Rams Rookie Puka Nacua Surprises Local High School Football Team Whose Coach Has Cancer (Exclusive)

The NFL newcomer tells PEOPLE it meant "a lot" to him to meet the high school coach because his own grandmother passed away from ovarian cancer

Puka Nacua is exceeding expectations on the NFL field in his first five weeks as a Los Angeles Ram, and the 22-year-old from Provo, Utah is already making a difference in the Los Angeles community too.

Last week, Nacua and Rams rookies Mike McAllister and Alex Ward visited Hollywood High School to surprise football coach Alastair Jones, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and kidney failure in February but has continued to dedicate his time to his players. Since his diagnosis, Jones has found new meaning as a coach and draws strength from his players to fuel his fight against the disease.

The NFL rookies took the field at Hollywood High to meet Jones, who was named one of the team’s Crucial Catch Captains, a program started by the Rams with Cedars-Sinai Hospital, along with his student-athletes.

Nacua, who has already scored two touchdowns in his short career as a Ram, tells PEOPLE he was especially moved by Jones' story and "commitment to taking care of [his players]" because of his own experience losing his grandmother to cancer.

Nacua says, "The energy that Coach Jones has is contagious, and I think that's one thing, especially in cancer, that really helps everybody."

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"My grandma passed away from ovarian cancer. I just know that as much as he's going through it, the people around him and his family, just the support system that he has, it takes a group of people to fight that as well. It's a battle and it requires everybody and affects those people around you."

The rookies spent the afternoon meeting players and taking photos with the team after Jones was presented with a personalized Rams jersey and tickets to an upcoming game at SoFi Stadium. Their meet-up with Jones is one of 12 with the team's Crucial Catch Captain surprises for cancer fighters and survivors throughout the Southern California region.

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Nacua says the experience was "full of incredible energy" and brought him back to his own high school football days. "This is the first time I've been back to a high school field in a long time, so it reminds me of my childhood coach, especially my high school coach. He coached me from seventh grade all the way to where I graduated high school."

Nacua says being back on a high school football field was "surreal" for the NFL rookie. "I feel like I'm still a young kid that's in high school," says Nacua, who heard from several Hollywood High student-athletes that he's on their NFL fantasy teams.

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"To be here for the high school kids is cool because I know that if one of the guys in the NFL would've come to my high school, I would've been psyched. I would've been all over it, too. So it's super cool to be in that moment for them."

In fact, the rookie admits he still gets starstruck by his star teammates from time to time. " I still feel like I'm one of the little high school kids that's trying to meet one of the guys. I still feel that way with Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp when they walk in the room, like, 'Wait, is this real?' "

Nacua had his first experience of life on the other side of a fan encounter recently. "I had my first interaction just walking in the grocery store and someone's like, 'Hey, are you this guy?' I was like, 'Yes, I am that guy.' I don't know, I didn't know what to say!"

On Sunday, Nacua and the Rams will host the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium.

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