{"id":110203,"date":"2025-12-27T03:07:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T03:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/110203\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T03:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T03:07:07","slug":"rams-star-puka-nacua-says-hell-never-criticize-nfl-refs-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/110203\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams star Puka Nacua says he’ll never criticize NFL refs again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rams<\/a> players enjoyed the day off they got for Christmas, perhaps no one more than Puka Nacua<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The previous week, the star receiver was fined $25,000 by the NFL<\/a> after he made critical comments about officials during a livestream and then again in a social media post immediately after the Rams\u2019 crushing 38-37 overtime defeat<\/a> by the Seattle Seahawks.<\/p>\n

The fine capped a week during which Nacua also apologized for making an antisemitic gesture during the livestream \u2014 an incident that caused the Rams and the NFL also to issue statements.<\/p>\n

So Nacua said Friday that he was happy to enjoy Christmas before continuing to prepare for Monday night\u2019s game against the Atlanta Falcons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been nice to celebrate and rejoice and get ready for what\u2019s ahead of us,\u201d he said after practice at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

Nacua said the fine \u201cdefinitely hurt\u201d but was not unexpected.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn experience to learn from and, man, never let it happen again,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be moments of frustration later on in the career … so just being able to manage those emotions and be able to send that energy in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nacua understands that he has opportunities to convey positive messages, quarterback Matthew Stafford<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s obviously never going to be perfect, nobody is,\u201d said Stafford, a 17th-year pro. \u201cWe\u2019ve all had things that we wish we had maybe handled a little bit differently, but he\u2019s still our brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love him and we\u2019ll continue to support him and try to help him out as best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nacua, a third-year pro, was voted to the Pro Bowl for the second time while producing another stellar season that could put him in the conversation for NFL offensive player of the year.<\/p>\n

He leads the NFL with 114 catches. His 1,592 yards receiving ranks second, and he has caught eight touchdown passes.<\/p>\n

Former Rams receiver Cooper Kupp was the 2021 offensive player of the year when he claimed the so-called triple crown of receiving by leading the league with 145 receptions, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdown catches.<\/p>\n

Nacua and Stafford, who also was voted to the Pro Bowl, have been especially in sync the last three games.<\/p>\n

In a Dec. 7 rout of the Cardinals, Nacua caught seven passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns. The next week, he caught nine passes for 181 yards in a victory over the Detroit Lions.<\/p>\n

Four days later, with fellow star receiver Davante Adams<\/a> sidelined because of a hamstring injury, he caught 12 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat by the Seahawks.<\/p>\n

Nacua has been notably effective on critical third- and fourth-down plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been fun to have those pressure moments, because that\u2019s what you play sports for,\u201d he said. \u201cYou live for the third-down the fourth-down conversions, and you\u2019re finding whatever way to convert.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes it fun when those opportunities come up.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the three-game stretch, Nacua did \u201cthe same thing he\u2019s done all season,\u201d Stafford said, noting that the Rams have had more snaps the last few games.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe runs great routes,\u201d Stafford said, \u201cand plays really tough with and without the football.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams (11-4) have clinched a playoff spot and are currently seeded sixth in the NFC. They play the Falcons<\/a> (6-9), and then finish the season at home against the Arizona Cardinals.<\/p>\n

Nacua aims to continue the recent streak of amplified success, which stems from the connection he has with Stafford and the \u201cexcitement\u201d that permeates the Rams\u2019 locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just an excitement to continue to go out there and prove ourselves,\u201d he said, \u201cand so it makes it fun when you get the reward you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Etc.<\/p>\n

After practicing at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday and Friday, the Rams will return to their Woodland Hills facility for practice on Saturday. … Adams, left tackle Alaric Jackson (knee), right guard Kevin Dotson (ankle) and defensive back Josh Wallace (ankle) did not practice, according to the Rams\u2019 injury report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rams players enjoyed the day off they got for Christmas, perhaps no one more than Puka Nacua. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[47802,10952,48,52,51,54608,47,50,49,769,59139,59135,3114,59137,59138,10947,29443,59136,3373,430,1539],"class_list":["post-110203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-cardinals","tag-catch","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-livestream","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-nacua","tag-nfl-offensive-player","tag-nfl-ref","tag-pro","tag-ram-player","tag-ram-star-puka-nacua","tag-rams","tag-stafford","tag-stellar-season","tag-touchdown-pass","tag-week","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}