The Los Angeles Rams dropped their regular season opener to the Detroit Lions in overtime, but there were several positives to take away from the 26-20 loss.
Cooper Kupp had a monster game, catching 14 of his 21 targets for 110 yards and a touchdown while playing every offensive snap. He also rushed for 10 yards and traveled 436 yards in pre-snap motion alone.
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been seeing at practice,” Matthew Stafford said of Kupp’s performance against the Lions. “That’s how I know who he is.
“I’d love to know what his yardage was running today, I mean he was – we were asking him to move all over the place and handle a whole lot of things, both in the pass game and the run game, and he leads that room really well. That’s why you see those other guys step in and come in and play the way they do.
“So, proud of him, happy for him that he played the way that he did today, and like myself, we’re just hard on ourselves and want to make every play if we possibly can, but I was proud of the way he competed today.”
Kupp’s big day against the Lions was encouraging on a number of levels. For one, he was able to step up after fellow Pro Bowl wide receiver Puka Nacua exited the game in the second quarter with a knee injury.
Rams head coach Sean McVay clarified that Nacua has a PCL strain and is likely going on injured reserve that will cause him to miss a minimum of four games.
Kupp’s performance against the Lions also shows that he is all the way back after being limited by injuries in each of the last two years.
Kupp’s last fully healthy campaign was in 2021, when he had one of the greatest seasons for a wide receiver in NFL season. In what was also Stafford’s first year with the Rams, Kupp caught 145 passes for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns en route to winning Super Bowl LVI.
Rams injuries
In addition to Nacua re-aggravating the same knee injury from training camp, starting guard Steve Avila also went down to a knee injury of his own and could on IR as well.
Joe Noteboom, who started at left tackle in place of the suspended Alaric Jackson, was also carted off the field with an ankle injury, and right guard Kevin Dotson hurt his ankle as well although the concern there isn’t as high.
