Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri has struggled mightily this season, and those struggles continued on Sunday. Vinatieri missed a crucial extra point, and the team ended up losing to the Dolphins by four points. Indy ended the game on Miami’s 16-yard line, and would’ve been able to attempt a game-tying field goal if not for Vinatieri’s miss. The organization has stuck by him throughout, but there were signs after the game that their patience might be wearing thin. “We’d been committed to him, but like everybody. … we’re going to always evaluate. Everyone gets measured, everyone’s held accountable. From top to bottom, that’s always the case. Nothing meant to read into that, that’s just the reality,” head coach Frank Reich said, per Joel A. Erickson of The Athletic (Twitter link).
On extra points, Reich said “there is an expectation there. Whatever percent it is to make an extra point, 97 percent, or 96.whatever it is to make that, we need to make those,” Erickson noted in a separate tweet. Vinatieri has now missed six extra points and five field goals on the year. It’s certainly not for sure, but the Colts appear to be inching closer to a divorce with the legendary 46-year-old kicker.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Browns receiver Antonio Callaway was a healthy scratch during Cleveland’s win over the Bills, and it appears there could be something interesting here. Callaway warmed up in uniform as if he was about to play, but then wound up inactive. When asked about it after the game Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens said it “was between him and Callaway and repeated the response when asked if it was a disciplinary matter,” according to Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com. Alper notes that Baker Mayfield said Callaway was in the game plan during the week, but that “things happen.” Since it’s the Browns, it will probably turn out to be something of note.
- The Giants suffered a tough loss to the Jets on Sunday, and things might get even worse. Star running back Saquon Barkley was spotted getting X-Rays after the game, according to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. Head coach Pat Shurmur conceded Barkley got “banged around pretty good,” but neither the coach nor player was willing to talk about what was wrong. Barkley, of course, just recently returned after missing time with an ankle injury.
- In case you missed it, some in the Browns organization wanted to hire Kevin Stefanski instead of Freddie Kitchens.
Thanks for the memories A.V.
Maybe it’s time…..
Your probably right but if your having to rely on a late FG to beat the lowly Dolphins then there were clearly a lot of Colt players who should have played a better game.
“Since it’s the Browns, it will probably turn out to be something of note.”
This cracks me up
A lot of the media hates on the Browns but they will die defending teams like the Jets and Redskins.
“Since its the browns, it will probably turn out to be something of note.”
Outside of the arrogant condescension of this statement, Antonio Callaway has been a headache since he got to Cleveland. He’s not even worth the time and effort invested in him at this point. Notice how Higgins caught the game winner today… maybe Callaway should be a healthy scratch next week too, assuming he’s not back in jail.
It kinda struck me as condescending too. But I agree, Higgins needs a much bigger role.
Possibly, but he’s not exactly wrong with the statement either…
If Callaway being a healthy scratch meant Higgins got to play, then good.
In case I missed it… Please name WHO wanted Stefanski. Name your source and be specific. Your journalism is awful.
idk what more you want. If you click the link it brings you to an article they’re citing by J. La Conforta. In the article he explained that the analytics department recommended Stefanski. No journalist is getting more than that… nobody is going to come out and publicly say they didn’t want to hire kitchens while they still work for the team.
Do you not know how unnamed sources work? If you name them you lose that source . So you keep them unnamed
unnamed sources are sometimes fake. More of a journalist opinion rather than fact. That’s a big problem in journalism today.
I’m just as furious that my free football news makes me click a link!
He missed one point, but Colts play down to competition.