Sean McVay says Rams will 'connect' with Stetson Bennett 'at the appropriate time'
After Stetson Bennett missed his entire rookie season with the Los Angeles Rams, questions continue to swirl about his future in the NFL. During a Thursday press conference with reporters, Sean McVay said the need to “connect” with the former Georgia star will be a key part of finding out what’s next.
The Rams placed Bennett on the reserve/non-football illness list in September, and he sat out the entire 2023 campaign after they selected him in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. McVay didn’t have many updates during the season, and the plan is to now meet with him when the time is right.
From there, Los Angeles will be able to figure out its quarterback situation behind Matthew Stafford – although McVay said his backup likely isn’t on the current roster.
“I think the first thing is you connect with him, which we’ll do that at the appropriate time and you figure out, where are you at and is this something that we feel like is best for him and for our football team to bring him back into this ecosystem?” McVay said. “Those will be conversations that we will have. And then, I think once we have a better idea of what we’ll do with that, then that will give clarity.
“But you do make sure that you know that right now, we’ve got Matthew Stafford. And really in our minds, we don’t have a backup quarterback that’s on this roster. But we’ll see what that looks like in terms of how that affects Stetson and the draft or free agency.”
Stetson Bennett started out as a walk-on at Georgia before taking over as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback. He was a crucial part of those back-to-back national championship teams and was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2022. After the Rams drafted him, he threw for 347 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions during the preseason.
Earlier in the offseason, McVay didn’t have an update on where things stand between Bennett and the Rams, but noted he didn’t expect an answer anytime soon.
“You know, I don’t know that,” McVay said, via Pro Football Talk. “I think that’s a conversation for another time. I think he’s doing better, but I wouldn’t be in a position to answer that accurately right now. That’s probably a long way away from me being able to answer that.”