The Detroit Lions are riding with former Michigan Panthers standout Jake Bates as the kicker. Based on what Detroit special teams coach Dave Fipp indicated after Monday night’s practice, the team is prepared to ride or die with the unproven Bates.
Fipp is a strong believer that the ride will end up being a great one, even if there are some bumps along the way.
Those bumps have been big ones throughout Bates’ tenure in Detroit. He had a three-day stretch of practices where he did not make even 60 percent of his field goal attempts and also missed two extra points. Bates’ work on kickoffs has also been all over the field, with inconsistent placement and an oddly high number of mis-hits for a former soccer player.
Bates did iron out the accuracy on the field goals lately. He rammed home a dead solid perfect 53-yarder in the preseason opener in New York — in the rain, no less. While he did follow that up with a mis-hit on the kickoff that resulted in a costly penalty, Bates continues to build his confidence. He ended Sunday’s practice with a 64-yarder that was also a no-doubter.
Fipp sees that confidence and believes in fostering it.
“Obviously the big kick (vs. the Giants) helped,” Fipp said after Monday’s practice, an evening where Bates did not miss any attempts. “I think the biggest thing for him is getting a little bit better — and it’s really every player, and it’s easy for me to say that — but it really is the truth.
You don’t have to go out there and make every kick. Nobody’s going to do that. What you do have to do is show incremental improvement. And I think as long as you’re developing as a player in this league, you’ve got a chance.”
Asked about how an inexperienced kicker like Bates, who never kicked a field goal in college, can get that incremental improvement, Fipp responded,
“I think a lot of it is repetition. And that kind of hurt him early; he didn’t have the whole offseason with us. We picked him up right as the offseason (minicamp and OTAs) ended … he got a little work in but not that much.”
Since Lions kicker Michael Badgley suffered a season-ending hamstring injury, Bates has been the only kicker in camp. That’s by design, according to Fipp.
“It’s terrible that Badgley’s not here, but in a way for (Bates) it’s helped because it’s increased his workload. And that was part of the decision not to bring someone else in.”
The Lions did host workouts for a few free agent kickers, but Fipp believes in Bates’ huge leg and that more reps will make him much more accurate and consistent. When asked a similar question about bringing in other kickers, Fipp reiterated that point.
“We’ve got a super talented guy,” Fipp said.
The always cheerful Fipp ended his thoughts on Bates with three words:
“Improving, confidence, repetition.”