A familiar face came close to coming back to the Los Angeles Rams amid the injury of quarterback Matthew Stafford. John Wolford, who formerly backed up Stafford in Inglewood, looked as though he was on his way to a return to the team following a report by Diana Russini of The Athletic.

“The Rams are expected to sign quarterback John Wolford off the Buccaneers practice squad, per sources. He would be rejoining the team after spending the 2020 -2022 seasons with the Rams.”

However, that reunion is ultimately not happening, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

“Update: John Wolford is expected to stay on the #Bucs with a spot on the 53-man roster. That is the plan.”

Stafford is said to be dealing with a UCL sprain in his right thumb, putting his availability for the Rams' Week 9 game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in question.

At the moment, he is considered day-to-day, with Brett Rypien as the only healthy quarterback on the team. Rookie signal-caller and former Georgia Bulldogs star Stetson Bennett is still on the NFI list and unlikely to return to the active roster this season, according to Rams head coach Sean McVay.

This is not an ideal situation for the Rams, whose predicament is being compounded by Stafford's injury. They are only 3-5 after eight weeks of the 2023 NFL regular season and are on a two-game losing skid after back-to-back losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers at home and to the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington in Weeks 7 and 8, respectively.

The Rams have a bye waiting for them in Week 10, so the option of letting Stafford sit out Week 9 to allow him a longer rest is a looming possibility.

Wolford played for the Rams from 2020 to 2022, appearing in seven games and racking up 626 passing yards and a touchdown against five interceptions on a 58.7 percent completion rate. He was part of the Rams squad that went all the way and won the Super Bowl in 2022 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Wake Forest product signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last May before getting released in August and signing with the team's practice squad shortly after.