Plenty of players who know that tough questions will be coming after a game find a way to shirk their obligation to meet with reporters. On Thursday night, Rams receiver Puka Nacua faced the music.
And there was a fresh subject for scrutiny, following the final play of the 38-37 overtime loss to the Seahawks: His tweet reiterating his livestreamed criticism of officials. (He later deleted it.)
Nacua was asked about the tweet that likely will put him in line for a second fine, assuming his initial comments trigger discipline from the league office.
“Just a moment of frustration after a tough intense game like that,” Nacua said. “Just thinking of the opportunities where I could have done better to take it out of their hands. Just a moment of frustration.”
Nacua also was asked whether he truly believes (as he said in the livestream) that officials call penalties so that they can be on TV.
“No, I don’t,” he said, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com. “It was just a lack of awareness and just in some frustration. I know there were moments where I feel like, man, you watch the other games and you think of the calls that some guys get and you wish you could get some of those, but that’s just how football is played, and I’ll do my job in order to work my technique to make sure that there’s not an issue with the call.”
What specifically was his post-game tweet referrring to?
“Just the opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of, some of the moments that we we put in the official’s hands that I just felt like we could have executed it to not put ourselves in those situations,” Nacua said. “I know it’s something that we’ll improve on.”
Obviously, Nacua needs to improve on one very specific thing — watching what he says publicly, and what he tweets. By all appearances, he went straight to his phone after the game ended, opened his Twitter app, and vented.
Among multiple lessons he’s learned this week, taking a moment and/or a deep breath after a disappointing game will be one of them.
