Sean McVay Calls Stetson Bennett Debut 'A Step In The Right Direction'

On Saturday, we saw Stetson Bennett suit up for an NFL game for the first time.

The former Georgia quarterback went 17 for 29 for 191 yards and a touchdown in the Los Angeles Rams' preseason opener against the Chargers.

Overall, Rams head coach Sean McVay said he was impressed.

"I thought he did a nice job," McVay said. "There were some tough situations, and you could see the athleticism where he escaped."

Of course, there were times he didn't escape, too. Bennett was sacked three times for a loss of 36 yards — including once by a guy who had never played football before.

Bennett entered the game in the second quarter. His first drive went 16 plays, 75 yards and ended in an 11-yard touchdown pass to fellow rookie Puka Nacua. The drive also included three near-interceptions.

"In that scoring drive, he was able to get into a rhythm," McVay said. "I thought he did a nice job of being able to exhaust some of his progressions. You could see that it was a step in the right direction."

And Bennett agreed.

"I got more comfortable as the game went on," the 25-year-old said. "I started to play football. There's some things to fix, but there's some things we can be proud of, too."

The Rams ultimately fell 34-17 to the Chargers. But Bennett led all three scoring drives for his team.

"I thought there was a lot of good opportunities for him to be able to learn from, and you could see some of the things that excite us about him," McVay said.

The Rams drafted Stetson Bennett out of Georgia in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft as a possible successor to Matthew Stafford.

He is competing with Brett Rypien to serve as Stafford's backup.