'Kicking myself': Sean McVay laments play call that resulted in Puka Nacua injuries

It was learned on Monday that Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua was set to go on injured reserve after he suffered a sprained MCL, sprained PCL and a turf toe injury late in the Rams' 20-13 win at the Washington Commanders. 

On a third-and-11 near midfield with under two minutes to play, Rams head coach Sean McVay called for Nacua to take a jet-sweep handoff. Nacua’s injuries occurred when he was tackled at the end of his short gain, and McVay was asked on Monday whether he regretted putting Nacua at risk in that situation. 

Sean McVay left wondering "what could have been" after Puka Nacua injuries

Per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, McVay admitted that he's "kicking myself about those kinds of things." 

"I’d be lying to you if I said I haven’t questioned the decision-making on that last play over and over in my head of what could have been another option that you felt like could have gotten a conversion, and maybe ended the game that would’ve led to [Nacua] not taking a violent hit to his right knee," McVay explained. 

McVay was already without a key pass-catcher, as Davante Adams suffered a ruptured hamstring in Week 6 that reportedly could keep him out of action for roughly 6-10 weeks. Meanwhile, no like-for-like replacement for either Nacua or Adams is available to the Rams via free agency or the NFL trade deadline, which arrives at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday. 

Sean McVay wants "to figure out how to protect these guys while also putting them in positions that help our team and allow them to be able to shine"

"It’s stuff that I feel tremendous responsibility for, and we’ve got to be able to figure out how to protect these guys while also putting them in positions that help our team and allow them to be able to shine," McVay added. "He’s a guy we have to be intentional about because it’s a bummer. Because he can do so much, you want to make sure you don’t take that for granted."

The Rams entered Week 1 as the betting favorites to win Super Bowl LXI. Now, 5-4 Los Angeles will limp into its Week 11 bye following its matchup at the 3-6 Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 15. 

As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Rams as 9.5-point favorites over the Cardinals.