Fowler: The Chargers said no to at least one
Ladd McConkey inquiry. Teams I spoke to believe the Rams were the ones to make that call. Overall, though, the Rams didn't seriously consider a receiver move because they expect both
Puka Nacua and
Davante Adams to return this season. And in the short term, they believe
Matthew Stafford can maximize the supporting cast of receivers.
Graziano: The Rams certainly could have used help at receiver, where Adams and
Jordan Whittington are on IR, and Nacua might be
headed there as well. But remember, because of the
Myles Garrett and
Trent McDuffie trades, the Rams are extremely short on future draft capital relative to the other teams that were looking to add. The Rams have only four picks in next year's draft. They're without their first-, third- and seventh-round picks in 2027. They're also without their second-round pick in 2028 and their third-round pick in 2029 because of the
Garrett trade. Frankly, they made their big moves in the offseason and were always going to have a tough time doing one at the deadline.
I found it interesting that the Rams placed Whittington on injured reserve Tuesday but did not do the same with Nacua. Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday that Nacua was likely to land on injured reserve because of knee and toe injuries, but so far he has not. If the Rams put him on IR, the soonest he could return is Week 15 against the Cowboys.
Being on IR means you must miss at least four
games, not
weeks, and the Rams have a bye in Week 11. So, if they think it's possible Nacua might only have to miss four weeks, they could refrain from putting him on IR and possibly have him back in time for their Week 14 game at San Francisco. This all becomes moot if they put Nacua on IR this week, but just keep an eye on the situation if they don't. Speaking to people close to this situation on Monday evening, they were very adamant that Nacua's injury isn't season-ending and that they hope to get him back around that Week 14, Week 15 time.
Nacua was targeted 19 times Sunday in a game in which Stafford threw 43 passes. He caught 14 of those passes for 150 receiving yards and a touchdown. To say he'll be missed is an understatement. One note to keep in mind, though: The Rams went through their entire week of game prep last week planning to have a fully healthy tight end
Terrance Ferguson against Washington. He was a big part of their game plan, and they left the practice field Friday -- less than 48 hours before kickoff -- feeling good about it. Then they found out that Ferguson had pulled his hamstring in Friday's practice and had to miss the game.
Does Puka Nacua's injury put the Rams' season in jeopardy?
So, "just throw it to Puka" was a pretty good recovery plan given how little time they had to revise everything. I would expect the Rams to have a very different plan this week
in Arizona. They were very happy with the way
Blake Corum was running the ball Sunday and would feel pretty good about having to lean on the running game in the short term, particularly if Garrett is going to have the
effect on the defense he had Sunday.