Cooper Kupp going on IR all but ends LA Rams season

The Aftermath

Workload management and monitoring snap count, you say? That didn’t seem to apply to the way the LA Rams used favored wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who was injured twice this season in plays that made little sense and could have easily been avoided. Now? The Rams have no option to throw to Kupp, whether the game situation calls for it or not.

12 targets per game. Who will make up that difference? Tight End Tyler Higbee is already saturated with his own workload that is greater than at any point in his career. The Rams are welcoming back WR Van Jefferson, who was getting the workload in Kupp’s absence. And of course, there is the ever-patient veteran Allen Robinson, who could be part of the solution if the Rams would throw it his way.

2022 lost? What about 2023?

Going forward, the solution is likely some combination of Higbee, Robinson, Jefferson, and RB Darrell Henderson Jr.  But if the Rams truly shut down Cooper Kupp, and perhaps Matthew Stafford, wouldn’t this be an ideal time to get younger players suited up?  Give elite players part-time duty? Get younger players into the rotation?

Right now, the Rams have 12 offensive linemen on the roster who have seen live NFL action, and a couple of other young offensive linemen who await their shot. Perhaps this is the time to give younger players some snaps and see what the Rams truly have on the roster.

The LA Rams are reeling. Time to close the shutters and just weather the storm. Kupp is out. Stafford is concussed. The Rams’ offensive line has been bowled over by injuries like bowling pins. Whatever the Rams do for the rest of the season will likely have no impact on the rest of this season. But it could be significant for the 2023 NFL season.