After Michael Badgley suffered a season-ending leg injury in the first days of training camp, Jake Bates was left as the only kicker on the Detroit Lions' roster. That seemed sure to change pretty quickly, but a week later no other kicker has been added.
Based on the names of the four kickers it was reported they had in for a workout right after the news of Badgley's injury, the seriousness of the Lions initial search for a kicker to add could be questioned. As could have been expected, given the kicker carousel this regime has had.
#Lions worked out kickers Matt Ammendola, Lucas Havrisik, Matthew McCrane and Andre Szmyt
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) July 26, 2024
Head coach Dan Campbell said he wanted to put Bates into pressure situations. He hadn't attempted a field goal since high school before his first game with the Michigan Panthers in the UFL this year after all, so Bates carries questions and has to pass said tests.
Those questions reached a new level on Friday.
Jake Bates is pushing Lions all the way into the market for a kicker
Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit chronicled Bates' performance during Friday's practice, as most reporters on-site did.
Deleted the Jake Bates tweet, because I mistakenly charted him with two XP misses.
— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) August 2, 2024
The final tally after several cross-checks:
Makes: 25, 29, 33, 38, 43, 48, 51, 59
Misses: 40, 46, 46, 46, 51, 54, 64
8-of-14
5-of-6 on XPs
Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire had Bates going 7-for-12 on long field goals (50-54 yards) during Thursday's practice, with no defense on the field. A chunk of Friday's work was against a live defense, as Bates went 6-for-9 on field goals with misses from 46, 54 and 64 yards by Risdon's count in that situation.
Any way it's sliced and analyzed, and there are some differences in on-site chronicling of Bates' work on Friday (distinctions without a difference) it was undeniably a second straight day of struggles. And it's undeniably a concern that can't be ignored.
Right after the Badgley news, Campbell said the Lions were not "in a hurry" to add a kicker. There's a week of evidence to back that up, as the roster has otherwise been adjusted based on other circumstances with no new kicker added.
It looks like Bates was given a chance to have the Lions' kicking duties all to himself, and theoretically take hold of the job even if someone else was added to navigate camp and the preseason. He did not do so as the practice week wound down. So even though there aren't a lot of good options out there, the Lions have been pushed all the way into the market for a kicker.