Getty Justin Rohrwasser
A global pandemic, controversial tattoo, injury, and an underwhelming performance in training camp; That isn’t at all how most rookies would script the beginning of their NFL careers. However, that is the reality for the New England Patriots‘ Justin Rohrwasser.
He may have a big leg and some potential, but he’s been less than impressive to most insiders at training camp, and one was led to share a pretty blunt take on the team’s current kicking competition between Rohrwasser and veteran Nick Folk.
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“Nick Folk is Better Than Justin Rohrwasser”
CLNS’ Evan Lazer didn’t pull any punches with this tweet.
Nick Folk is better than Justin Rohrwasser. That’s all. That’s the tweet. #Patriots
The Patriots seemingly drafted Rohrwasser to take the place of long-time kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who missed almost all of 2019 with an injury. The Patriots released Gostkowski during the offseason after drafting Rohrwasser in the fifth round. The day he was drafted, controversy struck when a tattoo of the controversial three-percenter group was discovered on the rookie’s arm.
Rohrwasser immediately began explaining it and saying he would have it removed, and it appears he’s done that based on follow-up reports. Once in training camp, Rohrwasser seemed to have suffered an injury that kept him off the practice field.
At that point, the Patriots brought back Nick Folk, who was signed in 2019 to replace Gostkowski while he was injured. However, the Patriots didn’t retain Folk at the end of the 2019 season and instead elected to draft Rohrwasser.
Bringing Folk back immediately led to suspicion and speculation that Rohrwasser was hurt and/or not cutting the mustard as a kicker. As the two men worked out side-by-side on Tuesday, it seems the truth might indeed be a little bit of both.
Training Camp Isn’t Over, But…
We still have a few weeks remaining before Week 1, but the Patriots are now moving into that portion of this year’s training camp where things will be getting more serious each day. They need to have a strong handle on who their starters are at every position, and rookie kickers are a bit of a mixed bag, in general.
Rohrwasser seems to be presenting himself as even more than a mixed bag, hence the Folk signing. Time is running out for him to prove he’s the man for the job.
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