Rams Kicker Blake Grupe Injures Himself on His Debut Moments After a 44-Yard Field Goal
Los Angeles Rams' new kicker Blake Grupe began his debut like a dream and ended it like a nightmare. He capped his first drive with a successful 44-yard field goal, but on the very next kickoff he injured his own knee while making a tackle and had to leave the game.
The previous week had already been dramatic for the Rams' special teams. After Harrison Mevis blew an overtime game-winner against Buffalo, the Rams waived him and signed Blake Grupe as his replacement.
On Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium, Grupe delivered at first, capping the offense's opening drive with a successful 44-yard field goal. It looked, briefly, as if the Rams had solved their kicker problem.
That momentum vanished seconds later on the ensuing kickoff.
Grupe was the last line of defense as Cardinals returner Devin Duvernay broke through the coverage, and the 5-foot-7 kicker aggressively lowered his shoulder to force Duvernay out of bounds at the 47-yard line. The collision left Grupe on all fours, grimacing in pain.
Trainers took Grupe to the blue medical tent before he retreated to the locker room with a knee injury designation. He was ruled doubtful to return.
The injury exit compounds a disastrous stretch for the Rams' special teams. General manager Les Snead had signed Grupe just days earlier after Mevis pushed a 48-yard attempt wide in overtime against the Bills, which cost Los Angeles the game.
One kicker lost his job for a miss, his replacement scored with his first kick, and then that replacement was lost to injury on the next play — an extraordinary swing within a single week for any team.
Following Grupe's exit, punter Ethan Evans began taking reps into the practice net. Evans has zero NFL field goal attempts to his name, making him a risky option.
Without a backup kicker on the active roster, head coach Sean McVay must treat Evans as an emergency-only option and heavily alter his play-calling to feature aggressive fourth-down conversions instead of field goals.
By Monday morning, the front office will likely be hunting for its third kicker in seven days. How serious Grupe's injury is, and how long he will be out, will shape that decision.
The lesson for the Rams is how uncertainty in a single special-teams position can reshape an entire game plan. Grupe, who was about to be the hero of his debut, must now fight to return, while his team fights to find his replacement.
