QB Matthew Stafford not concerned with Rams' early-season injuries

No team in the NFL arguably had a tougher Week 1 than the Los Angeles Rams.

They lost 26-20 to the Detroit Lions, the same team that ended their 2023 campaign in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

However, the loss wasn't even the worst part. The Rams lost three key offensive players for the foreseeable future.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles placed star wide receiver Puka Nacua and offensive linemen Steve Avila and Joe Noteboom on injured reserve , per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

All three players are now sidelined for at least four weeks, and early reports hint it could be longer.

Head coach Sean McVay revealed that Nacua's reaggravation " is a little more significant " than the original injury, while Avila's sprained MCL is expected to sideline him for four to six weeks .

Losing Nacua, Avila, and Noteboom for an extended period won't help the Rams' offense, but quarterback Matthew Stafford is confident they can still be successful.

"I try to treat every single year as its own, Stafford said via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "We're going to have bumps along the way. That's going to be the case. This is NFL football. There are injuries that happen, [but we] have to continue to try and come together as a team [and] mold."

In the meantime, wide receivers Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson will have to do their best to make up for the loss of Nacua, but they showcased they could do just that last week, combining for nine catches for 121 yards.

The offensive line must also be reshuffled, but Stafford believes in Los Angeles' backup options.

"Like we said, next man up at this point," Stafford added. "Whoever is available to play [and] ready to go, get those guys as ready as we possibly can [to] go out [and] rock and roll. I like our chances to just go out there and play."

Only time will tell how the Rams offense will fair without three of its stars, but they'll have their first chance to prove themselves in Week 2 when they face the Arizona Cardinals (0-1) on the road.