It certainly won’t be Riley Patterson, and it likely won’t be Anders Carlson either.
The New York Jets will trot out a new kicker when they visit the Arizona Cardinals on November 10, and interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich hinted at who that person will be while addressing reporters on Friday in Florham Park.
Earlier in the day, the Jets released Riley Patterson, who handled the kicking duties in the Week 9 win over Houston, from their 53-man roster, and they subsequently signed former Green Bay Packers’ draft pick Anders Carlson to the Practice Squad.
“Looking for a live leg. We brought a guy in that’s got a live leg, that’s kicked in the NFL,” said Ulbrich.
Although New York has no kicker on its active roster, Carlson is now one of two P-Squad legs eligible for gameday elevation. The other is undrafted rookie Spencer Shrader.
“We think Spencer Shrader, same, has a live leg. That’s ultimately what it came down to, the strength of the leg,” said Ulbrich. “Shrader kicked very well today, so I think he’ll get the nod on Sunday.”
The Jets officially added Shrader to the mix prior to their October 31 home game against the Texans but opted to activate Patterson instead. Patterson did not try a field goal but made all three extra-point attempts in the 21-13 victory. Shrader, however, apparently overtook Patterson during practice this week.
After four years with South Florida, Shrader spent the 2023 campaign at Notre Dame. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts following the 2024 NFL Draft.
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Shrader was on the Colts’ Practice Squad at the start of the regular season and was elevated as an injury substitute for Matt Gay in Week 1. Although he has yet to kick an NFL regular season field goal, Shrader went 3-of-3 on PATs and boomed all five kickoffs for touchbacks in his lone appearance.
Meanwhile, veteran kicker Greg Zuerlein has landed on Injured Reserve after struggling with accuracy issues through eight games this year. Zuerlein missed 6 of 15 field goal attempts prior to moving to IR.
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