Cooper Kupp won't play Sunday, could go on injured reserve
Cooper Kupp won't play this week, and it might be awhile before he returns.
The Rams ruled out the receiver for Week 1.
Kupp injured his hamstring in practice Aug. 1 and had a setback last week. He sought a second opinion this week from a specialist in Minnesota.
"Really not much more information," Rams coach Sean McVay said, via video from the team. "Just dealing with some soft-tissue stuff. Just trying to feel back to normal. When that ends up occurring, then we'll have him back. In the meantime, he will not be playing for us."
McVay did not rule out the possibility of Kupp landing on injured reserve later this week, a move that seems inevitable. That would keep Kupp out a minimum of four weeks.
"It's a possibility. We'll look into that," McVay said. "We want to be able to just kind of give him a little bit of time. We don't have to make that decision quite yet, but there's a possibility of that."
Kupp missed nine games with a high right ankle sprain that required surgery and ended his 2022 season prematurely.
Van Jefferson, Tutu Atwell, Demarcus Robinson, Puka Nacua and Ben Skowronek are the other wideouts on the 53-player roster. None are Kupp, who has an offensive player of the year and Super Bowl MVP on his resume.
"You wish he was able to go, but I have a lot of confidence in the guys," McVay said. "This is something that we probably thought was going to be the situation for a while now. This isn't anything new to us. But rather just put it to bed and not have to continue to answer questions. Want to get Cooper back when he's ready to go. In the meantime, a lot of guys have been able to get a great chance to be able to develop, establish a rapport with Matthew [Stafford] and the rest of the group. Looking forward to watching these guys compete on Sunday."
McVay also ruled out tight end Hunter Long (thigh,hamstring) and backup quarterback Stetson Bennett (right shoulder) for Week 1. Brett Rypien, who is on the practice squad, will serve as the backup quarterback to Stafford.
