LOS ANGELES — As the Los Angeles Rams opened organized team activities this week, Georgia Bulldogs fans saw a familiar face back in action behind center.
Stetson Bennett, who missed his entire 2023 rookie season due to unspecified off-the-field-related matters, has been a full participant at Rams OTAs all week, a breath of fresh air for a franchise that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft after quarterbacking the Dawgs to back-to-back national titles.
Many have wondered what kept Bennett away from the team last year while he was on the NFL's non-football injury list. Rams General Manager Les Snead gave a little bit more clarity on that topic in an interview with WHNT in Alabama on Thursday.
Snead said that Bennett benefitted from "a year away from the game" and explained that he was "exhausted" from everything leading up to his first season in Los Angeles.
“I know this: Last year was very beneficial for him. I think he took advantage of that year away from the game,” Snead said, via USA Today. “You know what, he’s an exhausted human being based on everything he had done to walk on, to go to JUCO, to come back, to turn down small schools, say ‘I’m going to try to do this Georgia thing.’ To win a job, then to win the thing, and then to determine, ‘I’m going to come back.’ And when you come back, it’s really win it again or you failed. And that does take a toll on a human being, so I was jacked for Stetson to be able to take that moment and breathe a little bit.”
Snead went on to say that he was still glad the Rams drafted Bennett, and that he is excited to watch him play and compete for the No. 2 job against free agent signee Jimmy Garroppolo.
He explained that the Rams' culture fully supported Bennett's decision to take a reset from the game.
"The responsibility of the QB, and in our sake, we saw what taking a break, giving some guys a break from the game to get refreshed – I call it, to get bored and fall back in love with the game you grew up playing in the backyard," Snead said.
Bennett will look to compete against Garroppolo and keep a roster spot heading into training camp in July.