WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – For his first two seasons as a Ram, wide receiver Puka Nacua looked to fellow wide receiver Cooper Kupp like an older brother.
Then, in the offseason entering Year 3, Kupp was released, and later signed with the Seahawks.
Mentor and mentee will reconnect Sunday will the Rams host the Seahawks at SoFi Stadium (1:05 p.m. PT, FOX).
"A foreign feeling for sure," Nacua said Thursday. "I know I'm excited to see him. 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 'number 10' for sure."
Among the many lessons Nacua took away from Kupp in their time as teammates was Kupp's attention to detail, whether that be work on the whiteboard, or the way Kupp took notes and watched tape.
"From the weight room to the field work, you saw it in everything he did," Nacua said.
For Nacua, the most important aspect of that relationship was the level of comfort from the moment he first joined the team.
"When I first joined the team, he had just had his third son," Nacua said. "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 one to where we are now."
That level of respect usually prompts a postgame jersey swap. Asked about the possibility of one postgame, Nacua made it clear he would be the one to get Kupp's number 10 Seahawks jersey should it happen.
"Honestly I'm hoping that he doesn't take it off, because if I see him take it off to somebody else, I might hit somebody on our team," Nacua said. "Respectfully."
When Kupp conducted his final workout in Los Angeles this summer, Nacua was among the former Rams teammates there working out with him at that performance center to say goodbye – or rather, what Nacua viewed as a "see you later." The two still remain in contact.
"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."
