Greg Zuerlein: Los Angeles Rams put Pro Bowler on IR

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- One day after being selected to the NFC Pro Bowl team, the Los Angeles Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein was placed on injured reserve because of a disk injury in his back. He will undergo surgery on Thursday.

Zuerlein has been dealing with the issue all season, but it flared up significantly in Sunday' game against Seattle even though he managed to play through it.

Zuerlein leads the NFL with 158 points and 73 touchbacks on kickoffs. He has made 38 of 40 field-goal attempts with his only misses from 36 and 63 yards. He has made six kicks from 50 or more yards.

The Rams signed Sam Ficken to replace Zuerlein. Ficken was briefly in camp with the Chiefs this past summer when Cairo Santos was first injured.

Ficken won in a tryout that included nine other kickers: Robert Aguayo, Dan Carpenter, Travis Coons, Andrew Franks, Garrett Hartley, Marshall Koehn, Younghoe Koo, Mike Meyer and Jason Myers.

Also part of the tryout were two long snappers, Drew Ferris and Jeff Overbaugh, and two punters that served as holders, Austin Rehkow and Matt Wile.