Rams QB Stetson Bennett breaks silence on missing 2023 season due to mental health

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett — who was drafted by Los Angeles with the No. 128 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft but sat out the entirety of the 2023 season in order to focus on his mental health — recently commented on his absence.

“It’s great to get back to football, it’s what I love,” Bennett said.

Bennett also said that he spent much of his time off at his home but didn’t elaborate further than that.

“I was home,” he said. “As far as what led to that, what transpired and all that, I think we’re going to keep that in house. But it was good. I went back home, and thank goodness that Les [Snead] and coach [Sean] McVay and everybody involved allowed me to do that.”

Finally, the 26-year-old confirmed that he missed the 2023 season due to mental health reasons.

“Yeah, I’d say that,” he said when asked if the cause for his absence fell under the “umbrella of mental health.”

Before he was drafted by the Rams franchise, Bennett put up gaudy passing numbers in 15 games played with the University of Georgia during the 2022 season. He totaled a whopping 4,128 passing yards to go along with 27 passing touchdowns and 310 pass completions.

Bennett threw for the sixth-most yards of any signal-caller in the nation that season. Austin Reed, Michael Penix Jr., Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Kyle Vantrease were the only five quarterbacks to accumulate more passing yards.

But Bennett contributed more on the offensive side of the ball than just effective passing in the 2022 season, his last season of college football. He also was an effective rusher for the Bulldogs in spurts, considering he ended up with 205 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns on the season.

The Rams still managed to carve out a successful 2023 season even without Bennett thanks to the play of Matthew Stafford, who started 15 of Los Angeles’ 17 games during the regular season and totaled 3,965 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and 187 first downs passing.

Los Angeles finished the regular season with a solid 10-7 record and managed to qualify for the playoffs, though the team lost its opening playoff game to the Detroit Lions by a single point on Jan. 14. But Stafford wasn’t to blame for the Rams’ loss, considering he contributed 367 passing yards and two passing touchdowns while completing 25 of his 36 pass attempts.

Now that Bennett has made his return to the team, hopefully his presence during the 2024 regular season will help the Rams finish with an even better record than they did during the 2023 campaign.