Gunzlingr
10-12-2007, 08:27 AM
Barring a setback on Friday, 11th-year veteran Olindo Mare (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=3888) will handle the placement chores for the New Orleans on Sunday at Seattle, and the struggling Saints will not sign another kicker to even temporarily replace him.
With Mare battling a groin injury, and having converted only three of seven attempts so far in 2007, the Saints auditioned seven free agent kickers this week, including veterans Mike Vanderjagt (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4525), Martin Gramatica (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4730) and Billy Cundiff (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=6154). But the Saints held off on signing another kicker because they wanted to see how Mare performed on Thursday at practice.
And, apparently, Mare kicked well enough to satisfy the coaching staff that he can handle most reasonable field goal tries.
Sources said that, had the Saints opted to sign another kicker, it probably would have been Gramatica, who was recently released by Dallas from its injured reserve list.
"I felt OK," Mare told the New Orleans Times-Picayune after Thursday's practice. "I feel better. We'll see. Hopefully, by Sunday it'll be to where I can perform better. You can really tell until the next day. I did what we had scripted and tried to stay loose the whole time. Obviously, I wasn't 100 percent. . . . I won't be able to hit any 60-yard field goals or kick off, but I don't think they're expecting that."
More... (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3059324&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines)
With Mare battling a groin injury, and having converted only three of seven attempts so far in 2007, the Saints auditioned seven free agent kickers this week, including veterans Mike Vanderjagt (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4525), Martin Gramatica (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4730) and Billy Cundiff (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=6154). But the Saints held off on signing another kicker because they wanted to see how Mare performed on Thursday at practice.
And, apparently, Mare kicked well enough to satisfy the coaching staff that he can handle most reasonable field goal tries.
Sources said that, had the Saints opted to sign another kicker, it probably would have been Gramatica, who was recently released by Dallas from its injured reserve list.
"I felt OK," Mare told the New Orleans Times-Picayune after Thursday's practice. "I feel better. We'll see. Hopefully, by Sunday it'll be to where I can perform better. You can really tell until the next day. I did what we had scripted and tried to stay loose the whole time. Obviously, I wasn't 100 percent. . . . I won't be able to hit any 60-yard field goals or kick off, but I don't think they're expecting that."
More... (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3059324&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines)