Greg Zuerlein was responsible and brutally honest after missing two crucial short field goals in the Jets' 23-20 loss to the Bills on Monday night at MetLife Stadium. .
Unfortunately for the 2-4 Jets, responsibility and integrity won't win games.
And Zuerlein, who has been the Jets' kicker for the past two-plus seasons, cost his team two potential wins in six games this season.
In Week 2, he missed a 50-yard field goal in the final minute of a 10-9 loss to the Broncos.
On Monday night, in a game that would have lifted the Jets into first place in the AFC East, Zelllein hit the left upright on a 32-yard attempt with 55 seconds left in the third quarter with the game tied 20-20. did. Still tied at 20-20, he hit runs of 20 and 43 yards midway through the fourth.
Afterwards, he made a surprising confession that he was in a slump not only in games but also in practice.
“I'm just not kicking the ball,” Zeerlein said. “I wouldn't say that. [windy] Conditions influenced it. It was just that I wasn't kicking the ball the right way, and the results showed themselves. Not only in this game, but in past games as well. [Denver] In the same way. These guys [teammates] I deserve better, and I can do better. I just have to do it. ”
Zuerlein made 30 of 37 field goals in 2022, his first season with the Jets, for a percentage of 81.1 percent. Last season, he completed 35 of 38 games, a percentage of 92.1.
This season, even though Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich preached after the loss that he still believed in Zuerlein, he was an impressive 6-for-10 at bat, 60 percent, Kickers won't be used for very long.
“I'm not worried about Greg,” Ulbrich said. “I know this guy's track record, and he's going to find his rhythm here and… he's going to win games for us this season. I know that 100 percent.”
Perhaps the most disturbing element of hearing the tour line after the game was that he suggested he was sluggish in practice.
“It’s easy to see that you’re not hitting the ball the way you know how,” he said. “I'm preparing as hard as I can, but the results haven't come out yet. I hope things will improve from there.”
Like a golfer who hits with a hook and leaves everything behind, tour line mistakes are consistently left behind.
“That's the kind of ball I've been hitting,” he said. “Overall, I'm just not hitting the ball the right way that I know how. That came to bite us today. We're trying different things to fix that. .I go out to practice every day. [trying] To eliminate them…because those bad kicks are damaging us. ”
Zuerlein, who is in his 13th NFL season and fourth with the team, said it's not the first time he's been in a funk like this.
“I've been through a lot of ups and downs and hell and back, and now it's not good,” he said. “This is not good enough, because these guys in this locker room deserve to win. That's something that concerns me as a player. I see them working so hard and I'm at the end of my contract. It's because I haven't been able to protect it. That's my responsibility.”
