Could Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates have had a better training camp? Yes, obviously. The team’s new kicker missed more than a handful of short kicks and had a couple of tough practices along the way. But the young kicker still managed to win the Lions’ kicker job unopposed.
Bates’ big leg—including a 64-yard game-winner in his UFL debut—has drawn national attention, but it was how the Lions kicker responded to some of those early struggles that gave Detroit the confidence he could be the kicker they’ve been looking for.
“I know that one thing about kickers is you have to be wired a certain way and we learned early on that he’s wired right,” general manager Brad Holmes said Thursday.