WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Watching training camp practices and joint practices with other teams this summer, it was clear quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Davante Adams picked up where they left off last season.
Carrying it over into the 2026 regular season – which the Rams open this Thursday against the 49ers in Australia (5:35 p.m. PT, Netflix) – remains the goal.
"The sky's the limit, that's what they say," Adams said prior to Sunday's practice. "I feel like that's the reality with us."
Stafford targeted Adams plenty the first six weeks of the 2025 regular season – 55 times, to be exact. However, while Adams did have games like Week 3 against the Titans where he had six catches for 106 yards and one touchdown, there were moments that showed they weren't in sync due to the lack of time on task during training camp with Stafford sidelined during that time by his back injury. Adams, who owns a career catch percentage of 62.7, fell uncharacteristically below that mark catching just 26-of-55 targets (47.3%) in the Rams' first six games.
That connection caught fire from Week 7 on, especially in the redzone, with Adams hauling in 34-of-59 targets (57.6%) for 393 yards and 11 of his eventual league-leading 14 receiving touchdowns before a hamstring injury in Week 15 shut him down until the playoffs. That stretch included grabbing six of eight targets for 77 yards and one touchdown in a 42-26 Rams win over the 49ers in Week 10.
"Yeah, I think we got a ton of great work during the season as well," Stafford said prior to Sunday's practice. "Shoot, nothing will give you more things to talk about, more confidence than going out there and doing it on a Sunday. We did that for a bunch of weeks last year. Was everything perfect? No. Is it going to be? No. I don't complete every ball I throw and those guys don't get open on every route and catch every time. Those things happen, but just understanding who he is as a player, how he separates. That constant dialogue has been great with him. Obviously, the work out on the grass has been great as well. Huge credit to him. He's a guy that's been around for a long time as well, run a ton of miles and yards on his body, but he's done an unbelievable job of being available and out there and really practicing his butt off all offseason and training camp. Those kinds of things are great for us to get those reps on."
"When you're as intentional as they are, repetition ends up being the mother of learning," head coach Sean McVay said during training camp about Stafford and Adams. "It's also the best way to be able to develop rapport with each other and that's so important whether you're a center playing with a guard, a guard playing with a tackle, or quarterbacks (with) receivers."
For Stafford, Adams and the rest of Los Angeles' offense that returns every contributor to last season's No. 1 scoring and total offense in the league, they will be preparing for a San Francisco defense led by a familiar face (and scheme) in defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Familiarity, nor past performance, are always indicators of future success, but this summer has offered proof that the quarterback and receiver can pick up where they left off.
"He's a dog," Adams said. "We know what he can do and I think we know what I can do as well. With more time together, you guys have seen a little bit of it out there, but I got a feeling that, God willing, we go out there and stay healthy and be able to do what we do as playmakers — I think we'll like what we see."
