Rams’ Cooper Kupp suffers ankle injury in loss to Cardinals

GLENDALE, Arizona – Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp injured his ankle in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals and did not play in the second half of the 41-10 loss.

Rams coach Sean McVay said in his postgame press conference that he had no update on the severity of Kupp’s ankle injury. The star wide receiver had a boot on his left foot in the locker room after the game.

Kupp appeared to have sustained the injury on his fourth pass reception of the game – a 24-yard catch-and-run late in the first half. He left the field at halftime and headed to the locker room with a noticeable limp.

“(Kupp) ran down the field, did a really good job and then limped a little bit,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “And he doesn’t usually limp too long. Sometimes you get kicked and you limp for a minute and you run a point away. But we’ll see what that is. Obviously a big part of our team and a big part of our offense.”

Kupp had four catches for 37 yards on six attempts before leaving the game. In two games this season, he has 18 catches for 147 yards and a touchdown.

The Rams are already without wide receiver Puka Nacua, who is on the injured list after straining his anterior cruciate ligament in Week 1. Behind Kupp and Nacua, the Rams have wide receivers Demarcus Robinson, Tyler Johnson, Tutu Atwell and rookie Jordan Whittington, who was drafted in the sixth round.

Stafford has not thrown a touchdown pass in a game for the first time since Week 1 of the 2023 season. According to ESPN Stats and According to information research, his streak of 15 consecutive starts with a passing touchdown was the second-longest active streak in the NFL behind that of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.

With the crushing defeat, the Rams fell to 0-2 for the first time under McVay and for the first time since the 2011 season. The 31-point loss is their second-largest loss under McVay, according to ESPN Stats and Information research.

“They put pressure on us at every stage,” McVay said. “They did a great job. I can’t take anything positive from today. And when something like this happens, I think you have to look inward first and foremost.”

“…It was an incredibly humiliating three-hour window. They did what they wanted to do from the beginning. We didn’t do anything to give us a chance. The guys kept fighting, but we have to figure it out. We have a lot of reasons to make excuses, but ultimately they came in, they were ready to go, they attacked us and we didn’t do a good enough job. And that always starts with me.”

The Rams have allowed 67 points in two games, their third-most in two games in a season in franchise history, according to ESPN Stats. and Information Research. Los Angeles’ defense will be without future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald, who retired in March.

Los Angeles allowed the Cardinals 489 yards of offense on Sunday, including 231 rushing yards.

“That’s not a comfortable situation for a competitor,” McVay said. “You know me. I mean, it annoys me to no end. But there’s no point sitting here and thinking about it. I’m not going to sulk. OK? I’m going to figure out how to respond in a way that reflects what I want our guys to do. And that’s exactly what you’re going to see.”