INGLEWOOD – Trade speculation surrounding the availability of Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp has been in full swing this week. Some reports suggested teams had called the Rams to inquire about Kupp’s availability — standard practice in the NFL. Others reported that the Rams were proactive in their attempts to trade him.

After the Rams’ 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night, head coach Sean McVay did his best to dispel those rumors.

“The teams have made contact; Some of the things I saw out there just aren’t true,” McVay said. “We have addressed this with these people. Teams called about him and we really told him what the conversation was about. And then there are a lot of things out there where there isn’t a lot of accountability for the reports. And that is unfortunate. … I think a lot of the things that were out there, speculation, were exactly what that was. Speculation.”

McVay added: “I’m really happy to have Cooper Kupp back with us and I expect that to continue.”

Thursday was Kupp’s first game back after missing four contests with a sprained ankle. The 2021 NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl LVI MVP got off to a slow start, missing his first two targets and going catchless in the first quarter.

But to end the Rams’ second drive, quarterback Matthew Stafford found Kupp in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown after ducking two potential sacks to extend the play.

“Someone just recently ducked through, ran up and made a play. Matthew said it was literally this morning, he was like, ‘I’m just too old to take this step,'” Kupp said. “After he threw the ball, I looked for him like, ‘You big liar.’ He needs a little bit of self-doubt, he needs to doubt himself a little bit, so he can realize, “Oh yeah, maybe I can do this.” But after that, he was thrilled. He had that Matthew Stafford walk on the sideline.”

Kupp finished the game with five catches for 51 yards and said it was fun to be back on the field with his teammates after a month away from game action.