A day after their special teams coordinator professed his faith in Austin Seibert as the answer to their kicking woes, the Detroit Lions waived the fourth-year kicker and handed the job to Michael Badgley.
Badgley signed with the Lions practice squad Tuesday after kicking last week for the Chicago Bears.
He scored every Bears point in a 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans, when he played as a fill-in for kicker Cairo Santos, who missed the game for personal reasons.
SHAWN WINDSOR:Jared Goff is ballin’ — too bad the Lions defense is getting in the way
INJURY UPDATE:Lions WRs DJ Chark out, Amon-Ra St. Brown questionable vs. Patriots
“We just had the information everybody has in terms of the film that’s out there on him,” Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said in explaining the move Thursday. “We knew that he played in Chicago a week ago, which I think helps. We have one game here then we get a bye, so our thought is kind of, who can we get in here that can help us the most for one game at least and help us get through this thing if Seibert can’t go.”
Seibert had battled soreness in his groin in recent weeks related to scar tissue from a surgery he underwent last fall.
He missed two field goals in the Lions’ 28-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3, when Lions coach Dan Campbell opted for a late-game field goal attempt rather than try and convert on fourth-and-4. Seibert missed from 54 yards, the Vikings took over at their own 46-yard line and scored the winning touchdown three plays later.
Seibert sat out last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, when his replacement, Dominik Eberle, missed two extra points and sent a kickoff out of bounds. The Lions waived Eberle on Tuesday, when they signed Badgley.
Seibert returned to practice Wednesday, and Fipp said Thursday he still believed in Seibert as the Lions’ kicker.
“I definitely believe he can be the guy,” Fipp said. “I mean, we kept him for a reason. He had a great training camp with us, he was healthy, he felt great, the ball was coming off his foot good. His numbers were really the best numbers, he had really the best leg and we made the decision to keep him based off that. And I thought he would have a great year for us and then obviously had a little bit of a setback there and now he’s got to fight through that.”
Badgley is on his sixth team since entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He spent three years with the Los Angeles Chargers, making 52 of 65 field goals with a long of 59 yards. Last season, he was 18 of 22 in 13 games with the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans.