Sean McVay Backs Los Angeles Rams Kicker Lucas Havrisik After Shaky Game: 'He Can Rebound!'

Despite two misses against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Los Angeles Rams kicker Lucas Havrisik still has his coach's trust.

The Los Angeles Rams have been a pretty inconsistent team this season, but one thing that has been consistent is their struggles at kicker.

L.A. initially rolled out veteran kicker Brett Maher, but cut him after seven underwhelming games. In his place came Lucas Havrisik, who started out well enough but has shown some cracks of his own. In four games, Havrisik has made five of seven field goals and four of five extra points, but two of those misses came in Sunday's win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Despite Havrisik's shaky performance on Sunday, coach Sean McVay still has the utmost confidence in his new kicker.

Lucas Havrisik during a preseason game with the Indianapolis Colts in August / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

“I think you got to be able to learn from it. I like his resolve," McVay said on The Coach McVay Show. "There is a lot of things to really like about him and what we’ve seen in a short amount of time and the confidence, the swagger. Just the overall ability where the ball jumps off his leg."

Before this season, the Rams had been blessed with quality kicking for the past few years. Matt Gay made 92.5 percent of his field goals during his time in L.A. from 2020 to 2022, while Greg Zuerlien was a first-team All-Pro for the Rams after making 95 percent of his field goals in 2017, the best of his eight seasons with the club.

While the results aren't there for Havrisik yet, McVay sees some of the same qualities in him that made those other kickers so successful.

“You’re talking about two guys that have done it at a really high level that we were fortunate enough to have here," McVay said. "The more that you do this, the more you realize you don’t ever want to take for granted some of the consistency and the production at a position like that that we’ve been so fortunate to have as it relates to Greg and Matt. And I think Lucas has a chance to be in alignment with that conversation, but let’s respond the right way as we move forward into next week.”

It's important to remember that Havrisik is getting his first taste of regular-season action this year. He spent most of his rookie season as a free agent after getting cut by the Indianapolis Colts, and then spent most of this season on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad before signing with the Rams in late October.

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Regardless of circumstances, though, the Rams must get greater consistency out of their kicking game in order to make a late-season playoff push. Despite Havrisik's recent struggles, McVay believes that he can be the one to provide that consistency.