Rams WR Cooper Kupp has hamstring setback; considered day-to-day
Los Angeles Rams star wide receiver Cooper Kupp had a setback with his hamstring and is now considered day-to-day, head coach Sean McVay told reporters Thursday.
The 30-year-old didn't appear to be practicing ahead of the announcement. He was on the field but not in uniform, according to The Athletic's Jourdan Rodrigue.
Kupp was working toward a return after missing the last six weeks of last season due to a high ankle sprain. He sustained the initial injury in the Rams' Week 10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals when he landed awkwardly on an overthrown pass from backup quarterback John Wolford.
There was optimism about his health when he returned to practice in June and started getting back to speed during minicamp. But on Aug. 1, Kupp sustained a hamstring injury during practice. He was described as being day-to-day a few days later, and he eventually returned to practice at full capacity.
When announcing Kupp's most recent complication, McVay noted that the Rams are "obviously a much better team when he's out there." Before his injury last season, the Super Bowl LVI MVP recorded 75 catches for 812 yards and six touchdowns.
Kupp was recently voted a team captain by his teammates, along with quarterback Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, Tyler Higbee, Rob Havenstein, Ernest Jones, Jordan Fuller and Ben Skowronek.
The team will hope to have him on the field for Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks. A week ago, it seemed likely that he would be ready for that matchup, which will take place Sept. 10.
"Yeah, I feel like I am," Kupp said after a joint practice with the Denver Broncos when asked if he thought he was on pace to play in the season opener. Now, his status will have to be closely monitored.
"There's a difference between return to play and return to performance," McVay via ESPN. "We want return to performance for Cooper Kupp. We know how special a player, special of a person, and so we want to make sure we are smart with that and getting him back to feeling like the Cooper Kupp we all know and that he's able to play the way that he's capable of, whenever that is. Whether that is Sept. 10 or not, we'll continue to monitor that and control what we can control."
