Ron Rivera remains confident in Dustin Hopkins even after the kicker missed two extra points against Atlanta on Sunday.
"He's our kicker and we'll leave it at that," Rivera told reporters Monday when asked about Hopkins' job security coming off the win over the Falcons. The 31-year-old is in his seventh season as Washington's kicker and has a career field goal percentage of 84 and an extra-point percentage of 94.1
Hopkins has made seven of his eight field goal attempts this season and buried his lone attempt – from 21 yards — in Sunday's 34-30 victory. But he also missed two of his three extra-point attempts, causing renewed concern about the kicker's confidence in himself and worry over whether he can be relied upon in close ball games. Fortunately for Washington, those two missed PATs didn't come back to bite them in the tight four-point game.
Rivera was again asked about Hopkins during his weekly appearance with The Sports Junkies on Tuesday, presented by F.H. Furr.
Asked where he's at in terms of his confidence in the kicker, Rivera said, "I'm still confident in him. Guys, it's only a problem when it becomes a problem."
"And again, if we continue to keep going forward, going forward, we can be positive about these things and continue to try," he said.
Hopkins' only missed field goal was a 51-yard attempt against the Chargers. It came as Washington was leading 16-13 at the start of the fourth quarter. He also made kicks from 30, 43 and 48 yards in that game, which Washington lost by four points.
Hopkins also nailed the game-winner from 43 yards against the Giants in Week 2. He had missed his first attempt with the game on the line from 48 only moments earlier, but was granted a second chance when Dexter Lawrence of the Giants jumped offsides.
Rivera did suggest that despite his confidence in Hopkins, he will continue to keep his eye on available kickers, just as he would with every other position.
"Now, does it mean that we're not gonna take a look and stuff like that? Well, we've got to take a look," he said. "You just never know. And it's the same thing for all the other positions — you've got to take a look. You've got to take a look at all your positions and you've got to determine whether or not you're in a good situation or not."
Listen to Ron Rivera starting at the 20-minute mark below.
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