LANDOVER, Md. — Five out of six wasn’t good enough for Mike Nugent in his New England Patriots debut.
Nugent made two field goals and three extra points in Sunday’s 33-7 victory over the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field but pushed his first point-after attempt wide right.
It was an inauspicious introduction for Stephen Gostkowski’s replacement — especially after he struggled on long-distance field-goal tries during pregame warmups — and one he personally considered unacceptable.
“It’s just one of those things I can’t stand — and I can probably speak for every kicker,” Nugent said after the game. “To see my teammates go down and expect seven points and I only give them six is something that I just don’t find acceptable, and it gives me something to work on, definitely, this week.
“I think it’s always good to bounce back and hit some short ones and hit the rest of them, but it’s just like a golfer: you’re thinking of the shot you want back. So I’m going to work on it this week and make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Nugent’s unsuccessful extra point was the Patriots’ fifth in the last four games. The previous misses came off the foot of Gostkowski, who was placed on injured reserve this week with a season-ending hip injury.
New England signed the 37-year-old Nugent on Thursday after working out more than a half-dozen free-agent kickers, but their decision to also sign Younghoe Koo to the practice squad suggested Nugent has little in the way of job security at this point in his Patriots tenure.
“I don’t expect to miss kicks like that, and I never want to ever again,” said Nugent, who is with his ninth NFL team. “So it just takes a lot of work to make sure you get out there and just hit the same ball, and I think I did that consistently the rest of the game. I hate to be in the locker room thinking I want one kick back, but if you don’t learn from it, you’re not any good at this game.
“And even though this is my 15th year doing it, there’s always the pursuit of getting better, and luckily I have guys that I don’t have to worry about anything when I go out for the field goal or extra point. I know everyone else is going to do their job, and I’ve just got to make sure I do mine.”
Sunday’s game was Nugent’s first in more than a year. He suffered a season-ending hip injury in Week 3 of the 2018 season and was out of the league during training camp and the preseason. Though he said he kept himself in game shape as he awaited his next NFL opportunity, he admitted he was “a little robotic” and “stiff” on his first kick.
“I just needed to loosen up a little bit and get a little bit of the rust off,” he said. “(The final five kicks) felt good. And looking back on the day, I think I did a great job just learning from that one. When you’re just a little bit more relaxed and don’t try to aim the ball, just swing through it and it’s going to go.”
As a longtime admirer of Gostkowski’s, Nugent intends to lean on his predecessor’s advice as the season progresses. The two have communicated on a near-daily basis since Nugent joined the team.
“I’ve always been in love with the pursuit of getting better, chasing guys like Stephen and trying to kick as well as he has in his career,” Nugent said. “And if I want to do that, I have a lot of work to do to catch up to someone like him that’s done so well. …
“We’re teammates now, so it’ll be fun to have another guy to bounce stuff off of. I’d love to have him out on the field, and if there’s something that he sees that I do kind of funky, I don’t mind having a coach that knows what he’s talking about and has his kind of experience.”
Asked whether he intends to reevaluate the kicking situation after Nugent’s less-than-perfect opening act, Patriots coach Bill Belichick replied: “I don’t think so. We just need to do things better.”
