The New York Jets’ carousel of musical kickers will trot out the same horse in Week 2.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn confirmed that placekicker Jason Sanders will be the guy for now.
“Sanders will be the kicker. And I thought it was critical to see him go through that miss and then be able to come back and make, I think it was two 50-something yarders, which I thought was impressive. If you look at our team in general, including myself, we have a team of men that has went through some things, that’s fought through some adversity. And again, I’ve said this before, I’m attracted to people like that, because it’s not just the physical toughness, but the mental toughness that shows up. He did a good job, and I like the way that he fought back ending up making those field goals,” Glenn said on Friday, September 18.
Glenn was referencing the struggles Sanders had in the season opener. ESPN’s Rich Cimini said on the “Jets Collective” podcast that Sanders not only saved his job but likely his NFL career with how he finished the Tennessee Titans game.
Sanders Performed, Rules Explained
“He probably saved his job, maybe his career, coming back hitting three in a row, including two from 50. So he will kick this week, he should kick this week, [Blake] Grupe is still on the roster as of now, tomorrow they will elevate Sanders, you only have a limited number of elevations for a player from the practice squad so eventually they’re going to have to make a decision on what to do with Sanders,” Cimini explained on the “Jets Collective” podcast.
“Teams can elevate up to 2 practice squad players to the game day roster per week. A player can be elevated up to 3 times in a season. After that, the player must be signed to the active roster or they go to waivers after each subsequent elevation,” ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi posted on X.
Nerve Wracking
The entire offseason has been a roller coaster. Specifically, the placekicker situation has been wild since letting Nick Folk walk out the door.
Sanders was involved in a heated kicker battle. Ahead of the preseason finale, he won the job when Cade York was tossed out the door. All he had to do was not screw up in the preseason finale. Sanders shanked an extra point attempt and short-changed a 50+ yard field goal.
That raised the alarm bells on 1 Jets Drive. They dumped Sanders from the 53-man roster, but brought him back on the practice squad. They added Grupe off waivers and kicked the tires on the best available placekickers in free agency. Despite all of that noise, the Jets turned back to Sanders.
In Week 1, Sanders missed a field goal from 54 yards out. It wasn’t only that he missed a field goal, but the way he missed. It appeared that he didn’t get enough leg on it, which is exactly how he missed the field goal during the preseason. Earlier this offseason, Sanders spent time on the cross-town New York Giants. When he was cut, Sanders was accused of losing his leg power after the hip injury last year.
Sanders Talks About up-and-Down Tenure
For the first time since being signed this offseason, Sanders spoke with the media. Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared the highlights on X.
When asked what happened on the missed field goal attempt, he responded, “Not much. Just tried to hit it too hard.”
Sanders was asked about having to compete for the gig. “To me, nothing’s ever given. And everything is earned. So if they bring in people, that just means you gotta do a little bit more.”
Finally he was asked about bouncing back after having the miss in Week 1:
“The reality of kicking is, you’re never going to be perfect and that’s exactly what you look for in a guy is just like, how can he respond?” Sanders said.
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