The New England Patriots have gotten solid play from kicker Mike Nugent, who stepped in for injured kicker Stephen Gostkowski (IR). Nugent has been 8 of 9 on extra points and 2 of 3 on field goals. But the Patriots seem to be doing their due diligence. They invited five kickers in for workouts this week, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
Those workouts included kickers Nick Folk, Greg Joseph, Austin MacGinnis, Austin Rehkow and Giorgio Tavecchio, per ESPN.
The Patriots’ scouting efforts are notable after they released kicker Younghoe Koo from the practice squad on Wednesday. He seemed like the team’s emergency option at kicker.
The Patriots have managed Nugent’s workload carefully, as they seem to have trended toward trying to complete 4th downs when they pass the 50-yard line. It’s not clear if those decisions are based upon Nugent’s range or not.
Considering Nugent’s history of missing extra points — he was 23 of 29 in 2016 when he last started the season with the starting kicking job in Cincinnati — the Patriots are wise to keep an eye on a few replacement kickers.
