Breaking NFL mock:.Matthew Stafford of Rams face two years off suspension leaving..

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford did not practice Monday — the team’s first in pads — but coach Sean McVay shut down speculation quicker than a Stafford-delivered pass during a two-minute drill.

“This was part of the plan all along,” McVay said, adding, “There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s good.”

2023 Although both excelled at times, there is no replacing Stafford. The 16th-year pro is the key player for a team that will enter the season with far greater expectations than the 2023 version that finished with a better-than-anticipated 10-7 record and made the playoffs.

So managing Stafford’s workload, and keeping the 36-year-old injury free, remains paramount.

In 2022, after the Rams’ victory in Super Bowl LVI, Stafford did not throw passes during the offseason and was limited in training camp because of right elbow tendinitis. Midway through a lost season, he sustained a concussion that forced him to sit out a game and then a spinal injury that sidelined him the last seven games .