Where Cooper Kupp goes, Puka Nacua follows. It’s a wise strategy for Nacua to use in Year 2, given the remarkable success Kupp has had throughout his career in the NFL.
The two Rams receivers were close last year on and off the field, but they’ve taken it a step further this offseason. They trained together at Kupp’s house every day at 6 a.m. before OTAs and they continued that work during the summer, which both of them benefitted from.
Rams WRs coach Eric Yarber told Nacua to stick with Kupp and that’s exactly what he’s done all year. Kupp even joked about their close relationship after Thursday’s practice, and he’s even learning a few things from his younger teammate.
“He is. No, it is good,” Kupp, with a big smile, said of whether Nacua is a good influence on him. “I can’t get rid of him. He just kind of sticks around everywhere. No, it has been fun. We’ve got a good relationship. He’s trying to teach me some new things. What are the young kids doing? I try to teach him about the Settlers of Catan. It’s good, young stuff, old stuff. It’s good.”
After joking about Nacua being everywhere he looks, Kupp got more serious when discussing their offseason training regimen. He complimented Kupp’s willingness to work, which simultaneously pushes Kupp to get even better, too.
He expects big things from Nacua in Year 2.
“Three days a week, we’re at 6 a.m.,” he said. “The other days – I think we’re actually at 6 a.m. every day of the week. Honestly, I don’t even remember what days it was, but it was good. It was just good to have him around and have some time every single day. We were focused on just pushing each other, trying to get better. He’s willing to work. He knows that there’s – one of the hardest things is to have success early and then be able to continue to push and say there’s more out there. He’s done a great job of that and put the right foot forward to be able to set himself up to be able to go do something pretty special this year.”
Thanks to the work he put in this offseason, Nacua slimmed down about 10 pounds and improved his overall physique in hopes of increasing his stamina. It should also increase his quickness and thus improve his route-running ability, too.
And importantly, as Kupp noted, Nacua can play more freely without the need to think about things on the field. That makes him faster, too.
“I think just his comfortability in this offense in general,” Kupp said of Nacua. “He’s moving great. The speed at which he’s playing, just [because] he’s not thinking about stuff. He knows the offense now at this point. Last year, there’s so much going through your head. You’re trying to figure out what are your parameters on each play. But for him to be able to play free, play fast. Practice is one of the best things you can do is experiment, try some new things, being able to try different tools in the utility belt and his ability to do that and then be able to just put words to things and being able to talk through things with him. He’s been doing a great job.”
Big things could be in store for both Nacua and Kupp this year.