Rams QB Matthew Stafford practices for 2nd straight day in recovery from back injury

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matthew Stafford went through his second practice of the summer with the Rams on Tuesday, and coach Sean McVay seemed encouraged by his starting quarterback’s progress in his recovery from an injured disk in his back.

“I thought he looked good,” McVay said. “I thought he looked better than yesterday. I thought it was a step in the right direction. And we’re going to continue to hope that he’s able to stack days and feel good, and it’s what’s happened so far.”

McVay remains cautiously optimistic about Stafford’s progress after missing all of the Rams’ two-week training camp at Loyola Marymount University and the past two weeks of preseason work at the team’s facility in the San Fernando Valley, while balancing it with an awareness any sort of twinge or soreness could reset the quarterback’s progress.

“Backs can be a volatile thing,” McVay said. “This is definitely positive progress. But what I think you want to be able to say is, hopefully after a few minutes, settle down, ‘Am I still feeling good? Do I wake up tomorrow still feeling good?’ And those are the steps that I think are the appropriate measures to be able to take. But it certainly is trending in a positive direction for us.”

McVay said Stafford did more in terms of challenging himself against a live pass rush, including moving in the pocket, working with the first-team offense against the starting defense. Stafford could share his assessment for the first time later this week as he is scheduled to meet with the media Thursday barring any setbacks.

McVay declined to answer if Stafford has received additional epidural injections to allow him to resume practicing, preferring to keep the matter internal.

McVay also said he has not decided if Stafford or other senior players will travel with the Rams for their last preseason game against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday.

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