Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford declined to respond directly to reporters asking about his wife, Kelly Stafford, who said last month that he was struggling to connect with his younger teammates. Instead, he assured reporters that everything in the locker room was going well during the preseason.

“No, I think those guys understand where I’m coming from. They see me come in this building every single day and know how I go to work, know how I interact with everybody and we didn’t really think too much about it to be honest with you,” Stafford said.

Stafford went on to have some fun with the controversy and claimed to have a small prank planned for reporters before they could ask about it.

“I was going to come out here with a newspaper under my arm with some spectacles,” Stafford joked. “Set the mood, but it turns out you can’t even find a newspaper around here so I couldn’t do that. I was going to try to have some fun with it, but no it’s been great. I love coming to work. I love working with these guys and they all know that.”

The Rams’ quarterback, now 35, led the team to a Super Bowl in 2021 but suffered an injury last season that played a part in dashing hopes for a return to the playoffs. Stafford is healthy now, but a lingering injury for wide receiver Cooper Kupp could handicap the offense for the first few weeks of the season.

Kelly Stafford commented on the Rams’ locker room on her podcast on Aug. 23, claiming that generational differences were making it difficult for her husband to relate to his teammates.

“In the old days you’d come out of practice, you’d shower, and people would be playing cards, interacting,” Kelly Stafford said. “Who knows what they’re doing, but they’re doing something together. Playing ping-pong, they have a tournament going on. They’d at least be talking. But now they get out of practice, and meetings during training camp, and they go straight to their phones. No one looks up from their phones. Matthew’s like, ‘I don’t know . . . am I the dad? Do I take their phones? What do I do here?’ He’s like, ‘I want them to see me not as a coach.’”

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford entered concussion protocol and may not start Week 10. Head Coach Sean McVay announced Stafford’s status Wednesday, saying that the team felt that it was a necessary precautionary measure.

“You ask the questions and you do the right follow-ups and determined that they felt like that was the best thing for (Stafford),” McVay said in a press conference. “That’s kind of where we’re at with it. It’s more importantly about the person, then the player, in these types of things as we know, and nobody is more of a competitor and wanting to be out there with his teammates than Matthew. He’s in the protocol, so we’ll take it a day at a time with him.”

McVay and a team spokesperson reported that the team was evaluating players after the team’s Week 9 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Medical personnel found that Stafford was experiencing symptoms and decided to enter him into concussion protocol mid-week. He will have to clear the protocol in a short timeframe to start against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday.

Following McVay’s announcement Wednesday, Kelly Stafford, Matthew’s wife, expressed anger and disappointment in the league. Kelly has been vocal about concussions in the NFL for some time and delivered an emotional speech on her Morning After podcast in October after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a head injury against the Cincinatti Bengals. She expressed similar sentiments Thursday about her husband’s situation.

“If you have listened to my podcast at all, you know how big a deal it is to me,” Kelly said. “The head is not something to be messed with… and I hope as this sport develops, so does the concern for head health and the research around it.”

Kelly went on to say she was too “concerned, angry, sad, tired” to convey her personal reaction to the news of her husband’s setback.

If Matthew is unable to start against the Cardinals, Rams backup quarterback John Wolford will take over. The Rams have lost four of their last five games and are currently third in the NFC West.