The Indianapolis Colts are moving forward at kicker by signing Chase McLaughlin and Lucas Havrisik to their practice squad.
The team will elevate one of them to the active roster in time for their Week 2 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
McLaughlin played for the Cleveland Browns last season.
The undrafted kicker from Illinois also played for the Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, the Jaguars, and the New York Jets.
In 2019, he was claimed off waivers by the Colts due to Adam Vinatieri‘s injury.
He stayed with the squad for the rest of the season but was released during the final roster cuts for 2020.
Meanwhile, Havrisik is an undrafted free agent from Arizona who tried out with the Colts last May.
However, the Colts decided to stick to Rodrigo Blankenship and Jake Verity.
Eventually, Blankenship won the role, but his 2022 season was short-lived after the Colts waived him two days after their Week 1 game.
The Athletic’s Zak Keefer shared his thoughts about this development.
Honestly, I didn't feel like the Colts could move forward with Rodrigo. For some w/ the team, the two OB kickoffs were even more frustrating than the 42-yard miss that would've won it in overtime.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) September 13, 2022
Keefer tweeted, “Honestly, I didn’t feel like the Colts could move forward with Rodrigo. For some w/ the team, the two OB kickoffs were even more frustrating than the 42-yard miss that would’ve won it in overtime.”
The Beginning Of The End For Blankenship
Hitting that 42-yarder would have prevented the game from ending in a 20-20 tie.
But aside from that miss, those kickoffs that went out of bounds gave the Houston Texans favorable field position.
Either Houston starts at the spot where the ball went out of bounds or at their 35-yard line.
Could it be that Blankenship’s 2021 hip surgery did more harm than good?
He hasn’t been the same ever since.
NEXT: The Colts Have A New Plan At Kicker
Anonymous says
Maybe Rodrigo has not completely healed yet? 😟