Kupp scores in return; McVay expects WR to stay

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Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff WriterOct 25, 2024, 01:30 AM ET

Sarah Barshop covers the Los Angeles Rams for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Milwaukee. She then moved to Houston to cover the Texans. She came to ESPN after working as a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated. You can follow her on Twitter @sarahbarshop.INGLEWOOD, Calif. — For the first time since Week 1, the Los Angeles Rams had receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back on the field together in the team’s 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.

Rams coach Sean McVay would like it to stay that way. Amid reports that the Rams had approached teams about trading Kupp before the Nov. 5 trade deadline, McVay said he was “really glad” to have him back on the field.

“And that’s what I expect to stay that way,” McVay said.

Kupp, who had been out since spraining his left ankle in Week 2, had five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. Nacua led the team with seven catches for 106 yards on nine targets.

“Teams reached out,” McVay said when asked about the trade speculation. “Some of the things that I’ve seen out there, they’re just not true.”

Kupp said he’s “not thinking about that stuff,” but said he thought there was something “kind of cool about all that stuff going on outside of the facility, but on a short week, every minute spent preparing, trying to get ready to come out here and play.

“And so it gave me the opportunity to focus in on just being where my feet are, being able to prepare as best I can and come out here and let it rip,” Kupp said. “And all that stuff is what it is.”

While the Rams expected to get Kupp back after he was inactive against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7, the team kept Nacua’s return closer to the vest. Nacua sprained a posterior cruciate ligament in Week 1 and was placed on injured reserve. The Rams started his 21-day practice window to return from IR on Tuesday and activated him before Thursday’s game.

McVay said he found out Monday from vice president of sports medicine and performance Reggie Scott that there was a chance Nacua could play this week rather than waiting until Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks.

“[Nacua] said, ‘I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty good,'” McVay said. “He went and had a workout session where he ran routes and did a great job. His movement looked good. I talked to him, and I said, ‘Do you want to try to give this thing a shot?’ And he said yes.”

McVay, who has preached the importance of “return to performance” vs. “return to play” when discussing players returning from injury, said Nacua “had shown that he was ready for that performance.”

“And this guy’s mindset, his mentality … he’s a war daddy, he’s a stud,” McVay said. “I love his play energy and what he brings. He was ready to go tonight, and he made a big impact on the game.”

Because of the short week, Nacua wasn’t able to take part in a padded practice. Quarterback Matthew Stafford said he had thrown Nacua “one, maybe two balls in practice this week, and that’s the first time since the first game.”

It was Nacua’s eighth career game (out of 19 played) with 100 receiving yards. That’s tied with Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson for the second most within a player’s first 20 career games in the Super Bowl era, according to ESPN Research.

The Rams scored a season-high 30 points Thursday, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive games with fewer than 30, according to ESPN Research.

And while McVay said “everybody had a hand” in the victory, there’s no doubt about the “spark” and “energy” the return of Kupp and Nacua brought to the offense.

“There’s a confidence, there’s a comfort, there’s a rapport that’s been established with Matthew and Cooper over the years and then Puka and Matthew last year and then leading into this season,” McVay said. “And so, these guys are ballers.

“And Matthew brought out the best in everybody. But I thought Puka and Cooper were ready to go. They made an impact.”