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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