extra-point attempt

The Rams are no longer kicking the can down the road when it comes to their kicking problems.

On Wednesday, the Rams signed kicker Harrison Mevis to the practice squad to compete with second-year pro Joshua Karty. The move came a day after the team signed veteran long-snapper Jake McQuaide to compete with Alex Ward.

“It’s all geared toward trying to be able to just get some solutions and some kick consistency really with our field-goal operation,” coach Sean McVay said Wednesday. “I think it’s important to have good competition at some spots that we feel we can have improved play.”

The Rams are preparing for their game on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The Rams are 6-2 — and their losses against the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles and the 49ers both resulted from problems in the kicking game that resurfaced without dire consequences in last Sunday’s rout of the New Orleans Saints.

Against the Saints, Karty missed a 39-yard field goal attempt and an extra-point attempt. Karty has made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and 23 of 26 extra-point attempts.

McVay said after the game that the Rams would evaluate “all parts of where we go with this operation.”

On Tuesday, they turned to McQuaide, 37, who played for the Rams from 2011-2020 and was part of a special teams unit that also included kicker Greg Zuerlein and punter/holder Johnny Hekker.

“If all things go well with Jake, we expect him to be our long-snapper,” McVay said.

On Wednesday, they brought in Mevis, who made 89 of 106 field-goal attempts at Missouri, including one from 61 yards. In the United Football League this past season, he made 20 of 21 field-goal attempts.

So Karty and Mevis will duel during expanded special teams drills this week.

“We’ll implement more than we normally would on a Wednesday and a Thursday and truly be able to kind of use it as a competition,” McVay said.

Brian Callahan has the dubious distinction of being the first NFL coach to be fired this season.

The Tennessee Titans announced Monday they were parting ways with their second-year coach after starting the season at 1-5 with rookie quarterback Cam Ward, the top overall pick in April’s draft, under center. Callahan was 4-19 overall.

“While we are committed to a patient and strategic plan to build a sustainable, winning football program, we have not demonstrated sufficient growth,” Chad Brinker, Titans president of football operations, said in a statement. “Our players, fans, and community deserve a football team that achieves a standard we are not currently meeting, and we are committed to making the hard decisions necessary to reach and maintain that standard.”

Callahan, the son of former Oakland Raiders and Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan, was a backup quarterback at Concord De La Salle High School and served in the same role at UCLA from 2002 to 2005. The former walk-on earned a scholarship his senior year, when he became the Bruins’ holder on field goal and extra-point attempts.

Callahan entered the coaching ranks upon graduation, winning a Super Bowl as a Denver Broncos assistant coach in 2015. He went on to become quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, then offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019.

A hot commodity for teams in search of a head coach in 2024, Callahan was among at least nine candidates interviewed by the Chargers (that job ultimately went to former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh) and one of 10 candidates for the Titans job.

Callahan replaced former coach Mike Vrabel, who had been fired after six seasons with the Titans. This weekend, Vrabel will lead the 4-2 New England Patriots into Nashville to play his former team. It remains to be seen who will be on the Titans sideline as interim head coach.

The script is familiar.

Fourth quarter or overtime. Rams trail or are tied. On comes Matthew Stafford.

The veteran quarterback is the master of comebacks.

And he appeared to be on the verge of doing it again on Thursday night against the rival San Francisco 49ers.

But the 49ers stopped running back Kyren Williams on a fourth-and-one play at the 49ers’ 11-yard line, sending the Rams to a 26-23 overtime defeat before 73,652 at SoFi Stadium.

After the game, Rams coach Sean McVay blamed himself for the failed fourth-down run, saying “it was a bad call by me.”

Stafford tossed two touchdown passes to Williams and another to Puka Nacua, but on a night when the Rams’ kicking woes continued, it was not enough to beat an injury-riddled opponent as the Rams fell to 3-2 and wasted an opportunity to take over first place in the NFC West.

Rams kicker Joshua Karty, who last year beat the 49ers with a winning field goal at SoFi Stadium, missed a long field-goal attempt and had an extra-point attempt blocked, the second time that has happened this season. His kickoff in overtime did not reach the landing zone, giving the 49ers the ball at the 40-yard line.

The 49ers improved to 4-1, with victories over the Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West.

McVay this week good-naturedly blamed his late grandfather John McVay for creating so many 49ers fans by helping assemble 49ers teams that won five Super Bowls.

And McVay and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, his former mentor, have squared off for some classic matchups, including the NFC championship game at SoFi Stadium in January 2022.

But these were not the same 49ers — at least on paper.

San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins (95) celebrates with teammates after forcing Rams running back Kyren Williams to fumble at the goal line late in the fourth quarter Thursday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

With quarterback Brock Purdy receiving a massive extension before the season, the 49ers let go of numerous high-profile stars that helped them make two Super Bowl appearances in the last six years.

Even quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is with the Rams.

Journeyman Mac Jones started in place of Purdy, who is nursing a toe injury. Tight end George Kittle, receivers Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings and star defensive end Nick Bosa also did not play.

But the 49ers still prevailed.

Mac Jones completed 33 of 49 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns.

Rams linebacker Jared Verse celebrates after making a tackle in the third quarter against the 49ers on Thursday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Christian McCaffrey caught eight passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 57 yards in 22 carries.

The score was tied 23-23 at the end of regulation after the Rams blew a chance to win when Williams fumbled at the 49ers’ one-yard line — but then tied the score on Karty’s 48-yard field goal with two seconds left.

Piniero’s 41-yard field goal gave the 49ers the lead.

The Rams then drove from their 33 to the 49ers’ 11, where their hopes for a victory ended.