Sean McVay didn’t hide from the moment that changed the Rams’ outlook in a hurry.
After it was learned Monday that Puka Nacua is headed to injured reserve with a sprained MCL, sprained PCL and turf toe injury, the Rams coach was asked about the third-and-11 call late in Los Angeles’ 20-13 win over the Washington Commanders that sent Nacua into harm’s way. With less than two minutes left and the Rams near midfield, McVay dialed up a jet-sweep handoff for his star receiver. Nacua picked up a short gain, then got tackled at the end of the play and came away injured.
Per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, McVay said he’s “kicking myself about those kinds of things.”
“I’d be lying to you if I said I haven’t questioned the decision-making on that last play over and over in my head of what could have been another option that you felt like could have gotten a conversion, and maybe ended the game that would’ve led to [Nacua] not taking a violent hit to his right knee,” McVay explained.
The injury lands at a brutal time for Los Angeles. The Rams were already down another major weapon after Davante Adams suffered a ruptured hamstring in Week 6, an injury that reportedly could sideline him for roughly 6-10 weeks.
And with the NFL trade deadline arriving at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, there doesn’t appear to be a simple fix waiting for them on the open market.
McVay said the responsibility hits hard because of what Nacua means to the offense.
“It’s stuff that I feel tremendous responsibility for, and we’ve got to be able to figure out how to protect these guys while also putting them in positions that help our team and allow them to be able to shine,” McVay added. “He’s a guy we have to be intentional about because it’s a bummer. Because he can do so much, you want to make sure you don’t take that for granted.”
The Rams entered Week 1 as the betting favorites to win Super Bowl LXI, but the picture looks much different now. Los Angeles is 5-4 and heading toward its Week 11 bye after a Nov. 15 game at the 3-6 Arizona Cardinals. As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Rams as 9.5-point favorites over the Cardinals.
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