Matthew Stafford and his balky back to be tested in opener when Rams face Texans' imposing defense

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Matthew Stafford and his balky back to be tested in opener when Rams face Texans' imposing defense

2025-09-05 02:54 Last Updated At：03:00

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Matthew Stafford missed nearly a month of the Los Angeles Rams' training camp with an aggravated disk in his back, and Alaric Jackson only joined practice this week after being sidelined for the whole summer with blood clots.

The quarterback and his left tackle are healthy for the regular season, but they'll get no warmup before facing the Houston Texans and their potentially dominant defense Sunday.

If Stafford hadn't already seen and done just about everything in his 17-year career, he might seem a bit more stressed about the high degree of difficulty under which he'll take his first snaps of the season. While Houston pass rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter are elite, the Texans also finished second in the league in interceptions last year.

“I've got a ton of respect for them,” said Stafford, who needs 191 yards passing to become the 10th quarterback to throw for 60,000 yards. “I’m going to go play the game. Whatever happens, happens. I’m playing like I always play. I have no issues with a physical game. Obviously, I would love to stay as clean as possible, but I’m not thinking twice about that at all.”

Stafford also will get his first chance to throw to new receiver Davante Adams in this meeting of 2024 division champions.

Meanwhile, the Rams' defensive coaching staff is scheming against a familiar face: Nick Caley, Los Angeles' tight ends coach last season, will debut as the Texans' offensive coordinator after spending the past two years under Sean McVay, who is 6-2 in openers.

C.J. Stroud is playing in his native Southern California for the first time since he passed for 573 yards and six touchdowns while leading Ohio State to victory in the spectacular 2022 Rose Bowl. The third-year quarterback grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, roughly an hour east of downtown in the vast Los Angeles metroplex.

“I’ve got some family coming to the game, and friends," Stroud said. "Super excited, but just got to stay focused.”

Stroud also faces a challenge from the Rams’ vaunted defensive line, led by Jared Verse and Braden Fiske. The Texans revamped their offensive line after Stroud was sacked 52 times last season, second-most in the league.

Houston traded longtime left tackle Laremy Tunsil to Washington, and right tackle Tytus Howard is the only returning starter. The Texans will rely on second-round pick Aireontae Ersery to protect Stroud’s blind side after he started 38 games at left tackle over three seasons at Minnesota.

Coach DeMeco Ryans wasn’t in the mood to answer questions on Wednesday about the group.

“Everybody wants to know who’s going out there, who is this guy at this position, that position," he said. "It’s just a lot of talk that I’m, quite frankly, tired of talking about. It’s time to go play and let’s see how our five matches up against a really great defensive line.”

The Rams are not expected to have a rookie starter, and it's likely that only two new starters will debut at SoFi Stadium alongside Adams and center Coleman Shelton, who returned after one season away. Veteran Poona Ford takes over at nose tackle, and Nate Landman is the Rams' starting inside linebacker and defensive signal-caller.

Nick Chubb will be Houston’s running back for at least the first four weeks with Joe Mixon on the reserve/non-football injury list with an offseason foot injury.

Chubb, a four-time Pro Bowler, looks to return to form in his first season with the Texans after playing just 10 games combined in the last two seasons while dealing with various injuries. Before that, Chubb had four straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons for the Browns, capped by a career-high 1,525 yards in 2022.

Ryans has raved about Chubb since he was signed this summer.

“Nick won’t surprise me in the game. I know what I’m going to get from Nick Chubb,” he said. “He’s a guy I’ve watched for a long time. He’s done it at a high level for a long time. ... I expect to see a physical running back who’s going to gain positive yards every time he touches the football.”

Chubb’s backups include rookie Woody Marks, who rushed for 1,133 yards in an excellent season at Southern California last fall.

McVay has faced Houston only twice previously in his career, and the Texans are visiting SoFi Stadium for the first time. But Ryans and McVay developed a healthy mutual respect during Ryans' six seasons on San Francisco's coaching staff, including two as the Niners' defensive coordinator.

AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Danish official says there's a 'fundamental disagreement' with Trump over Greenland

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Danish official said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with President Donald Trump after holding highly anticipated White House talks with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The two sides, however, agreed to create a working group to discuss ways to work through differences as Trump continues to call for a U.S. takeover of the semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks. He added that it remains "clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”

Trump is trying to make the case that NATO should help the U.S. acquire the world's largest island and says anything less than it being under American control is unacceptable.

Denmark, meanwhile, announced plans to boost the country's military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic as Trump tries to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover of the vast territory by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals.

The president, who did not take part in Wednesday’s meeting, told reporters he remained committed to acquiring the territory.

“We need Greenland for national security,” Trump said. “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”

Trump named Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as a special envoy to Greenland last month. Landry did not attend Wednesday's meeting, but was scheduled to travel to Washington on Thursday and Friday for meetings that include the topic of Greenland, his spokesperson said.

Landry, following Trump's latest comments, posted on X that Trump was “absolutely right” about acquiring Greenland and the territory "is a critical component of our nation’s national security portfolio.”

Before the meeting, Trump took to social media to make the case that “NATO should be leading the way" for the U.S. to acquire the territory. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has sought to keep an arms-length away from the dispute between the most important power and the other members of the 32-country alliance unnerved by the aggressive tack Trump has taken toward Denmark.

Both Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt offered measured hope that the talks were beginning a conversation that would lead to Trump dropping his demand and create a path for tighter cooperation with the U.S.

"We have shown where our limits are and from there, I think that it will be very good to look forward,” Motzfeldt said.

In Copenhagen, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies," a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”

Several of the country's allies, including Germany, France, Norway and Sweden, announced they were arriving in Greenland along with Danish personnel to take part in joint exercises or map out further military cooperation in the Arctic.

NATO is also looking at how members can collectively bolster the alliance's presence in the Arctic, said a NATO official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Greenland is strategically important because, as climate change causes the ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. That also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals which are needed for computers and phones.

Trump says Greenland is also “vital” to the United States' Golden Dome missile defense program. He also has said Russia and China pose a threat in the region.

But experts and Greenlanders question that claim, and it has become a hot topic on the snow-covered main street in Greenland’s capital, where international journalists and camera crews have descended as Trump continues his takeover talk.

In interviews, Greenlanders said the outcome of the Washington talks didn't exactly evince confidence that Trump can be persuaded.

“Trump is unpredictable,” said Geng Lastein, who immigrated to Greenland 18 years ago from the Philippines.

Maya Martinsen, 21, said she doesn't buy Trump's arguments that Greenland needs to be controlled by the U.S. for the sake maintaining a security edge in Arctic over China and Russia. Instead, Martinsen said, Trump is after the plentiful “oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”

Greenland “has beautiful nature and lovely people," Martinsen added. "It’s just home to me. I think the Americans just see some kind of business trade.”

Denmark has said the U.S., which already has a military presence, can boost its bases on Greenland. The U.S. is party to a 1951 treaty that gives it broad rights to set up military bases there with the consent of Denmark and Greenland.

Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt also met with a bipartisan group senators from the Arctic Caucus. The senators said they were concerned Trump's push to acquire Greenland could upend NATO and play into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has introduced legislation to try to block any U.S. action in Greenland, said it was “stunning” to her that they were even discussing the matter. “We are operating in times where we are having conversations about things that we never even thought possible,” Murkowski said.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said it is “nonsense” to say that the U.S. needs to control Greenland to protect national security. The officials were “very open to additional national security assets in Greenland in order to meet whatever risks there are.”

A bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers plans to show their solidarity by traveling to Copenhagen this week.

Burrows reported from Nuuk, Greenland and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro, Aamer Madhani and Will Weissert in Washington, Sara Cline and Jack Brook in Baton Rouge, La., and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.

Matthew Stafford and his balky back to be tested in opener when Rams face Texans' imposing defense

Sport

Matthew Stafford and his balky back to be tested in opener when Rams face Texans' imposing defense

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