LOS ANGELES -- The Rams entered this season as Super Bowl favorites, but their special teams unit has been a big part of what has kept Los Angeles' "superteam" from having success.
As Rams head coach Sean McVay tries to fix the issues for the unit in-season, he said he has leaned on a lesson from former Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.
"If it's important enough to you, you'll get it done."
The Rams enter Week 6 with a minus-15.3% special teams DVOA, which would be the worst in history over a full season.
One of the first attempts to fix the unit came Oct. 2 when the Rams cut returner Xavier Smith. The second came Tuesday, when the Rams released kicker Harrison Mevis.
The previous day, Mevis missed a 50-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter of the Rams' loss to the Buffalo Bills and had a potential winning field goal blocked in overtime. The kicks were the fourth and fifth failed kicks by Mevis this season, giving him a 56% field goal rate (5-of-9). That is the lowest field goal percentage in the NFL.
The Rams replaced Mevis with Blake Grupe, whom they signed off of the New York Jets' practice squad.
"Ultimately, we need better production, and that's what we're hoping to get [from] Blake," McVay said.
Grupe split his 2025 season with the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. Grupe, who spent the first 45 games of his career with the Saints, was cut after going 18-of-26 on field goals with New Orleans in 2025.
He spent the final five games with the Colts, where he made all 11 of his field goal attempts and all 10 extra points.
Grupe called that time in Indianapolis "a big stint in my career," saying he was able to show what he could do.
"I hit the ground running," Grupe said. "We had a rainy game in Jacksonville, so it definitely wasn't an easy first one, but we got out there, we got to work, got the ball rolling.
"Those five weeks in Indy were seriously big for me, big for my career."
The kicking woes are not an issue isolated to this season. The Rams have a 77.2 field goal percentage over the past four seasons, the second worst in NFL over that span, according to ESPN Research.
"There's a lot that goes into special teams," Grupe said. "Guys got to cover. We got to put the ball where it's supposed to be. You've got to have elite specialists play to be elite on special teams. So I feel like I can do that.
"There's a lot of things that we can do on kickoff and bring some consistency in the field goal game."
Special teams have played a significant role in five of the Rams' nine losses since the start of last season, including the playoffs. After the Rams allowed a 58-yard punt return touchdown that sparked a 16-point comeback by the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16, McVay fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn.
"There are so many different things that you're trying to be able to fix, and then sometimes other problems open up," McVay said. "I felt like that field goal operation was trending in the right direction after all the work. I think we did some good things. I liked the way that we were protecting. Obviously, we can't give up the 'swim sea' area against a player like [Bills outside linebacker Greg] Rousseau in that moment [Monday] night.
"You just have to lean in, and you have to be able to identify what are the problems? Let's provide some tangible solutions, and let's ultimately be able to bring it to life for the players."
And although the Rams are 2-3 through their first five games of the season, four of their games (and all three of their losses) came to 2025 playoff teams.
Now, they face a stretch that should be easier: In the Rams' next five games, they play the 1-4 Arizona Cardinals twice, the 3-2 Las Vegas Raiders, 0-5 Los Angeles Chargers and the 1-3-1 Washington Commanders. According to ESPN Analytics, their Week 6 through 10 schedule is the easiest five-game span of any team this season.
"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," McVay said of the special teams unit. "We'll lean in. We'll go back to work. We'll use these as growth opportunities."
