Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua is the hammer, not the nail - ESPN

Watch Puka Nacua on the sideline before each offensive possession, and you'll see the Los Angeles receiver ask a teammate to hit his pads. Hard.

Players from tight end Tyler Higbee to left guard Steve Avila, tackle AJ Arcuri and former Rams center Brian Allen have participated in the ritual over Nacua's three years in the league. Nacua said he has a «mixture of guys» who have done it, but he's picky: «I want somebody who's got a good slap in them,» Nacua said. «I don't want them to baby me, for sure.»

«The first one is always like, 'Oh, go out there. Good job, buddy'» Nacua said. «I'm like, 'No, no, no, that's not at all what I want from you guys.' The first one normally ends up being six slaps because the first three, they're like, 'I don't want to hurt you.' I'm like, 'All right, come on. I didn't ask you to give me a little pat on the back.'»

Nacua performs the ritual in part because of a feeling from when he was a little kid. Growing up with older brothers, he felt their intensity in the car on the way to big games, like his peewee football championships.

«Being in the car with them and the music, the tone, the intensity and definitely getting hit [by them while getting] out of the car as I was running out there for the football field, a part of that takes me back,» Nacua said. «I think it's always nice to get a little wake up on the sideline before you officially get hit by somebody else.»

One of those hits came early in the third quarter against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4, forcing Nacua to head to the locker room to get X-rays taken of his left thumb.

He had been rolled up on one of the run plays, he said, and had to make sure nothing was broken. After being given the all-clear, Nacua returned to the game and