With the struggles of kicker Josh Lambo bleeding into Week 3, the Jacksonville Jaguars finally added some competition for the veteran. On Monday, they signed third-year kicker Matthew Wright to their practice squad, who once was a collegiate player just south of Jacksonville at Central Florida.
Wright, 25, entered the league in 2019 as an undrafted rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers but was waived during final cuts. After playing for the XFL’s Tampa Bay Vipers the following year, he got a second chance with the Steelers in the late part of 2020 (Weeks 13, 16, and 17).
While with Pittsburgh, Wright saw his only time on the field in an NFL regular season, and he took advantage of it by going 4-of-4 on his field-goal attempts and 7-of-7 on extra-point attempts. Wright’s longest kick during that stint was a 34-yarder (against Washington), though, so he has yet to register a field goal that’s 35 yards or longer.
As for Lambo, he didn’t get the opportunity to kick any field goals Sunday against Arizona but did miss 2-of-3 extra-point attempts. That only made fans and the staff more concerned as he was already 0-of-3 on field-goal attempts throughout the first two games.
As a result of another rough day for Lambo, the Jags pretty much had no choice but to bring in competition. When asked about it, Jags coach Urban Meyer said it wasn’t about Lambo’s work ethic, but more about not getting kicks through the field goal post.
“I haven’t seen him yet today,” Meyer said on Monday when asked if he’s spoken to the veteran. “We’re coming in here at 2:30 for a team meeting and I don’t believe I talked to him after the game. But I told you, the one thing I respect about him [is] he’s as hard working if not the hardest working specialist I’ve ever had. But there’s also the reality, you have to make kicks. There’s nothing about attitude, nothing about work ethic, but reality is that ball has to go through the uprights.”
It’s unknown if the Jags will give Lambo another shot during “Thursday Night Football,” but after three weeks of struggles, something will have to change soon.