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Rams WR Puka Nacua staying grounded on heels of record-breaking season

September 6, 2024

LOS ANGELES — It wasn’t long ago – a little over a year, to be exact – that, as Puka Nacua walked off the Rams’ practice field at training camp, fans yelled his jersey number out when seeking an autograph, unsure of the rookie’s name.

This summer, however, fans screeched his first name, desperate for a moment of his time during practices at Loyola Marymount.

“Definitely not like training camp last year,” he said at the time, “in the best way.”

A lot has changed for Nacua. He’s no longer the relatively anonymous fifth-round pick out of BYU, fighting for the third or fourth receiver job. Instead, he’s a household name, the record breaker who caught more passes and gained more yards than any rookie receiver in NFL history.

That success has led to many life-changing opportunities, from sponsorships with Jordan Brand, Gatorade and Toyota to an appearance at the NBA All-Star Game to a meet-and-greet with Brazilian soccer star Neymar. As all the rewards of his labor have arisen, Nacua has leaned on his family to keep him grounded.

“My mom is my No. 1 help for that. She’s my No. 1 fan but also one of the people that knows me the best,” Nacua said. “All the media stuff that I get to do, she’ll tell if I’m slipping on something. She’ll call me and say, ‘What are you thinking about on this stuff?’ But my family is the people I rely on the most, the people I get to talk to the most, that know me in and out and they can call me some mean names and it won’t digest the way it would from somebody else. … I’ve wanted them to be a part of the success that I’ve had.”

The only other person who can call Nacua those names is Rams receiver Cooper Kupp, even if the mean name is Nacua’s actual first name, Makea. Navigating his new success was one of many things that Nacua picked Kupp’s mind about this offseason.

“He’s a special dude,” Kupp said. “I know there’s a lot of things that he’s navigating and going from a fifth-round pick to having the success he had so quickly. But he’s done a great job of that.”

Nacua worked out with Kupp at the latter’s home during the offseason, trying to glean more from the role model who helped him transition to the NFL as a rookie. He’d arrive as early as 6 a.m. as the pair would go through weight training, conditioning and route running.

An improved diet, including decreased McDonald’s consumption, helped Nacua drop from 218 pounds as a rookie to 210 entering training camp. When Nacua started running tighter routes at practice, receivers coach Eric Yarber joked it was because he no longer had baby fat pulling him in the wrong direction.

Nacua also focused on eliminating dropped catches, a statistic in which he led the NFL a year ago. Tennis balls were a useful tool, but mostly Nacua wanted to work on watching the ball all the way into his hands, and trust that quarterback Matthew Stafford’s passes are leading him in the right direction.

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That work allowed Nacua to feel confident when he returned to practice last week after a knee injury kept him out for a month.

“It’s been feeling good,” Nacua said of his knee. “It’s been nice to get back and get my feet under me. It was a lot of anxious feelings of being out there and watching everything, knowing that we’re trying to find that rhythm and flow of what we ended the season with.”

Injury report

Rams right tackle Rob Havenstein (ankle) and cornerback Decobie Durant (hamstring) were limited in practice Thursday for the second consecutive day.

Orange County Register

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Rams WR Puka Nacua staying grounded on heels of record-breaking season

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