NFL Player News

Rams head coach Sean McVay said Monday that Zuerlien (groin) would be out "at least a few weeks," Rich Hammond of The Orange County Register reports.

Zuerlein injured his groin during pregame warmups ahead of Sunday's victory over the Cardinals, forcing punter Johnny Hekker into an emergency placekicking role. Hekker hit his only try from 20 yards out, but he won't be tasked with kicking responsibilities any longer after the Rams signed Sam Ficken on Monday. Zuerlein, who was a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro selection last season, will avoid injured reserve for the time being and will presumably resume his regular kicking duties once his groin has fully healed.

The Browns will release Gonzalez (groin) following his early-season struggles, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

With Gonzalez struggling out of the gate, team moved on from the 2017 seventh-rounder Monday by adding Greg Joseph, who spent the preseason with the Dolphins in the wake of a strong college career at Florida Atlantic.

Carlson was waived by the Vikings on Monday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports.

This news is hardly surprising after Carlson missed three field goals in Sunday's tie with Green Bay -- a game in which Carlson missed a potential game-winner from 35 yards out in overtime. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that the Vikings are expected to sign veteran Dan Bailey to replace him.

Prater converted both of his field-goal attempts and all three PATs during Sunday's 30-27 loss to the 49ers.

Prater bounced back from a forgettable performance in the season opener that saw the kicker miss from distances of 44 and 55 yards. In this one, Prater's longest connection was from only 43 yards, but he had plenty of power behind it and the kick likely would have been good from further out. More importantly, Prater showed why fantasy owners should still keep faith in him. After all, the Lions have been a top-12 team in field-goal attempts each of the past two seasons, and Prater has converted at least 86 percent of them each year.

Joseph is signing with the Browns, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports.

The Browns brought Joseph in for a workout Monday in the wake of Zane Gonzalez's brutal showing during Sunday's three-point loss to the Saints. Joseph, an undrafted rookie out of Florida Atlantic, went three-for-three with the Dolphins this preseason -- notably connecting on attempts from 48 and 54 yards -- and will now take over kicking duties for the Browns. It's not advisable to consider him a starting fantasy option out of the gate, though it's worth keeping in mind that Cleveland is tied with the fourth-most field-goal attempts through the first two weeks of the 2018 campaign.

Gonzalez will undergo an MRI to evaluate his groin injury Monday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Gonzalez played with an injured groin that likely impacted him Sunday, when he missed two field goals and two extra points in a three-point loss to New Orleans. At this point, he appears to be in line for the waiver wire with an injury designation or placement on injured reserve as Cleveland looks to improve at the position.

Sturgis connected on his only field-goal attempt and also made all four of his extra-point attempts in the 31-20 win over the Bills on Sunday.

Sturgis' lone field-goal attempt was from 24 yards, so he obviously wasn't asked to do too much in this contest. With a difficult Week 3 matchup against the Rams on tap, Sturgis might struggle to see many kicking opportunities once again.

Maher connected on both his field-goal attempts (37 and 29 yards) and both his extra points in Sunday night's win over the Giants.

It was a solid bounce-back performance after his shaky NFL debut in Week 1, when he missed his only kick. Maher figures to get a long leash to prove he can fill Dan Bailey's cleats, and Maher's job security likely improved in Week 2 if only because the free-agent ranks figure to be depleted after a number of kicking disasters around the league.

Lutz was 2-for-3 on field goals and was successful on his only extra-point attempt in Sunday's win against the Browns.

Lutz missed from 44 yards out in the second quarter, but he converted a 31-yard kick in the first quarter and the game-winning 44-yarder in the final minute of regulation. Although the Saints struggled for most of the game against an improved Browns defense, the team should continue to provide plenty of scoring opportunities, giving Lutz a solid floor in most fantasy leagues.

Zuerlein (groin) is not expected to be placed on injured reserve at this point, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The Rams could ultimately decide to place Zuerlein on injured reserve at some point if his health does not improve, but the early indication is that his setback is not a long-term injury. The Rams do have at least mild concern about Zuerlein's setback though, as the team is expected to re-sign fellow kicker Sam Ficken at some point this week.