Puka Nacua seems to be in danger of missing his second straight game due to a hip injury. Sean McVay was candid about the Los Angeles Rams receiver’s chances of playing on Sunday night against the Denver Broncos during an interview on ESPN Los Angeles, admitting Nacua is “not making great progress.”
Nacua missed Week 2 after feeling some soreness in practice leading up to the game against the New York Giants, and he was listed as a non-participant for Wednesday’s jog-through as the Rams prepare for Week 3.
“We’ll see,” he said. “It doesn’t – you know, he’s not making great progress, but we’ll love to welcome Puka back with open arms, but if not, I’ve got a ton of confidence in this group that we will go with if he doesn’t go.”
McVay doesn’t usually
reveal much when it comes to injuries, so it’s surprising to hear him say Nacua’s progress hasn’t been great. McVay said earlier in the day that Nacua is “chomping at the bit” to be out there, but the Rams are playing it safe with their star receiver – especially considering it’s a soft-tissue injury.
The good news is the Rams don’t think it’s a long-term issue.
“I think it's more along the lines of just seeing how that responds,” McVay said during Wednesday’s presser. “When you're a skill player and you're trying to hit high-speed yards and open up – it’s like some of the things that can almost be like pre-hernia is what he's feeling. You err on the side of caution. Usually, time is the best thing that allows that thing to heal. Then once you get to a certain point, I think you feel pretty good moving forward. But it's not something that, from talking with Reggie [Scott] and our medical group, that we feel like is any sort of long-term threat. I just know that he's frustrated and we all want him to be able to be out there, but we want him to be able to return to performance not just be able to gut through it.”
The Rams will practice again on Thursday and Friday before taking the field against the Broncos on Sunday night in Denver – with or without Nacua.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Puka Nacua 'not making great progress' with injury, Sean McVay says
