The Patriots haven't had to worry about their placekicker in about a generation. Adam Vinatieri held the post from 1996 through 2005, and Stephen Gostkowski has handled kicking duties ever since — save for an injury-shortened season in 2010.
But Gostkowski is sidelined for the rest of the year with a hip injury, and the Pats' kicking game is suddenly a question mark.
The team signed 37-year-old veteran Mike Nugent last week, but he missed his first attempt, an extra point, against the Redskins on Sunday. Although he hit his next five kicks — three PATs and two field goals — New England worked out kicker Nick Rose on Tuesday, according to ESPN.
The 24-year-old Rose appeared in 10 games with the Redskins and Chargers in 2017, hitting 11-of-14 field-goal attempts. He played earlier this year with San Antonio in the Alliance of American Football, hitting all 14 field-goal attempts.
Nugent called the missed PAT "unacceptable" after Sunday's game.
“It’s just one of those things I can’t stand — and I can probably speak for every kicker,” Nugent said. “To see my teammates go down and expect seven points and I only give them six is something that I just don’t find acceptable, and it gives me something to work on, definitely, this week. I think it’s always good to bounce back and hit some short ones and hit the rest of them, but it’s just like a golfer, you’re thinking of the shot you want back. I’m going to work on it this week and make sure that doesn’t happen again.
“I just needed to loosen up a little bit and get a little bit of the rust off. [The final five kicks] felt good. And looking back on the day, I think I did a great job just learning from that one. When you’re just a little bit more relaxed and don’t try to aim the ball, just swing through it and it’s going to go.”
The Patriots also signed kicker Younghoe Koo to their practice squad last week.