After already ruling out Jared Goff and Darrell Henderson Jr. for the all-important season finale on Sunday against Arizona, the Rams also announced that Cooper Kupp was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday. In a time when it seems everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, this is the latest hurdle as the Rams attempt to secure a playoff berth in Week 17.
While Goff and Henderson are definitely out, Kupp is not. Being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list does not mean the player cannot play in the upcoming game. That’ll only be the case if Kupp tested positive, which would sideline him for a minimum of 10 days.
If he was designated a close contact to someone who has tested positive, he can come off at any time as long as he shows no symptoms and continues to test negative. A high-risk close contact designation would force him to miss five days before being activated, and only if he tests negative beforehand.
Teams are not required to declare whether a player tested positive or was just a close contact, so Kupp’s status isn’t yet known. But regardless of what his case is, this is the worst week of practice for the wideout to miss.
John Wolford is in line to make his first career start – which will also be his first regular-season snaps, too – and building a rapport with his receivers is critical. Wolford typically works with the second-team offense in practice, so he’s used to throwing to guys like Van Jefferson, Nsimba Webster and Trishton Jackson, not Kupp, Robert Woods and Josh Reynolds.
Assuming Kupp has to at least miss this week of practice, that could throw off the timing between him and Wolford on the field Sunday. Chemistry between the quarterback and wide receiver is obviously important, but it’s especially crucial in the Rams offense.
Kupp runs a lot of routes with two-way gos in the slot, too, meaning he can either break inside or outside depending on the coverage he gets. Wolford’s inexperience could throw those plays off, even more so if Kupp can’t practice.
So this will certainly be a situation to monitor. Nothing has gone right for the Rams in the last two weeks, and at this point, they just have to hope he was a close contact and not a positive test.
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