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Sarah Barshop
BALTIMORE — Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua has an ankle sprain, coach Sean McVay said, but the team believes Nacua avoided a long-term injury on Sunday.
“We’ll be day-to-day with him,” McVay said Monday. “Initially, he felt pretty good today, but we’ll just see how the week progresses.”
Nacua sprained his left ankle in the second quarter of the Rams’ 17-3 victory over the Baltimore Ravens while attempting to catch a pass in the end zone. He got up slowly after the play and started to walk off the field. After taking a few steps, Nacua went back to the ground and was checked out by the team’s medical staff.
He returned to the game in the third quarter but did not have another target. McVay said Monday that the Rams were “cognizant” of how they used Nacua upon his return “because of where we were at that point in the game.”
“I was encouraged, [senior vice president of sports medicine and performance] Reggie [Scott] was encouraged by the scan in terms of what it revealed,” McVay said. “Whether that means he’s able to play like the guy that we’re accustomed to seeing on Sunday will be a weekly process for us.
“And so, what we are grateful for is there’s nothing on the scan that looks like it’s going to be long-term. The uncertainty of this week is a real thing.”
McVay said the Rams will take into account Nacua’s “style of play, the way and the nature at which he plays” in determining when he is ready to return.
The Rams are spending the week in Baltimore before they fly to London to play the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7 before their Week 8 bye.
Nacua entered the game against the Ravens leading the NFL in receptions and receiving yards and had the most catches by a player in his team’s first five games of a season in league history.
Nacua had two receptions for 28 yards before the injury, giving him 54 catches for 616 yards and two touchdowns this season.
