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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif .– There will be no mystery leading up to the kickoff as to who will start as quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams in an NFC Division Round playoff game against the Green Packers Bay Saturday.
Quarterback John Wolford has been ruled out with a neck injury, so Jared Goff will start, coach Sean McVay said Thursday. Blake Bortles will serve as a backup.
McVay expressed disappointment that Wolford was unable to participate in training this week, but the coach said Goff was progressing while recovering from surgery he had on the thumb of his throwing hand December 28.
“He did a good job throughout the week,” McVay said. “… I know he didn’t suffer.”
Prior to Thursday, McVay had been coy about his team’s quarterback situation. He only announced a starter for last week’s game just before kick-off.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur told reporters Thursday that the decision to pitch Goff would not “affect” their game plan “too much”.
“I think there might be a couple things,” said LaFleur, who was Goff’s offensive coordinator in Los Angeles in 2017. “… I think we’ve been getting ready for Jared pretty much all week, so it doesn’t change too much. “
Wolford started the wild card game against the Seattle Seahawks but came out in the first quarter after taking a blow to the head and neck. He was rushed to hospital as a precaution during the game, but returned to Lumen Field in time to participate in the Rams’ dressing room celebration following the 30-20 victory.
McVay described Wolford’s injury as a “stinger”.
Goff replaced Wolford and completed 9 of 19 passes for 155 yards, and said after the game it was tough when McVay told him Wolford would start.
“As a competitor of course I wanted to be there and I wanted to play and I felt I could make a difference,” said Goff. “He’s the coach. He had to make a decision he had to make at the start of the week to come out in front of some stuff. I understand. But as a competitor of course I wanted to play and I was ready to go. to play. . “
ESPN’s Rob Demovsky contributed to this report.
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