During the final rep of practice Tuesday, Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett dropped back and — under the watchful eye of coach Sean McVay — completed a long pass to a receiver.

It was only a developmental drill.

Still, it was another step forward for Bennett, who has returned to the Rams after spending his rookie season away from the team while on the NFL’s non-football injury/illness list.

“It’s been cool to get back,” Bennett said afterward, adding, “Great to get back to football. It’s what I love and so it’s been pretty sweet.”

Bennett, a two-time national champion at Georgia, declined to specify the reason for his season away from football, saying several times he preferred to keep it “in-house.”

A reporter asked if it would be accurate to say it fell under the umbrella of mental health, and improving his mental health.

“Yeah,” Bennett said, “I’d say that.”

Bennett’s future with the team remains to be determined but McVay said last week that Bennett “had a couple good days and it’s been good having him out here.”

The Rams selected Bennett in the fourth round of the 2023 draft to serve as Matthew Stafford’s backup and, possibly, his successor.

Bennett showed positive signs during the first two preseason games but struggled in the preseason finale at Denver. Before the season opener, he was put on the nonfootball injury/illness list because of an unspecified issue, and McVay remained vague throughout the season about Bennett’s situation.

At midseason, the Rams cut veteran Brett Rypien after he played poorly in place of Stafford during a loss at Green Bay. The Rams signed veteran Carson Wentz, and Stafford returned to lead the Rams to a 10-7 record and playoff appearance.

But the Rams’ need for a capable backup remained pressing, especially as they prepared for a season in which they will be regarded as a possible Super Bowl contender.

Stafford, 36, has two years left on the extension he signed after leading the Rams to a Super Bowl victory. The 15-year veteran is pressing for guaranteed salary beyond this season, however, an issue that came to light during the draft, and one that McVay has acknowledged the Rams are attempting to work through.

In March, the Rams signed Jimmy Garoppolo, giving them a proven veteran who has won regular-season and playoff games. Garoppolo is suspended for the first two games, however — against the Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals — for violating the NFL performance-enhancing substances policy while playing for the Las Vegas Raiders.

So Bennett’s ability to step in for Stafford early in the season could be more important than last season.

On Tuesday, Stafford and Garoppolo took reps during full-squad drills, with Bennett and Dresser Winn getting most of the work during individual periods.

Bennett is in “a good place” Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said.

“He’s come to work every single day focused, with the intent of getting better, and that’s all you can ask these guys,” LaFleur said. “If their intent is right, which Stet’s is right now, that’s all you can ask, and it’s definitely showing.”

Bennett, 26, said he was nervous last week during his first day of practice.

“Hadn’t played football in a while and hadn’t talked to dudes in a huddle,” he said. “A lot of nerves the first day, but it’s gone, I wouldn’t say seamlessly, but it’s gotten better each day just like you try to make it.”

Bennett, a Georgia native, said his time spent at home was valuable and that he was thankful general manager Les Snead and McVay, “and everybody involved” allowed him to leave and now return.

The time away, he said, reinforced that he loved football.

“You get to kind of see the world for the first time without football — like the first time ever and what that might be like,” he said. “It did make me, like, ‘Hey, this is, you want to do this and you want to work hard every single day and get better. It was different without it.‘ ”

How did he know he was ready to return?

“I’d say that one’s probably ‘piss or get off the pot,’” he said. “You kind of had to get back at some point.”

Now he is happy to be back, and playing the game he said he always has loved.

“I saw it for I think how I’ve always seen it,” he said of how he viewed football during his time away, “just a beautiful game, create relationships with your teammates, and then you go and you compete against the best and find out if you can, which I’m excited to get back to doing.”

What a run by Josh Kerr!

It’s a new British record in the men’s mile race.#BBCAthletics #EugeneDL pic.twitter.com/lDnHddRWEe

What a run by Josh Kerr!

