The Los Angeles Rams announced a pair of practice squad transactions, terminating running back Darrell Henderson and signing long snapper Alex Matheson in his place. Henderson leaves the Rams after another short tenure with the team due to injuries to their starting running back core.
Henderson was the first to make his way past the practice squad and to the active roster when both Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers got hurt against the Arizona Cardinals all the way back in Week 6. Henderson joined Royce Freeman and Myles Gaskin, among others, as replacement options. Henderson and Freeman largely led the way during Williams’ four-game absence.
In that time, Henderson rushed for 112 yards with two touchdowns. He also added 10 catches for 103 yards and was moved back to the practice squad when Williams made his return to the field. But now that Rivers is also slated to make a return, Henderson has been removed from the practice squad as well, making him a free agent.
Henderson is in his fifth NFL season, and although he has been in and out of the Rams organization, he has yet to take a snap for any other team in the league.
Meanwhile, the Rams signed Matheson to the practice squad. Matheson is a rookie long snapper out of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. The Rams have had some issues with their kicking unit this season and are bringing in an alternate long snapper just in case.
New kicker Lucas Havrisik is 15-for-20 on field goals in the last eight games, but is 4-for-9 from 40 yards or more. He is 17-for-18 on extra points.
Sean McVay not bringing in another kicker
Rams head coach Sean McVay explained why he is not planning to bring in another kicker to compete with Havrisik.
“That’s not something that we’re interested in right now,” McVay said. “When you look at the whole operation, it’s snap, hold and kick and when you haven’t had Alex Ward, that makes a big difference. He’s done a really good job. And so all of those things go hand in hand. I know the kicker is the one that everybody wants to kind of pin on. Oh, it’s a missed kick because he is the one that gets tagged with the stab. But there’s a lot of layers to it.
“We want look at it and we want to figure out what’s the best way to get our whole operation tighter and those will be things that we’ll look for. But as it relates to Lucas, that’s not something that we’re thinking about right now other than continuing to move forward with him and help him continue to have the best opportunity for success with everything that that process and procedure entails.”
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