Matthew Stafford has been grappling with more than just questions about his NFL future.
During Wednesday’s “Timeout” edition of her “Morning After” podcast, wife Kelly Stafford revealed the 36-year-old quarterback played through the latter part of the season with cracked ribs, including Sunday’s divisional round loss to the Eagles.
“He got hit in San Fran,” Kelly began, referencing the Rams’ Week 15 win over the 49ers on Dec. 12.
“I remember watching it, [he] looked over to the sidelines and said something, and that night came home, and was like, ‘Yeah, think I cracked my ribs.’ I was like, ‘What?’ And he did, he cracked four ribs, but just didn’t really let anyone in to really know much about it. Continued his everyday process like nothing was wrong, would come home and be miserable.”
Stafford, who took a hit in Sunday’s 28-22 season-ending loss, said he “was able to kind of calm it down,” according to ESPN.
The Rams quarterback went 26 of 44 passing for 324 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s defeat, which concluded his fourth year in Los Angeles and 16th NFL season.
Not long after the game, Stafford was asked about what’s next.
“As far as my future goes it’s 30 minutes after the last game, I’ll take some time to think about it,” he said. “But I feel like I was playing some pretty good ball.”
Stafford finished the 2024 season by throwing for 3,762 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions through 16 games.
Kelly, who has been married to Stafford since 2015 and shares four daughters with star quarterback, then expanded on the uncertainty in Wednesday’s episode.
“When it comes to retirement, I am as in the dark as everybody else,” Kelly said.
Although Stafford and Kelly “will discuss” the future, the mother of four said it’s up to him alone to make the choice.
“As much as he wants to make it a joint decision, it has to be his decision because one, I don’t want him resenting me or anything, I want it to be fully his own. So, we are going to take time and he’s going to take time and figure it out,” she said.
Kelly’s comments Wednesday come two days after she posted a heartfelt message to Stafford and pondered the future.
“Aren’t enough words to express how proud I am. I joke about us being old and tired but honestly I could never get tired of watching you out there or watching our girls cheer for their daddy. I’m wondering if this is the end or not… guess we will find out,” she wrote on Instagram.
