Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett said he spent his absence during most of his rookie season clearing his head at home in Georgia.
Bennett, a two-time national champion quarterback with Georgia, missed the majority of the 2023 season after being placed on the reserve/non-football injury list in September, and the Rams have been scarce about the matter.
During a recent appearance on the “Unreserved with TJ Callaway” podcast, the host asked Bennett, “Where have you been?”
“Home,” the 26-year-old Bennett said after the pair shared a laugh. “I went home for a minute. Kind of had to clear my head. I don’t know, it was a bunch of everything all at once it felt like.
“Just needed some fresh air. And, you know, the Rams and all that were gracious enough to let that happen… I just needed a little bit of a break.”
Bennett added that he just got back from Los Angeles after participating in the Rams OTAs.
The quarterback explained things really haven’t sunk in after winning back-to-back national championships with the Bulldogs — and being named the offensive MVP in the championship game wins over Alabama and TCU.
“It was pretty special,” Bennett said of winning back-to-back titles with the Bulldogs. “But, it’s a question of staying, you know, moving on from that because you got all these years to live and to go do other things to be successful at, to work hard at. You can’t just hang your head on that.”
Bennett was arrested for public intoxication in Dallas in January 2023, shortly after Georgia’s national title win versus TCU that month.
The Rams then selected Bennett, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist, in the fourth round, 128th overall, of the 2023 NFL draft.
Bennett recalled feeling uncertain of himself during his final season with the Bulldogs.
“I feel like everybody kind of… I’d say after the first [national championship] people wanted me to leave… somewhere in the second natty season,” he said. “The whole first national championship season I was not certain of myself… I was on the field because if not you’ll get run over, but as far as asserting myself as the starting quarterback on the Georgia Bulldogs, but it was very much so that feels like a big pile of [s–t].”
In May, Rams GM Les Snead shared some details about Bennett’s absence and explained that the quarterback was “an exhausted human” after his collegiate journey to the pros.
“I know this: Last year was very beneficial for him. I think he took advantage of that year away from the game,” Snead said in an interview with News 19 at the time. “You know what, he’s an exhausted human being based on everything he had done. Let’s just take it as an individual — to walk on, to go to JUCO, to come back, to turn down small schools, say ‘I’m going to try to do this Georgia thing.’
“To win a job, then to win the thing, and then to determine, ‘I’m going to come back.’ And when you come back, it’s really win it again or you failed. And that does take a toll on a human being, so I was jacked for Stetson to be able to take that moment and breathe a little bit.”
Bennett was a walk-on at Georgia and 2017, but he never played a snap after Justin Fields committed to Georgia in 2018.
He then transferred to Jones College before returning to Georgia in 2019, when the Bulldogs needed a backup for Jake Fromm because Fields left for Ohio State.
Bennett’s situation raised eyebrows last season, when he was expected to be Matthew Stafford’s backup last season.
However, Bennett, was ruled out with a shoulder injury before a Week 1 matchup versus the Seahawks.
McVay said that he preferred to keep the details of Bennett’s absence “in house” at the time.
“There are certain things that I think are a little bit bigger and more important, and out of respect for the particulars and the specifics want to be able to keep it in-house and that’s where I’d like to leave it please,” the Super Bowl-winning coach said.
The Rams open the 2024 season against the Lions in Detroit on Sept. 8 in a playoff rematch.