It’s a new British record in the men’s mile race.#BBCAthletics #EugeneDL pic.twitter.com/lDnHddRWEe

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 25, 2024

Advertisement

It was Ingebrigtsen’s second consecutive loss to his fellow elites. So you just know his A-game is coming. The reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500-meter will respond as champions do.

He ran 3:45.60, in Saturday’s mile, his first action since an Achilles tendon injury forced him to skip the indoor season.

“I tried to fight him,” said Ingebrigtsen, whose last race was the 3,000-meter at the 2023 Prefontaine Classic in September. “But to me, today was all about time trial. Of course, we’re racing but it’s definitely some difference in terms of approach to this race. For some people, this is their final test even before the Olympics in Paris. But this is not my final test. So it’s definitely a big difference the way that we all kind of see this race. But it’s a good fight.”

This race was so stacked with talent it was being dubbed the “Mile of the Century.” Amazon is following Ingebrigtsen around with cameras, documenting the Norwegian star’s run-up to Paris. This was the most hyped showdown of the year. The eyes of a global sport were on them. And it was Kerr’s Prefontaine debut.

He made it abundantly clear Friday that he came to the University of Oregon looking for some Norwegian smoke.

“I’m not here to settle tension,” Kerr said. Sitting to his left when he said it: Ingebrigtsen. Kerr’s stern expression, the absence of reconciliation in his tone, revealed his level of fed up.

“I’m here to run a fantastic mile that will hopefully go down in the century. I’m here trying to be the best in the world. … And if that annoys people or ruffles up competitors, I’m sure it will because the whole world is trying to do what I’m doing.”

Settle tension? Nah. This is the hottest beef since Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

And, yes, Kerr listens to Kendrick.

“Yeah, of course,” he said, smiling to affirm he understood the reference.

Kerr had every intention of turning the tension all the way up. He is convinced of his superiority in the discipline. Going out front so early was the kind of flex that fuels this juicy soap opera.

He usually plays the role of the kicker. It’s Ingebrigtsen who takes off early and dares the rest to keep up with him. It’s a power move. If his competitors get to conserve energy while he bears the brunt of pace-setting, and they still can’t catch him, it only proves his dominance. But Kerr didn’t hang back this time. He was trying to strike a chord, and it would likely be major.

“I’m having fun with it,” Kerr said. “At this point in your career, you’re always going to look back and think, ‘Those were the glory days.’ And I know they are right now. So I’m just enjoying it as much as possible.”

It was a stacked field. The world-leading time — the best in the calendar year — entering Prefontaine was 3:47.83 by Nuguse at the Millrose Games in New York in February. Saturday at Hayward Field, Wightman matched that time and finished fifth. Seven runners posted sub-3:49.

But after three of the four laps, Kerr, Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse had moved out ahead. It was underscored how this trio, heading into Paris, is the Big Three of middle distance.

Nuguse, the American record holder, finished third at 3:46.22. He is for sure the J. Cole in this. Easily the most delighted of the trio, Nuguse has stayed out of the animosity. He keeps a smile worthy of an amusement park, as if it were painted by a caricature artist. Fitting for a future orthodontist. He consumes positive vibes only. He’d much rather break down Pokemon or vibe out to Taylor Swift than get into the competitive banter.

Getting to run in the shadows as an underestimated threat is, Nuguse said, one of the benefits of all the attention focused on the tension between Kerr and Ingebrigtsen. He believes it makes him dangerous in Paris.

“I’ve always believed that happiness is such a stronger emotion than anger,” Nuguse said Friday. “Especially when you race. Anger is something that kind of comes and goes and peters out really fast. But I think if you’re really enjoying what you’re doing, having fun, I think that’s what propels you on to keep moving and what really helps those last 200 meters. I’ve always thought that, and it’s always worked out for me.”

The track and field magazine Citius has a full timeline of the Kerr-Ingebrigtsen beef, which began in earnest in August 2023.

