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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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The Los Angeles Rams head into their Week 10 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals with a wide receiver trio of Konata Mumpfield, Tutu Atwell, and sixth-round rookie CJ Daniels.
In their Week 9 win over the Washington Commanders, Mumpfield and Atwell combined for just four catches for 36 yards, while Puka Nacua carried the offense with 150 yards and a touchdown on 14 catches (19 targets). Daniels wasn't targeted once.
While the Rams have gotten off to a disappointing start, sitting just 5-4 midway through the season in a year many had them pegged to go to the Super Bowl, they're still firmly in the playoff hunt and riding a three-game winning streak. They also just got Myles Garrett back, who registered three sacks against the Commanders last week, his first game back from the knee injury.
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With Puka Nacua set to miss at least the next few weeks, and potentially land on IR, with sprains to his MCL and PCL, along with turf toe, and Davante Adams still at least a couple of weeks out from returning from his own hamstring injury, many believed the Rams could be in the market for a wide receiver ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline.
Turns out, they were, sort of. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Rams reached out to the Los Angeles Chargers to check on whether they would be open to trading star wide receiver Ladd McConkey, but ultimately decided to stick with the current rotation of receivers they have instead.
"The Chargers said no to at least one Ladd McConkey inquiry. Teams I spoke to believe the Rams were the ones to make that call," Fowler wrote. "Overall, though, the Rams didn't seriously consider a receiver move because they expect both Puka Nacua and Davante Adams to return this season. And in the short term, they believe Matthew Stafford can maximize the supporting cast of receivers."
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This is an interesting development for both sides. The Chargers are still winless at 0-8 and clearly heading towards a rebuild, but have decided to keep many of their young and aging players, as opposed to seeing what draft capital they could get in a trade. McConkey is their top wide receiver, and arguably best offensive player, but he had a down year last season and has dealt with injuries throughout his NFL career. The Chargers likely could have demanded a lot for him.
As for the Rams, it says a lot about how they view their current receiving corps and Matthew Stafford. None of the team's receivers have looked all that great this season, outside of Nacua and Adams, but in the Broncos game earlier this season that Nacua missed, Mumpfield looked good. He hauled in four catches on eight targets for 93 yards and a touchdown. Atwell, meanwhile, already has a rapport with Matthew Stafford, having spent his entire six-year career in Los Angeles.
It also says a lot about the potential availability of Adams. While it seems like the Rams will hold out Nacua until around mid-December, Adams could be back after the team's Week 11 bye. Head coach Sean McVay previously stressed that he could return on the earlier side of the 6- to 10-week timeline, and with the recent injury to Nacua, he may push to come back sooner. The fact that the team didn't desperately try to go out and add another receiver at the trade deadline might be an indication they believe Adams is nearing his return.
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