Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp has suffered a setback in his return from a hamstring injury and is day-to-day, coach Sean McVay announced on Thursday.
“I think we just take it a day at a time right now,” McVay said. “We want to be able to get him back right. We’re obviously a much better team when he’s available.”
Kupp, who initially suffered the injury Aug. 1, returned to practices with the Rams just last week, saying he felt he would be ready for his team’s regular season opener against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 10.
McVay, when pressed on Kupp’s availability for the opener, remained noncommittal.
“There’s a difference between return to play and return to performance,” said McVay. “We want return to performance for Cooper Kupp. We know how special a player, special of a person, and so we want to make sure we are smart with that and getting him back to feeling like the Cooper Kupp we all know and that he’s able to play the way that he’s capable of, whenever that is. Whether that is Sept. 10th or not, we’ll continue to monitor that and control what we can control.”
Kupp, the MVP of Super Bowl LVI, missed the final eight games of 2022 with a high ankle sprain, finishing with 75 catches for 812 yards and six touchdowns.
A year earlier, he won the NFL’s triple crown of receiving, leading the league in catches (145), receiving yards (1,947) and touchdowns (16).