Rams release veteran K Brett Maher after 3 missed kicks in loss to Steelers
The Los Angeles Rams released veteran kicker Brett Maher on Tuesday, two days after he missed three significant kicks in Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 33-year-old joined the Rams after training camp Aug. 30. He was signed in the offseason to replace Matt Gay, who inked a four-year, $22.5 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts during free agency.
With the Rams, Maher went 17-for-23 on field-goal attempts. All of his misses came from kicks 46 yards or longer. His final misses broke down to a 53-yard attempt that hit the left upright during the first quarter, a wide left 51-yard field goal attempt in the third and an errant extra point.
Rams head coach Sean McVay was blunt when asked about Maher's future after the game:
"We'll look at it, and we'll see," McVay said. "He's got to be better. That's seven points that we missed out on that were key and critical for the momentum of the game and the type of game that it was."
Maher's two other most-recent missed kicks over 50 yards occurred in a Week 4 win over the Colts. His errors against the Colts and Steelers all took place in covered stadiums without the influence of wind.
The five-year veteran landed with the Rams a day after he was cut by the Denver Broncos, but he is most known for his third stint in Dallas. Maher made headlines last season when he missed four extra-point attempts in an NFC wild-card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That outing made him the first player in recorded NFL history to miss so many attempts.
Los Angeles signed former Colts kicker Lucas Havrisik off the Cleveland Browns practice squad after formally parting ways with Maher. Havrisik, 24, is already familiar with some of his new team's staff, as he played for Rams assistant special teams coach Jeremy Springer during their shared time at the University of Arizona.
