October 12, 2015
When the Eagles lost Cody Parkey for the season with a groin injury, the Eagles held a kicking competition that was won by former Dolphins kicker Caleb Sturgis. In his first two games, Sturgis is 4/5 on field goal attempts, all from within 41 yards, with his miss coming on a 33 yard chip shot. He also missed his second extra point in as many games. Despite his struggles, Chip Kelly said the Eagles would not be working out any kickers to potentially replace Sturgis.
"We're going to roll with Caleb," Kelly told reporters today.
And not only are the Eagles sticking with Sturgis, his play actually drew praise from Kelly.
"Caleb did a nice job," said Kelly. "I think he kind of got into a groove there, especially on the kickoffs. A couple of them were short, early. But the last couple he hit I think he really hit really well. We had a slightly high snap on the snap-hold operation on the missed extra point. But besides that I thought he hit the ball well. He's starting to get more comfortable. Him and Fipp and Donnie and Jon are getting on the same page, and to come in, in terms of where he's been, he had a short week the week we brought him in in terms of getting him ready for the first game, and now he's starting to get into a little bit of a rhythm. We'll see had it goes, but I thought he had a good game."
In looking back at the game, Kelly is right. While Sturgis missed the extra point by a mile, there was a high snap by Jon Dorenbos that Donnie Jones had to put down quickly without being able to spin the laces:
Otherwise, as Kelly noted, Sturgis' kickoffs were mostly good. Five of his eight kickoffs went for touchbacks, with three of those kicks going out the back of the end zone completely. He did have three kickoffs that were returned, with one of those coming on a line drive with bad hang time.
It's easy to see a missed extra point and say, "CUT THAT GUY," like some people:
Caleb Sturgis gotta go.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) October 11, 2015
But his game yesterday really wasn't that bad, and Kelly's explanation that the long snapper, holder and kicker getting on the same page is valid to some extent.
That said, you can't miss PATs every week.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
