The Los Angeles Rams finally made the move on Friday morning, waiving wide receiver and punt returner Xavier Smith after special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone had insisted just a day earlier that no change was coming.
That timing makes the decision stand out even more. On Thursday, Ventrone was asked point-blank whether the team had thought about replacing Smith at punt returner, and he answered, “No, we have a lot of trust in ‘X’, I really do,” said Ventrone.
“He's put in a lot of time and effort in training camp and obviously moving into the season. I think that he'll do the necessary things to be able to sustain at that position for us.”
But the Rams clearly changed course fast. Less than 24 hours later, Smith was gone.
The move comes after a stretch of uneven play in the return game, where Smith’s reliability was repeatedly in question. Ventrone didn’t exactly hide that concern in the same press conference, either.
“Yeah, I would say overall, he's been inconsistent,” Ventrone said. “We need to do a better job of tracking the ball, judging the ball, fielding the ball when necessary, not fielding it in other situations.”
Smith’s latest stumble was part of a longer pattern. He was responsible for a muffed punt in the NFC Championship Game against the Seattle Seahawks that led to points on the very next play. And through the first three games of this season, his work on both the kick and punt return units lacked consistency, with Smith fielding punts he shouldn’t have and leaving the offense in bad field position.
The Rams had been trying to sort out the role since training camp, when Kyren Williams mixed in at punt return before Smith won the job after a 44-yard return in the first preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Smith had earned a chance before, too.
Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023, he spent his rookie year on the practice squad, then got a real run as the punt returner in 2024. His 38-yard return that season helped set up a game-winning field goal against the San Francisco 49ers.
Still, the last two years told the bigger story: splash plays were there, but steadiness was not. And with the Rams off to a 1-2 start and special teams helping drag them down, the team decided it had seen enough.
Now the question is who handles punts Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Rams could elevate Alex Bachman from the practice squad, or they could simply put Williams back there and ride with him this week while they sort through their options.
However they handle it, the Smith move is a clear admission that what they had been doing on special teams wasn’t working. It won’t fix everything, but it is at least a reset.
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