LA Rams Injury report: Can Rams offense overcome Cooper Kupp injury?

It's Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season, a time that typically carries a semi's shipment of optimism and high expectations for the LA Rams and Rams fans. But this is a new season, and the lofty beliefs that the Rams are contenders for a Super Bowl victory has already faded.

This season is about getting better each week, about staying healthy, and perhaps, if all goes well, creating a fundamentally sound team that can build upon this season to compete for an NFL Playoffs berth in 2024 or beyond.

Unfortunately, staying healthy does not appear to be in the cards for the second consecutive season for the Rams. Before a single game has been played, the Rams roster has already designated three players to Injured Reserve. With the NFL imposing a limit of restoring just eight players off IR throughout the 17-game season, the Rams are at risk of exhausting IR moves long before this season ends.

So let's look at the Rams-Seahawks injury report for Week 1:

LA Rams

Out

• WR Cooper Kupp - Hamstring
• QB Stetson Bennett - Right shoulder
• TE Hunter Long - Thigh

While none of the Rams reported injuries are a last-minute surprise, the absence of Kupp and the injury to Stetson Bennett may both have a bearing on this one. The LA Rams love to use Cooper Kupp as the go-to guy regardless of down or distance, and he has developed an almost uncanny chemistry with staring quarterback Mattew Stafford. Will Stafford be able to find that same groove with some other receiver in this game?

And speaking of Stafford, without backup quarterback Stetson Bennett availability for this game, the Rams cannot sit Stafford in the pocket and let the Seattle Seahawks pass rush beat the stuffing out of him. In the season opened of 2022, Stafford was beaten to a pulp with seven sacks at the hands of the Buffalo Bills.

Seattle Seahawks

Out

• RB Kenny McIntosh - Knee / Hamstring
• S Jamal Adams - Knee

Questionable

• G Damien Lewis - Shoulder
• CB Devon Witherspoon - Hamstring

While the Seattle Seahawks are fighting through some injuries of their own, they do have have some roster moves not listed in the injury report. The Seahawks have activated both CB Artie Burns and LB Jon Rhattigan off their practice squad for Week 1. Here are some reasons why they have done so:

From the sounds of things, the Seahawks secondary could be vulnerable to an efficient Rams passing attack in this one.

We know that the Rams have questions in all aspects of the game, but the most critical questions to be answered in this game come down to these:

• (1) Can the LA Rams offensive line protect Matthew Stafford?
• (2) Can the Rams defensive front shut down a determined Seahawks rushing attack?
• (3) Can the Rams play error-free football?

We will have our answers in just a few hours. Go Rams!