RENTON, Wash. (AP) — When it comes to food recommendations in the Seattle area, new Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp is open to suggestions.
Just not from fellow newcomer and quarterback Sam Darnold.
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The veteran quarterback invited Kupp to get dinner with him earlier this offseason, and some of the suggestions caught the 31-year-old wide receiver off guard when recalling the night after the first of two minicamp practices at Virginia Mason Athletic Center, which concluded Wednesday.
“The way he came off was he wanted to go get some fries and chicken strips,” Kupp said on Tuesday. “Look, I have a 6-year-old. I can bring you his food. I can bring that, and I’ll go eat something good. It ended up being fine. He ventured out and was, like, OK. He was at least willing to try some stuff. I may have misread him. We’ll see. Time will tell.”
Time will also tell how well Kupp fits in with a new franchise after spending each of the past eight seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and signing a three-year, $45 million contract with the Seahawks in March. In some ways it’s a homecoming for Kupp, who grew up watching the Seahawks, is from Yakima, Washington and played at Eastern Washington.
He still has plenty to acclimate to, though, after all that time with an NFC West rival. Kupp referred to joining a new team as “exciting.”
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“It’s been a long time since I learned a new offense, a long time since I sat in a meeting and had to put a face on the board and what’s this guy’s name?” Kupp said. “That’s a stressful situation. That’s a high-stress situation. It’s good, though. I’m excited about what we’re doing, and it is fun.”
He’s eager to work with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, whose system has some similarities to what is run by the Rams and their coach, Sean McVay, as well as San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and his scheme. Kubiak was the 49ers passing game coordinator in 2023 when Darnold was also with the team.
“There’s going to be the nuances here and there, things like that, but a lot of similar stuff, a lot of similar ideas in how you’re attacking a defense,’’ Kupp said. “I believe in this offense and what it takes to make it successful and the detail that’s involved with it. … There’s definitely some stuff that accentuates the things that I’ve done in the past.’’
All Kupp has done in the past is produce — and more recently, struggle a bit to stay on the field. Each of the past three seasons, Kupp has failed to play in more than 12 games, which in part led the Rams to let the Super Bowl 56 MVP leave in free agency.
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Kupp said that he felt good physically, and he looked the part each day of minicamp when running routes. He faces quite the task in adding to a receiver room that is paced by third-year wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is fresh off his first 1,000-yard season.
Veteran receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling is also on the team, and he spent half of last season playing under Kubiak when the latter was the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has been impressed by both wideouts’ approaches to learning Seattle’s offense.
“They’re attacking every day, man,” Macdonald said. “Just trying to master the playbook, all the formations, all the route steps, all the timing. If you have that spirit about you every day, I mean, it’s contagious, one, with the rest of the room, with the rest of the offense, the whole team. It makes it fun to go to work and enjoy the process. But, of course, that’s going to expedite your growth when you have guys like that.”
Still, Kupp recognizes he has much learning to do between now and when the Seahawks open their season on Sept. 7 against the 49ers. It’s in part why he’s already spent a bunch of time in Macdonald’s office picking his brain.
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Kupp has enjoyed settling in with a new team and that the internal belief is what has resonated with him most.
“For any of this stuff to work, for all the goals and all the things we want to set out to achieve, it’s the understanding that we’re going to ultimately achieve it together,” Kupp said. “It’s going to be playing for each other. … Man, what can I do to be better for the guy next to me? This is a place that guys embody that, and they believe it. I think that makes it a fun place to come into, a fun place to come work.”
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