Puka Nacua made the most of his first game action since Week 1 as he returned to action for the Los Angeles Rams in their 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night.
Nacua led the Rams with seven catches for 106 yards in front of the home SoFi Stadium crowd, with five of those receptions coming on touchdown-scoring drives. He also had two carries for 5 yards.
Nacua had missed the Rams’ previous six games after he aggravated a knee injury he suffered during training camp.
He told the Amazon Prime broadcast crew postgame that he knew on Monday he was coming back, even though Nacua wasn’t taken off injured reserve and cleared to play until hours before the primetime game.
With the short week, he didn’t have a padded practice before getting back on the field.
“Definitely a rollercoaster of emotions this week, starting on Monday and being like, ‘Man, I’m not going to have a padded practice before I get to go out there and play on Thursday,’ and just relying on my coaches and my teammates being able to take all the walk-through reps and try to pay attention with every movement I’ve had with before I get to step on the field,” Nacua told Amazon Prime, of the emotions he felt returning to action.
The second-year pro out of BYU made his presence known early. After he couldn’t hold on to a pass on Los Angeles’ first play from scrimmage, quarterback Matthew Stafford went back to him on the next play and the pair connected for a 13-yard gain.
Later in that drive, Nacua caught a short pass and took it 21 yards, following his blockers before going down at the Vikings 17.
The drive ended with a Kyren Williams touchdown catch on third and goal, as the Rams tied the game at 7-7.
Nacua also had two catches on Los Angeles’ next drive — receptions of 16 and 14 yards — while adding a 7-yard run on an end around. Cooper Kupp, who was also making his return from injury, capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown catch.
In the second half, Nacua caught passes of 4 and 19 yards — the latter of which converted a third-down attempt — on the Rams’ first drive of the half.
He then caught a 19-yarder later in the third quarter, moving the ball to the Vikings’ 27, before Los Angeles took its first lead at 21-17 on a Demarcus Robinson 25-yard touchdown grab two plays after Nacua’s catch.
With Nacua and Kupp back, the 35-year-old Stafford had his best game of the season, throwing for 279 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Kupp also had a solid night, with five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.
“I think that everything that our receiver room is about comes from our leader, Cooper Kupp, the physicality in the run game and then, definitely gonna go make plays,” Nacua said of his fellow star receiver. “And in the pass game, there’s nobody who does it better. Man, whatever (No.) 10 is out there and he’s feeling great, it looks like pure art.”
Even with a short time from when he returned to practice and playing on a short week, Nacua played 40 of 71 offensive snaps for the Rams, according to Pro Football Focus.
He also had his eighth career 100-yard game.