From the Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/2zume8cs
PHILADELPHIA — Eagles kicker Jake Elliott, once among the most reliable in the league, especially from long distance, says his career-worst slump of missing seven field goals in the last nine games isn’t a case of the yips.
“No, honestly, not at all,” Elliott said postgame in Washington. “That’s kind of what’s frustrating about it is I don’t feel like that at all. I kinda wish it was. It would be easier to fix.
“It’s something I’ll have to go take a deep dive on and watch the film. No one’s harder on themselves than myself. It’s frustrating, and I gotta be better.”
If it isn’t mental, it could be mechanics, or perhaps it’s just something cyclical in the ether. Thus is the journey of a kicker.
Elliott missed three kicks — two that counted — in the Birds’ division-clinching win over the Commanders Saturday. A 57-yard hook was negated by a penalty, but he also pulled a 52-yarder and even a 43-yarder.
Coach Nick Sirianni on Monday dispelled any notion the team would bring in a new kicker to compete with Elliott for the playoffs.
“No,” Sirianni said. “A lot of confidence in Jake. I love the roster the way it is and, like I said, I have a ton of confidence in him and that he’ll rebound from whatever setbacks that he has.”
Elliott, who will turn 31 in January, is still deeply in the prime years for most kickers, a profession that has seen guys hang around well into their 40s. After being signed from the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad, he made his bones as a rookie in 2017 with a game-winning, 61-yard field goal against the Giants in Week 3 that set the stage for the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII championship run.
He went on to set the Eagles’ franchise record with 31 field goals of 50 yards or more. But last year he was just 1-for-7 from 50-plus, and now he seems to be missing from everywhere.
Still, despite some turbulence, he managed to right the ship by the 2024 postseason, in which he was 10-for-11, including a 50-yarder in the Super Bowl.
“I think Jake always has a great process going in and the week of work leading up to it,” Sirianni said. “I think it’s always important that everybody needs to know they’re loved and appreciated. My love and appreciation for Jake isn’t just when you guys ask me questions about it, but also in times like this, you want to make sure you reconfirm those things.
“And I think we’ve seen Jake have — he’s had such a great career with so many highs, but like any player, he’s had some moments of struggle as well, and all I’ve ever seen him do was get up out of that and rise from that. I know he went through some struggles last year and ended up having however many field goals and extra points in the Super Bowl and in the NFC championship game. So I have no doubt in my mind of the competitor he is and how mentally tough he is to be able to rise from this situation as well.”
NOTES: Sirianni is one of three Super Bowl-era head coaches to make the playoffs five times and win three division championships in their first five seasons. The others were the Steelers’ Bill Cowher and Chuck Knox. … Sirianni has reached the Super Bowl twice and won it once. … This was Philadelphia’s 12th NFC East Championship under Jeffrey Lurie’s ownership. … Since Howie Roseman’s first year as a general manager in 2010, the Eagles have produced seven NFC East-winning rosters, leading the division in that span. The Birds have also won more than half of the NFC East’s titles (five) dating back to 2017.
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