Rams release kicker Harrison Mevis, sign K Blake Grupe off Jets' practice squad

Rams head coach Sean McVay fumed over his special teams costing his team the game against the Bills on Monday night. 

A day later, a few of those gaffes on special teams have cost Harrison Mevis his job. 

Los Angeles is releasing the kicker and signing Blake Grupe off the Jets' practice squad to replace him, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported on Tuesday. 

McVay confirmed in his Tuesday news conference that the Rams released Mevis and added Grupe. He added that special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone's job is safe.

“I have a lot of confidence in Bubba Ventrone," McVay said. "There’s no changes that are gonna be made there. We’re gonna keep working. This isn’t the first time that we’ve had adversity and the first time that we’ve had some different things that I have to do a better job of.”

Mevis, affectionately known as the "Thiccer Kicker," did not gain the affection of fans through his performance thus far this season.

After going 12 of 13 on field-goal attempts and a perfect 39 for 39 on extra points during the 2025 campaign, Mevis has struggled mightily in his second NFL season. Although he's made all 14 point-after tries, he's missed four of his nine field goals, including two misses in L.A.'s overtime loss to Buffalo. 

His first miss was on a 50-yarder during the Rams' opening drive, which allowed the Bills to keep a 3-0 lead. Mevis connected on his next four extra-point attempts, but disaster struck again when Buffalo's Gregory Rousseau blocked his 48-yard game-winning try in overtime. That kicking misadventure was as much on Los Angeles' linemen letting Rousseau surge through as it was on Mevis, but the ball's trajectory did appear a bit low and to the left.

Grupe, 27, was claimed off waivers by New York following August's roster cutdown day, but was moved to the practice squad and did not kick for the Jets this season. He previously played for the Saints and Colts, and sports an 81.9 field-goal percentage with 98.0% accuracy on extra points over three seasons.

The responsibility now falls to him to help rectify Los Angeles' kicking woes.