Jaguars ST coordinator not fretting over Riley Patterson’s missed kicks

The Jacksonville Jaguars needed to begin their Week 10 matchup against the Kansas City Chief with a bang and Patterson gave it to them when he made and recovered an onside kick. Unfortunately, Patterson went on to miss two field-goal attempts later in the contest and has gone 3-of-6 in the Jags’ last two games.

Nevertheless, special teams coordinator Heath Farwell is fully behind Patterson in spite of his recent miscues. Farwell acknowledged Patterson’s struggles when he met with the local media Wednesday but unequivocally supports him.

“We love Riley, Riley has done a fantastic job”, Farwell said. “He’d love to have those two kicks back, he’s as upset as anybody about the way he played against Kansas City. But we love Riley, I think he’s doing a great job. He’s done some great kickoffs. He’s done a good job for us, the onside kick was fantastic. He’s done really well for us”.

Farwell went on to say that if needed James McCourt, who’s currently on the Jags’ practice squad, would be ready.

“James has done a good job, he’s done a really good job. He’s missed kicks, like every other kicker. But James has done a really good job for us. I love him in the room, he’s been great, great addition, from the beginning of the season”, Farwell said.

The Jaguars had a revolving door at kicker throughout most of the offseason but it seemed like it had stopped when they claimed James McCourt off of waivers. McCourt made the original 53-man roster but was released and signed to the practice squad after the addition of Patterson.

Patterson signed to the Detroit Lions practice squad late in the 2021 season and was waived after losing their kicking competition to Austin Siebert. For the year, he’s completed 77.8 percent of his attempts. Here’s Farwell’s exchange with the media.

The Jaguars aren’t overreacting to Riley Patterson’s missed field goals

Before failing three of his last four kicks, Patterson went 11-of-12 in the first eight games of the season, so there’s a reason to believe he can bounce back. In fact, that’s probably why Farwell didn’t sound particularly worried about him when he spoke to the local media.

All things considered, the Jaguars are taking the right approach. Although they have a capable kicker in McCourt, they’re not pressing the panic button and instead expect Patterson to get out of the funk he’s currently experiencing.

Having said that, if Patterson’s struggles continue, the coaching staff won’t hesitate to go with McCourt. However, it doesn’t seem like they’ll cross that bridge unless they really have to.

The Jaguars went through a kicking carousel in the offseason and they probably don’t want to start over, that’s why sticking to Patterson is a reasonable decision.