Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford walks on the field before a preseason win over the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 9.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was scheduled to work out on Saturday, a chance for the 17th-year pro to test his injured back.
But before the Rams played the Chargers at SoFi Stadium, when asked to confirm whether Stafford went through the workout, a Rams official declined to comment and said coach Sean McVay would address the situation Monday.
It was the latest mysterious and potentially troublesome turn in a saga that began at the start of training camp and continues as the Rams prepare for their Sept. 7 opener against the Houston Texans at SoFi Stadium.
Stafford, 37, is working through an aggravated disc, according to McVay, a situation that has prevented him from practicing with the team.
Last Saturday, before the Rams’ preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys, Stafford went through a workout in Woodland Hills that included more than 60 passes, McVay said after the Rams’ 31-21 victory. The plan was for Stafford to participate in individual drills two days later.
But Stafford did not practice last week. And after a joint practice with the New Orleans Saints on Thursday, McVay said Stafford would go through another workout in Woodland Hills on Saturday.
Aubrey Pleasant, the Rams assistant head coach, served as head coach for the game against the Chargers and appeared for the postgame news conference. McVay was not made available to reporters.
Receiver Konata Mumpfield made multiple plays. So did running back Jarquez Hunter and other Rams rookies during training camp and a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys.
A true evaluation about their progress, however, cannot be completed by coach Sean McVay and his staff until the first-year players perform in a live-tackling situation.
The first opportunity for rookies and others to truly demonstrate that they are worthy of regular-season roles comes Saturday when the Rams play the Cowboys in a preseason game at SoFi Stadium.
But the most notable development for the Rams will probably occur hours before kickoff.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford, sidelined during training camp because of an aggravated disc in his back, is scheduled to go through his first significant passing workout at the Rams’ facility in Woodland Hills. McVay said the 17th-year pro would begin practicing next week.
McVay does not play starters or other significant players during preseason games, so veteran backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will not play.
Tight end Terrance Ferguson, a second-round draft pick, probably won’t play because of a hamstring issue that has sidelined him for the last week.
Here are five things to watch Saturday when the Rams face the Cowboys at 4 p.m. PDT (ABC):
“Everything is just more comfortable,” Bennett said Thursday after a full-pads practice at Loyola Marymount.
Bennett, 27, played in the 2023 preseason but was out during the regular season for what he later acknowledged as a mental health issue. He returned last season, played in the preseason and was the No. 3 quarterback behind Stafford and Garoppolo.
But the tentativeness of last season appears to be gone. He has connected for touchdowns and big gains with several receivers while avoiding poor decisions and turnovers.
“Confidence, and he’s enjoying it,” coach Sean McVay said when asked what he noticed as the biggest difference in Bennett. “When you watched him play at Georgia, and even some of the preseason games, when he gets into a rhythm and he’s smiling, all these great competitors, there’s an enjoyment for mastering their craft and enjoyment of just being totally immersed in the moment, and then enjoyment of your teammates’ success.”
Bennett credits quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone for his development in the Rams’ system.
“Every day, he’ll challenge me a little bit more,” Bennett said.
Stafford and Garoppolo also have helped with their example and advice, Bennett said.
The instruction and counsel, combined with the increased amount of reps, has translated to more confident play. And more Bennett-initiated communication with Ragone after each series.
“I know a little bit more of what’s going on,” Bennett said. “Whereas last year I was a lot more reactionary, this year I kind of know what I’m looking at, and what could have changed or might have happened if I’d done something different.
“I can have a lot more conversations instead of just listening.”
Bennett said he was “bummed” that Stafford has not been able to practice, but he has been excited and has tried to take advantage of the opportunity for more reps.
Bennett is on track to get plenty of work Tuesday during a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys in Oxnard. He also is expected to start on Aug. 9 when the Rams play the Cowboys in a preseason game at SoFi Stadium.
“It’s been two or three [years] since I’ve gotten to practice meaningful snaps, so I’m really grateful for it,” Bennett said. “And I try to be confident and ready and present every single day.
“It will be exciting to play other people. I know some dudes on the Cowboys, so that will be fun. It’s always fun to play somebody in a different color jersey.”
Etc.
Starting safety Kam Curl (ankle) is week to week and cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. (hamstring) will be out one to two weeks, McVay said. … Puka Nacua tipped a ball to himself in the end zone for a touchdown pass from Garoppolo. … Safety Kam Kinchens and cornerback Derion Kendrick intercepted passes by Garoppolo. … Owner Stan Kroenke attended practice. … Receiver Davante Adams was given a veteran rest day, McVay said. … The Rams are off Friday.
Television executive James Stark Bennett II, known for developing talk show “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee,” has died at 78.
Bennett, who went by Jamie, died July 6 after a fight with cancer, according to his family.
He spent more than a decade at CBS, where he was an executive at television and radio stations in San Francisco and Chicago before coming to Los Angeles, where he served as vice president and general manager at KCBS-TV.
Bennett then moved over to the Walt Disney Co., where he served as senior vice president of Buena Vista Television Productions. In that role, he developed such shows as “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee,” “Siskel & Ebert” and the game show “Win, Lose or Draw.”
He later became president and chief executive at ACI, a Los Angeles-based TV and film distributor. When ACI was bought by Britain-based Pearson Television in 1995, Bennett and his family moved to London, where he ran the company’s worldwide production.
He eventually moved back to L.A., where he got involved in volunteer work and expanded his career beyond the entertainment industry by becoming chief operating officer at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. There, he was instrumental in helping the school establish its permanent base in L.A.’s Arts District, his family said. He also served on the board of the Ojai Music Festival, later becoming its president and CEO for five years until 2020.
Bennett was born in New York City on June 1, 1947. He later graduated from UC Berkeley, where he chaired a student-run summer program in Washington, D.C., and started his media career as the program director for the university’s radio station. After getting his MBA from Harvard Business School, he moved back to New York to take a job at CBS, which launched his media career.
He and his wife, Carolyn, eventually purchased an 11-acre farm in Ojai, which became their permanent residence. Bennett is survived by his wife, Carolyn, their three children and other family members.
What would a baseball team in Los Angeles want from a retired artist and designer in New York?
Janet Bennett wasn’t sure.
Generations of Angelenos are familiar with her signature project. You probably have walked right past it. Those colorful tile mosaics that decorate the long corridors toward baggage claim in five terminals at Los Angeles International Airport? She designed them.
You might have memorized the trivia: When you passed the red tiles, you were halfway down the corridor. “Red means halfway” was shorthand for locals in the know, just like “E Ticket” or “the #19 sandwich.”
“It just says L.A. in so many ways,” said Janet Marie Smith, the Dodgers’ executive vice president of planning and development.
For the clubhouse walkway, Dodgers executive vice president of planning and development Janet Marie Smith and architect Brenda Levin opted for multiple shades of blue tiles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers wanted to get in touch with Bennett because they were about to install a similar tile wall at Dodger Stadium. Smith could not find Bennett, but she reached out to someone who had liked an article about Bennett that had been posted on LinkedIn. Same last name, same spelling. Smith crossed her fingers.
Turned out to be a relative of Bennett. The Dodgers sent some sketches of their project and asked Bennett for her thoughts.
“I was a little disappointed I didn’t work the project,” Bennett said over the telephone, chuckling, “but I don’t think I could have done it at this stage.”
“Once we got tile in our head, how could you not think of the LAX walls?” said Janet Marie Smith, the Dodgers’ executive vice president of planning and development.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Bennett is 96, happily living one block from Central Park. The LAX project was completed in 1961 — the year before Dodger Stadium opened.
What the Dodgers really were offering was the recognition denied to Bennett six decades ago.
“I realized they just wanted my blessing,” Bennett said. “They wanted the connection. And that was very satisfying.”
And, yes, she had some thoughts for the Dodgers. She wrote them a letter by hand, the old-fashioned way. The letter got lost in the old-fashioned mail, but Bennett’s daughter had thought to take a picture of the letter, and she sent it to the Dodgers via email.
Bennett’s advice for the colors of the tiles?
“Don’t limit it,” she wrote, “to the Dodger blue.”
On game days, Dodgers players take an elevator to the lowest level of Dodger Stadium. As they exit, they look to their right to see the Dodgers’ World Series championship trophies and most valuable player awards, to their left to see the Gold Glove awards.
When they turn toward the clubhouse, they see Cy Young and Silver Slugger and manager of the year awards on the right, rookie of the year awards and then the Dodgers’ retired numbers on the left.
