There are few, if any teams in the NFL who have had the kicker woes the Tennessee Titans have had in the past handful of years, and it looks like Tennessee is set to be facing the same concern once again in 2023.
Knowing those past issues, it’s simply unfathomable that the Titans left their starting job up to a pair of undrafted free agents — both of whom have since been cut — going into training camp.
Tennessee finally decided to bring in a veteran kicker in Michael Badgley, but lest we remind you he’s already had an unsuccessful stint in Nashville, making it a less-than inspiring move.
And Badgley only made it less inspiring on Friday night in the preseason finale, where he missed one of his four field goals while doinking another attempt off the left upright before it went through.
“I know that I definitely can kick better than that,” Badgley said after the game, per Paul Kuharsky. “Today wasn’t the greatest display. Obviously, some of them went in from off the uprights — you’re never going to be mad at those — but I know I can kick better than that. I made some kicks today, kicked off well but I know I’m better than that performance I put out there.”
When asked where he goes from here, Badgley ominously said with a chuckle, “I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Head coach Mike Vrabel, who previously hinted the Titans weren’t done looking at kickers after signing Badgley, said the team will evaluate the veteran kicker’s performance and go from there.
“You have to make (them),” Vrabel said, per Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com. “I thought he bounced back, but we’ll take a look at it and work through his performance and see what that looked like and then go from there.”
If the Titans don’t at least bring in another kicker to compete with Badgley ahead of Week 1, it will be yet another example of neglect at the position, something that has now transcended a general manager change.
However, what the Titans really need to do is go out and shore things up by getting the best kicker available, which is Robbie Gould, who already has a connection with general manager Ran Carthon from their days together in San Francisco.
But don’t hold your breath for that.
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