Bill Belichick Downplays Early Season Struggles Of Stephen Gostkowski

The New England Patriots are firing on all cylinders to begin the 2019 season, but there still are areas they can improve.

The kicking game would be one of those, as placekicker Stephen Gostkowski has struggled a bit to begin the season. The 35-year-old has missed three extra points and one field goal in New England’s first three games, but Bill Belichick isn’t blowing it out of proportion.

In an interview Monday with WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria,” the Patriots head coach said he actually thinks Gostkowski is kicking well to begin the year.

“Honestly, I think Steve has hit the ball well,” Belichick said. “He’s hit the ball extremely well all year. Had a couple I’m sure he’d like to have back, but I think he’ll make (those) going forward. … I think overall his consistency and the operation and his accuracy has really been good. I understand we’ve had a couple of missed kicks in games, I see that, but on a day-to-day basis you don’t see that very often.

“I would say on a day-to-day basis, and other than the one kick yesterday, his kickoffs have been much more consistent than they were last year,” Belichick added. “His other kicks were good. Steve’s a professional. He works hard at it.”

The Patriots look to go 4-0 this week when they travel to Buffalo to take on the undefeated Bills at New Era Field.