The Rams now have two kickers on their 53-man roster.
Los Angeles announced that the team has signed Joshua Karty to the active roster off of its practice squad on Thursday.
Karty, who was drafted by the Rams in 2024, returned to the club last week to perform kickoff duties. He was elevated off the practice squad and made five kickoffs, two of which did not land in the landing zone.
The team also has veteran Brandon McManus, who handled extra points and field goals in the win over the Chargers.
Karty has a career 79.6 percent field goal rate and 88.7 percent extra point conversion rate.
Additionally, the Rams have signed cornerback David Long to their practice squad.
Rams Clips
Rams head coach Sean McVay says he’s never had to manage a team dealing with as many injuries to important players as this year’s team.
McVay said on Wednesday that the only year comparable was 2022, when the defending Super Bowl champion Rams slumped to 5-12 thanks in large part to a spate of injuries. But this year, McVay says, has been even worse than that.
“I’ve been the coach for 10 years, and I know 2022 was a season that we had a lot of injuries, particularly at the offensive line, but this has been more than any year, including ’22, with the amount of guys out at different spots that are key and critical to our identity, on offense, on defense and on special teams,” McVay said.
The most recent injury McVay was discussing was the loss of cornerback Jaylen Watson, whom McVay praised as having had an outstanding season to this point, but has now been lost for the season with a shoulder injury. Other key players currently on injured reserve include defensive end Myles Garrett, wide receiver Davante Adams, defensive tackle Kobie Turner, tight end Terrance Ferguson, defensive tackle Poona Ford and kicker Blake Grupe.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is also dealing with a sore arm, and although Stafford said he’s going to be fine, he did acknowledge the Rams have been through a lot with injuries.
“That’s just the way it goes. That’s NFL football. I know everybody in that training room is doing everything they can to be back as fast as they can, and when and if those guys can do that, we’ll welcome them with open arms and it’ll be a nice boost for us when they get back,” Stafford said.
After entering the season as the favorites to win the Super Bowl, the Rams are now 4-4. Getting healthy and staying healthy will be key to playing better over the second half of the season.
A question emerged about Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s throwing arm after reporters spotted ice on it following Sunday’s game against the Chargers. On Monday, coach Sean McVay called it “soreness” but otherwise deferred to Stafford for any specific questions.
On Wednesday, Stafford was asked specific questions.
“It feels good,” Stafford said regarding what was described by the team as a right elbow injury on Wednesday. “Full practice as I have been all year and hope to continue to be that way.”
So why did he have an ice pack on his elbow when he left the locker room on Sunday?
“You guys have been blind,” Stafford said with a laugh and a smile. “I feel like I’ve been icing my arm every day out here walking around. That’s on you guys. You all are the ones that are out there reporting that I have ice on my arm. Listen, I’m 38 years old trying to keep up with these young bucks. A little bit of soreness and stuff that is not uncommon this time of year. Again, I haven’t missed a rep at practice. I haven’t missed a rep in a game and I feel good. I’m not too worried about it.”
As Simms pointed out on PFT Live, elbow soreness is uncommon at this stage of the season. Quarterbacks throw less during practice in the regular season. If soreness is going to happen, it’s going to happen during training camp.
It’s hard not to wonder whether the Rams disclosed Stafford as having an elbow specifically because someone finally noticed, and asked about, the ice (if, as Stafford claims, he has constantly been icing the elbow). If it’s no big deal, why list the right elbow on the first injury report prior to the Week 9 game at Washington?
There are plenty of strategic reasons to not list an elbow issue. In 2019, the Steelers concealed quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow problem. Then, in Week 2, he suffered a season-ending, non-contact elbow injury. The Steelers and coach Mike Tomlin eventually were fined, $75,000 and $25,000, respectively, for not disclosing the elbow issue.
As to Stafford, it’s something to monitor. Especially since he’s 38 and has thrown thousands of passes. Something in the elbow is bothering him.
