A subplot that got glossed over a few months ago when the Vikings played the Los Angeles Rams was the gamesmanship surrounding star receiver Puka Nacua.

After suffering a knee injury in the early stages of this season, Nacua was placed on injured reserve, which required him to miss at least a month of action. As he worked through the final stages of the recovery process, the Rams decided to open his practice window roughly 48 hours before they hosted the Vikings on Oct. 24.

Though he was listed as questionable heading into the matchup, the Vikings weren’t expecting Nacua to play for the Rams. That much defensive coordinator Brian Flores confirmed this week when he reflected on what happened.

“Honestly, we were a little bit surprised that he was out there,” Flores said. “There was a little bit of scrambling.”

The game plan the Vikings had put together didn’t necessarily account for having to stop Nacua. They tried to cover their bases as best they could after learning a few hours before kickoff that he was going to suit up.

To no avail.

Nacua hauled in even catches for 106 yards to help lead the Rams win, 30-20.

“They’re a very different team when he’s out there,” Flores said. “He brings an element in both the running game and the passing game. That’s why he’s the player that he is. He opens things up for other players.”

There won’t be any surprises this time around when the Vikings and Rams open their postseason with an NFC wild card game on Monday Night Football at SoFi Stadium.

“We know he’s going to be out there,” Flores said. “We will do a better job making sure our guys are prepared from that standpoint.”

Jefferson wanted calls

The physicality that star receiver Justin Jefferson had to fight through on Sunday night at Ford Field was enough to make him speak his mind after the game.

As he stewed on the fact that the Vikings had suffered a 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions — and he had been held to three catches for 54 yards — Jefferson made it clear that he thought there should’ve been more flags thrown.

To be fair to Jefferson, cornerback Amik Robertson extremely physical in man coverage, almost daring the officials to call him for a penalty with his play style.

Asked about the officials not throwing more flags, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips refused to make any excuses. Instead, he kept the focus on how the Vikings have to work on their technique.

“We know we’re not going to get all those calls,” Phillips said. “We just have to be mature enough to work through it.”

Reichard still confident

As the miscues from Will Reichard start to pile up — he most recently missed a 51-yard field goal and had a kickoff sail out of bounds — the Vikings are expressing confidence in their rookie kicker.

Whether it was head coach Kevin O’Connell going out of his way to offer praise earlier this week, or special teams coordinator Matt Daniels expressing his belief in Reichard, the Vikings are not thinking about making a change.

“He always responds the right way,” Daniels said. “I know he’ll do that. That’s the reason we (drafted) this guy. We know in the high pressure moments he’s going to step up.”