It was hardly all that braggadocious when Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Robert Woods said he believed he and Cooper Kupp – and the team's WR corps as a whole – were among the league’s best.
After all, the stats back up the claim. And on Friday morning, Kupp backed Woods up, too.
"I think Rob's speaking truth to just who he believes he is and who he believes we have in this room and we challenge each other every single day to be the best that we can be," Kupp said Friday on Good Morning Football. "The goal's always to be the best football player you can be and we step on the football field and the production-wise, the things we've been able to do, the things we're asked across a large range of blocking and understanding the whole side of football on the offensive side of the ball, being able to do all these things, I think it really plays into why we think we're one of the best in the league."
Kupp's comments Friday came in the aftermath of Woods' statement on Aug. 7. A closer look shows the Rams receiver was hardly puffing his chest, but merely standing behind production and showing the confidence he has in himself and his teammates when asked if they were among the best.
"I think we're not like the flashiest group of receivers, but we're just up there with production, up there with the best, if not the best, as a group and as a unit," Woods said two weeks prior.
The Rams were the only team that had two wide receivers to each tally 90 or more receptions and more than 1,000 yards in the 2019 season, according to NFL Research.
Kupp had stellar numbers of 94 catches, 1,161 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Woods hauled in 90 grabs for 1,134 yards and two scores.
Those combined 2,295 yards receiving were the fourth-highest tally for a teammate duo (per NFL Research), trailing only the Buccaneers' Chris Godwin and Mike Evans (2,490), the Saints' Michael Thomas and Jared Cook (2,430) and the Cowboys' Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, who had just one more yard than the Rams' tandem of terrific.
While weighing in on who's the best is obviously based on opinion, Kupp and Woods considering themselves to be among said best with those numbers is hardly any kind of stretch that should pull a muscle.
And if any of their counterparts' feathers were ruffled, Kupp assured his NFL brethren that whether they realize it or not, he holds them in the highest regard and his game is better for it.
"I think we're an incredible squad," Kupp said. "I've got so much respect for all the guys in this league. There's some football players that I've learned a ton from, just guys I've watched that, unknowingly, just from the film they've put on and what they've done on Sundays and what they've put on film, I've learned so much from it. Guys don't even know that. So much respect for those guys."
Plenty of respect for the best and plenty of reason to consider himself and Woods among the best.
