Lions May Have to Rely on Kicker Dominik Eberle
Kicker Austin Seibert did not practice on Friday, and now his availability for the Detroit Lions' Week 4 contest against the Seattle Seahawks could be in jeopardy.
If the veteran kicker is not able to suit up, the team would likely turn to its practice squad and bring up Dominik Eberle.
Eberle has bounced around the league, including stops with the Raiders, Panthers, Texans and Packers.
While he has spent the majority of his time in the league on the practice squad, he is potentially going to get an opportunity to showcase what he can accomplish, if Seibert misses the game against Seattle.
Eberle played collegiately at Utah State, successfully making 64 out of 81 field-goal attempts.
He was also perfect on all 167 extra-point tries.
Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp shared his assessment of what the inexperienced kicker would bring to the team, if called up.
"He's been great. He had an outstanding workout when we brought him in here, and we're really excited about that," Fipp said. "He's obviously been a guy that's bounced around the league a little bit. So, we'll see what happens. But, I would say his performance out there for us has been really good."
Fipp went on to explain how Seahawks kicker Jason Myers, who has bounced around the NFL and even played in the Arena League, proves that players can take advantage of opportunities when they arise.
"This week's a good example. We play against a guy, Myers, their kicker, and he's a great story. He's in the Arena Football League. He's on two different teams," Fipp said. "Then, he goes to Jacksonville, I think, and this goes back to the 50-yard-plus kicks (discussion). I think he hit like 12 50-yard-plus kicks in Jacksonville his first year. He was seven-of-12. His numbers didn't look good at the end of the season. I think he missed a couple of short kicks, but it's really magnified by the long kicks. His overall percentage. He ends up getting cut by those guys. He goes to Seattle. He gets cut by Seattle. He goes to the New York Jets, and he goes to the Pro Bowl his first year with the Jets. Then, he gets released by them. Now, he's back in Seattle. So, I would say with all these guys, if it comes to Eberle, maybe this is his shot, in terms of being a great player. I believe that could happen for him, and I hope it does."
