WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Rams head coach Sean McVay on Monday said the injuries sustained by wide receiver Cooper Kupp (ankle), safety John Johnson III (shoulder) and offensive lineman Jonah Jackson (shoulder) in Week 2 against the Cardinals will keep those three players sidelined for an "extended period of time."
McVay specified that Kupp's ankle injury is a sprain, while Jackson re-aggravated his shoulder injury from the preseason in the third quarter of yesterday's game and continued to play through it.
While none of the trio's injuries are season-ending, all are candidates for Injured Reserve (IR), according to McVay.
"We're kind of running out of spots, and we're only into Week 3 in terms of the return to play," McVay said, alluding to the NFL rule allowing teams to designated up to 8 players to return from IR during the regular season. "But that is a possibility for all of those guys."
McVay also said kicker Joshua Karty has a "mild groin" injury "where we'll keep him out (of practice) for the next couple of days," but Karty should be good to go for this Sunday's Week 3 game against the 49ers.
Kupp's injury comes in wake of Puka Nacua being placed on IR last week after spraining his posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) against the Lions in the season-opener; McVay has previously said Nacua could miss more than the minimum four games. Kupp had 18 catches for 147 yards and 1 touchdown prior to sustaining his ankle injury in the first half of this past Sunday's game against the Cardinals.
With Jackson's injury, the Rams will be on their third left guard of the season heading into Sunday's Week 3 game against the 49ers. Jackson slid over to that position from center after Steve Avila sprained his medial collateral ligament (MCL) against the Lions; Avila was subsequently placed on IR last week.
