Jaguars continue moves to find a kicker: next up is Riley Patterson, claimed from Detroit
What could James McCourt have done differently during his brief stint as the Jaguars kicker?
In a seven-day span, McCourt made 15 of 15 field goal attempts, a combination of last week's joint practice against Atlanta (8 of 8), the game against the Falcons (2 of 2) and Tuesday's practice at TIAA Bank Field (5 of 5).
The answer?
The Jaguars simply had another guy they liked better and pounced on him as soon as he hit the waiver wire.
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The Jaguars announced Wednesday they waived McCourt — who was signed last week after Ryan Santoso was cut — and signed Riley Patterson after he was waived by Detroit.
Patterson made 13 of 14 field goal attempts in the past seven games of the 2021 season for the Lions and was the NFC special teams player of the week for making 3 of 3 attempts during Week 15 against the Falcons.
The Jaguars also cut Jake Verity, who missed his only field goal attempt against the Falcons, from 46 yards out. He was given a waived/injured designation but the team didn't release details of his injury.
"James had a good game and had a good practice [Tuesday] ... and we really liked where he's at," said Jaguars special-teams coordinator Heath Farwell. "That said, part of our job of getting this roster as good as we can is to evaluate other rosters and see what's best available. Riley's a guy that we've targeted for a while... he was the guy we were hoping would come available."
Oddly enough, Patterson was the replacement for Santoso last season in Detroit, after Santoso badly missed a 48-yard field goal attempt that could have beaten Pittsburgh in overtime (the two teams ended in a 16-16 tie) after missing a conversion attempt that could have won the game in regulation.
Patterson, an Illinois native, made .771 of his field-goal attempts and .976 of his conversions at Memphis. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by Minnesota, was waived and then spent time on New England's practice squad before going to the Lions.
Jaguars cornerback Chris Claybrooks was Patterson's teammate at Memphis and said the team is getting a good kicker and a good locker room guy.
"He's very outgoing, very fun to be around," Claybrooks said. "He'll be a great kicker. He didn't miss many field goals that mattered for us at Memphis."
Austin Seibert, a fourth-year veteran, won the kicking job with the Lions, but it was close. He made 4 of 5 attempts, while Patterson made his only two, from short range. Seibert kicked for the Lions to begin the 2021 season and made 10 of 12 field goal attempts but went on injured reserve after abductor surgery.
If Patterson is in the opening-day lineup for the Jaguars, he would be the 13th kicker the team has used, counting preseason games, since the beginning of the 2020 season. The parade of kickers began when Josh Lambo, the most accurate active kicker in the NFL at the time, was injured in week two of the 2020 season and never regained his form.
Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter
Jaguars kicking carnival
Kickers the Jaguars have used during preseason and regular-season games since the beginning of the 2020 season:
Josh Lambo
Jon Brown
Brandon Wright
Chase McLaughlin
Stephen Hauschka
Aldrick Rosas
Matthew Wright
Ryan Santoso
Andrew Mevis
Elliott Fry
James McCourt
Jake Verity
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars claim kicker Riley Patterson off waivers from Detroit