And it could be affecting the number of pass plays the Rams are calling during games. After throwing for more than 50 passes in Week 3 (55), Week 4 (51), and Week 5 (54), he has thrown 33 in Week 6, 29 in Week 7, and 25 in Week 8.
While, for now, it’s not impacting his ability to take his regular complement of practice snaps, it could be impacting his ability to generate maximum force and velocity on his throws. And, eventually, it could get worse.
Stafford has played through many injuries during his career. He’ll play through this one, too. Unless and until he physically can’t.
As the football-following world tries to figure out the problem(s) with Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Rams safety Quentin Lake provided a scathing critique of Herbert’s most recent performance, in a 24-9 loss to the Rams.
“He was throwing deli meat out there,” Lake said. “He’s seeing ghosts. I don’t know what’s going on, but we knew we were gonna get a couple. At least one.”
They got two.
On Wednesday, both Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh and Herbert himself were asked about Lake’s remarks.
“As far as anybody’s opinion I don’t see that,” Harbaugh told reporters. “Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. Not what I see.”
So what did Harbaugh see in the latest loss?
“I thought he played — did his job exceptionally well,” Harbaugh said. “You know, two throws he would have liked to have back.”
Herbert said he wasn’t aware of Lake’s comments.
“I haven’t looked into it, haven’t heard anything about it, so I can’t really make a comment about it,” Herbert told reporters. “We’re really just focused on what’s going on in the building, playing football and doing what we can and doing our best to, you know, go put our best effort out on Sunday. And that’s all that really matters. Anything outside of that is out of our control.”
Still, it’s jarring to hear an NFL defender make comments about a supposed franchise quarterback that make him seem like a Jets first-round draft pick who has yet to have the game slow down. Herbert is in the seventh year of his career. He’s making $52.5 million per year.
Something has happened this year. It’s still not clear what it is, or whether it will change. Before it can change, the Chargers need to realize there’s a problem.
And that’s the most confounding part of all of it. They’ve lost seven and won none; at times, they sound like they’ve won seven and lost none.
Rams coach Sean McVay wouldn’t allow much about the ice pack on quarterback Matthew Stafford’s arm after Sunday’s win over the Chargers other than to say it was soreness. The injury report said it isn’t serious, and Stafford agreed.
Stafford was a full participant, listed with an elbow injury.
“I’m 38 years old, trying to keep up with these young bucks. Little bit of soreness and stuff that is not uncommon this time of year,” Stafford said, via Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “Haven’t missed a rep. Feel good. So I’m not too worried about it.”
Stafford underwent surgery on his elbow during the 2022 offseason.
He threw only 25 passes on Sunday.
The Rams got more good news when outside linebacker Myles Garrett (knee) returned to practice as a limited participant. It was the first practice Garrett and Aaron Donald have had together.
Garrett underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in mid-September after playing 40 snaps in the season opener. He was given a six-week prognosis and has missed seven games.
The Rams practiced without cornerback Jaylen Watson (shoulder), long snapper Joe Cardona (ankle), cornerback Trent McDuffie (back), tight end Colby Parkinson (ribs) and safety Kam Curl (foot) on Wednesday.
Inside linebacker Grant Stuard (hamstring), offensive lineman Steve Avila (hamstring), wide receiver Jordan Whittington (back) and tight end Terrance Ferguson (ankle) were limited.
The Rams will not have one of their starting cornerbacks for the rest of the year.
Head coach Sean McVay announced in his Wednesday press conference that Jaylen Watson will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.
“It’s the right thing to do for him, even though it sucks because he’s been a real bright spot for us,” McVay said, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press.
Watson, who signed with the Rams as a free agent in the offseason, recorded 24 tackles with nine passes defensed and one interception in seven games.
In his 60 career games for Kansas City and Los Angeles, he’s tallied 33 passes defensed and four interceptions.
It’s been a rough season for Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and the Rams took advantage of it last Sunday.
