Rumors swirled this week about the possibility of the Los Angeles Rams trading Cooper Kupp. Those rumors popped up after Sean McVay addressed the media on Monday, and he didn’t speak to reporters again until after the Rams’ win over the Vikings on Thursday night.
In his first press conference since the world started talking about Kupp being on the trade block, McVay left no doubt about what the future holds for the Rams’ Super Bowl MVP.
He took a firm stance on the rumors, swiftly shooting them down and calling out the credibility of those reports. He said some of the reports floating around are “just not true” and though he acknowledged teams have called about Kupp, the Rams seemingly haven’t entertained them.
“Teams reached out. Some of the things I’ve seen out there, they’re just not true,” McVay said. “We’ve addressed it with those individuals. Teams have called about him and we let him know what the dialogue was there and there’s a lot of stuff out there where there’s not a lot of accountability to the reports and that’s unfortunate.”
McVay was asked a follow-up question about whether Thursday’s win over the Vikings makes it more likely that the Rams will keep Kupp with the trade deadline looming. It’s fairly obvious the Rams have no plans to move Kupp before the No. 5 deadline.
“I think a lot of the things that were out there were speculation,” he said. “We’re an inside-out organization. I’m really glad to have Cooper Kupp back with us and that’s what I expect to stay that way.”
In his first game since Week 2, Kupp caught five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown, none bigger than a 27-yarder on the Rams’ final offensive possession to keep the drive alive and move the chains on third down. He didn’t play his usual number of snaps, but Kupp being on the field in any capacity was beneficial for the entire offense.
McVay is thrilled to have him back and it doesn’t sound like he’s going anywhere anytime soon.