It’s been a rough start to the season for the Los Angeles Rams. After losing Puka Nacua in Week 1, they lost Cooper Kupp in Week 2. There may be light at the end of the tunnel, though. Both wide receivers are expected to return soon, with Kupp coming back first. When will Kupp be back, and what does this mean for fantasy football managers?
The Latest on Cooper Kupp’s Injury
Kupp has been out since he sprained his ankle in Week 2. It came just one week after Nacua aggravated his knee injury in Week 1. Just like that, the Rams were down their top two wide receivers.
The Rams declined to place Kupp on IR despite the likelihood he would be out at least four games, but that had more to do with the excessive number of players they had injured than anything else. Kupp was always expected to return before Nacua — that still appears to be on track.
Kupp was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and while he was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Rams ultimately decided to hold him out.
However, after Sunday’s game, Rams head coach Sean McVay seemed optimistic that Kupp will play in Week 8 when Los Angeles faces the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football.
“He was close,” McVay said of Kupp. “But ultimately — you guys heard me talk about it throughout the course of the week — it was about return to performance, not necessarily return to play. And, hopefully, Thursday will represent that for us.”
#Rams WR Cooper Kupp is expected to return on Thursday night vs the Vikings after missing the last four games, coach McVay confirmed. pic.twitter.com/OhFX77xnUV
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report)
The Rams did not hold an official practice on Monday ahead of the short week, but Kupp was listed as practicing in full on the estimated report. McVay has a very good track record of telling the truth and it does appear as if Kupp will return on Thursday.
Kupp’s Fantasy Outlook
The second he is deemed active for the Rams is the second that Kupp will be reinserted into your fantasy lineups.
There are plenty of things to overthink in this fantasy world of ours, but this simply isn’t one of them. After all, this is a man who saw 21 targets in a game this season.
If the team is confident enough to bring him back, they are doing so knowing where the ball is likely to be headed 30-35% of the time.
With Kupp out, rookie sixth-rounder Jordan Whittington and Tutu Atwell have been the only Rams WRs who have been useful in fantasy. However, Whittington is currently dealing with a shoulder injury. He did not run a single route on just nine snaps last week and opened Week 8 being listed as DNP. It seems unlikely he will play and can likely be dropped with Kupp back.