But for the sake of a crash course, it began at the Tokoyo Olympics in 2021. Ingebrigtsen became a global star when he blew away the field to win gold in the 1,500 meters in 3:28.32, besting Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot. Kerr used a late surge to capture the bronze.

Then at the 2022 world championships in Eugene, with Ingebrigtsen still sparkling from golden glory, Wightman stunned him in the 1,500, pulling away in the final 300 meters to snatch the gold from Ingebrigtsen.

This made the 2023 world championships in Budapest the next massive stage for Ingebrigtsen to reclaim his status as superior. But a late surge by Kerr, similar to Wightman’s, pushed Ingebrigtsen to silver again. After he lost, Ingebrigtsen said he wasn’t 100 percent, taking a bit of luster from Kerr’s breakout victory.

When asked later if he looked forward to the rematch with Kerr, Ingebrigtsen revealed he wasn’t fully healthy and dismissed the notion of Kerr being on his level by calling him “just the next guy.”

In November, Kerr fired back. He said Ingebrigtsen’s ego is pretty high and he had major weaknesses he’d better address or he wouldn’t win gold in Paris.

In February, Ingebrigtsen told a Norwegian-language publication he’d win “98 out of 100 times” against Kerr and Wightman.

Then two weeks later, after Kerr set a new world record in the two-mile in the Millrose Games, Ingebrigtsen — out with an injury at the time — declared he would’ve beaten Kerr blindfolded.

In March, Ingebrigtsen declared his rivals irrelevant and said to The Times UK, “The biggest issue is giving people like Kerr attention. That’s what he is seeking. He is missing something in himself that he is searching for in others.”

Yeah, the tension has been building for nearly a year now. Saturday was not the time to tone it down. But let feet do the talking. The packed house of savvy race fans at Hayward Field all but salivated over the palpable tension. Olympic-level drama at a Diamond League meet. What went down at Prefontaine on Saturday only makes it more captivating when they meet again in August.

“Some of my competitors,” Ingebrigtsen said, “have clearly taken a step in the right direction. But not as big of a step that maybe is needed to be a favorite in Paris.”

(Top photo of Josh Kerr beating Jakob Ingebrigtsen Saturday in the Bowerman Mile: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

Rudy Gobert made the decision to miss a playoff game in order to be there for the birth of his first child.

The now four-time Defensive Player of the Year missed his Minnesota Timberwolves second-round game against the Denver Nuggets (Minnesota won), and it drew controversy.

Much of the controversy came from ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas, who said that the baby is “going to be asleep.”

Gobert heard all the noise, and he brushed it off without much effort, saying he had made this decision long ago.

“This is one thing I decided I was never going to miss in my life,” Gobert told FOX Sports. “I love this game. I dedicated my whole life to this game. But this is one thing that is above that. And that’s being there for the birth of my child. I think everyone in this locker room understands that.”

Rough timing almost caught Scottie Scheffler during the Masters, who said he wouldn’t even think twice about leaving Augusta National if his wife were to give birth during the tournament.

Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half of the NBA game at Footprint Center on March 29, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Timberwolves 107-100.   (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

BILL WALTON’S FORMER COLLEAGUE, JIM GRAY, ‘HEARTBROKEN’ OVER DEATH OF ‘BEST FRIEND’: ‘A NATIONAL TREASURE’

Thankfully, Scheffler’s wife held on, and he was able to win his second green jacket, both of which came within the last three years. 

Their first child was born just a couple weeks before the PGA Championship, where he was then famously arrested.

Gobert’s T-Wolves, though, are now in trouble, as they face getting swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals. The Boston Celtics completed the sweep of the Indiana Pacers on Monday night to make it back to the NBA Finals.

Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves warms up before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Target Center on April 9, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

If the Wolves come back and win, it would be the first 3-0 comeback in NBA history. Ironically, their part-owner Alex Rodriguez was on the losing side of the one time it happened in Major League Baseball, as he was on the 2004 New York Yankees.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.