EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- For a kicker whose struggles have been almost universally described by the Minnesota Vikings as mental, not physical, the team's decision to try out six kickers -- but not sign any of them -- could have had a deleterious effect on the kicker.
Special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer -- who's been Walsh's coach his entire career and one of his biggest advocates since he worked out the Georgia kicker before the 2012 draft -- didn't believe Blair Walsh would shrink from the moment.
"I knew how he would react," Priefer said.