NEW ORLEANS, LA. – One phase of the game the Saints are fixing is special teams. The punt/return game is not the problem. It’s Kicking.
Many are waiting, including Sean Payton, for the day Will Lutz comes off injured reserve.
A player that just went on it: newest kicker who replaced Aldrick Rosas, Cody Parkey. He injured his groin in warmups at Washington. Parkey made three of the five extra points that he attempted in the win over Washington.
“Hopefully Wil is close to getting back and I think he is,” said Saints head coach Sean Payton. “In the meantime, we’ll make sure we evaluate each of our options and all of our options. And the good news is we have an additional week to do that.”
In terms of the punt/return game, Punter Blake Gillikin had the best punt of his career in the game against Washington. The ball went 60 yards, landed at the 1, and hopped out of bounds. Because of his stellar performance, he received the game ball.
“In the kicking game, Blake (Gillikin) was outstanding. It was a good win,” said Payton.
“You make a team have to go whatever 98 yards to score. You look at the statistics, and they’re not good for driving the field 98 yards. He had a heckuva game. Everyone was very impressed with it,” said Saints offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk.
New Orleans has already found a replacement for Parkey. Brian Johnson comes from the Chicago Bears practice squad where he made both attempts during preseason. He now heads to New Orleans 53 man roster.
