Ficken's A-Game Sees Kicker Win Training Camp Battle with the New York Jets

Sam Ficken won the kicking battle for the New York Jets and appears headed to be the team’s starter come Week 1.

Last year, Ficken had a so-so season in his first year in New York, connecting on 19-of-27 field goal attempts. He made 23-of-26 point after attempts as well.

Jets head coach Adam Gase praised Ficken for coming into training camp and winning the kicking battle with Brett Maher, who was released on Monday.

Sam’s been with us a year, there’s a lot of trust there. I think he’s done a great job in training camp. We just got to work on getting better

Which is what I think is all these guys do, constantly working on their mental game, their working on their physical game. It’s like being a golfer, you got to keep working on your stroke.”

Ficken played in 15 games for the Jets last year. He spent parts of the previous two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams where he played in five games.

He was an undrafted rookie free agent who was an un-signed free agent in camp with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was then signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, only to be released in training camp. He then waited a year was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017 during camp but was cut before Week 1.

A former kicker at Penn State, Ficken emerged as the season wore on to be a reliable and dependable kicker. Late in the season, his 44-yard field goal as time expired saw the Jets churn out a 22-21 win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 12.

In the win, Ficken connected on all three of his field goal attempts. Ironically, he missed one of his two point after attempts in the Jets win.

After being released by the Rams in 2018, Ficken didn’t sign with a team until the 2019 when he latched on with the Seattle Seahawks for training. He was cut in Seattle in the spring and then was picked-up by the Green Bay Packers before being released before the regular season.

He signed with the Jets in Week 2 last season and then signed a new deal with the Jets in free agency.