Jerod Mayo Weighs in On Patriots' Kicking Competition After Preseason Opener

The New England Patriots' kicking competition hasn’t been widely discussed this summer due to the position battles happening at wide receiver and offensive line in training camp.

However, New England is doing its due diligence, bringing in veteran Joey Slye to compete with Chad Ryland. Ryland did not have the best rookie season in 2023 as he made 64 percent of his field goals (16-of-25), but 96 percent of his extra points (24-of-25).

In Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, head coach Jerod Mayo had the chance to watch both kickers compete in two different scenarios. Slye hit a 42-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, which just snuck inside the left upright.

Meanwhile, Ryland surprisingly didn’t handle field goals in the rainy conditions as he went 2-of-2 on extra points. The second-year kicker pushed his second extra point toward the right upright, but it still connected.

On Friday morning, Mayo was asked about the kicking competition and made it clear that it is still wide open.

"Slye and Chad are competing, and the game is a small part, " Mayo said (h/t ESPN’s Mike Reiss). “There is nothing more important than practices and so we try to put a lot of stress on those kickers. It's still a wide-open competition."

Mayo isn’t wrong in his assessment as the two kickers have looked good in training camp and the preseason. According to Reiss, Ryland has only missed kicks (24-of-27) and Slye has only missed five.

Nonetheless, if you are on the Patriots coaching staff, you are happy with Ryland’s progress in camp after a disastrous rookie season. The 24-year-old kicker left a lot of points on the board and that cannot happen this season, especially for a team trying to improve from a four-win 2023 campaign.

More Patriots news and analysis: