The Patriots reportedly will be working out kickers on Wednesday.
But according to Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, those workouts aren't necessarily related to the struggles of Stephen Gostkowski, who's missed four PATs over the last three weeks and has had issues missing kicks all the way back to the start of the preseason.
"I don't really think any of that's related to competition, no," Belichick said, alluding the workouts.
This came during Belichick's press conference right around noon, when the coach made it clear any workouts that might be taking place had yet to occur.
"The question was have we worked them out. I said I don't think we've worked any out. Look, I'm not confirming anything, denying anything. We haven't worked any kickers out. So that's the answer to that question," Belichick said.
When asked specifically if he had concerns with the field goal/PAT operation and the missed kicks over the first month of the season, Belichick responded in a more general fashion.
"I think as a team there are a lot of things that we can do better," Belichick said. "So we'll work in every area that we can improve, all three phases of the game and within those phases there are a lot of things we can work on there as well. So we need to work on everything. It's barely October. We have a long way to go."
Of course it's barely October and Gostkowski already has missed a career high four PATs, hitting at a putrid 73.3 percent rate after touchdowns.
The Patriots are working out some free-agent kickers today, which is consistent with their due-diligence approach at all positions to keep emergency lists updated. Veteran Stephen Gostkowski has missed four P.A.T.s this year, which adds a layer of context to the kicker workouts.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 2, 2019
