LOS ANGELES -- When Matthew Stafford is out on the field Sunday against the Houston Texans, the Los Angeles Rams quarterback said he won't be focused on the aggravated disk in his back that he has been dealing with.
The quarterback, who is entering his 17th NFL season, sat out almost the first month of training camp while dealing with the back injury. Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday that Stafford was expected to participate in the full week of practice leading up to the Rams' season opener against Houston.
"Oh, I'm going to go play the game," Stafford said. "Whatever happens, happens. I'm playing like I always play. I got no issues with a physical game. Obviously, would love to stay as clean as possible, but I'm not thinking twice about that at all. I'm out there ready to go play."
Stafford injured his back while training during the break between the offseason program and training camp. Last month, he declined to go into specifics about the injury, but did say it wasn't one incident, but rather "something that crept up on me a little bit."
"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."
Stafford has practiced in full since his return Aug. 18. On Wednesday, Stafford said he felt "good" out on the practice field and felt "ready to go" for the season opener.
Stafford enters the 2025 season 191 passing yards shy of 60,000 for his career and is on the cusp of joining a group of nine quarterbacks in NFL history to reach that milestone.