by Puka Nacua made the most of his first game appearance since Week 1 when he returned to action for the Los Angeles Rams in their 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.
Nacua led the Rams with seven catches for 106 yards in front of the home crowd at SoFi Stadium, with five of those receptions coming on touchdown scoring drives. He also had two runs for 5 yards.
Nacua had missed the Rams’ last six games after suffering a knee injury in training camp.
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After the game, he told the Amazon Prime broadcast team that he knew he would be back on Monday, even though Nacua wasn’t taken off injured reserve and cleared to play until hours before the primetime game.
Due to the short week, he did not have a padded workout before returning to the field.
“It’s definitely going to be a rollercoaster of emotions this week, starting Monday and saying, ‘Man, I’m not going to do any padded practice before I go out there and play on Thursday,’ and just focusing on my coaches and my “Coaches leave teammates being able to do all the walk-through reps and try to pay attention to every move I made before I can get on the field,” Nacua told Amazon Prime of the emotions, that he felt as he returned to action.
The BYU second-year pro made his presence known early. After failing to corral a pass on Los Angeles’ first play from scrimmage, quarterback Matthew Stafford went back to him on the next play and the pair connected for a 13-yard gain.
Later in that drive, Nacua caught a short pass and took it 21 yards, following his blockers before going down at the Vikings’ 17th line.
The drive ended with a Kyren Williams touchdown catch on third-and-goal, tying the game 7-7.
Nacua also had two catches on Los Angeles’ next drive – receptions for 16 and 14 yards – and added a 7-yard run at the end. Cooper Kupp, also returning from injury, capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown catch.
In the second half, Nacua caught passes of 4 and 19 yards on the Rams’ first drive of the half – the latter converting on a third down attempt.
Later in the third quarter, he caught a 19-yarder and carried the ball to the Vikings’ 27 yards before Los Angeles took its first lead at 21-17 with a 25-yard touchdown from Demarcus Robinson two plays after Nacua’s catch.
With Nacua and Kupp, the 35-year-old Stafford had his best game of the season, throwing for 279 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Kupp also had a solid night with five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.
“I think everything our receiver room is about comes from our leader Cooper Kupp, the physicality in the run game and then we’re definitely going to make plays,” Nacua said of his fellow star receiver. “And in the passing game there is no one who can do it better. Man, whatever (No.) 10 is out there and he’s feeling great, it looks like pure art.”
According to Pro Football Focus, shortly after returning to practice and play, Nacua played 40 of 71 offensive snaps for the Rams in a short week.
He also had his eighth 100-yard game of his career.
