Former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett had a mistake-filled preseason debut, but he bounced back to lead the Los Angeles Rams on a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, I think we still have to be able to see some more body of work,” said Rams coach Sean McVay after he was asked if Bennett is ready to Los Angeles’ second-string quarterback. Bennett played the whole game of Los Angeles 13-12 win over the Dallas Cowboys. He looked sharp at times, but mistakes took away from what could have been an impressive performance.
Bennett, who threw four interceptions and just one touchdown against the Cowboys, needs to take better care of the football for the Rams to trust him.
“He did some good things, but we got to work on the turnovers, no doubt. But there were a lot of positives for him to be able to get out here and practice,” said Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur.
The Rams have a unique situation at back up quarterback. Los Angeles’ starter, Matthew Stafford, left practice on Aug. 14 with hamstring tightness. Stafford’s back up, Jimmy Garoppolo saw practice reps following Stafford’s departure, but Garoppolo is suspended for the first two games of the season. So, Stetson Bennett could serve as Stafford’s back up in Week 1. It seems like the Rams and Sean McVay don’t fully trust Bennett.
“What I did like (with Stetson Bennett) was what I mentioned to you, to be able to stay together. That’s a tough deal when you have the ball, when you turn it over a handful of times,” said McVay.
“He kind of mentioned it in the postgame to you guys where he thought he was seeing some things and then the mistakes ended up being pretty costly but he just kept playing. He kept fighting. The guys kept believing around him. I was really impressed with the resilience that he demonstrated.”
“We do need to take better care of the football. That’s a very important thing. All of those are very correctable,” continued McVay. “A couple of them were bad decisions and then a couple of them were just (he) missed the way that you want to make the type of layered throw. But you’re going to the right spot. All things that we can learn from. He has to continue to improve and we’re still in evaluation mode.”
If the Rams are truly concerned about their back up quarterback situation for the first two weeks of the season, then Los Angeles could look to add a free agent quarterback. Ryan Tannehill is the top available free agent quarterback right now.
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Another option would be for the Rams to see what they have in quarterback No. 4 Dresser Finn. Rams Wire is advocating for Finn to get some looks after Bennett’s first preseason outing.