Rams Reverse Course, Place Puka Nacua on Injured Reserve
A day after Sean McVay said the star receiver would stay on the 53-man roster, Los Angeles moved him to IR, ruling him out for at least four games
The Rams changed their minds on Puka Nacua. Los Angeles placed its star receiver on injured reserve Thursday, Nate Atkins reported, meaning Nacua will miss at least the next four games with the MCL and PCL sprains in his right knee and the turf toe he suffered Sunday in Washington.
The Rams are placing star WR Puka Nacua on injured reserve. He must miss the next four games with the MCL/PCL sprain and turf toe he suffered on Sunday. L.A. signed WR Brennan Presley to take his roster spot and added WR Tyler Scott to the practice squad.View on X →
Nate Atkins (@NateAtkins_): The Rams are placing star WR Puka Nacua on injured reserve. He must miss the next four games with the MCL/PCL sprain and turf toe he suffered on Sunday. L.A. signed WR Brennan Presley to take his roster spot and added WR Tyler Scott to the practice squad.
It's a reversal from Wednesday, when Sean McVay said the Rams would not put Nacua on IR because of roster mechanics, even though he would miss "a significant period of time." Keeping him on the 53-man roster would have let the Rams bring him back as soon as he was healthy without spending one of their limited return designations. Instead, the move locks in the four-game minimum that was on the table when McVay first said Monday the team expected to place him on IR.
That stretch covers Sunday's trip to Arizona and, after the Week 11 bye, home games against the Packers and Chiefs and a Dec. 13 visit to San Francisco. The earliest Nacua could return is Dec. 20, when the Cowboys come to SoFi Stadium.
The loss is enormous. Nacua was hurt on the final offensive snap of a 20-13 win over the Commanders after catching 14 of 19 targets for 150 yards and a touchdown. He has 70 catches for 715 yards and four touchdowns in seven games, the most receptions through a player's first seven games of a season in NFL history.
To fill the roster spot, the Rams promoted receiver Brennan Presley from the practice squad and signed receiver Tyler Scott to the practice squad. Matthew Stafford is already without Davante Adams, who has been out since hurting his hamstring in Week 6, so the 5-4 Rams will lean on their remaining receivers when they visit the Cardinals on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.