Tag: Giorgio Tavecchio

Titans’ Mike Vrabel: Stephen Gostkowski is the kicker ‘as of right now’

The Titans do have another option at kicker for Week 11.

The Tennessee Titans once again have a problem with their kicker in 2020, as Stephen Gostkowski has been the model of inconsistency and has missed a league-high eight field goal attempts this season.

Gostkowski’s most recent miss came in Week 10 and stopped the Titans from pulling to within one score when they were trailing 27-17 in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

As head coach Mike Vrabel noted on Monday when speaking to the media, the Titans do have another option on their practice squad in Giorgio Tavecchio, who was signed by the team last week.

However, Vrabel says that “as of right now” Tennessee is sticking with Gostkowski, according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.

“As of today, right now, we have one (kicker) on the practice squad, Tavecchio, who is kicking,” Vrabel said. “But as of Monday, at 10:36, Stephen would be our kicker as of right now.”

Of course, this could change in the days ahead, as Vrabel’s response certainly doesn’t cement Gostkowski’s status moving forward.

The Titans do have the option of making Gostkowski inactive and elevating Tavecchio from the practice squad for the Week 11 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

With this approach, the Titans could give Tavecchio a look while also being able to hold on to the veteran kicker just in case Tavecchio doesn’t work out.

With the way Gostkowski has played through nine games, this is an avenue the team should explore.

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Tennessee Titans add three players to practice squad

The Titans have add some insurance for Stephen Gostkowski.

The Tennessee Titans added three players to their practice squad on Tuesday ahead of the Week 10 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.

According to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online, the three players that have been added are kicker Giorgio Tavecchio, offensive lineman Daniel Munyer and defensive lineman Miles Brown. Both Tavecchio and Brown recently had tryouts with the Titans.

Kicker Tucker McCann, who has been on the team’s practice squad all season, was recently placed on the practice squad/injured list, so the addition of Tavecchio gives the Titans some insurance behind Stephen Gostkowski.

Tavecchio has played in 19 career games (16 with the Oakland Raiders in 2018 and three with the Atlanta Falcons in 2019) and has a career field goal success rate of 80.8 percent. He has missed just one of his 42 extra point attempts.

Munyer is a familiar face and returns after the Titans waived him on Saturday. Brown has nine games of NFL experience, all of which came with the Arizona Cardinals in 2019. He totaled four combined tackles (two solo, two for loss) in 123 snaps last season.

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Titans to hold tryouts with 5 players, including 2 kickers

The Titans are exploring their options at the kicker position.

The Tennessee Titans are apparently exploring their options at the kicker position, as the team is set to hold a tryout with two kickers among five players the team is bringing in.

According to the league’s transactions wire, the Titans will be taking a look at kickers Sam Sloman and Giorgio Tavecchio. In addition to those players, Tennessee will also be trying out nose tackle Miles Brown, defensive tackle P.J. Johnson and punter Austin Rehkow.

It makes sense for the Titans to at least take a look at what’s out there at kicker, as Stephen Gostkowski has been the model of inconsistency this season and Tennessee’s only insurance policy is a rookie on the practice squad in Tucker McCann.

Sloman has played in seven games during his career, all of which came this season with the Los Angeles Rams, who waived him prior to Week 8. He was 8-for-11 on field goal attempts and 18-for-21 on extra point tries. His long field goal was from 42 yards out and he missed his only attempt of 50-plus yards.

Tavecchio has more experience than Sloman having played in 19 games during his career; however, he hasn’t played a snap since 2018. For his career, Tavecchio has made 21-of-26 field goal tries and 41-of-42 extra points. He’s 5-for-6 from 50-plus yards and 5-for-7 from 40-plus yards.

Rehkow is the fifth punter the Titans will try out with Brett Kern dealing with a wrist injury, as they are also taking a look at Ryan Allen, Dustin Colquitt, Lachlan Edwards and Trevor Daniel.

The team parted ways with 2019 UDFA Isaiah Mack recently, so it comes as no surprise that a pair of defensive linemen are also in the mix for tryouts.

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Giants worked out several kickers on Tuesday

The New York Giants worked out several kickers on Tuesday, but reportedly informed them they intended to give Aldrick Rosas one more week.

New York Giants kicker Aldrick Rosas has missed at least one field goal or point after attempt in five consecutive games, became the first Giants kicker to miss two or more field goals in a game since 2005 and is statistically among the worst in football entering Week 13.

Despite that, head coach Pat Shurmur has appeared somewhat committed to his struggling kicker — a player who he is openly fond of — telling reporters on Monday they are focused on helping Rosas improve.

“I’m sure if we do bring any kickers in, it’ll be made public. Certainly, it’s unacceptable to miss the kicks like we did. But I think it’s important that the guys that are here continue to improve. In all areas, become more consistent with what they do. I think that’s the focus with Aldrick at this point,” Shurmur said on a conference call.

Although Rosas seems to have a lengthy leash, the Giants did let him know on Tuesday that he’s gotta step it up by working out a handful of kickers, including Giorgio Tavecchio, Blair Walsh, Austin MacGinnis and Cole Hedlund.

After the workouts, the Giants reportedly told the kickers they would not be signed but to stay by their phones because a call could come in sometime next week.

The pressure is clearly on Rosas at this point, so he, Zak DeOssie and Riley Dixon need to get things figured out. If he has another bad miss against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, that could end up being all she wrote.

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