LOS ANGELES — Matthew Stafford doesn’t like to wear headphones during warmups when visiting road stadiums, and that won’t change Sunday night in what figures to be a raucous environment in Detroit. In last season’s wild-card loss, Detroit Lions fans energetically booed their former quarterback of 12 seasons as he jogged onto the field before the game and generally were as active a “12th man” as possible throughout the game itself.
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“Do I feel the crowd? Yeah, I feel the crowd, 100 percent,” Stafford said Wednesday. “Motivating factor. Love it. I’m one of the guys that walks into the opposing stadium and everybody has their headphones on, I don’t. I want to hear all of it. I want to smell it. I want to feel like it’s football. And that’s a part of football, especially going to an away game. That stuff just motivates me.”
Crowd noise is certainly a factor the Los Angeles Rams offense is preparing for this week — especially an offensive line that was recently reconfigured. Los Angeles invested big money into its interior positions in the spring, signing former Lion Jonah Jackson to play left guard and extending Kevin Dotson at right guard. Their corresponding plan through OTAs and most of the summer was to onboard previous starting left guard Steve Avila at center to make room for Jackson at left guard (he has mostly played there during his four NFL seasons).
But Jackson missed most of training camp with a shoulder injury. Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson also exited camp in July with an ankle injury, but he’ll additionally miss the first two games of the regular season due to a suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Joe Noteboom backs up Jackson. Seeking more known stability on the left side of the offensive line, and after discussing Jonah Jackson’s willingness to move to center, the Rams flipped Avila back to left guard and Jonah Jackson began taking center snaps after the Rams returned from joint practices in Houston at the end of August.
The Rams have also been without starting right tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle) since July. Havenstein returned in limited fashion to practice Wednesday, but coach Sean McVay indicated he might be a game-time decision. Second-year tackle Warren McClendon backs up Havenstein.
Jackson says he is comfortable with the change to center, even though it came two weeks before the opener.
“I started out playing football at center, high school I was the center, college I played a good amount of center,” Jackson said. “In the league, in a pinch, I played center. Now, I probably would have made the move earlier in my career had our center in Detroit (Frank Ragnow) not been All-Pro and Pro Bowl. It’s something that’s not new to me, something I’m ready to play.”
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Stafford has taken snaps from Jackson before — in 2020 as teammates in Detroit, when the COVID-19 pandemic altered many teams’ contingency plans at all positions.
“It’s good having him back there,” Jackson said of Stafford, smiling, “he’s the wizard. He can figure it out for you if you don’t know.”
Offensive line coach Ryan Wendell (himself a longtime former center) gives all linemen who could ever play center the same information — such as protection calls and checks at the line of scrimmage — that the starting center and quarterback are ultimately responsible for making on game day.
“It’s not like it’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh, he’s now learning these calls,'” Jackson said. “Wendy doesn’t call on Steve (Avila) in the room. He’ll call on me, he’ll call on Beaux (Limmer) … anybody who is going to be playing the center position, potentially, so we can all be dialed in. In an instance where you do need a center, it’s like nothing changes.”
An already tough environment will only escalate as Avila, Dotson and Jackson face a combination of Lions interior defensive linemen Alim McNeill, potentially DJ Reader (who coach Dan Campbell told reporters Wednesday has “a chance” of playing Sunday night after recovery from a torn quad) and Levi Onwuzurike.
“You have to be able to trust your (offensive) rules, you have to know some of the things (that could happen) without chasing ghosts,” McVay said. “Some of the personnel that they have added is very good. … (And) McNeill, I think, is one of the best players in this league that people don’t talk about enough.”
Jackson hopes he will stick long-term at center, but keeping this relatively new interior offensive line combination intact will depend on how they play against Detroit and beyond.
I’m sure you can (and hopefully will!) debate about every position on @greggrosenthal and my Mutually Agreeable 53-man Roster, but my JJ Jansen selection at long snapper is actually indisputable https://t.co/EVNHGmy2yb pic.twitter.com/vVXVV6YYbH
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) September 3, 2024
“It is a lot that is put on our plate, and that is something that we as offensive linemen take pride in. We like to put it on our shoulders,” Jackson said. “Being at ‘the pivot’ is a very important position. What more could you ask for? Being able to handle everything (and) direct the group.”
Jackson and Stafford will spend part of Sunday night’s pregame warmups together to rep their snap exchange (typical for a quarterback and his center). The two have discussed what the environment will probably be like as they do — unlike Stafford, this will be Jackson’s first return to Ford Field since signing with the Rams in free agency.
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“I still talk to my (former) offensive line guys pretty frequently,” Jackson said, “we were all out at (Lions right tackle Penei Sewell’s) wedding like a month ago. We all got back together. I still talk to some personnel guys, strength coaches and stuff. It’s all love. I’m excited to get back to see them, and play some football.”
(Photo of Matthew Stafford: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)
Jourdan Rodrigue is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Los Angeles Rams. Previously, she covered the Carolina Panthers for The Athletic and The Charlotte Observer, and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times. She is an ASU grad and a recipient of the PFWA's Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer award (2021). Follow Jourdan on X @JourdanRodrigue Follow Jourdan on Twitter @JourdanRodrigue
