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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It did not take long for Ty Simpson to acclimate to the NFL.
In his pro debut, the Rams rookie quarterback passed for two touchdowns and made no major errors in a 20-12 preseason victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
“I definitely felt more comfortable than I ever have in a game,” said Simpson, who completed 21 of 25 attempts for 190 yards.
It was a much-awaited first game for Simpson after the Rams shocked fans and much of the NFL by picking him so high in the draft after he started only 15 games for Alabama.
Fourth-year pro Stetson Bennett played the first two series — the first against many Chiefs starters — and led a field-goal drive on the second one before Simpson came on with 11 seconds left in the first quarter.
Rams coach Sean McVay says the team is still working through a few things with Aaron Donald on the defensive tackle’s potential return from retirement.
Simpson’s first series ended with him bobbling a high snap, and then making a smart decision to throw the ball out of bounds. From that point on, offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase called play-action bootlegs and other rollouts that enabled Simpson to find receivers, many of them wide open.
“Once that first drive kind of got done, I was like, ‘All right, well yeah, this is just like playing in the backyard,’” Simpson said.
Simpson’s parents and brother were in attendance, and he credited family, coaches and teammates for helping him relax and excel. He finished two second-half drives with short touchdown passes to running back Dean Connors.
“I thought Ty had great command all day,” coach Sean McVay said. “It was a great step in the right direction for him.”
During training camp and recent practices, Bennett took first-team snaps when starter Matthew Stafford was held out. He took second-team snaps when Stafford practiced.
So he appeared to enter the game as the presumptive frontrunner to back up the reigning NFL most valuable player.
Does Simpson’ performance change anything?
