THOUSAND OAKS — For the first time in his adult life, Stetson Bennett IV spent a fall away from football. It’s a sport that has been integral in Bennett’s life, from hearing stories about the game in his grandfather’s kitchen to amassing one of the most decorated résumés in college history. But after being picked by the Rams in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the former Georgia quarterback had stepped away from the game, placed on the non-football injury list after Week 1, head coach Sean McVay and the organization declining to reveal the reason why.
“At first, I kind of just got away,” Bennett said Tuesday after an offseason practice, his first time speaking with the media since his surprise departure. “And then you start getting curious again and you start watching it with the eye and you start thinking about it that way. It’s hard to turn off whenever it starts going again.
I saw it for how I’ve always seen it, just a beautiful game to create relationships with your teammates and then you go compete against the best and find out if you can, which I’m excited to get back to doing.” Much like McVay before him, Bennett, 26, declined to get into the specifics Tuesday about his sabbatical. He stated that he was at home in Georgia during the season, but, “As far as what led to that, what transpired and all that, I think we’re going to keep that in-house.
” The most Bennett would say, when asked directly, was that his absence was mental heal.