LOS ANGELES — Ahead of the Rams’ game against the San Francisco 49ers this weekend, the team is making a change at kicker.
The newly signed Harrison Mevis will be elevated from the practice squad to face the Niners, head coach Sean McVay said on Friday, replacing Joshua Karty for at least this weekend.
“There’s a lot of layers to it,” McVay said. “I still do have a lot of confidence in Josh Karty. He’s not going anywhere. But based on some of the things that we tried to evaluate throughout the course of the week. Those guys both did a really good job, I was really pleased and impressed and proud of how Josh handled himself this week. I think he’s got a really bright future, I think he’s done a lot of really good things for us. But all the things that went into in terms of ultimately in its simplest form, who do I think gives us the best chance to have successful outcomes?”
This will mark Mevis’ NFL debut after being an undrafted rookie in 2024. He made 20 of 21 field goals in the UFL earlier this season.
“It’s definitely a cool experience coming to meet new guys, really good team in there,” Mevis said Wednesday. “It’s just me doing my job and doing what I can to be the best version of myself, the best step forward for myself. If there’s any way I can help this team and make kicks, that’s what I’m here to do.”
Karty has missed five of his 15 field-goal attempts this year in addition to three extra points. A multitude of issues have played a part, including protection and the lace placement on snaps, which led the Rams to turn to veteran long snapper Jake McQuaide in place of Alex Ward this week.
McVay said when he talked with Karty to relay the decision, he explained that on Monday they will either decide to go with Mevis moving forward, they will go back to Karty or they will have a competition moving forward.
“What I can’t predict is the future, but I do think that this is going to be the best thing for this game,” McVay said.
Special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn said the Rams made the decision to bring in competition at kicker and long snapper this week because the operation had not lived up to the team’s standard. He said protection played a part early in the season as the unit struggled, but as the team felt like it had improved in protection the kicking and lace placement on the snap still caused issues.
“Make no mistake about it, we have to execute at a high level in the game and put points on the board,” Blackburn said Thursday. “At the end of the day, we have to be able to control what we can control.”
Asked if the technique of the new dynamic kickoff was impacting Karty’s timing and approach on field goals and extra points, Blackburn didn’t rule out the possibility and admitted the team had asked punter Ethan Evans to do kickoffs the last two games to allow Karty to focus on his kicks.
“He says it’s not,” Blackburn said. “We’re taking some of that off him to make sure that we are focused on the field goal because we have to put points on the board.”
Injury report
Rams wide receiver Jordan Whittington (back soreness) was limited in practice Friday and will be questionable for the game against the 49ers.