In 2025, Matthew Stafford delivered one of his most remarkable performances, but his season almost didn’t take off due to a potential stint on injured reserve. The Los Angeles Rams were on the verge of sidelining him as the season began.
Stafford faced early challenges, missing the initial phase of training camp because of a back injury. Coach Sean McVay recently disclosed the severity of the situation, explaining that the team seriously considered placing Stafford on IR. This would have meant missing the opening four games. McVay shared these insights during his appearance on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.
“People might not know how close we were to making that decision. Stafford and I had a conversation where I said, ‘This isn’t healing as we’d hoped,’” McVay recounted. “‘Let’s consider temporary IR to avoid the pressure of meeting a recovery deadline.’”
The Rams kicked off their training camp on July 22, and Stafford’s first appearance came almost a month later, on August 18. Even at that point, McVay was uncertain whether Stafford would be prepared for the season’s start.
McVay candidly confessed that the team was “extremely anxious” about Stafford’s availability for the opener.
Recalling a moment from Week 7 in London against Jacksonville, McVay said, “Matthew approached me before the game and said, ‘Listen to this,’” McVay shared. “‘I chatted with the Jacksonville staff, and they joked about me getting a camp break by claiming a back injury. I told them, ‘What are you talking about? The back injury was seriously legit.’ We were on edge. Just a week before facing Houston, it was touch-and-go. The old Ammortal Chamber pulled through, but it was tense.”
Apparently, a $160,000 futuristic wellness product saved the season. The Ammortal Chamber that McVay referred to basically looks like an Airstream trailer, but on steroids. Although Stafford wasn’t practicing at the beginning of training camp, he did show up, and when he was there, he apparently spent most of his time in the Ammortal Chamber.
He used it at training camp — the photo above is from Aug. 11 — and later in the season as well. The chamber returned to the Rams’ facility in mid-December, which tells you that Stafford’s back probably wasn’t feeling great at that point in the season.
In the end, Stafford didn’t have to go on IR, but that’s only because he did everything possible to make sure that he could be on the field in Week 1.
“This alien decides and you could just see, he did some different things that was amazing, that only he could articulate in terms of unique treatments and outside-the-box thinking, where he’s basically going to a torture chamber for 48 hours,” McVay said. “But then, you could also see there’s this mindset that’s the separator in the greats, where he went out there, and he was like, ‘F–k it, I’m going to swing.’ And he did it, and then he never looked back, and then it led to him playing as free and as still as I’ve ever seen him. There was an enjoyment and I thought that resonated with the rest of his teammates.”
How injured reserve could have changed 2025
If Stafford missed the first four games of the season, the Rams almost certainly would have still made the playoffs, but his absence would have left a dramatic impact on the season. For one, Stafford likely doesn’t get voted NFL MVP if he misses the first four games.
With Stafford on the field, the Rams went 3-1 in those first four games, but with Jimmy Garoppolo as the starter, things could have played out much differently. The biggest question mark is probably the Rams’ 14-9 win over the Texans in Week 1. If Stafford doesn’t play and Houston wins that game, that changes things. The Texans would have finished the year 13-4, and assuming nothing else about the season changes, they would have won the AFC South on a strength-of-victory tiebreaker over the Jaguars. As for the Rams, a loss to Houston would have dropped their final record to 11-6, and they would have ended up as the sixth seed in the playoffs instead of the fifth.
The Rams losing their Week 1 game against Houston would have potentially created four different matchups in the wildcard round (Rams at Eagles, 49ers at Panthers, Jaguars at Steelers, Bills at Texans).
Stafford missing four games might not have shifted the final result of the NFL season — Seattle winning the Super Bowl — but the postseason would have had a different feel with the different matchups. Drake Maye would probably have an MVP trophy sitting on his shelf if the Rams had gone through with the decision to place Stafford on IR.
Why Stafford’s injured back still matters
As Stafford gets ready to head into his 18th season, no one seems to know how much longer he will play. The Rams just gave him a one-year, $55 million extension, so the 38-year-old is now under contract through the 2027 season, but there’s no guarantee his body is going to hold up that long. The fact that Stafford is dealing with an ailing back might also help explain why the Rams were willing to use such a high pick on a quarterback this year.
The Rams made one of the most shocking picks in the NFL Draft back in April when they selected Ty Simpson at 13th overall. With Stafford’s new contract in place, that means that Simpson will likely be on the bench for at least his first two seasons, which, on the surface, makes the pick even more bizarre. However, now that we know just how bad Stafford’s back was last year, the team’s thinking does make a little more sense.
Not only are they adding a hopeful QB of the future in Simpson, but they now have insurance in case Stafford somehow aggravates his back injury. It only takes one big hit or even sleeping in the wrong position to aggravate a back injury, so it seems like the Rams are just preparing themselves for all possible scenarios (Garoppolo served as the backup last year, but he’s mulling retirement right now).
The Rams play in Australia this year, and Stafford joked back in February that he hopes his back will hold up after the 14-hour flight.
The Rams made it clear that Stafford is going to be the starting quarterback for as long as he wants to play, but if his back starts acting up, he might not play as long as he wants to and that could set the stage for Simpson. If that happens, the Rams will definitely be feeling good about the fact that they decided to use their 2026 first-round pick on a quarterback.
