The Rams played almost all of Sunday’s 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals with their punter handling the kicks. Blake Grupe, signed last week to replace Harrison Mevis, made a 44-yard field goal in his Rams debut, then hurt his knee pushing Devin Duvernay out of bounds at the Arizona 47 after a 40-yard kickoff return.
With Ethan Evans as the only option, Sean McVay went for two after Blake Corum’s 15-yard touchdown catch in the first half, and Matthew Stafford fumbled after a blindside hit from Josh Sweat. Evans later made the first placekick of his NFL career, an extra point with 47 seconds left that put Los Angeles ahead 16-15. Chad Ryland answered with his sixth field goal, a 43-yarder as time expired. Arizona never scored a touchdown and still left SoFi Stadium with the win.
The Rams placed Grupe on injured reserve on Monday, and McVay said he tore an ACL and that the team was weighing different options at the position.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported same day that the Rams will work out veteran kickers Brandon McManus and Matt Prater on Tuesday, a pair with more than three decades of combined NFL experience.
In 2014, the Denver Broncos traded a seventh-round pick to the New York Giants for McManus while Prater served a four-game suspension, then released Prater on Oct. 3 and kept McManus. Prater was coming off a 25-of-26 season that included a 64-yard field goal, the NFL record at the time. McManus stayed in Denver for nine seasons. Twelve years later, the two are auditioning for the same job again.
The #Rams are working out veteran kickers Brandon McManus and Matt Prater tomorrow, sources say. Over three decades of NFL experience combined between the two as Sean McVay & Co. look for a replacement for the injured Blake Grupe. https://t.co/7mET6YHXeB
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 19, 2026
What do Brandon McManus and Matt Prater have left?
Prater, 42, kicked for the Buffalo Bills in 2025 and went 18-of-20 on field goals in the regular season. One of those makes was the 82nd of his career from 50 yards or longer, an NFL record.
He is at the moment a free agent.
McManus, 35, made 44 of 51 field goals over two seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He missed two field goals and an extra point in Green Bay’s wild-card loss to the Chicago Bears in January, and the Packers released him in May after drafting Florida kicker Trey Smack in the sixth round.
Prater’s 18-of-20 season in Buffalo came the same year McManus went 24-of-30 in Green Bay, a drop from his 20-of-21 showing in 2024. McManus is seven years younger, and whichever kicker the Rams choose has to be ready for Sunday’s game at Las Vegas.
Mevis was released after he missed one field goal and had another blocked in the Rams’ Week 5 overtime loss to Buffalo. Whoever signs this week would be the Rams’ third kicker in three games, after Grupe lasted less than a quarter of Week 6.
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