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Gostkowski’s leg looks even stronger during camp so far, as he’s boomed field goals and kickoffs since it began. With all the two-a-day practices, Gostkowski’s time has been managed.
“I think they do a real good job,” he said. “If there’s a two-day, we only kick in one practice and punt in the other one. There’s been a couple days where you’ve had to do a little bit in both, but they’ve done a good job monitoring how much we get. Sometimes, it’s high quality over quantity. Sometimes if you kick too much, it can work in a negative direction. If you get tired or sore, you might develop some bad habits.”
Gostkowski and punter Chris Hanson, who serves as his holder, have been getting used to working with two new long snappers vying for the job, veteran Nathan Hodel and rookie Jake Ingram.
“Stephen is having a good camp,” Pats coach Bill Belichick said Friday.
“He had a real good offseason and came to camp in good shape, ready to kick, and I think he’s hit the ball well.”
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But this year, something will be a little bit different. After receiving snaps from Lonie Paxton for the first three years of his career, snaps that were always on the money, Gostkowski is adjusting to life with a new snapper. Paxton signed a free-agent contract with Denver last offseason, and the Patriots signed veteran snapper Nathan Hodel and drafted Jake Ingram to compete for the job.
Gostkowski also has a new special-teams coach in Scott O’Brien.
But Gostkowski hasn’t let it affect him.
“Stephen is having a good camp,” Bill Belichick said on Friday. “He had a really good offseason and came to camp in good shape, ready to kick, and I think he’s hit the ball well. It’s always a matter of timing — you can spend time kicking with a snapper and holder in the spring or on your own, but it’s a little different when there’s a rush out there and when people are coming, when conditions change, from wind and inclement weather and footing and so forth. So there are a lot of moving parts out there. I think Steve has done well handling that and he’s worked hard, as he always does.”
The New England Patriots' Pro Bowl kicker is working with two new long snappers as the team tries to replace Lonnie Paxton, who signed as a free agent with Denver in the offseason.
"It's a day-to-day process. You have to be patient," Gostkowski, who hit 36 of 40 field goal tries in 2008, said Sunday. "There are days when you feel like you're going to be in a rhythm with (the snapper) and days when you're not. The hardest thing sometimes is going from one to the other."
That comment makes me wonder if Belichick will be more inclined to make a decision on the long snapper early in camp, so Gostkowski and Hanson can spend the remainder of the preseason getting their timing down with whomever wins that camp battle.
"You go through game situations in practice, so when I get in the game, you do this every day,'' Ingram said. "I enjoy the success of my teammates when I complete the job. But as far as being in the situation, I'm more concentrated on doing my job.''
"Early in my career, you feel it a little bit, but as you go on, it becomes second-nature,'' agreed Hodel. Now, the only trick is to get on the same page with placekicker Stephen Gostkowski and Chris Hanson, who will catch the long snaps on both his punts and Gostkowski's attempts.
"It's still an ongoing process,'' said Gostkowski. "I'm getting more comfortable with them every day, and they feel like they're getting more comfortable. You can never have too much work or practice with them."
If practice reps are any indication, Thursday’s preseason opener will be an important long-snapping audition for sixth-round draft choice Jake Ingram. Veteran Nathan Hodel wasn’t on the field for this session and Ingram has been receiving more work in recent days. The Patriots seldom had worries in this area with Lonie Paxton over the last nine years, and the coaching staff figures to give Ingram game reps to see how he responds under the bright lights. Linebacker Rob Ninkovich took some snaps with the scout team.
Pop quiz: Who holds the Patriots’ record for career field goal accuracy rate? Gino Cappelletti? Tony Franklin? Good guesses, but no. Surely it must be Adam Vinatieri then, the steady Super Bowl hero who hardly ever missed. Wrong again.
The answer is Stephen Gostkowski, the current kicker, who in his three seasons has established himself as one of the league’s best at directing the football through the uprights. His 85.6 percent success rate (77 for 90) is tops in team history, bettering Vinatieri’s 82 percent.
Food for thought. . . . Here are all the kickers who've had a better season, percentage-wise, than Gostkowski in 2008 (min. 20 attempts or so) according to pro-football-reference.com. [I've only shown the best season for each player.]
Note the ages in parentheses.
Quote:
1. Gary Anderson (39) 100.000% 1998 MIN
Tony Zendejas (31) 100.000% 1991 RAM
Garrett Hartley (22) 100.000% 2008 NOR
Mike Vanderjagt (33) 100.000% 2003 IND
Jeff Wilkins (28) 100.000% 2000 STL
6. Chris Boniol (24) 96.429% 1995 DAL
7. Pete Stoyanovich (30) 96.296% 1997 KAN
Norm Johnson (33) 96.296% 1993 ATL
9. Jason Hanson (33) 95.652% 2003 DET
12. Neil Rackers (29) 95.238% 2005 ARI
Eddie Murray (33) 95.238% 1989 DET
Mark Moseley (34) 95.238% 1982 WAS
16. Adam Vinatieri (32) 93.939% 2004 NWE
17. Jason Elam (38) 93.548% 2008 ATL
18. Matt Stover (38) 93.333% 2006 BAL
20. Phil Dawson (30) 93.103% 2005 CLE
Joe Nedney (32) 92.857% 2005 SFO
26. Mike Hollis (28) 92.308% 2000 JAX
Josh Scobee (25) 92.308% 2007 JAX
Al Del Greco (36) 92.308% 1998 TEN
31. Jeff Reed (28) 92.000% 2007 PIT
Todd Peterson (35) 92.000% 2005 ATL
Rian Lindell (29) 92.000% 2006 BUF
Josh Brown (25) 92.000% 2004 SEA
37. Richie Cunningham (27) 91.892% 1997 DAL
Nick Lowery (34) 91.892% 1990 KAN
39. Jan Stenerud+ (39) 91.667% 1981 GNB
42. Wade Richey (23) 91.304% 1999 SFO
Jay Feely (31) 91.304% 2007 MIA
44. Shayne Graham (30) 91.176% 2007 CIN
45. Doug Brien (28) 90.909% 1998 NOR
Nick Folk (24) 90.909% 2008 DAL
47. Matt Stover (36) 90.625% 2004 BAL
48. Olindo Mare (28) 90.476% 2001 MIA
50. John Kasay (39) 90.323% 2008 CAR
52. Cary Blanchard (28) 90.000% 1996 IND
Stephen Gostkowski (24) 90.000% 2008 NWE
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"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots
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Stephen Gostkowski's best foot forward
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