LOS ANGELES -- It didn't take Los Angeles Rams' wide receivers coach Eric Yarber long to see it.
During organized team activities this spring, wide receiver Cooper Kupp ran his first route of the offseason at the team facility. Yarber, who has been with the Rams since Kupp was drafted in 2017, said he could immediately tell the receiver's "pop ... had come back."
Kupp's health and ability were on full display in the Rams' Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions, when the receiver had 14 catches for 110 yards. He finished with 21 targets, his most in a game in his career. His 14 receptions also tied a career high.
"That warmed my heart [to see]," Yarber said. "I always tell him, I said, 'Everybody don't know this, but this is the Cooper Kupp revenge tour.' And I was so glad to see it start that way."
Since leading the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns in 2021 and then being named Super Bowl LVI MVP, Kupp hasn't been healthy for a full season.
Kupp played in nine games in 2022 before ending the season on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain that required surgery. In 2023, Kupp dealt with a hamstring injury during training camp that landed him on injured reserve for the first four games of the season.
And though Kupp was on the field the rest of the season, coach Sean McVay said in June that he doesn't "think anybody really understands the amount of things [Kupp was] working through."
While Kupp says he understands why Yarber has been calling this season a revenge tour, he said that hasn't been his mentality.
"I know he's been saying that," Kupp said. "I understand what he's saying. I appreciate that. It's not been my mindset. ... It's just been about preparing myself to come out here and do my job."
Kupp's job is not only to be the best player in the Rams' wide receivers room, but be a leader for the group, too. And for a unit that lost Puka Nacua in the season opener coming off his sensational rookie for at least four games while he recovers from a PCL sprain, that mentorship has been instrumental. Kupp is paramount in helping develop a young position group that will need to showcase its depth earlier in the season than the Rams would have hoped.
He learned that, he said, because of the mentors he has had in the past. When he was asked about why it was important to him to be available to help the other receivers in the room, he talked about the players who had come before him. Along with those who helped him while at Eastern Washington, Kupp mentioned former Rams receivers Roberts Woods, Sammy Watkins, Tavon Austin and Brandin Cooks.
"When you are at the bottom of the totem pole, how you're treated goes a long way," Kupp said. "I know the confidence and the growth that I had because of those guys were so important to who I am today. I would be doing such a great disservice to not pay that forward and care about the guys that are coming in."
WHILE KUPP'S HIGH target share -- he was targeted on nearly half of quarterback Matthew Stafford's 49 pass attempts -- jumps out in the box score, that wasn't the plan going into Week 1 against Detroit.
First-half injuries to two Rams offensive linemen -- a unit that was already without two intended starters going into the game -- and Nacua quickly had McVay ripping up that game plan.
"I've never been a part of circumstances quite like that," McVay said.
While the Rams are thrilled to have a healthy Kupp, McVay said having a more balanced offense is "really important" going forward. The Rams are 1-6 in games Kupp is targeted at least 15 times.
"The game the other day was such an outlier for how we had to play [and] how we had to adjust," McVay said. "... We want to be able to have all five [eligible receivers] get involved. We want to be able to do what we think is best to be able to move the football and score points. How that's reflected and illustrated this week? We shall see, and I sure hope we stay healthier."
Kupp's 21 targets were the second most by any player in a season opener since 2000, according to ESPN Research. It was also tied for the fourth-most targets by a player in any game in the past 10 seasons.
"I think just his demeanor and disposition throughout the game, some of the things that he's doing in between series with the guys that did have to step up. You can't say enough about what he means to our football team," McVay said. "I thought he was excellent. He gave us a chance to be able to come away with a win."
UNLIKE THE 2022 season, when Kupp needed season-ending surgery, the Rams have depth at the position even beyond Kupp and Nacua.
Veteran receiver Demarcus Robinson, in his ninth season, was a red zone favorite of Stafford's during the second half of last season. In Nacua's absence, expect a bigger role for Tyler Johnson, who had five catches for 79 yards Sunday, including a 63-yard catch and run in the third quarter.
The Rams also have wide receivers Tutu Atwell and rookie sixth-round pick Jordan Whittington. Whittington only played two offensive snaps Sunday, but he ran for a touchdown that was called back for a hold.
The rookie has taken to heart the help Kupp gives out.
"[Kupp] gives me some type of example where I'm like, 'Oh yeah, that's crazy,'" Whittington said. "It happens every day. Even in walk-through, it is just super detailed. Everything he does and yeah, there's a reason why he has the days and games that he has."
Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is grateful to have Kupp steward his offense, stating, "Cooper gets to obviously be with these guys one-on-one quite often, whether be in the locker room or walkthroughs or just even the routes on air. So all the little nuances and details that he can give him from a player perspective are huge.
"Guys look up to him, we learn from him as coaches and he's got the respect of a lot of people."
One of those people is Whittington, who spent time with Kupp on the field after practice on Wednesday. The pair were going over a play in the run game, and when Yarber came over for the discussion, the rookie had two experienced voices talking him through the play.
"We've got to ask our receivers to do a lot of things, and he was just trying to get some insight from Cooper Kupp," Yarber said.
And while Yarber was quick to point out its usefulness for the young wide receiver, he also said it's not an unusual scene to see from Kupp and many of the receivers in the room.
"He's an eight-year vet. ... He's the coach on the field."