Jets Release Kicker Sergio Castillo After Three Missed Field Goals Against Seahawks
It didn't take long for the Jets to decide the fate of kicker Sergio Castillo.
Two days after missing three field goals (on consecutive drives) against the Seattle Seahawks, New York released the kicker.
This comes only one day after the Jets claimed up second-year kicker Chase McLaughlin off waivers from the Jacksonville Jaguars. According to Jets head coach Adam Gase, Sam Ficken—who started this season as the Jets starting kicker—may be ready to return from the injured reserve this week.
Castillo finishes his stint with the Jets—a stretch of six games—with eight made field goals out of 13 tries. He went 6-for-7 on extra points.
Up until Week 14, Castillo had done a relatively good job filling in for Ficken. He missed against the Dolphins in Week 12, but Castillo's only other "miss" this before that was a blocked field goal as time expired in the first half against the Kansas City Chiefs. Starting 6-for-7 through your first three NFL games isn't too shabby.
Then, it all unraveled for Castillo against Seattle on Sunday. After drilling his first try on the Jets' opening drive, Castillo proceeded to miss three kicks in a row in the second quarter.
"After the first kick I feel pretty confident making that one 40 plus," Castillo told reporters in a Zoom call after the 40-3 loss. "I just didn't follow through on a couple ones and then it was just one after another. So I have to do better bouncing back. That's on me."
Unfortunately for Castillo, he won't get a chance to bounce back with New York.
That is the nature of the business for kickers in this league. For a 30-year-old finally breaking into the NFL for the first time, Castillo did show signs of reliability in a Jets uniform, but this coaching staff elected to go another direction after Sunday's putrid performance.
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Asked on Sunday if he was worried about losing his job, Castillo kept his head high and recognized that those types of decisions are out of his control.
"At the end of the day, I just got to control what I can control," he said. "I think that's something that's part of being a pro and that's the beauty about life, there's always going to be ups and downs and there's no diamonds without any pressure, right? So we just gotta keep on working getting better."
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