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Why Orlovsky isn't overly concerned about the Rams (1:02)
Dan Orlovsky outlines why Matthew Stafford's back injury isn't impacting his expectations for the Rams. (1:02)
Sarah BarshopSep 1, 2025, 04:53 PM ET
- Sarah Barshop covers the Los Angeles Rams for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Milwaukee. She then moved to Houston to cover the Texans. She came to ESPN after working as a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated.
LOS ANGELES -- Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who missed time with an aggravated disk in his back, is expected to start the season opener against the Houston Texans, coach Sean McVay said.
Stafford missed nearly the first month of training camp while dealing with the injury but has been a full participant in practice since his Aug. 18 return. McVay said Monday that Stafford will participate in the full week of practice leading up to the Rams' Week 1 game against the Texans.
McVay also said left tackle Alaric Jackson, who is dealing with blood clots in his lower leg, participated in Monday's practice. McVay said that although the blood clots will "always [be] something that you have to manage," the plan is for Jackson to play against Houston.
"I do believe that we'll be at our best with him out there," McVay said.
Jackson participated in individual drills and jog-throughs during training camp, but he had not participated in team drills. Jackson dealt with a similar situation in 2022, when he sat out the final nine games of the season due to blood clots.
Stafford, 37, is entering his 17th NFL season. Last month, the quarterback declined to go into specifics about his back injury but said it was "something that crept up on me a little bit" while training during the offseason.
"Backs are sometimes interesting things," Stafford said after his first full week of practice. "It's not cut and dry what's what and how you're going to feel, so I really appreciate our team and our head coach and everybody taking a day-to-day approach with me doing everything they can to try and help me out."
Stafford enters the 2025 season just 191 shy of 60,000 career passing yards, on the cusp of joining a group of nine quarterbacks in NFL history to hit that milestone.
