Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp with a boot on his foot, leaves the stadium with wife Anna after he suffered an ankle injury in a loss to Arizona on Sunday. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp will have surgery on his sprained right ankle, sidelining the Super Bowl MVP for at least the next four weeks while on injured reserve.
Starting left tackle Alaric Jackson will miss the rest of the year because of blood clots, and starting right guard Chandler Brewer will be out four to six weeks after knee surgery, coach Sean McVay said Tuesday while revealing the latest injury setbacks to the defending champions’ dismal season.
Kupp, the AP’s Offensive Player of the Year last season after winning the triple crown of receiving, sprained his ankle in the Rams’ 27-17 loss to Arizona last Sunday. He needs surgery Wednesday that is likely to sideline the Rams’ top offensive player for several weeks, but McVay did not rule out a return this season for his top offensive playmaker.
“Obviously you never, ever replace a player like Cooper Kupp,” McVay said. “But we’ve got to figure out the best way to accentuate the skillsets of the guys that will be playing.”
Kupp currently is second in the NFL with 75 catches, while his 812 yards receiving and six TD receptions are fifth. He was injured when he landed awkwardly after trying to catch a poorly thrown pass from backup quarterback John Wolford.
Matthew Stafford could return this week at New Orleans after missing a game in the concussion protocol, but he won’t have his favorite target.
PACKERS: Green Bay released wide receiver/punt returner Amari Rodgers one year after they traded up in the third round to draft the former Clemson star.
Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst announced the roster moves involving Rodgers and running back/kick returner Kylin Hill, a 2021 seventh-round pick from Mississippi State.
Green Bay sent the No. 92 and No. 135 picks in the 2021 draft to the Tennessee Titans for the right to select Rodgers at No. 85. Gutekunst said afterward the Packers actually had considered taking Rodgers with their second-round pick that year – they chose Ohio State center Josh Myers instead – before moving up to take him in the third.
But Rodgers never carved out a niche as a receiver and struggled to protect the football as a punt returner.
Rodgers fumbled a punt return Sunday to set up a Dallas touchdown in the Packers’ 31-28 overtime victory over the Cowboys. Keisean Nixon handled the punt return duties for the rest of the game.
BEARS: Chicago placed running back Khalil Herbert on injured reserve because of a hip injury on Tuesday, a big setback for a team leading the NFL in rushing yards.
Herbert will miss at least four games. He was hurt returning a kickoff near the end of last week’s 31-30 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Herbert is the team’s second-leading rusher behind quarterback Justin Fields. He has 643 yards on 108 attempts while sharing duties with David Montgomery. He is sixth in the league at 6 yards per carry. Chicago is averaging 201.7 yards rushing, with the Baltimore Ravens second at 168.1 yards per game.
SCHEDULE: The NFL wants to keep its European tour going now that Germany has joined Britain in hosting games.
Spain and France are atop the league’s wish list as it continues to look internationally for revenue growth.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21-16 on Sunday at Allianz Arena – a first for Germany as part of a four-year deal that the league hopes will extend long-term. London has hosted regular-season games since 2007.
Beyond Germany, which could also get additional games soon, the league’s analysis of fan growth and commercial potential puts Spain and France “very much on our radar,” Brett Gosper, NFL Head of UK and Europe, told The Associated Press in an interview.
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