Rams get concerning injury news on star player

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay had an ominous update regarding the status of star wide receiver Cooper Kupp on Thursday, announcing that he has suffered a setback in his return from a hamstring injury.

While McVay had no immediate timetable for Kupp's potential return, he said they were simply going to take it on a day-by-day basis.

It was only about a week ago that things seemed far more encouraging for Kupp and the Rams as he had returned to practice and seemed to be on track to play in the team's season opener. But that now seems to be in jeopardy as the Rams may not want to rush him back to risk making the injury worse.

“I think we just take it a day at a time right now. We'll see. We want to be able to get him back right. We're obviously a much better team when he's available, but in his absence over the last handful of months, he's been out there leading in the way that he can. But those guys at the receiver position have really done a good job of continuing to develop, and we'll see. Hopefully we'll know exactly kind of when he's back as soon as possible, but do have a lot of confidence in the depth that's been developed in that room.” 

-Sean McVay, via ESPN's Adam Schefter

The fact McVay is immediately talking about his faith in the depth of the wide receiver room, when it isn't particularly deep, is probably not an encouraging sign for Kupp's ability to play the season opener. 

Injuries to Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and Kupp helped crush the Rams' chances during the 2022 season and produced the first losing record of McVay's head coaching career.

The three of them returning to health was the biggest reason for optimism in Los Angeles this season.

The fact that Kupp is already dealing with an injury and had a setback before the season began could be a problem.

When healthy Kupp is one of the best and most productive wide receivers in football. During the 2021 season he led the league with 145 catches, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns in helping the Rams to a Super Bowl title. Even during the 2022 season, he still caught 75 passes for 812 yards in only nine games.