Stetson Bennett makes NFL regular season debut with Rams, enters game late

Former Georgia star Stetson Bennett made his NFL regular season debut Thursday night, taking 10 snaps for the Los Angeles Rams in their 27-7 opening week loss to San Francisco.

Bennett was 2-of-3 passing for 13 yards and had a 9-yard first down scramble in his first regular season action, which came on the Rams’ final series in relief of starter Matthew Stafford.

Stafford, who left the game healthy after the previous series, was 15-of-25 passing for 155 yards with an interception.

The game was played in Melbourne, Australia, with 100,021 in attendance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The game started at 8:35 p.m. Georgia time, but it was actually played at 10:35 a.m. Friday on the other side of the globe.

The 28-year-old Bennett, who led Georgia to national championships in 2021 and 2022, is in the fourth year of his rookie contract and battling to hold on to the backup role.

The Rams drafted Ty Simpson in the first round of the most recent NFL draft, an indication they see the former Alabama quarterback as the future of the franchise.

Bennett won the backup job over Simpson in the preseason, completing 23-of-37 passes for 219 yards while also rushing for two touchdowns, appearing in two of the Rams’ three NFL preseason games.

Los Angeles coach Sean McVay indicated Sept. 4 that the competition for the backup job has been close and ongoing.

“I’ll tell you when I decide who is going to be the actual two in the game,” McVay said, per TheRams.com.

“I’ve talked to the players about it, but that’s something that they’re both going to continue to train regardless of who it ends up being up and who is the emergency third.

“I look at it as both of those guys are going to play, but you saw, we listed Stetson as the two, Ty as the three. But I look at it as the two A, two B and we’ll see how we approach the game.”

Bennett got the nod as the backup in Australia, but McVay said last week things could change after the opening game.

“I’ve talked to those guys about it and I don’t want to necessarily say that whatever we do in Week One is how it stays throughout the year, but our job is to develop both of those guys,” McVay said. “Like I’ve told you, I feel really good about both of them.”

McVay said he wasn’t feeling good after the game against the 49ers.

The Rams, who lost five games by a combined 17 points, got blown out in the second half.

“This is a humbling day for us, this will define us only if we allow it to … . This is what can happen sometimes in sports,” McVay said. “The first thing I’m going to look at is myself.

“There was opportunities in the second half; it’s a three-point game at half. They did a good job getting that drive, we go right down the field and we don’t get in on the QB sneak and things just got out of hand from there.”

McVay was not asked about the Rams’ backup quarterback situation after the game, as there was more second-guessing directed at his travel strategy.

San Francisco arrived in Australia the morning of Sept. 4.

The Rams flew overnight Tuesday to Melbourne, a 17-hour time change from the Pacific Time Zone, arriving about 28 hours before the game.

Stafford, a former Georgia quarterback and No. 1 overall NFL draft pick entering his 18th professional season, said he didn’t think the Rams’ late travel was an issue.

“I don’t, I think when the ball is kicked off, we’re ready to go play,” said Stafford, who won NFL MVP honors last season. “We didn’t do it at a high enough clip today.”

Bennett entered the game with 3:29 left and the Rams down 20 points.