Jared Goff’s thumb feels better every day, not expected to limit play calling

Jared Goff has been through more uncertainty in the last three weeks than he probably has been in the last five years of his career combined. A broken thumb suffered in Week 16 caused him to sit out the season finale, and then in the Rams’ first playoff game, John Wolford got the start over him.

But heading into the divisional round, the Rams are once again Goff’s team. Wolford has been ruled out with a neck injury and Goff’s thumb has made enough progress for Sean McVay to feel confident in starting him again.

Goff likes the way his thumb has progressed, too, saying it feels good and continues to get better as time goes on. There’s some soreness but now more than two weeks removed from undergoing surgery, it’s in a better place than it was a week ago.

“I think, like I mentioned, it continues to get better,” he said Thursday. “I think it feels good. I’m in a good place with it. Over time, just over and over hitting it, there is a slight soreness, but nothing that’s hindering me in any way. I think overall it’s progressing in the right way.”

Part of the equation is comfort. Goff was clearly not very comfortable last week against the Seahawks, wincing after a few plays, using his left hand to high-five teammates and coaches, and missing throws that he ordinarily makes – something both he and McVay admitted.

But heading into Saturday’s game against the Packers, he feels more comfortable with it, having had some time to get used to the feeling of his thumb not being 100%.

“Yeah, I think so,” Goff said when asked if he notices a difference throwing the ball this week compared to last week. “I think again, like if you have surgery on an important part of your hand and just getting comfortable with it every day. It gets better every day. I feel better every day. If it gets a little more comfortable and continues to feel much better.”

This is all good news for the Rams, of course. As they gear up to face the Packers, McVay doesn’t expect Goff’s thumb to limit his play calling in Green Bay. The weather could play a factor, with chilly temperatures and possibly some snow in the forecast, but McVay doesn’t believe Goff’s thumb will affect anything.

“I think he’s throwing the ball really well this week. I think we will see how the weather is really affecting the conditions overall, but I don’t expect it to be a factor,” McVay told reporters Thursday. “And really, I think probably a more appropriate way of articulating it was, I thought there were some throws that he’s typically fairly automatic on, that maybe he missed. Now, whether that was a result of the thumb injury or not, he’s the one that would probably be able to better answer that. But I do know this, when you watch him throw last week to this week, it is definitely trending in the right direction that’s more in alignment and really, it looks like the Jared that we’re accustomed to who has always been a natural thrower of the football. He’s been blessed with that ability since he was young. You can see he’s able to drive intermediate-deeper breaks and can definitely throw the football down the field. So, I don’t think you’re limited in any type of throw, based on what we’ve evaluated this week, which is a real positive.”

Goff still probably isn’t 100% healthy, considering he said there’s still some soreness when he hits his thumb over and over again, but this is as good as he’s going to feel at this point in time. And those three screws in his thumb?

“They’ll stay in until I’m six feet under,” Goff quipped.