Philadelphia Eagles K Jake Elliott was one of the heroes of Super Bowl 52. Elliott made three field goals in that contest, including a 46-yarder that put the Eagles up 41-33 late in the game. Ultimately, as we know, Philadelphia would hold on and defeat the Patriots on that day.
Before this season, the 25-year-old Elliott had been a very consistent kicker for the Eagles and was rewarded with a five-year, $21 million contract extension last November, but one year later, Elliott is floundering. In 13 games this season, Elliott has missed five field goals(13-18), including a 22-yarder last week in the team’s win over New Orleans.
On Tuesday, Eagles special teams coach Dave Fipp talked about Elliott’s struggles in 2020.
“Obviously, the last three weeks, he’s had some short misses there. It’s unacceptable for us. He knows that I know that,” Fipp said… “I mean, I have to do a better job with him just working our fundamentals, our techniques, our drills. We had a good snap, a good hold. I think the operation has been really good for him. He’s obviously made a bunch of longer kicks, so some of it is hard to fathom. At the end of the day, I’m not going to get into all the techniques and detail, but it comes down to just striking the ball more consistently. We got to get him in a little bit better rhythm and make sure he’s striking the ball a little bit more consistently there.
“He’s a talented player; he’s got a lot of tools, he’s a really talented player, he works really hard at it. It’s really important to him, it’s not a lack of effort or of a want to, so we’ll just stay the course. I think any player in that position in this league or most players in that position in this league have had to fight through something. This will be a good opportunity for him to fight through a little adversity here.”
Elliott has to be better going forward for the Eagles. In reality, no one cares about the kicker until they have to care about the kicker, and that usually happens when the kicker is struggling, and at this time, Elliott is struggling. It’s hard to understand why, but hopefully, Fipp can find ways to help Elliott turn it around. Otherwise, Philadelphia may have a decision to make at the kicker position.
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