When the Detroit Lions announced they’d elevated kicker Michael Badgley from the practice squad for their Saturday night, it was something of a surprise. Even though Badgley fared relatively well as the team’s kicker in 2022, there had not been any sense of internal dissatisfaction with Riley Patterson.
The story was different behind closed doors at the Lions practice facility in Allen Park. According to Dan Campbell, Badgley and Patterson had been battling in practices for weeks. The move to elevate Badgley for Week 15 was the acknowledgment that Badgley has won the battle.
Campbell confirmed it after the game.
“Yeah, they’ve been competing now for about five weeks,” Campbell noted. “I mean before the Chargers. So, this was something we wanted to do, give (Badgley) Badge a go with Riley (Patterson) and they’ve been battling it out, and he (Badgley) won it.”
Badgley didn’t get a chance to attempt any field goals, though he did convert all six of his extra points. That’s an area where Patterson had been struggling, missing two over the course of three games.
“For this game, it just was right and it’s been that way for a while and this was the right move and so we’re going to go there. Got a lot of faith in Badgley,” Campbell continued.
Back in training camp, special teams coordinator Dave Fipp indicated that Badgley’s poor performance on kickoffs was a factor in Patterson beating him out. However, punter Jack Fox remains the primary kickoff specialist. Badgley has consistently shown a bigger leg than Patterson in field goal situations, with a career-long of 59 back in 2018. Patterson’s short-range accuracy was his calling card, but missing the extra points killed that narrative.
