Rams set backup QB order, send full roster to Melbourne
Bennett is the backup quarterback, Simpson third, and every player including Aaron Donald is flying to Melbourne — but the receiver room behind a groin-injured Puka Nacua might decide Week 1 more than either arm.
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Sean McVay said Friday that every player on the current roster is making the trip to Melbourne for the September 10 opener against the 49ers, according to Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com. That includes Aaron Donald, even though his Week 1 availability is still unresolved, and it comes as the 49ers get their own scare answered with Nick Bosa back at full practice and saying he'll play. The Rams aren't leaving until next Wednesday, a full week after San Francisco departs, Adam Schefter reports — extra time McVay clearly intends to use.
Rams' depth chart lists Stetson Bennett as No. 2 QB, Ty Simpson No. 3. t.co/k1BwxmmOQg
The other roster question that got settled this week had nothing to do with health. The Week 1 depth chart lists Stetson Bennett at backup quarterback and rookie Ty Simpson third, Pro Football Talk reports — which means if Matthew Stafford needs a series off in Melbourne, it's Bennett's huddle, not the arm that went 18 of 23 for 119 yards and a touchdown all preseason.
There was lighter business too: the Rams signed linebacker Jamie Sheriff to the practice squad and released defensive tackle Tim Keenan III, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports, and Pro Football Talk couldn't resist noting the Rams are carrying 11 captains for 2026 — one more than the Chargers, the other team in town.
Preseason closes 3-0 as the backups make their case
The finale wasn't artistic, but it closed the book 3-0 — a 20-18 win over the Chargers on August 28 that leaned on the kicking game. Harrison Mevis made both his field-goal tries from 27 yards out and converted both extra points, and Ty Simpson got the start over Stetson Bennett for a third straight week, going 18 of 23 for 119 yards with a touchdown. CJ Daniels caught five of his six targets for 42 yards, and Max Klare added a six-yard catch on two targets at tight end.
Chargers20-18
Saints34-0
Chiefs20-12Part of why the young guys got that much run is who didn't. Matthew Stafford didn't take an offensive snap all preseason, and Davante Adams and Blake Corum sat out all three games, per the club. McVay never actually named a winner between Bennett and Simpson for the backup job — the Rams kept all three quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster. The Week 1 depth chart lists Bennett at No. 2 and Simpson, the rookie taken 13th overall, at No. 3, Pro Football Talk reports, which settles the pecking order without settling who actually plays if Stafford needs a series off.
Atwell says he 'never left,' and Nacua's groin still hangs over Week 1
The Rams traded to bring back Tutu Atwell this week, and McVay's insistence that it's "exclusively" about receiver depth keeps running into the timing — Puka Nacua is still waiting on the NFL to rule on a March lawsuit accusing him of biting a woman and making an antisemitic remark, allegations his attorney has called false and any contact "horseplay," per multiple reports. No criminal charges have been filed and a civil trial isn't set until 2028, but Adam Schefter has said a Week 1 suspension against the 49ers remains "within the realm of options." Nacua himself was working through something else this week too, off to the side for team drills with a groin issue, Nate Atkins of The Athletic reports, and he's listed questionable rather than out.
Tutu Atwell on Rams return: I feel like I never left. t.co/7sMiZNmhH0
Atwell put words to it himself this week: "I feel like I never left," he said, per Pro Football Talk — the post is below. Every rep he takes between now and September 10 still reads as insurance against a Nacua suspension that hasn't actually been ruled on, receiver depth or not.
Melbourne hosts the NFL's first regular-season game, and the Rams open as favorites
Thursday night vs. the 49ers is also the first regular-season NFL game ever played in Australia, kicking off from the Melbourne Cricket Ground rather than SoFi Stadium — the Rams' home date on paper, an ocean away from home in practice. It's a real NFC West game wrapped inside a piece of league history: the two clubs split their season series a year ago, and San Francisco arrives off a 2-1 preseason and an 18-12 win at the Raiders. The Rams' own account teased its 'first look' at the matchup this week, embedded below.
San Francisco is bringing its own pass-rush storyline into the building. Nick Bosa is back at full practice for the first time since tearing his ACL last September and has already said he plans to play, which puts a healthy Bosa across from a Rams tackle group that will be breaking in reinforcements regardless of what Donald or Garrett can give it. The Rams were the NFL's highest-scoring offense a season ago, and Stafford figures to see plenty of Bosa, Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw trying to make him move his feet.
First look at our Week 1 matchup against the 49ers. 👀 📝 » t.co/MHqNli4d1a
The line opened with the Rams as 3.5-point favorites and the total set at 48.5 — middling as these things go, which tracks for a rivalry game nobody has watched play out at 11 in the morning on a cricket ground.