In the Rams’ first eight games of the season, Cooper Kupp never played fewer than 82% of the team’s offensive snaps. He was a staple on offense, once again proving to be one of Jared Goff’s top targets.
But on Sunday against Seattle, Kupp’s playing time dropped significantly. He played 37 of a possible 70 snaps on offense, which amounts to 53%. That was less than Josh Reynolds and Robert Woods, who each played 80%.
Kupp was limited in practice last week by an oblique injury, according to the injury report, but he also hurt his wrist before the bye. He could be seen favoring it slightly in Sunday’s win, but Sean McVay said Monday that Kupp’s reduced role wasn’t due to injury, despite the fact that “he’s been banged up.”
“No, not really. I mean, he was banged up going into it, but we had a lot of guys that we wanted to get involved in that game,” McVay said. “It wasn’t like he missed any snaps. He did a good job of being able to push through his wrist. He’s been banged up, but he’s a tough player. I thought he did a nice job with the opportunities he had yesterday.”
Kupp caught five passes for 50 yards, including a key 31-yarder on the Rams’ opening possession to get them into the red zone. Goff threw his way seven times, which is a fairly high number considering Kupp only played 37 snaps.
His status will be something to monitor this week as the Rams prepare for the Bucs, a team they’ll need to be at full strength against on Monday night.
