Longtime friends Puka Nacua, Fred Warner ready to clash again when Rams host 49ers

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Fred Warner has embodied the San Francisco 49ers and their hard-hitting defensive style to Puka Nacua for the Rams receiver's entire adult life.

That's because Nacua was still in high school when he first got to know Warner, who played three seasons at BYU alongside Kai Nacua — the older brother of Los Angeles' star wideout — before he joined the Niners to begin a career that's now in its eighth season.

With the latest edition of this lively California rivalry kicking off Thursday night, Nacua knows he might have to take some punishment from the four-time All-Pro linebacker to keep the Rams (3-1) on their hot start.

The NFL's leading receiver welcomes the challenge and the competition whenever he faces Warner and the 49ers (3-1).

“For me, it takes me back home,” Nacua said with a grin. “I remember watching young Fred Warner out there playing with my older brother and being like, ‘Hey, I know that guy. That’s the guy I’ve seen in the locker room.' Those are some of the moments that immediately (come to mind) with the Rams-49ers, and now some of those moments where I’ve been at the bottom of the pile and Fred Warner was like, ‘Yeah, Puk.' It’s just competitive.”

Warner has nothing but praise for his former teammate's kid brother, lauding Nacua's blocking acumen and his trademark eagerness to seek out and even initiate contact.

Warner even gave advice to Nacua before the 2023 draft, in which Nacua famously went to the Rams with the final pick of the fifth round as the 20th receiver chosen. Warner expected Nacua to be an NFL player, but he acknowledges that “nobody could have seen this type of success that he’s seen. Only he knows that."

“A big part of it as a young player is having the confidence of knowing that you belong,” Warner added. “I think that’s really just the start of it all. Because just speaking from experience, when I came in, it was so overwhelming playing against guys that I’d watched on TV for so long and it’s like, ‘Do I really belong?’ For him, I think from Day One, he was out there and had back-to-back to back games with 10-plus receptions and was a guy that Matt Stafford could rely on. That spoke to his preparation level ... and he's continued to obviously stay humble and find ways to get better in his game.”

Nacua tops the NFL after making 42 receptions for 503 yards in the Rams' first four games, including a late TD catch in the Rams' 27-20 comeback victory over Indianapolis last week. Nacua had 13 catches for a career-high 170 yards.

Nacua came to national attention in his first meeting with the 49ers two years ago, when he caught an NFL rookie-record 15 passes for 147 yards in his second career game. The Niners somewhat limited Nacua in their most recent matchup, holding him to a mere eight catches for 97 yards last December — but one of those was a 51-yard reception to set up the go-ahead field goal in the Rams' 12-6 win.

The 49ers will be without several key offensive players for the game with quarterback Brock Purdy ruled out with a toe injury. Purdy was sidelined for two games earlier this season before returning last week. But he came out of that game with soreness in his toe and wasn't able to recover quickly enough on a short week. Mac Jones will start in his place after leading the team to wins against New Orleans and Arizona earlier this season.

San Francisco will also be without its top two receivers with Ricky Pearsall out with a knee injury and Jauan Jennings out with injuries to his ribs and ankle. Tight end George Kittle is already on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

Los Angeles has won three straight over San Francisco for the first time in the concurrent careers of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. Although the first of those victories was a late-season meeting of backups, the Rams have finally made some progress in this rivalry series after the Niners won nine of 10 from 2019 to 2023, losing only in a thrilling NFC championship game in January 2022.

The first game without injured defensive end Nick Bosa didn’t go well for the 49ers. They generated just five quarterback pressures with no sacks and no QB hits last week against the Jaguars. That marked the first time they had no sacks or QB hits in a game since Week 2 of the 2015 season, according to Pro Football Focus. San Francisco also allowed 151 yards rushing.

San Francisco has traditionally relied on the run game under Shanahan, but Christian McCaffrey has struggled to get going this season. The Niners rank second worst while averaging only 3.3 yards per carry, are the only team without a TD run, and are one of four teams without a run of at least 20 yards.

“Sometimes you are just one guy off, or sometimes you’re an arm tackle away from breaking a couple long ones and all of a sudden you have big games,” said McCaffrey, who is averaging just 56.3 yards rushing per game. “You just don’t know when that’s going to happen.”

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AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow in Santa Clara, California, contributed to this report.

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