The Los Angeles Rams lost several key starters to injury in their Week 1 matchup against the Detroit Lions, including wide receiver Puka Nacua, who sustained a PCL sprain in his right knee.
Nacua re-aggravated the knee injury that sidelined him for three weeks during training camp and initially returned for one play in the second quarter before exiting again and missing the rest of the game.
The expectation is that Nacua will be sidelined for five-to-seven weeks, via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com:
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua could miss between five to seven weeks, depending on how quickly his posterior cruciate ligament injury heals, sources told ESPN.
The Rams placed Nacua on injured list, which means he will have to miss a minimum of four games regardless. That includes matchups against the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.
However, the Rams believe Nacua could also miss the following two games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Minnesota Vikings:
But according to sources, now the Rams’ thinking is that Nacua’s status for the games against the Raiders and the following Thursday night at home against the Minnesota Vikings also could be in jeopardy.
The Rams want to make sure they’re careful with Nacua and not rush him back. The team wants to do whatever is needed to ensure there are no more setbacks to the injury that Nacua initially suffered early in training camp.
With Nacua set to miss up to seven weeks, it is worth noting that the Rams have their bye in Week 6. That means Nacua will miss only six games instead of seven, which is a small win but still not ideal.
Nacua is coming off a historic rookie campaign that saw him catch 105 passes for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns in 17 games.
The 23-year-old was off to a good start before his injury as he had four receptions for 35 yards in just over a quarter of action against the Lions.
Rams dealing with long-term injuries
In addition to Nacua potentially missing more than four games, Rams head coach Sean McVay said left guard Steve Avila and offensive tackle Joe Noteboom could be facing a similar situation.
“Yeah, that’s the fortunate thing for us. Each of those three guys [Joe Noteboom, Steve Avila, and Nacua] that are you talking about, they each have unique injuries that as of right now, could keep them out longer than that,” McVay said. “We’ll see. What I think we want to be careful to do, and I’ve kind of learned this just through experience, let’s not place expectations on when they’re going to come back because these guys are so conscientious. Let’s allow them to be ready to go whenever their body says and when the doctors do say. I know they’re going to accelerate it and be ready as quickly as possible.
“I can’t even think about anything other than having a good practice today. We’ll be great. We’ll be better when we get those guys back. When that time is? I don’t know. To your point about the bye, it does give us a little bit of luxury of another week in between instead of having to miss a game because of where it falls.”
