By DAN GREENSPAN
Associated Press
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Just when it appeared like issues couldn’t get a lot worse for the Los Angeles Rams, star broad receiver Cooper Kupp injured his proper ankle in the fourth quarter of their 27-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
The Super Bowl MVP landed awkwardly making an attempt to catch a cross from John Wolford that was too excessive, coming down on his proper leg with 14:18 remaining and the Rams trailing 17-10.
Coach Sean McVay didn’t have an replace on Kupp’s harm instantly after the sport.
“I just know it didn’t look good, it didn’t sound good,” McVay stated.
Kupp stayed down on the sideline and was attended to by trainers earlier than hopping to the bench with out placing any weight on his leg. He was ultimately in a position to stroll again to the locker room with 12:44 to play and didn’t return.
The harm to Kupp was the latest setback throughout the Rams’ dismal protection of their championship. Quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t play after failing to clear concussion protocol, and Wolford struggled behind a makeshift offensive line after a profitable first drive ended in a area aim.
The Rams (3-6) completed with 256 yards of offense, their third straight recreation with lower than 300 yards and fifth of the season.
It was the fifth time the Rams have failed to rating greater than 17 factors, together with every outing throughout their present three-game shedding streak.
“Not a lot of positives that you can take away from this,” McVay stated. “It’s tough, it stings. There’s just a lot of different reasons that we’re in this position.”
Kupp, who final season led the NFL in receptions, yards receiving and landing catches, had three receptions for minus-1 yard. He nonetheless leads the group with 75 receptions for 812 yards and 6 touchdowns this season.
It was the second straight residence recreation the place the Rams left the stadium with issues about Kupp. He prevented severe harm when he rolled his ankle late in the 31-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 30.
“I mean, he’s arguably the best receiver in the league,” stated Wolford, who was 24 of 36 for 212 yards with one landing and one interception. “He’s a great leader for us. And we’ll definitely feel the impact of him not being out there, but guys got to step up and we got to rally if he’s not able to go.”
With the offense unable to muster any assist with three consecutive three-and-outs and a misplaced fumble, the protection gave up two backbreaking touchdowns to Arizona and its backup quarterback Colt McCoy in a span of 1:32 late in the primary half.
“It’s our job, man,” outdoors linebacker Leonard Floyd stated. “Offense got to score, and defense got to stop the offense from scoring, and special teams got to protect the ball. That’s what it come down to, doing your job.”
This is the primary time the Rams have been three video games beneath .500 in McVay’s six seasons. The 36-year-old is most troubled by the group’s incapability to get higher.
“Whatever that means in terms of the results, we just have to be able to have a better product out there, start to see some improvement,” McVay stated. “And that’s the challenging thing is there really hasn’t been examples of that occurring, and so got to be able to look at some of the things that we’re doing process-wise. I got to be able to look at myself in the mirror and figure out what are those things, ’cause I feel very responsible for us being in this position.”
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