Rams Coach McVay said plenty about QB Stetson Bennett, and you may not like it

How did QB Stetson Bennett grade himself in his first game in nearly a year?

I had to feel for Stetson Bennett in the press conference in the video. He played a roller coaster of a game. But when he was thinking about his play, he was overthinking the role and ended up subject to mental lapses. When he stopped thinking, and played instinctively, he made great plays, but didn't have the wherewithal to recollect and restate what he saw and how the mechanics of the play worked.

He just went out there and made the play work.

He had to measure his words. He was fighting the battle of celebrating the win while reflecting and replaying his errors. It was clear from his demeanor and body language, that he was conflicted in the way he viewed himself. His best insight came at the 9:00-minute mark when he was asked what he felt was the value of going through a game like that.

"I think it’s great and I think it’s just, really good to have – that was probably the weirdest game that I’ve ever been a part of, to be quite honest with you.

Yeah. I don’t know. I told myself today, we’re going to roll with the punches and we’re going to – my goal was to not make any mental errors, which I know it was basically to run the offense correctly. And I know the interceptions are different, but like, to run in and out of the huddle, execute, and I thought we did that for the majority of the day.

There were some lapses, obviously. But in the end, it was get the ball in the end zone or you lose. And I think everybody kind of felt to do it.
"

- Steton Bennett

Bennett improvises in the pocket. That is who he is, and who the team drafted. McVay loves guys who can make plays work as they break down. Stetson Bennett is not held to the menu, and as you witnessed in this one, he plays at his best when he runs on pure instinct.

This is a humble second-year player who is coachable, willing to learn, and who understands that he is rebuilding his skillset from the ground up. And what I heard in this press conference is not a player who should be released. Rather, I saw and heard a football player who is taking the first steps to reclaim his ability to play in the NFL.