THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Last Saturday against the Chargers, it was the Bryce Perkins show.
This Friday against the Texans, Perkins and John Wolford will split the quarterback snaps.
Rams head coach Sean McVay on Wednesday said that Wolford will play the first half against Houston, with Perkins playing the second half.
"It'll be good to get John Wolford some experience," McVay said after Wednesday's practice.
The approach to the position represents a slight departure from previous years.
Last year, Devlin Hodges started Los Angeles' preseason opener before Perkins took over in the second half. Perkins played so well in the second half, he earned more playing time over the remainder of the preseason and became QB3 on the Rams' roster.
This year, McVay indicated the decision was influenced in part by how well Perkins has played in preseason games. Against the Chargers last week, Perkins completed 10 of 17 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran eight times for 39 yards and one touchdown.
It was also about wanting to get Wolford more experience, with McVay noting that the extent of Wolford's live game experience to this point was against the Cardinals in Week 17 of 2020 and one quarter of the 2020 Wild Card game against the Seahawks (exited the game with an injury).
"You can't really substitute where you're able to get tackled, get out there and play with some of the other guys and operate in a situation where you want Matthew (Stafford) to be able to stay (as) healthy as possible," McVay said. "But if he did have to do something, we feel like this would be the best opportunity for John to get in there, get into a rhythm and routine."
Ultimately, McVay feels this will put Wolford in the best position to succeed.
"It was really just something that kind of just thinking about what's the best way to set up John for the most success," McVay said. "We felt like him playing this week would be that."
