The Los Angeles Rams announced they signed second-year kicker Harrison Mevis to the practice squad and running back Ronnie Rivers to the active roster.
Mevis went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft and has spent time on the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets’ practice squads.
The Mevis signing comes after weeks of the Rams’ special teams unit struggling, particularly their field goal operation. Joshua Karty’s either missed field goals and extra points or had kicks blocked, pointing to a larger issue with the setup.
While head coach Sean McVay has been patient with Karty, the newest signings indicate that he might be willing to make a change as soon as this week against the San Francisco 49ers. According to Stu Jackson of TheRams.com, McVay acknowledged the team will have Karty and Mevis compete for the starting job:
“It’s all geared towards trying to be able to just get some solutions and some kick consistency, really, with our field goal operation,” McVay said prior to Wednesday’s practice. “And so (I) think it’s important to be able to have good competition at some spots that we feel like we can have improved play, to be able to evaluate all 11.”
McVay also discussed having the conversation with Karty and long snapper Alex Ward about why the team feels the need to possibly make changes:
“I think you always use the caveat too, that my job is to be able to make decisions that are best for the collective,” McVay said. “It doesn’t mean I’m always right. I’ve certainly made a lot of wrong decisions, but the intentions are always in the right direction. And you just try to be able to let them know, here’s what the thought process is, here’s why. Both those guys were total studs about it. But again, this is one of the most challenging things, is being able to figure out, all right, ‘Hey, who are the best guys to be able to execute the plan and be able to bring it to life?’ And certainly there’s a lot of layers to everything that’s gone on in that phase, but those are two areas that, those guys have done a lot of really good stuff for us, but we want to be able to see a little bit more consistency in those arenas, and think these guys will be here to be able to push them, and then that allows us to be able to make a decision and have some actions that are in alignment with being able to move forward in hopefully a positive manner.”
Special teams has been a thorn in L.A.’s side throughout McVay’s tenure, so it’s more likely than not the team moves in a different direction. In a tough divisional matchup against the 49ers coming up, the Rams have little room for error in any phase of the game.
Meanwhile, Rivers now finds himself back on the active roster so they could open up a practice squad spot for Mevis.
Sean McVay says Rams need to figure out kicking game
Most teams would be happy to be 6-2 through eight weeks, but Sean McVay knows the Rams could possibly be undefeated if they had a better kicking situation. After Joshua Karty missed two more kicks in the win against the New Orleans Saints, McVay emphasized the need to figure things out.
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