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Rams’ Sean McVay Searching For Answers As Cooper Kupp Deals With Hamstring Injury

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 13: Cooper Kupp #10 and Matthew Stafford #9 of the Los Angeles Rams celebrate after Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium on February 13, 2022 in Inglewood, California. The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Los Angeles wide receiver Cooper Kupp will miss Week 1 due to a hamstring injury he sustained at practice several weeks ago. He could soon be headed to the IR until further details about his setback are revealed.

Head coach Sean McVay did not seem to have many answers for reporters Wednesday after the team announced that Kupp would not start the season with the team. The star receiver who had 1,947 receiving yards in 2021 but missed the second half of the 2022 season with a high ankle sprain.

“It wasn’t the normal thing. There’s just a lot of gray behind this,” McVay said of his most recent injury. “I’m not a doctor, so I can’t really answer anything more about that. I just know it doesn’t follow the standard protocol for when you’re reaggravating a soft-tissue injury. (We are) trying to continue to get a grasp on exactly what it is so he can get back to feeling like the Cooper that we know and love. Hopefully, we’ll do that.”

McVay also said Wednesday that the team was not yet aware of the nature of his issue, a concerning admission for team personnel just before the season. Kupp recently saw a specialist in Minnesota to better evaluate the injury.

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“I would just say this, it’s trying to just figure out what’s going on with him,” McVay said when asked Kupp’s recent visit to Minnesota. “Again, I’m kind of speaking out of turn. I just know that we’re trying to open up every avenue in regards to figuring out what’s going on, why is he feeling some of the sensations and things like that in his hamstring. Is it soft tissue? Is there something nerve-wise? And I would be speaking out of turn.”

Kupp was an integral member of the Rams’ 2021 Super Bowl team, and when he and quarterback Matthew Stafford suffered injuries in 2022, Los Angeles regressed immediately. His status will be of extreme importance to McVay and his staff as the season progresses. Without him on the field, Stafford will have to spread his passes to many more receivers in order to compensate for Kupp’s massive workload.