Stetson Bennett and the Los Angeles Rams are not piling up points this preseason but the former Georgia quarterback is piling up wins. Just like he did with the Bulldogs.
Bennett, battling for a backup job with the Rams behind another former UGA player Matthew Stafford, has started the team’s first two exhibition games. After leading L.A. to a 13-12 win over the Cowboys in the opener, Bennett was the only quarterback to play for the Rams again Saturday and led them to a 13-9 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
So that’s just 26 points but two wins for Bennett and the Rams.
Bennett’s former Georgia teammate, receiver Ladd McConkey, played for the Chargers.
Bennett completed 17 of 31 passes for 231 yards, with a touchdown, an interception and a lost fumble. McConkey played less but had a reception for five yards. The two met on the field after the game.
Bennett was 24 for 38 for 224 yards in the first exhibition game against Dallas but also threw four interceptions. He threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Miller Forristall with four seconds remaining as the Rams rallied for the win.
“I think when you don’t play football for so long, you want it to be perfect, but you kind of got to make those mistakes to learn from them,” Bennett said. “As much as I don’t want to do that, it is good that some things like that happen so you can learn from them.”
Bennett was a fourth-round draft pick by the Rams last year after leading Georgia to two straight national championships. He was not with Los Angeles during the regular season as he addressed his mental health.
Bennett has gone the distance at quarterback in both exhibition games with Stafford and backup Jimmy Garoppolo on the sideline.
Bennett connected with JJ Laap on a 47-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter Saturday. The undrafted rookie wide receiver beat Chargers cornerback Zamari Walton on a go route down the middle with 9:48 remaining.
“They went quarters, and we’d been running the ball, so the safety kind of bit up and JJ was basically one-on-one out there on the corner because the safety had bit up, so just put it up and he made a good play,” Bennett said.
The touchdown made up for the previous two Rams drives, when Bennett threw an interception to Deane Leonard deep in the end zone on fourth-and-goal at the 1 and Joshua Karty was wide right on a 52-yard field goal attempt.
Karty did have a pair of field goals for the Rams (2-0).
Cameron Dicker kicked three field goals for coach Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers (0-2).
Rams defensive backs coach/pass game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant handled the head coaching duties while Sean McVay observed from the coaching booth.
McVay wanted Pleasant to get experience of meeting with the officials, handling game-related situations such as calling timeouts and having to communicate with offense, defense and special teams.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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