Titans' Kicker Goes on COVID-19 Resverve List
It has been months since the Tennessee Titans dealt with a COVID-19 breakout. That does not mean they have put the virus completely in the past.
Monday, franchise officials announced that kicker Stephen Gostkowski has been placed on the COVID-19 reserve list.
Teams are prohibited from saying whether a player on that list tested positive for the coronavirus or was placed there due to a close contact with someone who has it.
As such, Gostkowski’s status for Sunday’s regular-season finale at Houston is undetermined.
If Gostkowski is unavailable for the Texans game, Sam Sloman is on the practice squad and can be added to the active roster. Sloman was the Los Angeles Rams kicker for the first seven games of this season and made eight of 11 field goals. The Rams selected him in the seventh-round of this year’s draft. The Titans signed him to their practice squad on Nov. 24.
Gostkowski has been Tennessee’s placekicker in every game this season. He has made 18 of 26 field goals, 46 of 48 PATs, good for 100 points. This is the 13th time in his 15-year NFL career he has scored at least 100. He has made a career-high seven field goals of 50 yards or more (on eight attempts). Only three players have made more.
He made game-winning kicks in each of this season’s first three games and was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September.
The 36-year-old, two-time All-Pro is the only member of the Titans’ active roster on the COVID-19 reserve list as the final week of the regular season commences. The only other player currently sidelined by the illness is practice squad wide receiver Cody Hollister.
The Titans (10-5) have a chance to clinch their third playoff appearance in four years and their first AFC South title since 2008 this week.
