Sean McVay and Les Snead remained busy during the Rams’ bye week, making several roster moves during the time off – none bigger than the addition of Carson Wentz at quarterback. The Rams have made Wentz their backup behind Matthew Stafford, and it’s a move that has McVay excited.
During his first media session since the Rams signed Wentz, McVay praised the veteran quarterback and explained what went into signing him.
“Yeah, I think it’s really just a chance to upgrade the quarterback room,” McVay said. “He’s a guy that’s played. Feel good about Matthew returning and obviously when he’s out there you feel great about the leadership and everything that he provides. But God forbid if something were to happen where he wasn’t available, felt like this would offer an opportunity for somebody that’s played a lot of high-level football to get him in here, get him kind of familiar with some of the things that we’re doing. That’s what went into the decision.”
The Rams had previously had Brett Rypien and Dresser Winn backing up Stafford, but this move to bring in Wentz gives them a much more experienced backup. As McVay mentioned, Stafford is expected to start on Sunday against the Seahawks, but if he were to miss time again this season, Wentz has 92 career starts under his belt.
“Yeah, I think just experiences,” McVay said. “You learn through those experiences and he’s a guy that had played a lot of football. He has been somebody that we had discussed. There were a lot of things that led into it, but the situations and some of the things that we had went through ultimately led us to feel like, alright, let’s make that decision. Let’s hope that we have a situation and scenario where Matthew is healthy the rest of the way but if for whatever reason he wasn’t available, this was the direction that we wanted to go and have Carson be able to take that role over.”
Wentz has only had one practice with the Rams so far, which was on Monday, but McVay has already been impressed with how he’s approached this new opportunity and the command he’s shown on the field and in the huddle.
“I think he was just excited to be able to get into a building and be around a guy like Matthew,” McVay said of Wentz. “They both have tremendous respect for one another. Thought (QBs coach) Zac Robinson did a really good job of spending a lot of time over the bye of getting him familiar and acquainted with a lot of the general information. He’s been exposed to a lot of football but he was a pro in every sense and we’re glad to have him in the building.”
There’s a chance the Rams could keep Wentz as Stafford’s backup beyond this season, too. McVay addressed that possibility, and while he was non-committal on the subject, he also didn’t say this is a move strictly for 2023.
“I think that’s to be determined,” he said. “I think we were just excited about being able to get him in the building. We had a need. And like I had mentioned, we’re excited about getting Matthew , but I think to have somebody that’s played as well as he’s played, has had as many experiences as he’s had to be out there and available is kind of rare. So we were excited about the opportunity to be able to get him into the building and that’s kind of where we’re at right now as it relates to that.”
