Los Angeles Rams receiver Puka Nacua left a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 11 and did not get a full session back for nearly three weeks. Two days later, head coach Sean McVay named the muscle involved: the psoas. ESPN reported the problem as soreness in the psoas, presenting as groin pain.
Nacua returned to a full practice session on Aug. 30, having missed the Rams' joint work with both the Cowboys and the Saints along with most of the month's practices. He is not expected to miss regular season time. But the length of the absence, for what was publicly described as soreness, is a useful window into a muscle that almost never gets named in an injury report and that sports medicine physicians treat with unusual respect.
