Pick your adjective: Preposterous, nonsensical, absurd, comical. There’s no adequate way to describe the Los Angeles Rams injury situation just two weeks into the season.
Cooper Kupp (ankle) was expected to join Puka Nacua on injured reserve Monday, leaving the Rams without their two Pro Bowl wide receivers and adding to a rash of injuries that includes offensive linemen Steve Avila, Joe Noteboom and Jonah Jackson.
Let the Matthew Stafford trade rumors begin.
“How real is it, the conversation of can we and will we trade Matthew Stafford,” asked ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky on Tuesday’s NFL Live. “All those names, four of the five starting offensive linemen, the two wide receivers, some defensive people, if you sit down as an organization and say, ‘Those are extended periods of times that are going to be missed, four or five, six, seven weeks,’ your season is realistically done. It just realistically is.
“Then, you have this quarterback where it felt almost like an all-in year type of season, maybe next year as well, if you’re sitting there with that extended period of time, I do think it’s worth sitting down as an organization and saying, ‘How real is this for us?’”
So, assuming the Rams are remotely entertaining the thought of trading their franchise quarterback, with which NFL team would he fit?
“The Raiders,” said co-host Mina Kimes. “Watching that team the first couple of weeks, that is a very, very good defense. Davante Adams is still one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Brock Bowers looks like a dude. Imagine Matthew Stafford…I’m just throwing it out there.”
Orlovsky likes the thought of Stafford in silver and black, especially considering Las Vegas offensive coordinator Luke Getsy could be a good fit with the two-time Pro Bowler.
“I like the Raiders, I do,” Orlovsky said. “I think their offensive line is good enough. Is Luke Getsy creativity-wise what Stafford likes?
“I think there was this expectation this year in L.A. that it was an all-in season. They honestly believed they were going to be good enough to go play with anybody and beat anybody. If those injuries string out to four, five, six, seven weeks and you get into the back end of October, if the organization goes to the quarterback and says, ‘This is the situation.’ … He doesn’t want to just sit behind that offensive line and get destroyed without guys to throw to that are high-end.”
Stay tuned to this one. The trade deadline is Nov. 5.