Rams' Puka Nacua breaks NFL rookie record for yards, catches

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- With his third catch on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua broke a 63-year-old record for the most receiving yards by a rookie in NFL history.

Nacua passed Bill Groman, who had 1,473 receiving yards in a 14-game season in 1960. On the next play, Nacua caught his 105th pass of the season, giving him the rookie record for receptions in a season.

"It'll say Puka Nacua [in the record books], but I wish it could say everybody," Nacua said. "All 11 guys out there because it really takes all 11. They should all feel that award just as much as I do because I couldn't do it without the guys in the front and obviously [quarterbacks] Matthew [Stafford] and Carson [Wentz] out there. Everybody was involved -- it was sweet to feel myself, but the enjoyment from everybody made it more sweet."

The catch came in the third quarter after first tying the record with a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Wentz on the Rams' first drive of the game. That touchdown catch gave the receiver 1,473 yards to tie Gorman's record. He finished with four catches for 41 yards in the Rams' 21-20 win.

The record came in a game in which the Rams held out many starters, including Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp and running back Kyren Williams. Nacua likely would have been on that list had he not entered the game just 29 yards shy of breaking Groman's record, one that had stood since 1960.

The Rams had three more drives in the first half, but the 49ers held Nacua without a catch to end the half. After the game, head coach Sean McVay said the difficulty the Rams had getting Nacua the ball for the rest of the first half felt like "the football gods telling me, 'man, this is not how you do it.'"

"I've believed in the integrity of the game and it was one of those deals that you want to give him an opportunity to get that because of what he put himself in a position for, but when you start getting outside the framework of operating how you normally would, it was almost like they're looking and saying, 'Hey, you know what? You know better,'" McVay said. "And then I thought that first drive where [offensive coordinator] Mike [LaFleur] did a good job mixing it up, the ball naturally came to him.

"And then the one to be able to get the last catch record was a heck of a catch on a screen where he got vertical right away. But I was really pleased with Carson. And credit the Niners -- they had an understanding of what we were trying to do, particularly at the end of the half. And they did a good job of preventing that."

Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers were "trying our butts off to keep them from getting one more yard or one more completion to Puka so they would play him the whole game." When asked if he would be mad if another team did that to him, Shanahan said, "No. I expect it."

The head coach said he wasn't trying to tire Nacua out, but with a smile added, "I just wanted them to go through the stress that we're going through."

"You don't want to get anyone hurt," Shanahan said, with a smile. "Those aren't the most fun games for us. You've got to do it but I don't think we're going to talk much about it next week."

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