Rams’ Stafford to IR after twice entering protocol

LOS ANGELES — The Rams have placed quarterback Matthew Stafford on injured reserve.

Stafford would be eligible to return to the active roster in Week 17.

Stafford has not played since he injured his neck in the Rams’ Week 11 loss to the New Orleans Saints, a game he left after being evaluated for a concussion. Coach Sean McVay later said Stafford felt some numbness in his legs after taking a hit in that game. Stafford cleared the concussion protocol on Friday.

Stafford was playing against the Saints just two days after he was initially cleared from the concussion protocol. Stafford first entered the concussion protocol on Nov. 8 after the Rams’ medical staff “determined that they felt like that was the best thing for him,” according to McVay.

McVay said the day after Stafford entered the concussion protocol that he didn’t have any indication during the game that Stafford was dealing with concussion symptoms. He said “some of the questions” Stafford was asked after the game by the medical staff “and then what they ascertained as a result of those questions made them feel like, ‘Hey, the appropriate thing for the person and the player in this instance is to put him in the protocol.'”

McVay was asked Friday, the day Stafford cleared the concussion protocol for the second time this season, about whether the quarterback would play again this season.

While “Matthew’s the ultimate competitor,” McVay said he thinks that “in a lot of instances [the] best thing that you can do is protect him from himself.”

“I know him,” McVay said, noting that he and Stafford talk every day. “If there’s any inkling that he can play, this guy’s going to want to play. Now [there is a] possibility that we say, ‘Based on what we’re gathering, the doctors, those types of things, the smart thing is to not play you.’ And he could be upset with me, but I think he knows that I have his best interest and we have his best interest. And if that’s the case, then that’s definitely a possibility.

“But he’s going to want to play. He’s going to want to do everything in his power to be out there and compete with his teammates and do the things that’s made Matthew Stafford, Matthew Stafford.”

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