The Los Angeles Rams have signed kicker Tanner Brown to their practice squad after Joshua Karty suffered an injury in the team’s Week 2 blowout loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Brown and Karty were in competition for the starting kicker job for much of the offseason. But in mid-August, the Rams waived Brown and gave the job to Karty. Brown went unsigned through the start of the season with every team solidified in their depth chart.
Karty was selected by the Rams in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, meaning they were always likely to start the player they used a pick on. He had proven them right so far, going 3-for-3 on both field goals and extra points. His career long as of now is 41 yards.
Brown, meanwhile, has still never kicked in an NFL game after being an undrafted free agent. He was signed by the Rams and waived in August. And although he is now on the practice squad, head coach Sean McVay still sees it as unlikely that he’ll be used, as Karty could be available for Week 3.
“A little mild groin [injury] where we’ll kind of keep him out for the next couple of days, but he should be good for the game.”
The extremely short-handed Rams face the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon and given their struggles offensively, they can really use a reliable kicker to help them stay in the game.
Rapidly growing list of Rams expected to miss time
Joshua Karty’s injury being minor prevents the Rams from having an almost comically long injury list. Through two weeks, the Rams have already lost a significant portion of their starters on offense.
On defense, John Johnson III is the only major player that has been injured and is expected to miss time outside of Darious Williams. But the offense has seen Joe Noteboom, Steve Avila, Jonah Jackson, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua for large portions of the season. Avila, Nacua and Noteboom are already on IR, with Kupp and Jackson expected to miss at least more than one week.
