“Mixed Issues” Los Angeles Rams Star Confirm He wants To Leave For Him To Play

Lucas Havrisik, a failing kicker, has been waived by the Rams.
For Week 18, Havrisik is replaced by Brett Maher, who was previously waived.

(LOS ANGELES) – On Monday, the playoff-bound Rams dismissed struggling kicker Lucas Havrisik, and coach Sean McVay confirmed Brett Maher will return to kick for the Rams nine games after being waived.

 

In the Rams’ 26-25 triumph over the New York Giants on Sunday, Havrisik, a Riverside native, botched two extra point attempts. In nine games with Los Angeles, which signed him in late October, he missed five field goals and three extra points.

The Rams have missed 11 field goals this season, the most by an NFL team since 2015, and their 15 total failed kicks this season are the most in the league.

However, McVay stated on Monday that the Rams reviewed the available kickers and determined that none was a better solution to the season-long problem than Maher, the kicker with whom the problem began.

“There’s options out there, and then there’s guys that have kind of had some familiarity with it,” said McVay.

Maher was dismissed by Los Angeles on Oct. 24 after missing six field-goal tries and an extra point in seven games. Maher is best remembered for missing four extra-point attempts during the Dallas Cowboys’ playoff triumph last season.

McVay admitted last week that the Rams’ struggles in the kicking game have influenced his play-calling on third and fourth downs, compelling a usually conservative coach to be more aggressive.

Despite Havrisik’s mistakes, the Rams held off New York and won their seventh postseason berth in seven seasons under McVay when Seattle lost to Pittsburgh later Sunday.

The Rams were on the verge of replacing Havrisik in early December, but he knocked out veteran Mason Crosby in a practice-week showdown. Crosby later signed with the Giants, but he missed a 54-yard field goal try in the closing minute of Los Angeles’ victory on Sunday.

Matt Gay was one of the NFL’s top kickers for the Rams the previous three seasons, winning a Super Bowl ring and making the Pro Bowl. When Gay became a free agent last winter, the Rams did not use the franchise tag or make a meaningful effort to keep him, and he signed with Indianapolis.