LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams’ 2025 special teams woes started in Philadelphia when the Eagles blocked two field goals, one on the last play of the game that was run back for a touchdown, in a 33-26 loss.
After coach Sean McVay put a heightened emphasis on addressing those issues, including bringing in a new special teams coordinator, upgrading personnel and devoting more time to the unit, the progress of that newfound commitment will be tested in a return visit to eastern Pennsylvania on Sunday.
“This is a great challenge,” McVay said. “You look at it every single week, you take anything for granted and you get humbled real quickly.”
Continued struggles following the defeat by Philadelphia led to McVay making multiple in-season changes. He brought in a new kicker, Harrison Mevis, prior to Week 10. Special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn was let go days after a punt return sparked the Seahawks’ comeback that swung the NFC West race and home-field advantage.
Following more critical breakdowns in the NFC championship game loss that ended the Rams’ season, McVay hired Bubba Ventrone in January following successful stints in Cleveland and Indianapolis. Linebacker Grant Stuard, one of the NFL's top special teams contributors, and long snapper Joe Cardona were signed in free agency, with each having previous experience playing under Ventrone. McVay also reallocated time to practicing special teams in training camp and now into the regular season.
“I think it’s just a change of culture and just knowing that we got to (do) a better job in special teams all around,” Mevis said.
“Like, everything’s a process, and it’s just doing the little things right. It comes down to that. And when we start doing little things right, we’re gonna see a lot of good things come out of special teams.”
The early returns have been erratic for the Rams (1-2). Mevis missed his first field-goal attempt of the season against the Giants but made all four tries in a loss to the Broncos on Sunday night. Ventrone described return specialist Xavier Smith’s play as “inconsistent” but also ruled out replacing him right now. A penalty on punt coverage led to a re-kick that gifted Denver 39 yards in field position. Ventrone wants more elevation and hang time from punter Ethan Evans.
“I’d say we’re getting better game to game,” Ventrone said. “I think that the players are becoming more comfortable with my coaching style and, I would say, expectations, and trying to apply our techniques and corrections to the next game, so I think that’s been a good thing over the first three weeks.”
The biggest challenge this week will likely come from the defensive tackle tandem of Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, whose heavy hands and disruptive presences each resulted in a blocked kick in the fourth quarter in last season’s game. Davis took his 61 yards for a exclamation point score after the Eagles (2-1) rallied from a 19-point deficit.
Mevis said blocked field goals are usually the result of low-trajectory kicks or slow execution on the timing of the sequence, “so those two things are a focus, and they’re always a focus. But I know I have one of the faster ops in the league. I’ve always had a faster op, so I feel like I’m at an advantage there.”
“Because of their interior defensive line and the way they do it, they always have a great field goal rush so that certainly is not anything we’re taking for granted,” McVay said.
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Los Angeles Rams kicker Harrison Mevis (92) reacts with Joe Cardona (49) after kicking a field goal against the Denver Broncos during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts pulled up at the International Space Station on Thursday after launching on an eight-hour express that set a U.S. speed record.
The fresh arrivals include a Canadian whose wife will give birth while he’s away.
SpaceX launched commander Jessica Watkins and her crew for NASA after a three-week delay to fix their Dragon capsule’s leaking fuel system. Thick clouds threatened all morning to halt the countdown but in the end, the skies cleared enough to allow for a safe liftoff.
Although their stay at the International Space Station will last a long six months, the flight there was the quickest yet not only for Elon Musk’s company, but any American entity, including NASA. The space station's convenient location when the astronauts launched enabled the fast transit.
With the late morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit. A geologist who worked with NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity a decade ago, Watkins is making her second trip to the space station following a lengthy stay in 2022.
“Thanks for an amazing ride,” Watkins radioed following liftoff.
The others are newcomers to space: NASA’s Luke Delaney, a retired Marine; Canada’s Joshua Kutryk, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force; and Russia’s Sergey Teteryatnikov, a former submariner. They will replace four astronauts who have been living at the orbiting laboratory since February.
This was the 13th crew launched by SpaceX for NASA, not counting 2020's test flight. All four embrace their Crew-13 designation that pays homage in their mission patch to Apollo 13. The harrowing 1970 moonshot ended with the astronauts’ safe return.
References to the number 13 abounded Thursday. Watkins and her crew rode to the launch pad in black Teslas bearing plates that read “Lucky 13.” What's more, they carried up a small crocheted golden dragon named Lucky with a four-leaf clover around its neck.
“We figured it wouldn't hurt to bring a little of our own luck just in case, but clearly we don't need it,” Watkins said from orbit, noting they were “four of the luckiest humans on or off planet Earth.”
Kutryk will become the fourth man to become a father while orbiting Earth. Wife Heather is due to give birth to their third child in late November. The Canadian Space Agency promises plenty of support for the entire family when the big day comes.
“A lot of life-changing things can happen over six months,” NASA manager Dana Weigel said on the eve of liftoff, noting that the space agency will do its best to keep Kutryk looped in to his family.
In 2004, NASA provided a radio link between space station astronaut Mike Fincke and his wife’s delivery room during the birth of their daughter. Five years later, Randy Bresnik, commander of next year’s Artemis III mission, dialed in to his wife’s hospital from orbit.
The happy news traveled more slowly for Austrian astronaut Franz Viehbock. His daughter was born a few hours after he launched to the Soviet Union’s Mir space station in 1991. He was not informed until the next day.
SpaceX, meanwhile, is on a roll. Three hours after Crew-13 blasted off, SpaceX launched a Falcon rocket from California with more than 100 mini satellites. Another Falcon was set to soar late Thursday night from Florida, with a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. All this comes the same week that the company's massive Starship reached orbit for the first time.
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Astronaut Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, waves as he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov onboard, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)
This image taken from video by NASA shows a SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts approaching at the International Space Station, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image taken from video by NASA shows a SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts docking at the International Space Station, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (NASA via AP)
SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase, Texas, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Astronaut Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The booster from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket returns to pad 40 after launching the crew capsule at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia, greets family and friends as he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Pilot Luke Delaney, left, and commander Jessica Watkins leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Commander Jessica Watkins greets family and friends as she leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Astronauts, from left, Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, pilot Luke Delaney, commander Jessica Watkins and Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Astronauts, from left, Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, pilot Luke Delaney, commander Jessica Watkins and Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
