The Los Angeles Rams had their worst nightmares come to life during their NFL title defense in 2022. There were a dozen different factors you could point to for what went wrong last season, with the death blow arguably being Cooper Kupp's ankle injury that cut short his campaign.

The Rams' All-Pro wide receiver took a shot in the fourth quarter of their Week 10 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. He was forced to the locker room and was diagnosed with an ankle issue that, while not considered season-ending on initial diagnosis, needed basically the entire remaining season for rehab. They went 2-6 the rest of the way, which made any return talks moot.

With the entire offseason to recuperate, Cooper Kupp is looking to bounce back from his ankle injury. While the Rams star's has stated he is “feeling really good” about his recover thus far, he knows it's a different story testing out the ankle when there are fast and burly men on his heels and ready to grab at it with force.

 

“I mean, you don’t know until you’re out here doing football stuff and really putting the ankle through the stuff that you know is required to play football,” the Rams wideout said, via ProFootballTalk.

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“You can’t simulate this stuff. So I don’t know if we’ll really know. I feel right now as we’ve been pushing it pretty hard, I feel really good. And so I’m itching to be out there and it’s a good place to be now where I feel like I’m asking for more and wanting to do more and feeling like you’re getting held back versus feeling like they’re pushing you to do more, you know? So we’re in a good place now where I feel like I want to get out there and play and they’re being cautious with it.”

As with every new season in any sport, hope springs eternal as records still stand at 0-0. For the Rams to make noise next season like they did in 2021, Cooper Kupp needs to leave his ankle injury in the dust.