Sean McVay says the Rams haven’t decided yet how much to use Cooper Kupp on Thursday
With Cooper Kupp returning to the Rams on Thursday against the Vikings, the question of how much the team will protect him against further injury is the main focus this week. In the first game of the season, Kupp received 21 targets, which is still the second-most by any player in any game this year. The next week, Kupp suffered an ankle injury. There is some causation there and JB Scott wrote before Week 2 that Kupp’s usage was a concern.
Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford leaned on Kupp in those 1.5 games due to an injury to Puka Nacua. With Nacua still out, the Rams most likely do not want to end up in another situation with Kupp getting over 20 targets. When asked about Kupp’s workload this week, McVay said:
“That’s to be determined…”, adding that the team will make that decision based on this week of practices and preparing for how to beat the Vikings on Thursday.
#Rams HC Sean McVay on whether Cooper Kupp will have a full workload on Thursday:
“That’s to be determined… That’ll be something that, as we’re putting [our plans] together and really diving into it, we’ll have a better feel for. But, definitely excited to have him back.” pic.twitter.com/seWLehZJUC
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) October 21, 2024
The fact that McVay said that the decision has yet to be determined does imply that the Rams are open to the idea of continuing to use Cooper Kupp exactly as they did before.
McVay and Stafford probably like L.A.’s other receivers more than they did before Kupp and Nacua were injured and the Rams are 2-2 since losing Kupp. But Tutu Atwell, Jordan Whittington, Demarcus Robinson, and Tyler Johnson are not the same as Cooper Kupp.
If McVay feels like the only way to beat the Vikings is to feed Kupp like he’s the same old Kupp, we might see the same old Kupp. I will not be surprised if the team doesn’t hold back.
