Cooper Kupp exits game before halftime with apparent injury (0:31)
Rams WR Cooper Kupp exits the game right before halftime after an apparent leg injury. (0:31)
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Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff WriterSep 15, 2024, 06:09 PM ET
- Sarah Barshop covers the Los Angeles Rams for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Milwaukee. She then moved to Houston to cover the Texans. She came to ESPN after working as a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated. You can follow her on Twitter @sarahbarshop.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp injured his ankle in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals and did not play in the second half of the 41-10 loss.
Rams coach Sean McVay said in his postgame news conference that he didn’t have an update on the severity of Kupp’s ankle injury. The star wide receiver had a boot on his left foot in the locker room after the game.
Kupp appeared to sustain the injury on his fourth reception of the game — a 24-yard catch-and-run near the end of the first half. He walked off the field to the locker room at halftime with a noticeable limp.
“(Kupp) ran across the field, did a really nice job, and then was limping a little bit,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “And he doesn’t usually limp for too long. Sometimes you get stepped on and you limp for a minute and walk one off. But we will see what that is. Obviously a huge part of our team and a huge part of our offense.”
Kupp had four catches for 37 yards on six targets before leaving the game. In two games this season, he has 18 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown.
The Rams are already without wide receiver Puka Nacua, who is on injured reserve after spraining his posterior cruciate ligament in Week 1. Behind Kupp and Nacua, the Rams have wide receivers Demarcus Robinson, Tyler Johnson, Tutu Atwell and rookie sixth-round pick Jordan Whittington.
Stafford did not throw a touchdown pass in a game for the first time since Week 1 of the 2023 season. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, his streak of 15 consecutive starts with a passing touchdown had been the second-longest active streak in the NFL behind Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.
With the blowout loss, the Rams fell to 0-2 for the first time under McVay and the first time since the 2011 season. The 31-point loss is their second-largest loss under McVay, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
“They got after us in every phase,” McVay said. “They did a great job. There’s not anything positive that I can take away from today. And anytime that something like this occurs, I think you’ve got to look inward, first and foremost.
” … It was an incredibly humbling three hour window. They did what they wanted to do from the jump. We didn’t do anything to give ourselves a chance. Guys kept battling, but we’ve got to be able to figure it out. We have a lot of reasons to make excuses, but ultimately they came in, they were ready to go, they got after us and we didn’t do a good enough job. And that always starts with me.”
The Rams have allowed 67 points in two games, their third most through two games of a season in franchise history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The Los Angeles defense is without future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald, who retired in March.
Los Angeles gave up 489 yards of offense to the Cardinals on Sunday, including 231 rushing yards.
“This is not a fun place to be in as a competitor,” McVay said. “You guys know me. I mean, this chaps me to no end. But it doesn’t do any good to sit here and dwell on it. What I’m not going to do is pout about this s—. Alright? I’m going to figure out, alright, how can I go respond in a manner that’s reflective of what I ask of our guys? And that’s exactly what you guys are going to see.”
