Mike Vrabel Says Andy Borregales Is Expected to Make Field Goals

The performance brought an abrupt spotlight onto a kicking operation that had experienced an entirely smooth training camp.

Mike Vrabel Offers Blunt Assessment After Three Misses

Head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t sugarcoat his assessment of the evening when reporters asked what message he had for his young kicker following the rough outing.

“I don’t have a message. We’re expected to make them. That’s pro football. They’re banging them in from 60 yards. They got two kickers on the roster, so Andy knows that we have to make those field goals.”

Mike Vrabel, Patriots head coach

Indianapolis carried a pair of kickers into the game, with Spencer Shrader connecting cleanly on a 61-yard attempt during the course of the action. By contrast, New England’s specialist endured a turbulent night that included misses from long and medium ranges.

Tracking the Misses and Early Successes Against Indianapolis

The evening started on a much more promising note for the second-year kicker. Borregales opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game by delivering from 30 yards out, and he added a 52-yard field goal early in the third quarter.

Trouble mounted as the game progressed into the later quarters. Borregales pushed his first miss wide left from 56 yards, followed it with another wide-left miss from 55 yards, and ultimately missed a potential game-winner from 49 yards with just 10 seconds remaining on the game clock according to reporting from the field.

“I just kind of hooked it a little bit to the left there. I felt like I hooked it a little bit, but then again, I’ve got to go back and watch the film [and] see exactly what happened. We were working on it during practice, so it’s just something that I’ve got to adjust to.”

Andy Borregales, Patriots kicker

Rookie Track Record and the Impact of a Snapping Change

The rough outing stands in stark contrast to Borregales’s rookie campaign. Last season, the 23-year-old hit 27-of-32 field goal attempts while also going 53-of-55 on extra points. He built substantial goodwill around the organization by hitting high-pressure kicks to defeat division rivals Buffalo and Miami, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond 50 yards throughout his debut year.

However, neither specialist pointed to the substitution as an excuse for the missed opportunities.

Camp Momentum and What Lies Ahead for New England Specialists

Prior to Thursday’s game, New England had not held any training camp competitions at either kicker or punter. Vrabel noted last week that he felt entirely comfortable keeping the specialist room closed to outside competition without adding challengers.

When asked immediately after the game whether that comfort level remained unchanged, Vrabel indicated that the coaching staff would evaluate the situation calmly rather than making a reactionary judgment in the immediate aftermath of the final whistle.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll talk about it and see where we’re at. You know, I’m not going to make [a] decision tonight. But again, we’re going to have misses. We’re going to have mistakes, and everything we do, we just need to be able to come back. We need to be able to bounce back, and we need to be able to answer.”

Mike Vrabel, Patriots head coach

For his part, Borregales emphasized the necessity of maintaining a short memory as the team transitions back to practice ahead of their upcoming schedule.

“Momentum is definitely big. But you kind of have to treat every kick like it’s its own. So it’s really just going out there like it’s the only-kick-of-the-game type of mentality. Obviously, I didn’t like the result of today, but we’ll go from there.”

Andy Borregales, Patriots kicker