Texans kicker – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Report: Texans K Ka’imi Fairbairn expected to miss 49ers game

Houston Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn is expected to miss the preseason finale against the San Francisco 49ers.

The Houston Texans will be without Ka’imi Fairbairn when they take on the San Francisco 49ers in the preseason finale at NRG Stadium Aug. 25.

According to Aaron Wilson from the Pro Football Network, the Texans’ kicker is dealing with a short-term injury. As a result, the Texans are working out former New York Jets kicker Matt Ammendola.

Ammendola played 11 games for the Jets last season, making 13-of-19 field goals and 14-of-15 extra points.

Last preseason, Fairbairn similarly sustained an injury in warmups against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the preseason finale. Safety Justin Reid handled kicking duties for the Texans, who later signed Joey Slye to fill in for Fairbairn as he recovered from his groin injury.

Texans K Ka’imi Fairbairn remains steady entering 2022

Houston Texans special teams coach Frank Ross says kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn has been steady throughout offseason workouts.

The Houston Texans’ roster has undergone massive upheaval since 2021, but the one steady element has been kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn.

The former 2016 undrafted free agent from UCLA had his own struggles last season. A groin injury and a positive COVID-19 test limited him to 13 games, and Fairbairn posted a career-low 78.9% field goal percentage (15-19). Fairbairn also posted a career-low extra point percentage at 81.3% (13-16).

Despite Fairbairn’s struggles, special teams coordinator Frank Ross thought the 2018 NFL scoring leader persisted through the setbacks.

“I thought Ka’imi had a strong year and I think that every single player out here wants to improve whatever their craft is,” Ross told reporters June 15 at mandatory minicamp at Houston Methodist Training Center. “His is obviously more finite skills set.”

According to Ross, what the Texans want for Fairbairn is for him in 2022 is to continue to “grow his body.”

Said Ross: “He is 27, 28 years old. As you get into that, you want to be a sustainable strength as much as possible. Just working on legs, feet, and overall strength. He’s done a great job of trying to implement that throughout the spring. Hopefully he continues that through the break here.”

The Texans went with Joey Slye for the first three games of the season and then had Dominik Eberle fill in for Fairbairn in Week 16 when Fairbairn was in the COVID protocol.

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Overcompensation may have led to Texans’ Ka’imi Fairbairn missing extra point in Week 11

Houston Texans special teams coach Frank Ross says overcompensation may have been the reason why Ka’imi Fairbairn missed an extra point in Week 11.

The Houston Texans pulled off the upset in Week 11 when they downed the Tennessee Titans 22-13 in rainy conditions at Nissan Stadium.

The Texans snapped their eight-game losing streak and handed the 8-2 Titans a loss that complicates their quest to shore up the AFC South en route to the No. 1 overall seed.

In the victory, kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed an extra point on the Texans’ first touchdown of the afternoon. Instead of leading 13-0 with 7:47 to go until halftime, Houston led 12-0.

Ultimately, Fairbairn’s missed extra point came out in the wash as Titans kicker Randy Bullock similarly missed an extra point of his own.

Texans special teams coach Frank Ross wouldn’t make excuses for Fairbairn when he met with the media on Nov. 24, but he did point out that the extra points haven’t exactly been sure things since 2015 when they were moved back to 33 yards.

“You see it across the league, that doesn’t mean anything,” said Ross. “Everybody has to focus on their own players and do their own job.”

Fairbairn is 9-of-11 on field goals in 2021 with a 4-of-7 rate on extra points. Ross suggests the third missed PAT of the season may have been an overcompensation on Fairbairn’s part.

Said Ross: “I’ve said this before, but nobody wants to make the kicks more than himself. He’s working every day to improve any little mishit he may have. There was an overcompensation there pulled it across a little bit. We kick our extra points from the left hash as we see it, and a ball that doesn’t necessarily stay straight or hook is going to be even more emphasized from the left hash that close in.”

Ross has confidence Fairbairn will be on point when they face the New York Jets in Week 12 at NRG Stadium.

“He’s going to continue to work that and hopefully get that right this week,” Ross said.

Texans coach David Culley explains decision on 56-yard Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal miss

Houston Texans coach David Culley gave an explanation as to why he had kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn attempt a 56-yard field goal.

One of the more puzzling decisions Houston Texans coach David Culley made in the 25-22 loss to the New England Patriots was sending kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn out for a 56-yard field goal.

Houston was ahead 22-15 with the Texans at the Patriots’ 38-yard line with 13:29 to go in the fourth quarter. Facing a fourth-and-4, Culley called a timeout, Houston’s first of the second half.

Were the Texans setting up to go for it? No, they were sending Fairbairn out for the field goal at a distance he was 0-for-3 in his career. His longest field goal made was 55 yards from Dec. 17, 2017, against the San Francisco 49ers.

Culley told reporters after the game that they felt Fairbairn was in range.

“The decision there was the fact that we felt like he was in his range,” Culley said. “He’s our kicker. Got the utmost confidence in him. He had a tough day up to that point but had made one. We felt if we made that field goal it’s a two-score ball game. That’s why I made the decision to kick.”

The miss setup the Patriots first-and-10 from the New England 46-yard line. It only took rookie quarterback Mac Jones seven plays to go 54 yards and tie the game with a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Henry.

It wasn’t Fairbairn’s only miss of the game. Houston also had two extra points missed after scoring their first two touchdowns of the game.

Culley is not considering a new kicker despite Fairbairn spending the first three games on injured reserve with a hamstring.

Said Culley: “I haven’t even thought about that.”

The Texans fall to 1-4 on the year, but get back into action on Oct. 17 against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Twitter explodes as Texans K Ka’imi Fairbairn misses 3 kicks in 25-22 loss to Patriots

Houston Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed two extra points and a field goal versus the New England Patriots, and Twitter let him have it.

Houston Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn did not have a good day at the office.

The 27-year-old kicker missed two extra points and a field goal against the New England Patriots in the 25-22 loss at NRG Stadium.

Special teams coach Frank Ross told reporters on Sept. 30 that they were confident Fairbairn could return to his kicking duties at full strength.

“I don’t think you’re going to put a player out there that can’t perform to the best of his abilities on any phases or role being asked,” Ross said. “If he’s going to go out there and be our kicker on Sunday, he’s going to be ready to kick whatever his range is. If he can kick from 75 out, we’ll kick from 75 out. We expect him to be at full capacity if he’s out there being our kicker on Sunday.”

Although the Texans are confident Fairbairn is 100% strength, his results were anything but against the Patriots, and Twitter let him have it as Houston falls to 1-4 on the year.

Texans will expect full body of work when kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn returns

The Houston Texans expect to have kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn at full capacity if he goes against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4.

The Houston Texans have had to rely on kicker Joey Slye as Ka’imi Fairbairn works back from a groin injury sustained at the end of preseason.

Special teams coordinator Frank Ross says that if Fairbairn is able to go against the Buffalo Bills Sunday in Week 4, they will not hold back in what Fairbairn is able to do.

“I don’t think you’re going to put a player out there that can’t perform to the best of his abilities on any phases or role being asked,” said Ross. “If he’s going to go out there and be our kicker on Sunday, he’s going to be ready to kick whatever his range is. If he can kick from 75 out, we’ll kick from 75 out. We expect him to be at full capacity if he’s out there being our kicker on Sunday.”

According to Ross, Fairbairn has continued to work off to the side and be the “consummate professional” as the club worked with Slye, who they released Thursday to make room for a possible Fairbairn return.

Ross says that Fairbairn had a good day of practice Wednesday.

Said Ross: “Good set yesterday. Looked good, felt good after and was able to push through his leg and cut it loose, not hold anything back and again not feeling sore after. Feeling good at this point with him.”

The last time Fairbairn faced the Bills was the 2019 AFC wild-card when he booted a 27-yard field goal to give Houston a 22-19 win in overtime at NRG Stadium.

Texans waive kicker Joey Slye

The Houston Texans have waived kicker Joey Slye.

The Houston Texans are getting closer to having kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn back for the season.

The Texans waived kicker Joey Slye on Thursday. The former Carolina Panthers kicker 7-of-8 on extra points and 4-of-5 on field goals in his three-game stint while Fairbairn was on injured reserve.

Special teams coach Frank Ross told reporters on Sept. 21 that the Texans as a special teams unit had to clean up their operation to ensure field goals and extra points banged through.

“We’ve got to fix our field goal protection in general,” said Ross. “We’ve got to get all that together. We’ve got to get those guys to make sure we know everything is stout and pure.”

The Texans take on the Buffalo Bills Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time for Week 4 at Highmark Stadium.

3 kickers who could replace Ka’imi Fairbairn right now

Amid a poor season by Houston Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, the Texans should consider trying out these three kickers.

The Houston Texans have not been getting it done as a kicking team. Third-year place kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn has shown regression in 2019 after leading the NFL in scoring in 2018. In turn, the Texans have watched easy points fall off the board.

On the year, Fairbairn is 13 for 18 on field goals (72.2%) and 24 for 29 on extra points (82.8%). On Sunday, he missed a 43-yarder in a blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Those, in the NFL, are unacceptable numbers.

If the Texans see Fairbairn’s struggles as a reason to replace him, it won’t be easy. The kicker market, as it usually is in Nov., is barren. Nonetheless, here are three options Bill O’Brien and Co. should consider going into Week 12’s Thursday game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Greg Joseph

A 69.5% field goal kicker at Florida Atlantic, Greg Joseph landed with the Miami Dolphins after going undrafted in 2018. Then, as the replacement to Zane Gonzalez in Cleveland, Joseph served as the Browns’ kicker for 14 games in 2018.

In Cleveland, Joseph drilled 85% of his 20 field goal attempts, missing two from the 40-49 range, and one from 50+. He drilled a game-winning 37-yarder in Week 5. His shortfalls ultimately came down to extra point kicking, as he went 25 for 29 (86.2%) as a rookie. He is now a member of the XFL’s Seattle Dragons.

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