Report: Puka Nacua entered rehab to focus on 'personal growth'

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua entered rehab last month, the California Post reported. He did so to focus on “personal growth,” according to TMZ.

Nacua’s attorney Levi McCathern told the Post that the decision was not a direct result of a lawsuit filed against him late last month. A woman accused Nacua of biting her and making antisemitic comments at dinner. He has denied those allegations.

McCathern told the Post that Nacua had already checked in to the luxury treatment center in Malibu before news broke of the allegations. The Rams star’s goal is to “improve his overall behavior in every aspect of his life that he can do it,” McCathern said.

“I have talked to him,” McCathern said Wednesday, via the California Post. “He’s in great spirits. I think he’s doing absolutely fabulous. I’m just really excited for how he’s going to look next year. For as great as he was, I think he’s going to be even better going forward.”

The alleged biting incident occurred Dec. 31, 2025, during a “group outing, TMZ reported. That night, Nacua allegedly said, “F*** all the Jews” during dinner with the woman, according to the publication. Then, while the two joined the rest of the group in a van toward their next stop, he allegedly bit a woman’s thumb “so forcefully that she screamed in acute pain” and later bit her left shoulder.

In March 2025, the woman said attorneys for both sides met at a mediation conference, along with a crisis PR team. She said Nacua’s team threatened to “contact TMZ and other press and media outlets and to disseminate false, inaccurate, and/or deliberately exaggerated public statements about the events of December 31, 2025.”

According to TMZ, Nacua’s attorney said the woman has asked for millions of dollars and said the bite was temporary. His attorney added conversations with witnesses, who were sober at the time, who denied hearing Nacua make the alleged comments. A Los Angeles judge has denied the woman’s temporary restraining order and a hearing is set for April 14.

While speaking with TMZ Sports on Wednesday, McCathern vowed to sue the woman for defamation over the claims. McCarthern also cited the timing of the allegations after Seattle Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba received a record contract that reset the market.

Puka Nacua put together a huge year in 2025 with the Rams after an injury-riddled 2024 season. He set career-highs with 129 receptions for 1,1715 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he also led the NFL with 107.2 receiving yards per game. Additionally, his 80 first downs were an NFL-best this past season.