McVay says Nacua's injury not 'long-term' concern, but Rams being cautious

LOS ANGELES -- Rams coach Sean McVay said he's not sure whether Puka Nacua will play in Week 3, but the team is not worried that the wide receiver's injury will be "any sort of long-term threat."

Nacua did not play Monday night with what was listed as a hip injury on the injury report, but McVay later clarified that Nacua was dealing with "a little bit of soreness" in his groin.

McVay said Nacua does not have a hernia, but the team is being cautious with the injury.

"When you're a skill player and you're really trying to hit high-speed yards and really open up and you feel just ... it's like some of the things that can almost be like pre-hernia is kind of what he's feeling," McVay said. "And so you err on the side of caution. Usually time is the best thing that allows that thing to heal. And then once you get to a certain point, then I think you feel pretty good moving forward."

The Rams did not practice Wednesday, instead holding a walk-through on the short week, but the team estimated that Nacua would not have taken part if it had. McVay said the team will see whether Nacua will practice Thursday, adding that he knows Nacua is "frustrated" with the situation.

"We all want him to be able to be out there, but we want him to be able to return to performance, not just be able to just kind of gut through it," McVay said.

Last week, McVay said Nacua's injury wasn't related to the psoas injury that caused him to miss time in August. In the Rams' season opener, Nacua led Los Angeles with five catches for 74 yards on nine targets.

The Rams play the Denver Broncos in Week 3 on "Sunday Night Football."