Cooper Kupp is trying to get his ankle ready to play in Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders after sitting out the last three contests but he’s not quite 100% healthy yet. Sean McVay said Wednesday that Kupp is “trending in the right direction” and there’s a chance he’ll play against the Raiders, but nothing is certain as of now.
McVay was asked what he needs to see from Kupp in the coming days to know he’s good to go for Sunday and he shared a few different things that would give him more optimism.
“I think it’s just the transition, some of the short-area movements, some of the things that are necessary to be able to be engaged as part of the blocking surface or to be able to work edges on people as a receiver,” McVay said. “I think some of it too is when you’re connected with somebody and it’s a lean and press away, what does that really feel like? Just the overall twitch, the overall strength and power with some of the movements that we’ll ask of him.”
Kupp isn’t a burner but he wins with his short-area quickness and route-running skills. If he can’t drive off his injured ankle, it’ll hinder him from getting open and ultimately make him less effective as a receiver.
Even an 80% healthy Kupp is better than most receivers at full health, but A) the Rams don’t want to risk re-injury and B) they have three wideouts who are playing well in Tutu Atwell, Jordan Whittington and Demarcus Robinson.
There’s also the consideration of the Rams playing two games in five days because of their Thurday Night Football matchup with the Vikings next week, but McVay says that if Kupp is healthy this weekend, he’s going to play.
“You’re mindful of that, but if he’s going to be ready to go then we want him to play,” he said. “If not, we’re hopeful that Thursday would be the day that he’d go.”
