While there was collective relief among Rams fans that Los Angeles avoided a first-round loss to the Carolina Panthers, there is something else for them to worry about.
Matthew Stafford was sacked only once, but he was pressured nine times and took a few punishing blows. He left the game with an injury, and the Rams faithful should monitor it ahead of their divisional matchup.
AllSportsPeople has everything you need to know about Stafford's injury update following their wild-card win.
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Matthew Stafford injury update
Following his injury, Stafford received X-rays on his throwing hand.
The good news for the Rams and their fan base is that Stafford's X-rays on his hand came back negative. This was confirmed by Ian Rapoport on Sunday morning. There was no dislocation, and it was simply a bad case of getting his hand bent back.
Even if there was a dislocation or fracture, with how tough Stafford is, he probably would have played through it.
What happened to Matthew Stafford?
After being pressured nine times in their win over the Panthers, Stafford certainly woke up sore the next day. On one of those hits in particular, his throwing hand collided with a defender, which immediately looked to bother the veteran quarterback.
Injured again: #Rams QB Matthew Stafford take another big hit on that hand.
— FirstDownMedia (@FirstDownMediaa) January 10, 2026
This is getting worse. He was down for a minute pic.twitter.com/3lWdCHndNG
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Stafford is one of the toughest players ever to play the quarterback position, but this hand injury caused real in-game problems. Following this hit, Stafford completed only two of his next 10 passing attempts.
This did seem to spark a Panthers comeback, but luckily for the Rams, they have an MVP candidate and future Hall of Famer under center.
MORE: Why Matthew Stafford's performance dipped after hurting hand
Will Matthew Stafford play next week?
While there is no concrete reporting on whether Stafford will play or not next week, there's a pretty large sample size to look at.
Stafford is one of the toughest quarterbacks in NFL history. There is evidence dating back to his days with the Detroit Lions, when he threw a game-winning touchdown pass despite a dislocated shoulder.
Golden Tate, who is a former teammate of Stafford, shared a story following his hand injury on Saturday.
One time Stafford messed up a finger on his throwing hand. I checked on him like “you good?”
— Golden Tate (@ShowtimeTate) January 11, 2026
He said, “bro I’m straight… I got nine other fingers.”
He’s different!
While there is not going to be anything set in stone this soon after the injury, it's fair to assume that Stafford is not going to miss a playoff game due to a non-serious hand injury.