Sean McVay may be losing confidence in Joshua Karty

Is Sean McVay losing faith in his rookie kicker?

Sean McVay spoke to the media after the Los Angeles Rams beat the New England Patriots, and the head coach called it a “strange game”, later adding that he was questioning the ability of the special teams unit, including kicker Joshua Karty. “There wasn’t a lot of reason to feel great about…that operation.”

LA had a chance late in the fourth quarter to go up two scores with a 50+ yard field goal, but instead chose to punt. The coach was asked about his decision as far as not giving his kicker Karty the chance to be the hero. The head coach’s response was not the typical coach speak as he expressed a lack of confidence in the unit (and thus Karty) at that point in the game ultimately deciding to go with Ethan Evans to punt the ball away.

“There wasn’t a lot of reason to feel great about…that operation today, and so felt good about the defense thought Ethan (Evans) and our punt team did a good job of being able to pin them (the Patriots) deep. So, knowing that they needed a touchdown…there wasn’t a whole lot of back and forth you know felt pretty convicted in that decision right there.”

That’s a pretty damning statement to make about your own special teams unit, and though the head coach didn’t say Karty by name does he need to? Karty was the hero in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers, but he missed a chip shot field goal today and overall he’s been inconsistent and he hasn’t been the sure thing that the Rams were probably looking for when they selected him in the sixth round of last year’s draft.

How long is Karty’s leash? Are the missed kicks mostly on the kicker or are there other factors? At this point in the season is there even another direction that the Rams can go with their placekicking position? Those will surely be some questions to think about as LA prepares for the final stretch of the NFL season.