For two seasons, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp played alongside one another on the Rams.
Kupp was a clear mentor for Nacua in 2023 and 2024, helping the young receiver acclimate to the league and become one of its most productive receivers.
The two will meet on opposite sidelines for the first time on Sunday when the Seahawks play the Rams in Los Angeles.
In his Thursday press conference, Nacua told reporters that it will be “a foreign feeling for sure” to play against Kupp.
“I know I’m excited to see him,” Nacua said, via transcript from the team. “We’ve exchanged some texts. You have some games that you remember the dates, and this has been one that I’m excited for. It’s the next one for us. It’s a big one and it’s the one we’re preparing for, but I’ll be excited to see ‘No. 10’ for sure.”
What did Nacua learn from Kupp?
“The attention to detail and the preparation of from the board work, to how he took notes, to watching the tape, but then to the weight room and to the field work,” Nacua said. “You saw it in everything he did.
“I guess that it’s the level of comfort from the first moment he came in,” Nacua added of his relationship with Kupp. “When I first joined the team, he had just had his third son. There was some time he wasn’t there and it was just Cooper Kupp from the Zoom call. I was like ‘Man, this guy has to be 6’5, 275 pounds.’ He came in and he had the big beard. I was like ‘Oh man, this guy, yeah, he is a big human being.’ Just the level of comfort that I was able to feel with him and the build of communication that we started from Day 1 to where we are now.”
Nacua said he’s expecting to exchange jerseys with Kupp at some point after the game, whether that’s on the field or they send them to one another later. Even though Kupp is no longer with the Rams, there’s a friendship between the two men that remains.
“I guess that was the best way I could describe it like, ‘I know this is not the last time I’ll see you,’” Nacua said. “I saw something on social media. He was like, ‘I’m not dead.’ I’ve never thought of it like that.
“He’s just not in California, but he’s always been a phone call and a text away. I’m grateful for the relationship that we have and it’ll be fun to see him over there.”
