GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Anyone within earshot of Ray Nitschke Field on Wednesday knew what happened.
When special-teams coach Shawn Slocum, who uses an amplified headset during practice, shouted, “Make the kick, let’s go,” the frustration in his voice said it all: Mason Crosby missed again.
Actually, the Green Bay Packers kicker missed three times. In a row.
Just when it appeared Crosby was in a good groove after making all three of his field goals in Saturday’s preseason game at St. Louis and followed that with a 9-for-10 performance in Monday’s practice, his troubles returned.
Late in Wednesday’s practice, Crosby missed twice from 42 yards (both wide right) and then hooked one wide left from 44 yards before he finally made one from 44. Giorgio Tavecchio made his only kick, a 36-yarder, in that period.
“Well it’s not a good day,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said when asked about Crosby’s practice. “He didn’t have a good day probably like a lot of other guys didn’t have a very good day today.”
Earlier in practice, both Crosby and Tavecchio made 43-yarders during a simulated game-situations period. Crosby’s 2-for-5 day dropped his practice/scrimmage mark to 43-of-56. At 76.8 percent, that’s still an improvement over his NFL-worst 63.6 percent from last season. Tavecchio, who went 1-for-2 against St. Louis, is 47-of-53 in practice/scrimmage settings.
Given Wednesday’s developments, perhaps it was wise that Packers general manager Ted Thompson was noncommittal a day earlier when he was asked whether he’s certain he has his Week 1 kicker currently on his roster.
Two kickers went off the market on Wednesday. Former Buffalo Bills kicker Rian Lindell signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while former Miami Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter signed with the Arizona Cardinals.
