The kicking competition for the Green Bay Packers got off to a rocky start Thursday morning at Ray Nitschke Field.
Not only did Mason Crosby miss the camp’s opening practice with an injury, but Sam Ficken – who was added to the roster to prove legitimate competition for Crosby this offseason – missed two of his six field goal attempts.
Coach Matt LaFleur revealed that Crosby sat out Thursday with a calf injury. The issue isn’t expected to be serious.
In fact, Crosby told Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com that the team was “just being cautious” with the injury, which occurred during training after the team’s minicamp in June.
His challenger didn’t exactly take advantage of the opportunity.
According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, Ficken missed wide right from 39 and 43 yards out without a defense on the field.
Over two games with the Rams last season, Ficken made 1 of 3 field goals and all 10 extra point attempts. He’s connected on 3 of 6 field goals in his NFL career and will need an impressive summer to beat out Crosby for the job.
Crosby, who turns 35 in September, made 30 of 37 field goal attempts last season. He’s missed 11 of 56 attempts the last two seasons.
