Star Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp said Thursday he feels like he’ll be ready to play Week 1 when his team visits the Seattle Seahawks.
“Yeah, I feel like I am,” Kupp said Thursday after a joint practice with the Denver Broncos when asked if feels like he’s on pace to play against the Seahawks on Sept. 10.
Kupp had been sidelined by a hamstring injury he sustained Aug. 1 but returned to practices with the Rams this week.
Kupp said that the repetitions in practice this week have been invaluable with preparing him for the start of the regular season.
“I definitely felt the first two days coming back here earlier this week, just felt like you’re rushing things,” Kupp said. “You feel like your hands and feet aren’t working together. … It might be seeing the patterns of the defense, might be just feeling like you’re behind the snap mentally which is just never a place you want to be. You want to be able to be ahead of that thing so you can play fast.
“But man, just the importance it showed me of just repetition and being able to be out there and see things live and going through those reps and feeling them out from day one to two to three to four now, the game just slows down progressively. So that’s why I’m saying like going out there Week 1 would be tough not having that opportunity to see those reps and have those reps and that kind of stuff in your back pocket and be able see those patterns. So, [I] feel good about what kind of path we’re on now.”
Kupp said he doesn’t plan on playing Saturday when the Rams play the Broncos in their preseason finale.
“I don’t plan on playing on Saturday,” he said. “If it was a game, yeah. Game one, I’m playing.”
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). He starred during the Rams’ playoff run, culminating in two touchdown catches in the Super Bowl, including the winner with 1:25 to play.