The Los Angeles Rams are now officially bracing for life without Puka Nacua, and the timeline is longer than they first let on.
After Nacua went down with a knee injury on the final play of the Rams’ Week 9 win over the Washington Commanders, head coach Sean McVay initially said the team would not place the wide receiver on injured reserve. That plan changed on Thursday, when Los Angeles put Nacua on IR, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter of ESPN.
McVay had already indicated the injury would keep Nacua out for “extended time,” and the move lines up with the reporting from Dan Graziano of ESPN, who said Nacua is not expected back until around Week 14 or Week 15.
“I found it interesting that the Rams placed [Jordan] Whittington on injured reserve Tuesday but did not do the same with Nacua,” Graziano wrote. “Speaking to people close to this situation on Monday evening, they were very adamant that Nacua’s injury isn’t season-ending and that they hope to get him back around Week 14, Week 15 time.”
With Nacua now sidelined for at least the next four games, the Rams will lean on a receiver group that suddenly looks thin. Konata Mumpfield, Tutu Atwell, CJ Daniels and Xavier Smith are the names left to pick up the slack.
Someone will have to deliver if Los Angeles wants to keep its Super Bowl aspirations on track, but replacing Nacua’s weekly production is a different challenge altogether. The fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of BYU has piled up 383 catches for 4,906 yards and 23 touchdowns in his career.
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