Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua left Thursday's practice with a calf injury, ESPN reported, citing a team spokesperson. The Associated Press, Pro Football Talk and Yahoo Sports carried the same news. Yahoo described it as coming amid "a rash of Rams injuries" and said it is unclear how it will affect his availability for Sunday. A post on r/nfl credits Adam Schefter with saying Nacua left practice early.
NFL Trade Rumors, citing Sarah Barshop, had the only specific on his status: Nacua will officially be listed as questionable. That item says "Thursday's game," but the Rams don't play until Sunday, when they visit the Raiders. We read it as a slip for Sunday. None of the reporting we have gives a severity, a diagnosis beyond "calf," or a timeline. Whether he will be limited, held out or play remains open.
The Rams have little room to lose their top target. They are 2-4, fourth in the NFC West and four games behind the 49ers, who are 6-0. They have lost two straight, 37-34 to Buffalo on Oct. 12 and 18-16 to Arizona on Oct. 18. Their last win was 24-20 at Philadelphia on Oct. 4.
Nacua has been central to the offense in the games he has played. Our data has him with 37 catches on 52 targets for 417 yards and one receiving touchdown, plus a rushing touchdown. He has appeared in four of the team's six games. Against Buffalo he caught 17 passes for 138 yards and a score on 24 targets. Last week against Arizona he had six catches for 80 yards on seven targets, with a long of 43. His 11.3 yards per catch is below last season's 13.3, when he had 129 catches for 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns in 16 games.
| GP | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Raiders are 3-3 and on a three-game losing streak, so the Rams have a winnable game. Without Nacua they would have to replace the passing-game target who drew 24 looks against the Bills. The next update should be the Friday injury report, and the official designation is due before the game at Las Vegas on Sunday.
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