Rams' young stars explain how important it is to have Matthew Stafford back

When Matthew Stafford won the NFL MVP award at the NFL Honors, he was the man of the evening. Soaking in the spotlight, Stafford made the announcement that he would return for the 2026 NFL season.

On Monday, Steve Avila and Kobie Turner shared their thoughts on Stafford's return and how he pushes them to chase glory on the gridiron.

Avila, who was a star on an offensive line that kept Stafford clean all season long, dove into his emotions watching Stafford win MVP.

“Well, first off, I think everybody's hearts were pounding that night," stated Avila. "We were just hoping he'd win that. It's one of those things like with LeBron, he's playing at a high level and it's weird when he's going to retire because it's like, ‘You still got more to go.’ He played at a high level and I feel like it was kind of the same thing with him. It's like, ‘Dude, you just came off an MVP. Like, is that it? Really?’ I'm glad he's back. Again, I feel like we owe it all to the people around us, especially him, to give it our all and hopefully we can get another ring with that.”

Turner, a team captain himself, also expressed joy about Stafford returning, highlighting the QB's impact on the team and how he elevates the standards in the locker room.

“First of all, obviously Matthew is such a G," Turner said. "To be able to have him back spearheading our team, leading our team, coming off of an MVP year, but also coming off of a year where you could say he was the MVP of being a leader as well for this team. He's such a vocal leader that really brings guys along. He knows how many years that he has left, he ultimately decides that, but for every single year that we have that opportunity, we have to be able to maximize on it.

"He’s such a big-time talent, but such a big time all in all, all-around player, person and leader. You don't have a ton of opportunities in this life to be able to say, we have a Hall of Fame quarterback and an MVP quarterback. It’s up to us defensively. I take this charge to our defensive front guys, is how can we be at our best so that when he's at his best, we can capitalize off of it? So that we can take some of the weight off of his shoulders and to be able to take this team as far as we can take it. It's such a great opportunity. I remember watching [NFL] Honors live waiting for his name to be called. When he said he is back, I was like, ‘Alright, let's go.’ I almost wish I was in a weight room right now to be able to get back.