Herbert threw a pair of interceptions as the Chargers dropped to 0-7 on the season in the Rams’ 24-9 win. Rams safety Quentin Lake had one of those picks and he came up with a colorful way of explaining what he and the defense saw when preparing to face the Chargers while on the St. Brown podcast hosted by Amon-Ra and Equanimeous St. Brown.
“He was throwing deli meat out there,” Lake said “He’s seeing ghosts. I don’t know what’s going on, but we knew we were gonna get a couple. At least one.”
Herbert has now thrown 10 interceptions this season and the Chargers have scored the fewest points in the league heading into Week 9. They’re currently on a streak of 27 straight possessions without a touchdown, so some members of the Texans will likely be on the lookout for handouts of their own this Sunday.
The Rams have made a few roster moves on Wednesday.
The team announced that running back Dean Connors has been placed on injured reserve, cornerback Cam Lampkin has been signed to the 53-man roster from the practice squad, and receiver/returner Alex Bachmann has been released.
Lampkin has appeared in two games for the Rams so far this season, playing exclusively on special teams.
Bachmann, who has been re-signed to the practice squad, has averaged 22.9 yards per kick return and 5.2 yards per punt return.
Cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean has also been signed to the practice squad, while outside linebacker Nelson Garrett has been released from that unit.
Appearing Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones made a clunky case for the absence of a correlation between coaching pay and wins.
When he makes his second weekly visit of the team’s flagship station, he should be asked this question: Would you want Andy Reid, Sean Payton, John Harbaugh, Sean McVay, or Kyle Shanahan to be the Cowboys’ head coach?
They’re the five highest-paid coaches in the league. And any team that doesn’t have an objectively great coach would absolutely want one of those five.
Because they win. In 2026, their combined record is 25-11-1. They have six Super Bowl trophies, and 11 Super Bowl appearances.
They’re highly compensated because they win. Which makes them worthy of high compensation.
It’s obvious. And it’s insulting to the intelligence of anyone with reasonable cognitive skills (which barely qualifies me to be insulted) for Jerry to insist that there’s “zero correlation” between coaching pay and wins.
So what’s really going on here? At one level, he’s being cheap when it comes to a budgetary line item that has no salary cap, or salary floor. At another level, he likely doesn’t want to have a true alpha whose W-2 would allow him to take over the team, and to minimize the outsized influence of anyone named Jones.
Whatever the case, Jones’s strategy to treat a coaching search like an exercise in wildcatting ignores the fact that he can afford to pay for a high-functioning oil well. But he doesn’t want to spend the money — and he doesn’t want to give the coach the power that comes from being highly paid.
Through it all, the Cowboys haven’t been to the NFC Championship since 1995. And there’s definitely a correlation between Jerry’s approach to hiring coaches and the continuation of “this ‘drought’ that people say we’re in.”
When the schedule is released every May, plenty of standalone games that look good at the time morph into something not quite as appetizing as the season unfolds. Some standalone games get better with time.
This year, there’s a trio of massive games lurking on Christmas Day.
At 1:00 p.m. ET, it’s the Packers at the Bears. At 4:30 p.m. ET, it’s the Bills at the Broncos. At 8:15 p.m., it’s the Rams at the Seahawks.
With the Bears emerging as a threat to win the NFC North and the No. 1 seed in the conference, the rematch with their biggest rivals (who beat them 31-7 in Week 5) becomes must-see TV. Bills at Broncos, a rematch of a postseason overtime classic that got Buffalo coach Sean McDermott fired, should have direct implications on two division races and the chase for the lone bye in the AFC.
The nightcap shapes up to be not a battle for the NFC West title and/or the top seed but a potential elimination game, given that both Seattle and L.A. are currently 4-4.
Regardless, all three games should be significant. Impactful. Consequential.
And they’ll more than make up for the Christmas Eve game, which has the 2-5 Texans at the 2-6 Eagles.
