LOS ANGELES -- Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was playing through a rib injury late in the season after cracking four ribs in Week 15 against the San Francisco 49ers, his wife, Kelly, said on her podcast.
"He cracked four ribs," Kelly Stafford said on "Timeout," which was released Wednesday. "But just didn't really let anyone in to know really much about it. Continued his everyday process like nothing was wrong, would come home and be miserable."
The quarterback aggravated the injury in the Rams' divisional round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and acknowledged after the game that he had been dealing with it "to a varying degree for some time." Stafford said he "was able to kind of calm it down" and "didn't feel like it was much of a factor" against the Eagles.
Stafford said after the loss that he would take time to decide whether he will retire or continue his NFL career.
Rams coach Sean McVay said Stafford hurt his rib early against the Eagles, calling him "dinged up."
"But he is a warrior. He's so tough," McVay said. "He represents so many things that are right about what this team became, especially for a city that's hurting and going through some different stuff [the wildfires that struck Los Angeles this month].
"I think he epitomizes a lot of the stuff that's right at him in terms of toughness, resilience, ability to overcome adversity. He's a total freaking stud. And I thought he was outstanding tonight with the opportunities that he was given. ... I'm sure damn proud of Matthew Stafford."
Stafford never appeared on the injury report following Week 15 and only missed practice time as a coach's decision after the Rams had clinched the NFC West. He completed 65.8% of his passes for 3,762 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season.
