Bruce Arians says Buccaneers kicker Matt Gay 'ain't goin' anywhere'

Alexis Mansanarez

Bruce Arians says Buccaneers kicker Matt Gay 'ain't goin' anywhere' image

Buccaneers kicker Matt Gay's job is safe.

The rookie out of Utah struggled in his most recent outing and missed a 34-yard field goal in the final seconds of Tampa Bay's Week 3 matchup against New York.

The Bucs went on to lose to the Giants 32-31.

"He ain't goin' anywhere," Arians told reporters when addressing Gay's performance Monday.

The Bucs have had a lot of turnover in the position as Gay is the 11th kicker to suit up for the team since 2009, which ties the Chargers for most in the NFL during that timespan.

“This history s— ... this is a new team," Arians said, via ESPN.com. "This is our team, a new team. Just go kick. Just go kick.

"Just go out there and kick the s— out of it from the right hash until you're comfortable. And he's been doing that. He's been doing it really well."

Gay shouldered the blame after the loss.

"The loss is 100 percent on me," Gay said. "I've got to live and learn from what I did, go back and make sure I learn from the mistakes I made ... but look at going forward."

Arians tried to set Gay up for the last-second kick by taking a delay of game flag but later clarified his stance and said he did not intentionally cause the penalty.

“We didn’t go out there intentionally to take a penalty,” Arians said, via the Tampa Bay Times. “When I saw the umpire standing over the ball, the thing I didn’t want was a 10-second runoff, confusion. Set it up, put it in the middle of the field and kick an extra point.”

Alexis Mansanarez