{"id":418112,"date":"2026-07-30T15:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/418112\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T15:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:21:15","slug":"puka-nacua-has-to-shut-down-distractions-protect-a-super-bowl-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/418112\/","title":{"rendered":"Puka Nacua has to shut down distractions, protect a Super Bowl run"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you think the Rams<\/a> have a tracker at their headquarters for how many days it\u2019s been since Puka Nacua\u2019s last embarrassing incident<\/a>?<\/p>\n

They might. Because we all remember how frequently the self-inflicted damages were occurring during that bizarre and jarring stretch starting late last year.<\/p>\n

We had the biting incident<\/a> and alleged antisemitic comments<\/a> on New Year\u2019s Eve. Before that, we had the Rams\u2019 star receiver making antisemitic gestures on a live stream<\/a> with a couple of controversial streamers.<\/p>\n

We also had him publicly calling out NFL officials<\/a> on a stream and in a social media post sent from the locker room, and getting fined $25,000 by the league for that. We had his weird post on X<\/a> \u2014 a laughing emoji and \u201csam darnold\u201d \u2014 after the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 quarterback led his team to the Super Bowl LX championship on Feb. 9, when Nacua also was recorded stumbling and dancing in a San Francisco street after the game.<\/p>\n

We had this all within just a couple of months. So we had to replace the image we previously had of Nacua as a jolly, smiling football star<\/a> with a new one: a picture of teeth marks on a woman\u2019s skin.<\/p>\n

Ick.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams receiver Puka Nacua signs autographs during training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Nacua said Wednesday that he\u2019s trying to be better, to do better.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely trying to take accountability for the things that I know that I can continue to change,\u201d the 25-year-old said at Rams\u2019 training camp at Loyola Marymount.<\/p>\n

We should all hope so.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s enough at stake, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n

For Nacua, there\u2019s the proverbial bag to secure. For the Rams, there\u2019s the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium<\/a>, which everyone believes should be theirs for the taking. And there\u2019s what winning will mean for the franchise\u2019s stature in L.A., a city that\u2019s impressed by little that\u2019s short of championships.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t mess this up, Puka.<\/p>\n

No one wants the distraction of bizarre and disturbing behavior, of internet idiocy or civil lawsuits. (Nacua\u2019s attorney, Levi McCathern, said the alleged bite was the result of \u201chorseplay\u201d and the Los Angeles city attorney\u2019s office indicated last week that the matter was on track to be resolved through a program that allows eligible defendants to avoid criminal prosecution and jail time.)<\/p>\n

No one wants to wonder what could have been if it turns out quarterback Matthew Stafford<\/a> can\u2019t count on Nacua getting open and punishing defenders downfield.<\/p>\n

And no one should want to see the Rams\u2019 sure-handed wide receiver let generational wealth slip through his fingers.<\/p>\n

Nacua is one of those athletes who you trust on the field to make the play, but all his off-field shenanigans gave the Rams reason to doubt him, to make him skip his turn at the big payday.<\/p>\n

He was up for a contract extension that could have paid him as much as $160 million over four years, instead he\u2019ll be earning $5.8 million this season. He\u2019ll have to prove himself to the Rams as a reliable investment.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s OK, Nacua said. He\u2019s happy to be back at work.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams receiver Puka Nacua tries to slip past defensive back Trent McDuffie during training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been things outside of my control that I think have impacted the way I\u2019ve been able to kind of focus and enjoy this game of football,\u201d he said. \u201cBut coming out here and seeing that jersey No. 12 hung up in my locker is something that I don\u2019t take for granted \u2026 the level of connection that I feel like I have with all the guys out there, [it] has never crossed my mind that I don\u2019t want to be out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the Rams\u2019 primary weapons on offense, a barefooted Nacua went on the charm offensive after practice Wednesday, opening his media scrum by joking with reporters, asking how his hair looked and whether he had any boogers visible in his nose.<\/p>\n

He looked fit, like he\u2019s been taking care of himself<\/a>. He said he was mostly laying off McDonald\u2019s, seeing a therapist and appreciating football as a safe space. The dad of a baby boy, he spoke about that too.<\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s closed his \u201ccircle of trust\u201d and expressed regret for actions that, he said, \u201chaven\u2019t been the truest reflection of the person I feel like I am, and how my mother raised me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely been conversations with her to apologize, but also for her to say that she supports me,\u201d Nacua said of his mom, Penina, who brought up Puka and his five siblings as a single parent after her husband, Lionel, died in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also my brothers are, I think, my biggest critics as well,\u201d Nacua said. \u201cSo there were some intense conversations, but loving conversations, in order to see improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nacua is one of the Rams\u2019 best players and absolutely their most popular<\/a>. The loudest roar at Wednesday\u2019s practice was when he showed up on the sideline with fellow receiver Davante Adams<\/a>. When it was over, the sound of children shrieking \u201cPuka!\u201d reverberated off the bleachers.<\/p>\n

The Rams are fans, too. Nacua isn\u2019t tolerated for his talent; he\u2019s adored for his spirit.<\/p>\n

Coach Sean McVay<\/a> loves the guy, a fifth-round draft pick out of BYU who broke a 63-year-old record for the most receiving yards by a rookie in NFL history: \u201cYou know how much I love him and the heart that he has,\u201d McVay said Wednesday. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve been really proud of what he\u2019s been doing and how he\u2019s taking accountability for some of the things that we can learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nacua said he was buoyed by messages from teammates during this turbulent offseason, in which he checked himself into a Malibu rehab facility to, as attorney McCathern said, \u201cfocus on his health, personal growth, and overall development.\u201d<\/p>\n

We all know how valuable Nacua is on the field, but now we\u2019re going to find out how much he values this opportunity, getting to take another rep to repair his reputation.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to find out if this man of many routes can run straight-and-narrow. Whether the slow-moving trainwreck can get back on track. Whether he can keep stacking incident-free days.<\/p>\n

Nacua says he can. \u201cI feel,\u201d he said, \u201cvery confident about that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you think the Rams have a tracker at their headquarters for how many days it\u2019s been since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[126466,1052,15042,2798,167241,48,52,51,7036,54609,47,50,49,43655,122181,10948,11706,10947,167242,4610,316],"class_list":["post-418112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-25-year-old","tag-attorney","tag-conversation","tag-couple","tag-football-star","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-last-year","tag-live-stream","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-new-one","tag-practice-wednesday","tag-puka-nacua","tag-ram","tag-rams","tag-super-bowl-run","tag-thing","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418112","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=418112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}