For the third time in three weeks, the New York Jets are going to have a new kicker. Riley Patterson held the job in Week 9, but he won’t be on the field in Week 10 after being released on Friday.
The move is somewhat surprising considering Patterson is coming off a game where he made all of his kicks. During New York’s 21-13 win over the Houston Texans in Week 9, Patterson didn’t get to attempt any field goals, but he did go 3-for-3 on extra points.
The Jets likely moved on because Patterson didn’t have the power they wanted to see on kickoffs. In eight games with Greg Zuerlein, the Jets only had five kicks returned, but in one game with Patterson, they had four.
With Patterson out, the Jets signed Anders Carlson to their practice squad. Carlson had been with the 49ers, but he was released this week after San Francisco got Jake Moody back from injury. During his two-game stint with the Niners, Carlson hit all five of his field goals with a long of 55 yards, but he did only hit 75% of his extra points (3 of 4).
The Jets will be facing the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday and they’ll have to make a decision about who the kicker is going to be. Besides Carlson, the team also has Spencer Shrader on the practice squad. However, Shrader has never attempted a field goal in a regular season game and it won’t be surprising if the Jets let Carlson kick this week, just because he has more experience.
The team’s revolving door at kicker started in Week 8 after the team placed Zuerlein on injured reserve. Before being placed on IR, Zuerlein ranked dead last in the NFL with a field accuracy rate of just 60%. If he hadn’t gotten injured, the Jets might have ended up moving on from him anyway. Zuerlein gave way to Patterson, who is now giving way to Carlson or Shrader.
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