LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Rams practiced in 82-degree sunshine Wednesday at their Woodland Hills training complex, making the most of a beautiful week even by Los Angeles' pleasant winter standards.
The playoff game for which they're preparing will be played at Chicago's Soldier Field on Sunday night in temperatures unlikely to get above 20 degrees, along with potential snow and whipping winds that could make it feel colder than zero.
Yet the Rams (13-5) all say the daunting weekend weather on Lake Michigan is no challenge compared to the task of beating the resilient Bears (12-6) when these teams meet for a spot in the NFC championship game.
“Ball is ball,” defensive tackle Kobie Turner said with a shrug.
Matthew Stafford made the obvious point that even though they're currently living in Southern California, the Rams' coaches and players have all been in football weather before. Stafford spent the first 12 years of his career with the Lions, playing at Chicago and Green Bay every year and even occasionally practicing outdoors in the Detroit winter.
“I love NFL football and the history of it — Lambeau Field, the Ice Bowl, all those kinds of things," Stafford said. "There’s something to it, right? It feels right when football is outdoors, you’re playing it late in the year, it’s cold (and) it means a lot. I’m embracing that, and I know our team is as well.”
The Rams played in two wintry games last season, beating the Jets in sub-freezing temperatures before barely losing a divisional-round playoff game in the snow in Philadelphia. This season, they lost amid frigid winds at Seattle and in heavy rain at Carolina.
“Played in Philly back in the day, (and) there was 6 inches of snow on the ground,” Stafford said. “Played in other games where it was just cold and dry. Just got to go figure out what the elements are, how it’s going to affect the ball, and then go out and play.”
The Rams obviously can’t simulate Sunday’s conditions in Woodland Hills — although coach Sean McVay had one interesting idea.
“What we’re going to do is we’re going to get the biggest cold plunge (ice bath) ever, and everybody is going to see if we can sit in that thing for three hours,” he said with a laugh.
Stafford's injured index finger on his throwing hand is “great,” according to the 37-year-old quarterback. He played through the mild sprain at Carolina, and it was treated quickly after the game. He won't wear a splint or any brace on it — and that's good, because gripping rock-hard footballs is enough of a challenge.
So is kicking those footballs, although rookie kicker Harrison Mevis has plenty of cold-weather experience from his college career at Missouri.
In truth, the Rams are counting on their past experiences and the support staff's preparations to keep them warm while they go to work in Chicago.
“We always adjust and adapt,” McVay said. “(The Bears) have to be able to play in those same elements. They obviously have had a little bit more experience, but we’re not going to allow that to be an excuse. I think you do have to have a feel. I think the way that our guys play, I think it suits us well in any sort of conditions. ... Let’s be mindful that the ball is a little bit slicker. It feels like a rock. Other than that, let’s roll.”
Right guard Kevin Dotson hopes he will be able to return Sunday from a three-game injury absence with a sprained ankle incurred during the Rams' loss at Seattle last month.
Dotson said Wednesday that he believes he was initially hurt by normal contact against the Seahawks. Still, he didn't realize until two days later that linebacker Derick Hall had stepped on him after the play. Hall got a one-game suspension for his actions.
“I gave him the benefit of the doubt,” Dotson said. “I was thinking he accidentally stepped on me, and then my teammates after the play, my dog (center) Coleman (Shelton) fought for me, pushed for me, and they told me what really happened. If I would have known that, I probably would have stood up. I didn't know somebody stepped on me and did all that until I saw the film. If I would have known that ... look, I can't say too much, but I'm past it. I'm not going to hold nothing against him until I can see him and get my get-back. I'm not going to step on nobody. I'm going to get it between the (whistles). But I'm fine."
Dotson is a standout run blocker and a sturdy pass protector who has been a major driver of the Rams' offense since his arrival three seasons ago.
Stafford called him “one of the best guards, if not the best guard, in the league. Obviously, if we could get him back, that would be a huge boost."
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws a pass during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Carolina Panthers, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford answers question after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Carolina Panthers, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Rusty Jones)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An astronaut in need of doctors' care departed the International Space Station with three crewmates on Wednesday in NASA's first medical evacuation.
The four returning astronauts — from the U.S., Russia and Japan — are aiming for an early Thursday morning splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego with SpaceX. The decision cuts short their mission by over a month.
“Our timing of this departure is unexpected,” NASA astronaut Zena Cardman said before the return trip, “but what was not surprising to me was how well this crew came together as a family to help each other and just take care of each other.”
Officials refused to identify the astronaut who needed care last week and would not divulge the health concerns.
The ailing astronaut is “stable, safe and well cared for,” outgoing space station commander Mike Fincke said earlier this week via social media. “This was a deliberate decision to allow the right medical evaluations to happen on the ground, where the full range of diagnostic capability exists."
Launched in August, Cardman, Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov should have remained on the space station until late February. But on Jan. 7, NASA abruptly canceled the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke and later announced the crew’s early return. Officials said the health problem was unrelated to spacewalk preparations or other station operations, but offered no other details, citing medical privacy. They stressed it was not an emergency situation.
NASA said it would stick to the same entry and splashdown procedures at flight’s end, with the usual assortment of medical experts aboard the recovery ship in the Pacific. It was another middle-of-the-night crew return for SpaceX, coming less than 11 hours after undocking from the space station. NASA said it was not yet known how quickly all four would be flown from California to Houston, home to Johnson Space Center and the base for astronauts.
One U.S. and two Russian astronauts remain aboard the orbiting lab, just 1 1/2 months into an eight-month mission that began with a Soyuz rocket liftoff from Kazakhstan. NASA and SpaceX are working to move up the launch of a fresh four-person crew from Florida, currently targeted for mid-February.
Computer modeling predicted a medical evacuation from the space station every three years, but NASA hasn't had one in its 65 years of human spaceflight. The Russians have not been as fortunate. In 1985, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin came down with a serious infection or related illness aboard his country’s Salyut 7 space station, prompting an early return. A few other Soviet cosmonauts encountered less serious health issues that shortened their flights.
It was the first spaceflight for Cardman, a 38, biologist and polar explorer who missed out on spacewalking, as well as Platonov, 39, a former fighter pilot with the Russian air force who had to wait a few extra years to get to space because of an undisclosed health issue. Cardman should have launched last year but was bumped to make room on the way down for NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were stuck nearly a year at the space station because of Boeing’s capsule problems.
Fincke, 58, a retired Air Force colonel, and Yui, 55, a retired fighter pilot with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, were repeat space fliers. Finke has spent 1 1/2 years in orbit over four missions and conducted nine spacewalks on previous flights, making him one of NASA’s top performers. Last week, Yui celebrated his 300th day in space over two station stays, sharing stunning views of Earth, including Japan’s Mount Fuji and breathtaking auroras.
“I want to burn it firmly into my eyes, and even more so, into my heart,” Yui said on the social platform X. “Soon, I too will become one of those small lights on the ground.”
NASA officials had said it was riskier to leave the astronaut in space without proper medical attention for another month than to temporarily reduce the size of the space station crew by more than half. Until SpaceX delivers another crew, NASA said it will have to stand down from any routine or even emergency spacewalks, a two-person job requiring backup help from crew inside the orbiting complex.
The medical evacuation was the first major decision by NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman. The billionaire founder of a payment processing company and two-time space flier assumed the agency’s top job in December.
“The health and the well-being of our astronauts is always and will be our highest priority,” Isaacman said in announcing the decision last week.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)
