Nation’s Rams blog Turf Show Times, NFL Films and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions have landed Stafford to star in Season 2 of the show.