LOS ANGELES — After practice is over, after players have removed their shoulder pads and retreated to the weight room or showers, after coaches have returned to their offices, Stetson Bennett IV and Dave Ragone do clockwise laps around the Rams practice field.

It started around week 3; Ragone, the quarterbacks coach, asked Bennett, the third-string quarterback, to walk the field with him. They discuss the game script that was set up that day, the sound signals set up by the coaching staff, everything that just happened on the turf while Bennett watched from the sidelines.

“At first it was like once a week and it was a little random,” Bennett says, “but now we do it every day. »

Bennett doesn’t get in the way of live rehearsals much these days. Starter Matthew Stafford takes the lion’s share of practice snaps with the Rams offense and the rest goes to backup Jimmy Garoppolo, who also handles scout team duties.

But the second-year QB is still finding ways to stay engaged and growing after his year away from football.

“He’s just accepted his role right now and his ability to get better every day,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “The future is bright for him if he continues to work at the level he is at.”

Lay a foundation

When Ragone was hired by the Rams in February, it had been several months since Bennett had visited the team’s facilities. He had spent his rookie year on the non-football injury list for reasons he and the team declined to share publicly.

But Ragone had developed a relationship with Bennett during the pre-draft process, when the former was the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons and the latter was a two-time national champion out of Georgia.

“The first opportunity for communication was, ‘I’m new here, I’ve never coached you, the slate is clean and let’s go ahead and let me understand how you work and you understand how I work and then let’s end it. relationship,'” Ragone said. “It’s a daily, ongoing thing.

Bennett began to gain that confidence through the extra work he put in before and after practices, as well as the questions he asked about decisions and playing techniques.

Despite being a fourth-round pick in 2023, Bennett had to earn his place back on the team. The Rams needed someone to support Stafford for the first two weeks of the season while Garoppolo served a suspension, and they couldn’t afford someone who wasn’t ready to see the NFL field.

Bennett’s preseason started on shaky ground, throwing four interceptions against the Dallas Cowboys. But he rallied with a game-winning 13-play, 70-yard drive capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass. Head coach Sean McVay said after the game it was still an evaluation of whether or not Bennett would make the team, and he reiterated that after Bennett led another return to the fourth quarter the following week. But McVay held Bennett out of the preseason finale, deciding the second-year QB had shown enough improvement to earn a spot on the 53-man roster.

But that’s when the waiting began.

HISTORY ACCOUNTS

This isn’t the first time Bennett has had to bide his time. Before he was one of the most decorated quarterbacks in college football history, Bennett was a backup at Georgia and had to transfer to a college just to earn a scholarship a year later with the Bulldogs, his team. ‘childhood.

Bennett admits it’s strange to think he finds himself in a similar situation, but he can learn from his early days in Athens.

“All you can do is what you can do,” he explains. “And there’s no point complaining about something that doesn’t do anything.” Just be curious about where you can, improve and do what you can.

Ragone was a third-string QB during his three-year career with the Texans, so he understands what Bennett is going through. That’s why he set aside that time after practice to walk with Bennett, just like he did with all of his third players throughout his career.

“I give him a lot of credit because it’s one thing for me to guide him through this, but it’s another thing for him to do it,” Ragone says. “And he does the action of doing what brings him honor.”

Without live reps, Bennett must observe, both in practice and in the film room.

It’s in the latter area that Bennett has impressed his coaches and teammates, particularly with the questions he asks Ragone and Stafford. Questions that show he’s beginning to understand the concepts the Rams are teaching while trying to better appreciate the “why” behind these decisions and philosophies.

“You can always tell what guys think about football by the questions they ask, especially in the quarterback room, and by the depth of the question they ask,” Ragone says. “And the willingness to do that, I think is just as important as asking the question.”

But Bennett is also careful not to ask too many questions, preferring to sit back and learn from Stafford, a fellow Bulldog who McVay said has taken on a mentoring role to Bennett.

“Sometimes you can ask questions that you don’t even really need to ask, you just kind of want to be heard by asking questions. I think that’s a trap you can fall into,” says Bennett. “Well, maybe you should just shut up and learn to see when you have no idea how to see things. Just watch (Stafford) how he does it, be able to see how he struggles.

Although Bennett has largely been handed over to the mental reps, he has been ready to step in when needed. When receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua were returning from injury, Bennett made himself available to throw to them before games or after practices.

“No task is too small or too big for him to try to move the needle forward,” McVay says. “He is willing to be able to help and assist wherever needed.”

But Bennett says he knows those reps, even against the air with just one receiver route, are good for his development as well as the team.

“Every rep you get on these topics will benefit you in some way, right? » asks Bennett. “Obviously I’m helping the team, but for me it’s a little selfish to say, if they’re like, ‘Hey, could you pitch?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, always ask me if I can throw.’ I’m excited to get (tight end Tyler) Higbee back so I can throw to him a few times.