Matthew Stafford still has ‘a ton of trust in Van Jefferson’ despite disappointing drop

Van Jefferson dropped what could have been a long touchdown against the Seahawks but Matthew Stafford’s trust hasn’t wavered

The Rams created a lot of big plays in Sunday’s win over the Seahawks, including a 44-yarder from Matthew Stafford to Tutu Atwell and a 30-yard reception by Tyler Higbee. Van Jefferson had a chance to join the fun with a deep ball after he sprung wide open across the field, but the pass clanked off his hands and fell to the turf.

The play could have gone for a long touchdown had Jefferson caught it, but fortunately, the Rams overcame the drop and still scored a few plays later on the same drive. Stafford talked about his trust in Jefferson despite the disappointing drop, and it hasn’t wavered at all.

“Yeah, just tell him I’m coming right back to him and did later in the game in a couple instances,” Stafford said of what he told Jefferson. “So made a great third down catch for us. Obviously, he’s disappointed. I’m disappointed. We had a chance of making a big play. We score on that drive anyways and we overcame that, which is awesome. I don’t want those plays to happen, but you know what? There’s going to be a time probably this season where he’s running free and I’m going to miss him, and that’s part of football. It’s an imperfect game. It’s played in the gray. I got a ton of trust in Van Jefferson, his ability to go out there and make plays. He’s done it for a long time for me and for this offense. So excited to see how he shows up and shows out on Sunday.”

Jefferson has been a deep threat for the Rams in the last three years, and remains one this season. However, he’s had some trouble with drops in the past. Though he only dropped one pass last year, he had nine in 2021 and one already this year.

With Kupp out, Jefferson has plenty of opportunities to create big plays for the Rams and it’s likely that he will sometime soon. But Sunday’s drop was a frustrating one because of how open he was.

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