The Los Angeles Rams are officially in panic mode after suffering an ugly 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6. With a 2-4 record, the presumed Super Bowl favorite entering the season is trending in the wrong direction, and it’s becoming abundantly clear that changes need to be made.
Entering this game, the Rams were rolling with a new kicker, Blake Grupe, after Harrison Mevis was released in the wake of their overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 5. Grupe didn’t even make it through a quarter of action with L.A. before he was forced out of the game with a knee injury, which prompted L.A. to make a roster move involving him.
Rams Place Blake Grupe on Injured Reserve
Special teams has been a longstanding issue for Los Angeles, and that has stood true to begin the 2026 campaign. Mevis took over as the Rams’ kicker midway through last season, but after hitting just five of his nine field goal attempts through his first five games this season (which included a pair of misses against the Bills), the team opted to move on from him.
Mevis’ replacement ended up being Grupe, who had spent the beginning of the season on the New York Jets practice squad. Early on against the Cardinals, Grupe seemed to indicate that he was a significant upgrade over Mevis, as he easily converted a 44-yard field goal on his first kick for his new team.
On the ensuing kickoff, though, Grupe badly hurt himself when attempting to tackle Devin Duvernay, and he was quickly ruled out of the game with a knee injury, forcing Los Angeles to get through the rest of the game without a kicker. It looks like the team will have to find a new kicker for the second straight week, as Grupe was placed on injured reserve Monday afternoon.
LA Rams Transactions: Reserve/Injured K Blake Grupe,” the team announced in a post on X.
Rams Must Immediately Find a Replacement for Blake Grupe
It’s been a comedy of errors for L.A. when it comes to special teams, but unlike in years past, its issues go beyond just this unit. The offense cannot consistently string together scoring drives, and the defense hasn’t been the sort of game-changing unit everyone was expecting it to be. Put everything together, and you have one of the most disappointing teams in the entire league through the first six weeks of action.
While the San Francisco 49ers are running away with the NFC West division in the early going, the Rams have way too much talent to be ruled out of the running for a playoff spot just yet. They have a lot of work to do, though, and it starts with finding a new kicker, as Grupe will miss four games at the very least. Los Angeles will be back in action in Week 7 for what will be a tougher-than-expected matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Rams Announce Roster Move Involving Injured Kicker After Week 6 Loss