“It’s meant to be uplifting and motivating, and a reminder to everyone — our players included, who take that path — of what a storied franchise this is,” Smith said.
The fans in the fanciest seats, the ones you see on television right behind home plate, can take that path too — but only until they reach the double doors, the ones with “DODGERS CLUBHOUSE” painted above them.
Pass through those doors, and you used to see a gray wall decorated with signage pulled from storage — signs from events held at Dodger Stadium long ago, and others commemorating milestone seasons. As part of the clubhouse renovations last winter, Smith and her team imagined how to freshen up that walkway.
“We wanted to try to get it out of its funk of just being a concrete wall,” she said. “And, once we got tile in our head, how could you not think of the LAX walls?”
Tile mosaic wall designs line departure halls in various LAX terminals.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers’ clubhouse features a tile wall “in the hydrotherapy area,” Smith said. The tiles there are all Dodger blue.
For the clubhouse walkway, Smith and architect Brenda Levin opted for multiple shades of blue tiles, interspersed with white tiles — a decision reinforced when they received Bennett’s suggestion to go beyond Dodger blue. The wall includes more than 714,000 individual tiles, Smith said.
“I think they did an excellent job,” Bennett said. “They got the rhythm of vertical stripes, which has a very athletic look.”
To Smith, a fierce advocate of sports venues reflecting their host cities, the tile wall reflects home.
“In many ways, that is a symbol: not just of L.A., but of ‘Welcome to L.A.’ ” she said. “That felt right to us.
“It’s not screaming at you. But, if you know, you know. We’ve always wanted that area to feel like a ‘Welcome to L.A.’ to our players.”
If you know, you know, but the players may not know. Dave Roberts, the Dodgers’ manager, said he did not know the story behind the wall until Smith explained it to him.
“It’s a great little touch,” Roberts said.
Smith said players and team executives have asked about the wall. Many of them did not know about the LAX walls, but she understood why.
“They don’t fly commercial,” she said.
If you merit an obituary in the newspaper, the first sentence generally includes your claim to fame. In 2007, The Times published an obituary with this first sentence: “Charles D. Kratka, an interior designer and graphic artist whose Modernist projects included the mosaic walls in tunnels at Los Angeles International Airport, has died.”
Said Bennett: “I just about freaked out.”
After Bennett had finished the LAX mosaics, she left town. By the time the airport unveiled them, she said, she was in Latin America. Until she saw that Times obituary, it had not occurred to her that anyone else might have gotten the credit for the LAX project.
In the obituary, the airport historian credited Kratka with the design, and so did the director of volunteers at the airport museum. In 2017, so did an official LAX document: “Completed in 1961, Charles Kratka’s mosaic murals have become iconic symbols of Los Angeles International Airport.”
At the start of the Jet Age, when airplane travel was a glamorous affair and even passengers in the cheaper seats enjoyed in-flight meals served with silverware, Bennett said the murals were designed to evoke the wonder of a cross-country trip: blue for the ocean at each end of the corridor, and in between green for the forests, and yellows, oranges and browns for farmland, prairies and deserts.
Tile mosaic wall designs line departure halls in various LAX terminals.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Bennett freely admits that Kratka was involved in the project. The city hired Pereira and Luckman as architects for the LAX expansion, and Kratka was the firm’s head of interior design.
“He was my boss,” Bennett said.
Bennett said the mosaic design was hers, although she said she did not recall whether she had chosen to use glass for the tiles.
“Everything from that point on was mine,” she said.
Bennett and her family have pushed for LAX to recognize her as the designer. Airport officials acknowledge Bennett’s participation in the project but, amid a search for records from six decades ago and without Kratka to provide his version of events, they believe a conclusive determination would be difficult. And, back in the day, credit was more commonly attributed to a firm rather than to an individual designer.
When I asked for a statement saying whom LAX currently credits with the design, an airport spokeswoman said, “LAX has no official comment.”
At LAX, there is no sign crediting anyone — not Bennett, not Kratka, not Pereira and Luckman, not anyone else — for the murals. However, the Dodgers have given Bennett her due at Dodger Stadium, on a sign directly across from their tile wall.
“This mosaic wall draws inspiration from architect Janet Bennett’s iconic mosaic murals at Los Angeles International Airport,” the text begins, “that transformed a transit space into a work of art.”
