Kelly Stafford - Matthew Stafford struggles to jell with young Rams - ESPN

The Los Angeles Rams' roster has experienced massive turnover in the two years since the team won Super Bowl LVI, and the influx of youth has quarterback Matthew Stafford finding it hard to connect with his teammates, according to his wife, Kelly.

«It's kind of crazy. So, Matthew's been in the league a long time. He's like, 'The difference in the locker room has changed so significantly.' They have a lot of rookies on their team, they're very young. But he's like, 'I feel like I can't connect,'» Kelly Stafford said on her podcast, «The Morning After With Kelly Stafford,» last week.

«In the old days you'd come out of practice, you'd shower, and people would be playing cards, interacting. Who knows what they're doing, but they're doing something together. Playing pingpong, they have a tournament going on. They'd at least be talking. But now they get out of practice, and meetings during training camp, and they go straight to their phones. No one looks up from their phones. Matthew's like, 'I don't know… am I the dad? Do I take their phones? What do I do here?' He's like, 'I want them to see me not as a coach.'»

Matthew Stafford, 35, is entering his 15th NFL season and third with the Rams. The Rams enjoyed roster stability in his first two seasons, but several high-profile players left in free agency or were traded this year. The turnover on defense is such that defensive lineman Aaron Donald and middle linebacker Ernest Jones are the only defenders who started the team's Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The team also selected 14 players in the 2023 NFL draft.

Now Kelly Stafford says her husband is struggling to have his new teammates see him as an equal.

«They say 'sir' to him and s---,» she said. «He's like,