The Rams placed receiver Cooper Kupp on injured reserve, sidelining him for at least their first four games.

The Rams also put new tight end Hunter Long on injured reserve Saturday, one day before their season opener at Seattle.

Kupp injured his hamstring Aug. 1 in training camp, and he aggravated the injury late last month. The Super Bowl 56 MVP got treatment and saw a specialist in Minnesota in recent days but didn’t improve enough to play.

Kupp also missed the final eight games of last season with an ankle injury. He won the triple crown of receiving in 2021 and was named the AP’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year before leading the Rams to their Super Bowl victory over the Bengals.

Kupp won’t be eligible to play until the Rams host Philadelphia in Week 5 on Oct. 8.

The Saints signed starting right guard and 2020 first-round draft choice Cesar Ruiz to a four-year, $44 million extension. Ruiz was entering the final year of his rookie deal after the Saints declined to pick up the fifth-year option for the former Michigan center.

Auto racing: Christopher Bell won the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, putting himself in good position to wiggle off the playoff bubble and make next week’s cutoff a little less stressful. Bell was the only driver among the 10 in the final round of qualifying to go over 180 mph, turning a lap of 180.276 for a comfortable margin over Kyle Larson, who locked up his place in the next round of the playoffs with a win last week at Darlington.

Golf: Minjee Lee opened with three straight birdies, made up a six-shot deficit at the turn and posted a 7-under 65 to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati. Lee played bogey-free on a Kenwood Country Club course that was so firm that even some shots with wedge had a hard time staying on the greens. She leaned on her putter, closing out her round with a 12-foot par save. That gave her a two-shot lead over Charley Hull and Peiyun Chien.