Allen Park — The waters have been choppy for Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates his first few weeks back on an NFL roster, but for the moment, he appears to have righted the ship.
After making his lone field goal attempt in the team’s preseason opener Thursday night, a 53-yarder in soggy conditions, he turned around and buried a 64-yard effort with distance to spare to close out Sunday’s practice.
“Yeah, it feels good,” Bates said when asked how the two kicks help with confidence. “I think we have a great operation. Regardless of who the snapper is, I know they're going to give a good snap, and Jack (Fox) is really, really good holder. So it's up to me to do my job, and each day just get better and better.”
Despite being unproven, on both the macro and micro levels, the Lions have put uncommon belief in Bates, who signed in June, shortly after NFL teams were permitted to add players from UFL rosters.
Remember, Bates started as a soccer player and only served as a kickoff specialist in college. It wasn’t until the UFL that he attempted a field goal in a game. But during that opportunity with the Michigan Panthers, he wowed with his leg strength and comfort level in big moments. He put himself on the map with a 64-yard game-winner in the team’s season-opener, and he maintained relevancy throughout the campaign, finishing 17-for-22 on the year, with five additional makes from 50 yards and beyond.
Coincidentally, it was the 64-yarder to end Sunday’s practice that stabilized what must have felt like increasingly shaky ground under him nearing the end of the third week of training camp. Prior to the preseason game, he’d had a couple rough days, missing several kicks during a practice in Allen Park before continuing to battle inconsistency during a joint session with the New York Giants.
But the Lions’ support hasn’t wavered since kicking incumbent Michael Badgley suffered a season-ending injury, leaving Bates as the only kicker on the roster.
“We told him after the scrimmage the other day, 'Man, we're sticking with you. We're going to give you a chance to grow here. Let's see how you respond,’” Lions coach Dan Campbells said.
Not every team gives players that kind of leash to work through their struggles, especially a young player at a critical position, but that’s been part of the cultural identity of the Lions under Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes. And while Bates is appreciative of that approach, he understands he can’t rely on it.
“It feels good knowing the staff wants you here, but it's my job to do well and perform when I need to perform,” he said. “That's what I've been trying to hammer to myself; each day show up, each day be better than I was before, and keep taking stripes so I'm ascending, not plateauing.”
When Bates has a down day, like he did last week, he leans on his support system. That starts with his friends and family and extends to the relationships he’s cultivated n the building, from Fipp to teammates Scott Daly, Hogan Hatten and Fox, the roster’s other specialists. From there, it boils down to having confidence in his own ability, honing in on and improving upon the mechanics he’s been refining in preparation for this opportunity.
“It's a lot of hard work and never giving up,” Bates said. “That's all it is. There's always things to improve on, and I feel like I've always did a good job of consistently finding those things, fine tuning what I can do to become a better kicker. That's the main thing is to keep getting better and not giving up whenever the days are rough.”
The way things are tracking, Bates will have to the end of the month to maintain his recent momentum and prove he deserves the job going into the regular season. That’s the limit of the leash. The 53-man roster needs to be established Aug. 27, and the Lions have shown a willingness to come out of cut day with zero kickers on the roster, opting to shop the waiver wire for a better option.
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