Jets to debut a new kicker vs. the Texans after placing struggling Greg Zuerlein on injured reserve

Almost everything is wrong with the New York Jets right now. The team isn’t ignoring at least one area of weakness, however, with plans to debut a new kicker Thursday night against the Houston Texans.

Two days after hosting six different free-agent kickers for workouts, the team is signing both Riley Patterson and Spencer Shrader to its practice squad, and should promote one of them for Thursday’s Week 9 game. As for the struggling Greg Zuerlein, he was officially placed on injured reserve with his knee injury.

“The beauty of the kicking [game],” Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said on Monday, “is you don’t need the rest that the rest of these guys … need, so we’ll have a competition, bring some guys in, and the best guy will play on Thursday.”

Patterson began his NFL career with the Detroit Lions, hitting 13 of 14 field goals as an undrafted rookie in 2021, and he returned to Motown for a 13-game stint in 2023. He’s also kicked for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Shrader went undrafted out of Notre Dame this year and spent the offseason with the Indianapolis Colts.

The 36-year-old Zuerlein, who will take a back seat at the position, once enjoyed a stretch as one of the NFL’s strongest legs, earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods with the Los Angeles Rams back in 2017. He was also reliable for the Jets in 2023, his first year with the team, hitting 35 of 38 (or 92%) of his field goal tries. This season has been a different story, with Zuerlein missing six of 15 attempts during New York’s 2-6 start.