Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford isn’t worried about the banged-up finger on his throwing hand heading into Sunday’s Divisional Round showdown with the Chicago Bears.
Stafford sprained his right index finger in Saturday's wild-card win over the Carolina Panthers, but told Jim Gray on the Let’s Go! podcast on Monday that he’ll be fine.
“Hand is good. I'm not worried about it at all,” Stafford said. “I was just throwing a ball over the middle to and caught somebody's forearm. Just bent it way back. I just was looking down a little bit, like what's this thing gonna look like when I go down there and look at it? But it was fine, a little bit stiff throughout the game, like a jammed finger. But I know by Sunday next week I'll be feeling great.”
With the weather currently slated to be around 10 degrees for Sunday’s 6:30 p.m. ET kickoff in Chicago, Stafford dismissed the cold having an ill effect on his ability to toss the pigskin.
“No, I really don't see there being any kind of an issue for me on Sunday,” he said. “I feel like I'll be feeling great by then. I’ll probably feel really good by Wednesday of this week, to be honest with you. I'll do a bunch of treatment, get it feeling good. I played a bunch of games with all sorts of ailments to my hand, in whatever weather, so whatever it is, I'll be ready to rock and roll on Sunday.”
In the wild-card win over Carolina, Stafford was 24-of-42 passing for 304 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The MVP candidate said that experience with winds whipping was good preparation for the trip to Chicago, where winds are currently expected to be between 10 and 20 mph.
“Yeah, I mean, I think as far as the wind goes, you're right, it is always windy in Chicago. I played a handful of games there throughout the years,” he said. “The good thing for us is it was windy this past week in Carolina. I think every kickoff, it seemed like somebody had to come out and hold it. It was getting blown off the tee, blown off the tee, blown off the tee. We've dealt with that before. And then when it goes to cold weather, we played the Jets last year in what was, I think it was like 12 degrees at kickoff. And you just adjust to whatever the weather allows you to do. And I think if it's just cold with a little bit of wind, we go play.
"You know, I love that kind of stuff. I mean, that's playoff football, right? Cold weather in Chicago, windy day, there's nothing better than that in my mind, so I'm excited for it.”
In his career with the Detroit Lions and Rams, Stafford has a 5-7 record at Soldier Field, including a September 2024 loss to the Bears.
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