The New England Patriots’ have managed an irregular level of turnover at kicker in 2019, with Nick Folk getting cut on Friday after getting appendicitis.
In years past, coach Bill Belichick has enjoyed the luxury of having what he has previously called two of the best kickers in the history of the NFL: Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski. But that comfortable streak of talent at the position seems to have taken a pause.
The Patriots put Gostkowski on injured reserve earlier this season with a hip injury before signing kicker Mike Nugent to the active roster and Younghoe Koo to the practice squad. The Patriots released Koo after a week, and then parted ways with Nugent after four games when he hit 5 of 8 field goals and 15 of 16 extra points. That’s when they brought in Folk, whose stint in New England seemed to be going well — until he needed surgery on his appendix. The Patriots released him on Friday and signed Kai Forbath.
During a press conference, Belichick was asked whether the situation has been challenging for the Patriots.
“It has, but that’s — the other teams in the league have gone through and we’ve gone through it at the position,” Belichick said on Friday. “It’s not what you want. It’s not ideal, but we’ll keep going.”
Belichick wouldn’t say whether the Patriots will bring back Folk when he’s healthy enough to return from surgery. He had hit 7 of 9 field goal attempts with a long of 44 while completing all three of his extra point attempts. While Folk seemed like the reliable option the Patriots needed — even with an apparently limited range — New England will turn to Forbath, who they worked out earlier this season when Gostkowski went on IR.
Forbath played three games in 2019 with the Jaguars, where he was 4 of 5 on field goals and 3 of 3 on extra points. The Patriots will have to quickly acclimate to Forbath, who will have a different timing than Folk, which impacts his snapper and holder. Belichick will also have to adjust to Forbath’s range and comfort in inclement weather — that will inform the coach’s in-game decisions on fourth down. And they’ll have to do it quickly, with a game on Sunday night in Houston.