Riley Patterson is Jaguars' newest candidate to try and bring stability to kicking game

Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik accepted the challenge from punter Logan Cooke: name all the kickers who have played in preseason and regular-season games since opening day in 2020.

Not only did he nail all 12 but he did it order.

"Lambo, Brandon Wright, Rosas, Hauschka, Brown, Lambo again, McLaughlin, Rosas again, McLaughlin again, then Rosas again," Matiscik rattled off.

After a breath, he jumped into 2021.

"Lambo, then Matthew Wright," he said. "This preseason, Mevis, Santoso, Fry, McCourt and Verity."

Show-off.

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Into that convoluted mix now steps Riley Patterson, a second-year pro from Memphis by way of Edwardsville, Ill., who made 13 of 14 field-goal attempts for the Detroit Lions last season after being signed when starter Austin Seibert had to undergo abductor surgery and his initial replacement, Ryan Santoso, lasted three games before a missed conversion and field-goal attempt resulted in the only tie of the 2021 season against Pittsburgh.

By the way, Santoso had his turn with the Jaguars earlier in training camp and was cut. He tried out with the New York Giants but was waived there, too.

Patterson found out the Jaguars claimed him on Wednesday, found a flight and was in uniform for practice on Thursday. He left his wife to pack their apartment in Detroit -- which they had rented on a month-to-month basis.

"Luckily," he said of their decision on a short-term lease.

Patterson loses close battle

If Patterson is the opening day kicker next week at Washington (and the Jaguars thought so highly of him that they cut James McCourt, who didn't miss a kick in practice or the final preseason game in 15 attempts), he will be the 13th player to kick in either a regular-season or preseason game since 2020.

"Hopefully I can bring some stability into the position," he said.

Patterson lost a preseason battle with Seibert but said after his first practice with the Jaguars on Thursday that he had no hard feelings.

"Austin's a great guy and a really good kicker," said Patterson, who made his only two field-goal attempts in preseason games. "It was close to the very end and I wish him luck. I'm all for Jacksonville. I'm ready to go."

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said the team had been paying attention to the waiver wire, despite McCourt's success, and Patterson was one of the kickers they had targeted if he became available.

"He was one of the guys, even back in the spring, we had liked and considered and followed his career a little bit," Pederson said. "When he became available we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity."

Steady parade of kickers

The position has been a mess since Josh Lambo, the most accurate kicker in the NFL at that point, sustained a hip injury attempting a squib kickoff in a 33-30 loss to Tennessee on week two.

After that, a team noted for its stability at the position -- Josh Lambo held the job for 11 years and Mike Hollis for seven -- has endured a saga now spilling over into its fourth season under three coaches.

• Lambo, who made 76 of his 80 attempts for the Jags from 2017-2020 (.950), missed his first three attempts with the Jags last season and was cut by coach Urban Meyer. Lambo is now suing the team, alleging Meyer created a "hostile work environment" stemming from a training-camp incident in which Lambo said Meyer kicked him and cursed him for missing field-goal attempts in training camp.

• After Lambo was hurt in 2020, the Jags used five kickers the rest of the season, including one, Jon Brown, who had never attempted a field goal in college or the NFL. He was a soccer player and kickoff specialist at Louisville. Brown at least got his only career field goal on any level in that year's loss to Detroit.

• The Jags made NFL history that season when five kickers appeared in five consecutive games, something that had never happened since the merger in 1970. The Jags also became the fifth NFL team since the merger to use five kickers in a single season.

• There have been two Wrights (Brandon and Matthew) but a lot still went wrong. Brandon Wright's one extra point in week three of 2020 was his only contribution since he injured his groin in that game and was waived.

Matthew Wright was pretty good last season at making long-distance field goals (he had two or more than 50 yards that won the team's first game against Miami) but hardly ever found the end zone on kickoffs, resulting in the Jags having a league-worst starting point for opponents on kickoffs at the 30.1-yard line.

• Then there's been this year's preseason, with Patterson the sixth kicker to be signed.

One, Andrew Mevis, missed a kick in training camp so badly that it hit former Dallas Cowboys coach Dave Campo, who was nowhere near the goalposts.

Santoso's claim to fame was being the biggest kicker in the NFL at 6 feet 5, 260 pounds but his fate was sealed when he missed a 57-yard attempt at the gun that could have beaten Pittsburgh in a preseason game.

Elliott Fry and Jake Verity got hurt within days of being signed and were waived/injured.

Of the previous 12 players to try to hold down the kicking job for the Jaguars only one is currently employed: McCourt was signed to the Jaguars practice squad. Brandon Wright punted for the Tampa Bay Bandits in the new version of the USFL in the spring.

And it's not even enough to have a spotless record. McCourt did all he could do, including field goals of 38 and 54 yards last week against Atlanta.

The Jaguars simply like Patterson better.

"I'm really excited," he said. "I really want to do well for this team."

But he might want to rent on a month-to-month basis for the time being.

Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Riley Patterson is Jaguars latest hope to provide stability at kicker