(Los Angeles) Wide receiver Cooper Kupp is expected to miss several games for the Los Angeles Rams after spraining his ankle in the Rams’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday.
In addition to the bad news, Rams head coach Sean McVay revealed that offensive lineman Jonah Jackson and defensive lineman John Johnson are also expected to be out for several weeks with shoulder injuries.
Kupp left the team’s 41-10 loss to the Cardinals after twisting his ankle on a run that followed a catch.
The 56 Most Valuable Playere Super Bowl suffered major injuries in the previous two seasons, playing only 21 of the Rams’ 34 regular season games.
Those injuries come on top of wide receiver Puka Nacua, who is expected to miss at least another month after aggravating his knee injury in Week 1.
“We were unlucky,” McVay said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s really special, but it’s an opportunity for us to show what we want to be.”
All five starters on the Rams’ offensive line have already been injured this season.
In addition to Jackson, Rob Havenstein missed the season opener against the Detroit Lions, in which Steve Avila, Kevin Dotson and Joseph Noteboom were all injured.
“The amount of changes we’ve had to make on the offensive line is unbelievable,” McVay said. “It’s so important to create chemistry within that unit, but we’ve had a turnover that’s been going on since training camp.”
Avila and Noteboom are on injured reserve and Jackson could be there as well, McVay said.
Dotson played through his injury and Alaric Jackson — who missed the first two games due to suspension — is eligible to return this weekend against the 49ers.ers from San Francisco.
McVay added that the Rams likely would have placed Kupp, Jackson and Johnson on injured reserve by now if they hadn’t already used up too many roster spots.
Nacua, Avila and Williams are already there, and McVay said the Rams are still deciding how many newly injured players will join them.
The Rams are off to their first winless, two-loss start since 2011 as they prepare to face the 49ers (1-1), Sunday.
This will be the Rams’ first home game this season.
“Nobody cares (about our injuries) in this league,” McVay said. “I feel bad for those guys (who are injured), and we care a lot, but the outside world doesn’t care and we’re going to have to do our best in the next few games.”