For at least the next four games, the Los Angeles Rams offense will need to operate without its leading receiver from a season ago: Puka Nacua. The second-year star has a PCL sprain that will sideline him for at least four games after he was placed on IR, a major loss for the Rams offense.
As encouraging as it is to see Cooper Kupp fully healthy again, the absence of Nacua will be felt in the near future. Matthew Stafford knows just how much Nacua means to the team, and it goes beyond just his talent as a receiver.
“Obviously, a really good football player for us,” Stafford said Wednesday. “He makes plays in the passing game. He blocks in the run game as good as anybody. Does a lot of things that allow us to be really multiple in what we want to do with just a couple personnels. You lose him on the field there and you lose his personality in the huddle, the juice that he brings out to practice, the zest for football and life that he has. He’s still around, obviously. It’s not like we put him down or anything, but you just don’t get to see him in the huddle as much, which we all love being around Puka. It’s a little bit of a loss there.”
Similar to Kupp, Nacua does it all at receiver for the Rams. He can win in the short passing game, he can catch passes over the top of the defense, he can break tackles after the catch and he’s an excellent run blocker. As Stafford mentioned, that element of his game allows the Rams to stay in 11 personnel most of the time and still run the ball successfully.
At the earliest, Nacua will be back in Week 7 after the team’s bye, but Sean McVay isn’t even sure he’ll return when first eligible. His absence could extend beyond the minimum of four games.
“Each of those three guys [Joe Noteboom, Steve Avila, and Nacua] that you are talking about, they each have unique injuries that as of right now, could keep them out longer than that. We’ll see,” McVay said of the Rams’ injured players.
