By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The Los Angeles Rams benched kicker Joshua Karty, a Western Alamance alum, for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.
With the NFL’s worst field-goal unit, the Rams brought in kicker Harrison Mevis to compete with Karty, while long snapper Jake McQuaide was summoned as an option instead of Alex Ward. Ward joined Karty on the inactive list for the 42-26 road victory in Santa Clara, California.
Karty, a second-year pro, is 10 of 15 on field goals and 23 of 26 on extra points this season. He missed from 39 yards on a field goal and was 4-for-5 on extra points November 2 in a 34-10 home victory against the New Orleans Saints, prompting the shakeup.
Rams coach Sean McVay said: “Think it’s important to be able to have good competition at some spots that we feel like we can have improved play.”
Karty, in an Associated Press story last week, said: “We’ve had a struggling room, myself included, kind of recently, and we’re trying to make improvements. And it’s one step at a time.”
Mevis is a former college kicker for Missouri and never attempted an NFL kick until Sunday, when he was 6-for-6 on extra points. He didn’t attempt a field goal. McQuaide’s background includes 10 previous seasons in the Rams organization.
The Rams (7-2) have a four-game winning streak with a home game vs. Seattle next.
