Matthew Stafford sits with thumb injury, Rams lose with Brett Rypien as starting QB

The Los Angeles Rams lost to the Green Bay Packers without their starting quarterback Matthew Stafford who sat with a thumb injury.

The veteran quarterback was ruled out Sunday with a UCL sprain in his right thumb sustained in last week's game against the Dallas Cowboys. Backup Brett Rypien started in place in L.A.'s 20-3 defeat at Lambeau Field.

Stafford's injury occurred in the second quarter of a blowout loss to the Cowboys, when he banged his thumb against the helmet of defensive lineman Mazi Smith. Stafford went to the locker room, but returned to play the entire second half.

The Rams were more conservative with Stafford this past week, holding him out of practice the entire week and marking him as questionable for the Packers game on Friday. The good news for the Rams is that they have a bye next week, giving Stafford two weeks to recover before their next game against the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 19.

Rypien couldn't generate much offense on Sunday as he went 13-of-28 for 130 yards and an interception.

This was the first missed game of the season for Stafford, who missed eight last season with a concussion and a spinal cord contusion.

Entering Sunday, in nine career games, three of them starts, Rypien posted 820 passing yards, a 60.7% completion rate, 5.9 yards per pass attempt, four passing touchdowns and eight interceptions. On his previous team, the Denver Broncos, Rypien went 2-1 in his starts.