FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Stephen Gostkowski will be making a major adjustment during this training camp.
The New England Patriots' Pro Bowl kicker is working with two new long snappers as the team tries to replace Lonnie Paxton, who signed as a free agent with Denver in the offseason.
"It's a day-to-day process. You have to be patient," Gostkowski, who hit 36 of 40 field goal tries in 2008, said Sunday. "There are days when you feel like you're going to be in a rhythm with (the snapper) and days when you're not. The hardest thing sometimes is going from one to the other."
Paxton was the snapper when Adam Vinatieri made some of the biggest field goals in NFL history. Gostkowski replaced Vinatieri in 2005, but Paxton had been a constant.
Now Paxton is the second-highest-paid long-snapper in the league after signing a five-year, $5.3 million contract with the Broncos.
Jake Ingram, a sixth-round draft pick out of Hawaii, and Nate Hodel, an eight-year veteran, are vying to replace Paxton.
Snappers and holders usually don't get much notice — until there's a blunder.
"There's not much room for error for a specialist, be it a punter, kicker or snapper," Gostkowski said. "Most snapping, they have to be pretty precise."
Punter and holder Chris Hanson said Gostkowski's All-Pro season was a testimony to the entire field goal unit.
"I'm not taking anything away from him, but it's a total team effort," he said.
NOTES: The Patriots announced the re-signing of rookie free agent defensive back Jamar Love from Arkansas and the signing of third-year outside linebacker Rob Nincovich, who has played for both the Dolphins and the Saints. … The Patriots waived veteran linebacker Vince Redd, who played in five games last year as a rookie out of Liberty College.