Rams’ Stetson Bennett Addresses Absence from 2023 NFL Season, Cites Mental Health

Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IIMay 29, 2024

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett spoke with reporters for the first time since being placed on the reserve/non-football illness list last September, per ESPN’s Sarah Barshop.

During that conversation, Bennett confirmed (following a reporter’s question) that his time away from the game was a mental health-related matter. He added that the specifics would remain “in-house.”

Jourdan Rodrigue @JourdanRodrigueStetson Bennett is back practicing with the Rams after his absence last year. He’s happy to be back and feels good, said he missed football and while he didn’t want to share specifics he agreed that his situation fell under the mental health umbrella. pic.twitter.com/jqdJ6183aE

Bennett, a two-time national champion with Georgia, joined the NFL after the Rams selected him with a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft.

He was set to begin last season as the Rams’ backup quarterback behind Matt Stafford but sat the opener (a 30-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks) with a right shoulder injury.

Shortly thereafter, Bennett was placed on the NFI list, and he ended up missing the season.

“There are certain things that I think are a little bit bigger and more important, and out of respect for the particulars and the specifics, (I) want to be able to keep it in-house,” head coach Sean McVay told reporters last September, per Greg Beacham of the Associated Press.

Bennett is back with the team for offseason activities, though, and on the active roster as well. It also seems as though last year’s break was beneficial for him, per Rams general manager Les Snead in an exclusive May 20 interview with Chuck Williams of WRBL (h/t Cameron DaSilva of Rams Wire):

“I know this: Last year was very beneficial for him. I think he took advantage of that year away from the game. You know what, he’s an exhausted human being based on everything he had done to walk on, to go to JUCO, to come back, to turn down small schools, say ‘I’m going to try to do this Georgia thing.’

“To win a job, then to win the thing, and then to determine, ‘I’m going to come back.’ And when you come back, it’s really win it again or you failed. And that does take a toll on a human being, so I was jacked for Stetson to be able to take that moment and breathe a little bit.”

Going into the 2024 season, Stafford remains the Rams’ starting quarterback, while offseason addition Jimmy Garoppolo figures to slide in as the team’s backup. However, Garoppolo is suspended for the Rams’ first two games after a violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Bennett and Dresser Winn are the team’s other signal-callers.