THE APEX TIMES
With Matthew Stafford likely to miss most of training camp work, the early offseason-to-preseason workload is expected to shift toward backup quarterbacks Stetson Bennett and Ty Simpson.
Training camp is usually when the starter’s preparation becomes most visible, but this year’s storyline in the NFL has a different center of gravity. According to Yahoo Sports, quarterback Matthew Stafford is expected to be rested through training camp, a decision that would push additional practice reps to Stetson Bennett and Ty Simpson as the team builds its rhythm for the regular season.
The setup matters because practice time is not interchangeable, especially for quarterbacks. Timing with receivers, cadence decisions at the line, and read-and-react instincts in live periods generally take repetitions that are difficult to manufacture later in the month. If Stafford is not taking those snaps, Bennett and Simpson would be handed more first-hand reps with the offense’s working groups, along with more opportunities to run scout-team lookups or exploit the timing windows created by the first-team protections.
Bennett and Simpson are entering this camp conversation for a reason that goes beyond the simple math of roster depth. Yahoo Sports notes that last season, Stafford missed the entirety of training camp and multiple ensuing weeks of practice, yet later went on to win the NFL’s MVP award and lead his team to the NFC Championship game. The comparison frames camp as a phase where evaluation and contingency planning can be as important as immediate continuity, even if the starter is not fully present.
The implication is that the organization may view Stafford’s preparation as sufficiently advanced before camp begins, while using camp as a developmental period for the rest of the quarterback group. That approach is particularly relevant for backup quarterbacks, whose roles tend to expand when they are given more reps: they often become the quarterbacks who can execute game-plan components precisely during late-game situations, and they also become the most accurate barometer of how the offense functions without the starter.
For Bennett, the opportunity could be about precision and decision-making at full speed, not just managing the offense. For Ty Simpson, more reps in camp can be about command of the offense’s base plays and checks, as well as adjusting to the speed of NFL pass protection and the nuances of throwing on rhythm rather than in scripted team periods.
Still, the “rest Stafford” angle does not automatically mean the team is dialing down expectations for camp overall. Teams may increase the intensity of individual work, walkthrough-to-live transitions, or positional drills to compensate for the lack of starter participation in group sessions. Without official team confirmation in the reporting, the exact structure of who practices when, and under what limitations, remains unclear.
What to watch next is how the team distributes the quarterback reps once camp gets underway, whether Bennett and Simpson get extended work with first-team personnel, and how quickly they build timing with key targets during live passing periods. Those early repetitions can shape the internal pecking order going into the preseason and can influence how confident the coaching staff feels if the starter misses any additional time during the season.
If the reporting is accurate, the broader camp takeaway is that the preseason may serve as a proving ground for the backup quarterbacks, while Stafford’s absence becomes another example of how “coverage” can remain strong even when the franchise quarterback does not live in every practice rep. The on-field question is not only who looks best on a given day, but who handles the offense’s structure with enough consistency to keep production stable when circumstances change.
