John Wolford started at QB for the Los Angeles Rams Thursday night, and when coach Sean McVay decided to make a change due to Wolford’s lingering neck issues, he went to the guy he signed off the street on Tuesday, Baker Mayfield.
This isn’t good news for UVA alum Bryce Perkins, who was also active for Thursday’s game, but was passed by in favor of the guy who had taken at best a crash course on the Rams’ playbook.
That Mayfield then led LA on a 98-yard drive in the final two minutes to complete a comeback from a 16-3 second-half deficit, turning that into a 17-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, means the writing is on the wall.
Perkins’ time in SoCal is coming to an end.
“You can’t say enough about Baker Mayfield and the leadership, the resilience, the competitiveness,” McVay said. “And what a quick study. I mean, he just got here five minutes ago and figured out a way to be able to do some special things tonight.”
Perkins, for his part, has been in the Rams’ system for three seasons, after making the team as an undrafted free agent in 2020.
He’s made four preseason starts, two each in 2021 and 2022, passing for 850 yards, five TDs, one INT and completing 65.0 percent of his passes in the preseason.
But in his one regular-season start, last month at Kansas City, McVay dramatically simplified the game plan, running early and often, going with line-of-scrimmage and short passes when he did let Perkins go to the air – and Perkins’ numbers showed for it.
Perk was 13-of-23 for an even 100 yards, with one TD and two INTs, and led the team in rushing, with 44 yards on nine attempts.
The play-calling from McVay demonstrated an obvious lack of confidence in Perkins, and then we have last night.
McVay went with a guy who was a Carolina Panther on Monday, only got on a plane to head to LA after being claimed off waivers on Tuesday, for a Thursday night game.
And hey, it worked out – Mayfield was 22-of-35 for 230 yards and a TD in the win.
It’s time for Perk’s agent to begin gauging the interest in the marketplace ahead of the offseason. His time in LA is coming to an end in a few weeks, if not sooner.
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Chris Graham
