Roberto Aguayo on missed kicks: ‘Shouldn’t happen with me’
Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie kicker Roberto Aguayo, who has missed two field goals and an extra point through his first two preseason games, addressed the media about his early struggles on Sunday.
“It shouldn’t happen with me. You just have to fix it and keep moving on,” Aguayo said via the Tampa Bay Times. “I feel like that’s what preseason games were made for, to get the young guys rolling in, to keep working, keep getting better.”
Aguayo has reached out to former kicker Ryan Longwell, former Bucs special-teams coordinator Bill Miller and a mental coach to help with his kicking issues, reports WDAE’s Roy Cummings.
A three-time first-team All American at Florida State, Aguayo made 88.5% of his kicks in college, never failing to convert inside 40 yards. On Saturday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he missed from 32 and 49 yards out.
• Broncos’ Mark Sanchez: I ‘squandered’ opportunity to earn starting job
First-year coach Dirk Koetter said that he’s not sure why Aguayo is struggling, but that he needs to start making kick before the regular season.
“He’s been pretty consistent in practice, but in both of the first preseason games he’s missed kicks that he’s expected to make,” Koetter said. “The bottom line is he’s expected to make those kicks. He knows it, of course. Everybody knows it, and we can’t hit behind it. We can’t hide behind any of the mistakes, and trust me, I’m making more than anybody out there. But yeah, he’s got to make them.”
The Bucs traded up to the second round of the 2016 NFL draft to select Aguayo.
Tampa Bay opens the regular season against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 11.
