INGLEWOOD — Puka Nacua spun off of one hit that dislodged his chin strap, but, still on his feet, turned upfield. That’s when Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o’s helmet crashed into the Rams receiver’s, and Nacua felt hot blood trickling down his face.
“Tried to come back in here [to the locker room] and make sure I could count to 10 on my hands,” Nacua said after the game. “Coming back in here, I felt like my face was on my facemask and I was standing up and it was all the way down here to the left.”
And yet, as he has many times before, Nacua returned from the injury. And his presence helped spur the Rams to their 14-9 season-opening win over the Texans on Sunday.
The Rams’ offense had stalled as Nacua was evaluated for a concussion, all while receiving stitches for the gash on his forehead. After he was cleared to return, he tried to put his helmet on, only to discover it was pulling his bandage down over his eyes. A little extra tape and he was able to get the helmet back on and get back into the game.
Not a moment too soon, too, as he made catches of 19 and 24 yards to set up a first-and-goal for the Rams in the two-minute drill to end the first half. But his bandage came off again, and he had to return to the sidelines for a patch job. The Rams failed three times to punch the ball in, but Nacua returned to deliver a critical block on Kyren Williams’ one-yard, fourth-down touchdown.
“He goes out there at practice, he’s working, he’s doing all this stuff, he’s making plays and all that. But when it becomes tackle football, is when Puka Nacua’s game comes to life,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “We’re blessed to have him, as a player but as a person too and as a competitor. Just the person that he is day in and day out, and then what we get to go out and battle with on Sundays, it’s special.”
Nacua finished his day with 10 catches for 130 yards, and the biggest reception was his last. With the Rams facing third-and-eight and in danger of giving the ball back to the Texans with 1:27 to play, Nacua motioned in as if to block for a run. But when he got to the second level of the defense, he slipped outside for Stafford to find him on a roll and a 24-yard gain to seal the win.
It’s the kind of play that only works because of the way that Nacua blocks on a typical running down.
“I love playing this game of football. The excitement, the want to hit somebody,” Nacua said. “You take a couple shots here and there, my excitement to go out there and hit somebody and play with the physicality that I enjoy playing the game of football with is something that drives me to get back out there, especially early on in the game.”