Patriots go back to Nick Folk at kicker, will start him 10 days after his appendectomy
Meet the new Patriots kicker, same as the old Patriots kicker.
[Watch live NFL games on the Yahoo Sports app, here's how]
The New England Patriots are expected to re-sign kicker Nick Folk and start him on Sunday in a marquee matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Wildly enough, the Patriots will be bringing Folk back just 10 days after he reportedly underwent an appendectomy.
A conclusion: Free agent K Nick Folk worked out today, was healthy, and is expected to sign back and kick Sunday for the #Patriots, source said. Should be official tomorrow.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 6, 2019
Folk — who was originally signed to replace Mike Nugent, who was signed to replace the injured Stephen Gostkowski — went 7-for-9 on field goals and didn’t miss an extra point in his first three games with the Patriots. The team released the 35-year-old the day after the appendectomy, signing Kai Forbath to replace him.
The Patriots then waived Forbath after missing an extra point in his lone game with the team, putting them in the incredible position of needing to either move on to their fifth kicker of the season or re-sign a kicker fewer than two weeks removed from major surgery.
A week of uncertainty followed, to the point that Tom Brady had to confirm he didn’t hurt his toe while practicing kicks and Bill Belichick joked about bringing past emergency kicker Wes Welker back. Eventually, the Patriots landed back on Folk.
Per Rapoport, Folk kicked for the Patriots in practice on Friday and was apparently feeling good enough to re-join the team. For his entire career, Folk has completed 80.3 percent of his kicks — going 21-of-41 from 50 yards or more — and missed only four of 349 extra points.
More from Yahoo Sports:
