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Puka Nacua injury: status, history and who gets his targets if he is out

Los Angeles Rams · Wide receiver · status this week: not on the week 7 injury report (week 7 report, captured Wed 21 Oct, 6:15am)

Checked Oct 21, 2026.

Over his 3 full seasons on record, Puka Nacua played 44 of 51 regular-season games (86%), and 4 of 6 so far in 2026. Season by season.

The Los Angeles Rams room absorbs +3.37 receptions, and Xavier Smith takes the largest single share at +0.52. The work stays overwhelmingly inside the wide receiver room.

Where the work goes

Change in projected receptions for every other player in the offense. The bars are small on purpose — a vacated role is shared out, and any tool showing one replacement absorbing a whole target load is telling you something the data does not support.

Receptions gained if Puka Nacua sitsXavier Smith+0.5WR 43% snapsJordan Whittington+0.4WR 25% snapsAlex Bachman+0.4WR 0% snapsDavante Adams+0.4WR 78% snapsTutu Atwell+0.4WR 27% snapsKonata Mumpfield+0.3WR 45% snapsDavis Allen+0.2TE 43% snapsTyler Higbee+0.1TE 62% snapsColby Parkinson+0.1TE 60% snapsTerrance Ferguson+0.1TE 42% snapsMax Klare+0.1TE 1% snapsBlake Corum+0.1RB 29% snapsKyren Williams+0.1RB 71% snapsDean Connors+0.0RB 0% snapschange in projected receptions

Every player in the room

PlayerCatches nowIf he sitsChange
Puka Nacua WR · 88% snaps8.30—OUT
Davante Adams WR · 78% snaps4.805.17+0.37
Kyren Williams RB · 71% snaps4.304.42+0.12
Tyler Higbee TE · 62% snaps3.503.65+0.15
Colby Parkinson TE · 60% snaps2.502.65+0.15
Terrance Ferguson TE · 42% snaps1.601.75+0.15
Blake Corum RB · 29% snaps1.501.63+0.13
Konata Mumpfield WR · 45% snaps1.401.70+0.30
Davis Allen TE · 43% snaps1.201.36+0.16
Tutu Atwell WR · 27% snaps0.901.26+0.36
Max Klare TE · 1% snaps0.500.65+0.15
Xavier Smith WR · 43% snaps0.400.92+0.52
Jordan Whittington WR · 25% snaps0.300.69+0.39
Alex Bachman WR · 0% snaps0.100.49+0.39
Dean Connors RB · 0% snaps0.100.13+0.03

Injury history

Over his 3 full seasons on record, Puka Nacua played 44 of 51 regular-season games (86%), and 4 of 6 so far in 2026.

SeasonTeamPlayedMissedListed outQuestionableInjuries listed
2026LA4 of 6201Hip
2025LA16 of 17110Ankle
2024LA11 of 17602Knee, Not Injury Related - Other
2023LA17 of 17004Oblique, Hip, Knee

Regular season only. Games played counts games with at least one offensive snap; designations are from the official weekly injury report, which does not list players on injured reserve, so a long absence shows as missed games rather than as weeks listed out.

What the data says happens

Measured across every regular-season game from 2018 onward, each beneficiary compared against his own trailing four-game form and net of what the same players do in weeks the room’s number one actually plays.

When a team’s number-one wide receiver does not play, what each position group gains:

RoomReceptions gainednt
Receivers+0.5841,53711.16
Tight ends+0.1751,0803.33
Backs+0.1131,0112.00

The room total is predictable. Which player takes it is not. Every candidate predictor of who gains — pecking order, snap share, route depth, trailing targets — correlates at roughly r = 0.02. In any single week one player usually takes about 60% of what was vacated; it is simply not predictably the same one.

Puka Nacua’s full stats and usageSnap share, target share, game log and this week’s projection

Cascade effects 2018–2026, paired within player, net of control · projections as-of-week with no lookahead · 2026 week 7