Rams’ Cooper Kupp is unlikely to return this season, but Aaron Donald still could

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Rams coach Sean McVay gave updates Tuesday on injured star players Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp.

Donald has a chance to return this season with four games remaining and McVay didn’t rule Donald out for Monday night against the Green Bay Packers. The All-Pro defensive lineman has missed the past two games with an ankle injury.

McVay, however, wasn’t so optimistic about Kupp, the star receiver who hasn’t played since Week 10 with a high ankle sprain that required surgery.

You won’t see Cooper this year, McVay said. Aaron, still a possibility, but Cooper, I’d be hard-pressed to see any scenario where he plays again this year.

Kupp was on the sideline last week for the Rams’ memorable victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Kupp celebrated with teammates after the game-winning 98-yard drive and helped his fellow wide receivers review plays on the sideline.

McVay later corrected himself by saying there was some chance Kupp could play again this season, but noted he would be surprised because his recovery timeline remains three to four weeks. The Rams (4-9) close out the season against the Packers, Denver Broncos, Chargers and Seattle Seahawks.

I have to be careful about speaking in absolute terms, McVay said of the Kupps situation. I think it would be surprising if he could play again, but I don’t want to say that there is a zero percent possibility of that.

It’s really just the timing of the injury and how long it would take for him to get back to even being medically cleared to return to performance. He’s making great progress, but to see him jump and then actually be able to play NFL football to see him have great energy on the sideline, and then go and play professional football with that foot impact the way he’s playing, I still think you’re probably between three and four weeks and you’re talking about less than a month left in football.

Kupps’ season is likely coming to an end as he played in just nine games this year. He had 75 receptions for 812 yards and six touchdowns. If Donald doesn’t return, Hell ends with five sacks, 11 quarterback hits and 49 total tackles in 11 games played.

MAYFIELD WILL START FINAL FOUR GAMES

On Friday, McVay named Baker Mayfield the starting quarterback for the final four games of the season, but he also expects to have a healthy John Wolford as a backup. Now Wolford could be out Monday against the Packers because of a neck injury that has been bothering him since Week 13 against the Seattle Seahawks.

John will likely be out this week with a neck (injury), McVay said Tuesday.

The Rams claimed Mayfield off waivers last week from the Carolina Panthers as Wolford deals with a neck injury and starter Matthew Stafford is out for the season with a spinal cord contusion. But Wolford was healthy enough to start against the Raiders before being pulled for Mayfield after one drive.

McVay said he is counting on having just two active quarterbacks in Green Bay with Mayfield and Bryce Perkins, who started in Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs. After delivering a memorable debut on short notice, Mayfield will now have a full week of practice for his first start with the Rams.

“I think things are best learned in increments and then you build on that,” McVay said of working with Mayfield. There’s a foundational understanding that he has of some things that he’s done in his past that has made him more comfortable in terms of vernacular and some abilities for us to communicate with him. But just take it one day at a time. I think it’s good, especially what a whirlwind it is to allow him and his (his) wife Emily (Wilkinson) to kind of finish the weekend. It’s definitely good for the coaches, too, because Thursday games, especially late in the season, can be a quick turnaround.

If so, it’s really a good thing we’ll have an extra day. So, we have the boys here today and tomorrow will be like our normal Tuesday if we play on Sunday. But Baker will get some extra time with our coaches and hopefully it will allow us to get a good jump on the game plan and allow him to have a good foundational understanding. But it was awesome, so he raised the bar pretty high.

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