THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is trying to keep this week as normal as possible.

Good luck with that.

Stafford will return to Detroit on Sunday night, as the city hosts its first playoff game in three decades, for the 10-7 Rams’ wild-card game against the 12-5 Lions.

Detroit drafted Stafford with the No. 1 pick in 2009, and he quarterbacked the Lions for the next 12 seasons before the Rams traded for him in 2021. Stafford played in three road playoff games, all losses, while with the Lions but led the Rams to a championship the same year he was traded.

Wednesday, he was asked what type of reception he expected from the Detroit fan base.

“I’m not expecting anything, to be honest with you,” said Stafford. “I was asked this question a couple of times just by friends and family. I think the biggest thing for me is (to) go experience whatever that experience is gonna be.

“I understand what the people of Detroit and what the city of Detroit meant to me and my time, my career, what they meant to my family. I hope they feel that back. At the same time, I’m not a stranger to the situation and understanding that I’m the bad guy coming to town. I’m on the other team, and they don’t want success for me.”

Stafford and his wife,…

NFL team owners collect millions in revenue. They wield outsized power over their organizations and in their communities. They point to the bottom line, wins and losses, when firing coaches and executives, sometimes without giving them much time. But their own won-lost records appear nowhere.

Even people who follow the NFL closely might not know whether Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross owns a better record than New York Giants owner John Mara (he does).

They might not know whether female owners account for two of the five highest winning percentages since taking over their teams (they do).

They might not know that the only team without a traditional owner could lose 200 games overnight without dipping below .500 (the Green Bay Packers could).

They might not know that five of the last six owners to buy (rather than inherit) a team make up the bottom five in win percentage (they do — the lone exception is the Buffalo Bills’ Terry Pegula).

Some of these ownership situations are difficult to evaluate for reasons such as owners allowing their offspring to operate their teams. I’ve used simple criteria in ranking owners from worst to best win rates below. For our purposes, wins and losses are counted for owners after the NFL has approved their purchases; after an owner…

The Athletic has live coverage of the Ravens vs Rams in NFL Week 14 action.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — In a Los Angeles Rams season that will be unpredictable, at times chaotic and always interesting, we’re going to learn a lot about the young and older players (and their coaches) each week.

I’ll put the most interesting or relevant of these developments here, in nicely organized sections. Just for you!

This week, the Rams’ possible activity — or lack thereof — at Tuesday’s trade deadline is in focus. So is their contradictory strategy at kicker.

Plus, I offer a little twist on the third installment of “Knows Ball Anonymous,” where I ask a coach, executive, scout, player or analyst across the NFL to share a detail they find interesting — whether about the Rams, or not.

What’s up at the trade deadline?

Rams head coach Sean McVay and wife Veronika may have added to their personal roster this week, but the team overall may not be as aggressive as in previous seasons ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline. This front office is always asking questions and checking on players, yes, but that may not manifest in any actual trades or trade attempts.

“You kind of have to have some resources and different things like that for those to be options,” McVay said earlier this month,…

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams chose an all-time creative way to announce the birth of Jordan John McVay, coach Sean McVay and his wife Veronika’s first child, on Wednesday.

They released the news on social media as if it were an official NFL transaction:

LA Rams Transactions:
• Delivered Jordan John McVay

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) October 25, 2023

McVay said both Veronika and their baby boy are healthy and doing well after the Tuesday birth.

“Everybody kind of tells you what to expect, and it couldn’t even be as good as everybody says,” said a bleary-eyed McVay, who added he didn’t get much sleep but was operating on adrenaline.

“Just amazing how well my wife handled it and what a stud she was through that whole process, and even yesterday. The people were amazing in terms of the nurses and doctors, and their help. He’s here, he’s healthy, he’s feeling good. And what a blessing it is.”

The McVays married in the summer of 2022.

McVay was asked Wednesday what it was like to see his son’s face for the first time — “Man, I feel bad you look more like your dad than your mom” — but then became reflective. His grandfather, John McVay, died almost a year ago, on Oct. 31. Sean McVay and his grandfather were extremely close and he said…

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Los Angeles Rams star receiver Cooper Kupp suffered a “setback” in his recovery from a hamstring injury, coach Sean McVay announced Thursday.

Kupp hurt his hamstring a few days into training camp earlier this month. Last week he returned to practice, including joint practices in Denver against the Broncos.

“He got a little muscle strain,” McVay said. “So we’re kind of taking it day by day with him. …I would probably call it a setback, I think it’s fair to say.”

Coach McVay provides an update injury on Cooper Kupp. pic.twitter.com/vZ5l2geDhZ

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 31, 2023

Kupp, 30, also suffered a season-ending ankle sprain last year that required surgery. He missed spring OTAs, but said that was because he was spending time with his wife Anna as they welcomed a new baby. Kupp began training camp normally but pulled up during individual red zone drills after feeling a “tug” in his hamstring.

He is quarterback Matthew Stafford’s favorite receiving target, accounting for over 1/3 of the Rams’ target share in 2022 before his ankle injury.

“I think we just take it a day at a time right now, we’ll see,” McVay said. “We want to be able to get him back right. We’re obviously a much better team when he’s…

The Athletic has live coverage of Rams vs Lions in the NFC wild card matchup.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — No, it wasn’t symbolic that new Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford went out to the center of the field at SoFi Stadium pregame for the coin toss, as the team’s lone captain in his Los Angeles debut (or so said head coach Sean McVay). No, it wasn’t symbolic that Stafford wore the same “smiley” sweater issued to him for an ESPN cover shoot over the summer during his postgame interview (he said his wife, Kelly, told him to wear it).

Even his second pass of Sunday night’s 34-14 win over the Bears — a 67-yard touchdown bomb downfield to second-year receiver Van Jefferson — wasn’t symbolic of a new air-yards era (although, it may have felt that way for the thousands of fans present for the first time since the stadium opened and the many more who were watching the broadcast at home).

No, Stafford indicated, in pleasant “deferral” mode when up at the podium postgame as he usually is, even after his standout performance. No, that’s just football. Normal stuff.

“Once the ball is snapped it’s football,” Stafford said postgame. “There’s new plays in a new stadium, throwing to guys in a different uniform. But I’m happy where I’m at and I’m pleased with…