Rams fans were able to exhale on Monday as star quarterback Matthew Stafford made his long-awaited return to the practice field.

Stafford, entering his age-37 season, had not participated in training camp to this point due to a back injury. Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay has downplayed the severity of the injury from the beginning but concern began to mount when the quarterback wasn't able to suit up for joint practice. Then McVay said Stafford would return last Monday— only he didn't and instead was receiving treatment in a wildly expensive "mobile rejuvenation chamber."

None of that inspired much confidence in McVay's insistence that the team nor Stafford was terribly concerned about the injury. But today he retook the field.

It doesn't mean the back injury is gone but his presence on the field is a critical first step for Stafford. The regular season is only three weeks away and even a longtime NFL veteran like him needs a ramp-up period before the games start to matter.

Stafford completed 65.8% of his passes last season for the Rams, totaling 3,762 yards and 20 touchdowns to eight interceptions as Los Angeles went 10-7. He and the rest of the team are hoping to build off an inspired postseason performance in which they came the closest out of anybody to knocking the eventual champion Eagles out of the playoffs in their divisional round matchup.

For that to happen, Stafford needs to be healthy. Monday's development was a great first step towards proving that.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Matthew Stafford Returns to Rams Practice After Battling Back Injury All Training Camp.