Cooper Kupp, Stetson Bennett, and Hunter Long could all end up on IR
Following a season in which the Los Angeles Rams were decimated by injuries, they may not make it to Week 1 without multiple players heading to injured reserve. According to head coach Sean McVay via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, Cooper Kupp, Stetson Bennett, and Hunter Long could all end up on injured reserve.
Said Rodrigue,
There a “definite possibility” that Cooper Kupp, Stetson Bennett and Hunter Long go on injured reserve. That designation would come Saturday, if it does. Brett Rypien is currently the Rams’ backup quarterback, but McVay has not ruled out adding a third player, who would probably be a veteran.
Kupp re-aggravated a hamstring injury that he suffered back in August. On Wednesday, the Rams ruled Kupp out Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks, leaving the door open for injured reserve. Now, on Friday, it sounds like that could certainly be a possibility. If Kupp were to go on IR, he would be guaranteed to be out at least the first four games of the season. The Rams would need to make this designation by Saturday to guarantee a return by the Week 5 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Aside from Kupp, backup quarterback Stetson Bennett could end up on IR after a shoulder injury surfaced. Tight end Hunter Long who missed a lot of the offseason program is a possibility for IR as well as he deals with what is being designated as a thigh injury.
If the Rams are without Kupp for multiple weeks and he does end up on injured reserve, the offense will rely heavily on Cam Akers, Van Jefferson, TuTu Atwell, and Puka Nacua. We’ll find out on Saturday whether or not the Rams decide to make the injured reserve designation for Kupp and if the star wide receiver will miss a significant amount of time.