The New Orleans Saints hosted a group of free agent kickers for tryouts on Tuesday, but the decision was prompted by Blake Grupe’s injury, not the rookie’s performance. Grupe was a late addition to the injury report before Week 12’s game with the Atlanta Falcons after pulling a groin muscle.
He played through it in Atlanta — making five of his six field goal tries — but NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill says the Saints consider Grupe to be “day to day” while receiving treatment. The rookie has a chance to play this coming Sunday for Week 13’s game with the Detroit Lions, but it’s worth bringing in a backup; veteran kicker Austin Seibert signed with the Saints practice squad just in case Grupe can’t play.
Still, Grupe’s first year in the NFL has been a bit of a roller coaster. The good news is that he’s nailed all 19 of his extra point attempts while getting a touchback out of 89.5% of his kickoffs (tied for sixth-most in the NFL). The bad news is that he’s 24-of-30 on field goal attempts (80.0%, which is eighth-lowest) with two misses in his last three games. His coaches have stood by him amid the highs and lows, but he needs to be more consistent. Getting healthy will obviously help.
