John Wolford focused on preparing for Raiders, not Baker Mayfield news
Perhaps the player most impacted by Baker Mayfield’s arrival in Los Angeles is John Wolford. He’s been the Rams’ backup quarterback the last three seasons and got the first crack at replacing Matthew Stafford after he went down this year.
Bryce Perkins has also pushed him for playing time, but the assumption is that Mayfield will start for the Rams when he’s up to speed. Shortly after news broke of the Rams claiming Mayfield, Wolford was asked about the move and his initial thoughts.
Unsurprisingly, he handled it with class.
“This is part of the sport,” Wolford said. “Obviously, the team’s going to do what’s best for the team and welcome him with open arms. It’s a good group in there. So we’re just going to continue to push each other to get better and go about our business.”
Wolford is dealing with a neck injury right now and said he’s “TBD” for Thursday night against the Raiders. Even with his status unclear, Wolford is focused on preparing for the Raiders, not the news of Mayfield’s arrival.
“Yeah, regarding the news, I’m not paying much attention to that,” he said. “Obviously, I’m just focusing on the game on Thursday, so that’s really all my time is spent on. Obviously, it’s a quick week. We don’t have much time so that’s the most valuable asset I have right now. So that’s where all my energy is going is prepping for this game and hoping to be ready.”
Sean McVay told Wolford just before Tuesday’s walk-through that the Rams were bringing in Mayfield, giving the quarterback a heads up about the team’s newest addition. Wolford doesn’t doubt that Mayfield can be ready to play by Thursday, but he also knows there are challenges when it comes to learning an offense so quickly.
“With any offense, there’s intricacies, there’s code words, the cadence even can be complex,” he said. “So it’s not easy, but he’s played a lot and it’s not like it can’t be done.”
Whether it’s Wolford, Perkins or Mayfield starting against the Raiders, the Rams will be seeking to snap their six-game losing streak, by far the longest of McVay’s tenure in Los Angeles.
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