Rodrigo Blankenship: Cut after missing critical kick

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The Colts waived Blankenship on Tuesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

In addition to drawing penalties after sending two kickoffs out of bounds in Week 1, Blankenship misfired on a 42-yard field-goal attempt in overtime against the Texans that cost the Colts a win and forced the team to settle for a 20-20 tie. The poor showing will now cost him his job, but the 25-year-old was already on thin ice entering the season. The Colts' decision to move on from Blankenship comes after he followed up a strong 2020 rookie season by converting only 11 of 14 field-goal tries (78.6 percent) and seven of eight extra-point attempts (87.5 percent) in 2021 while being limited to five games due to a hip injury. He was healthy for training camp but still faced competition for the Colts' kicking role, narrowly beating out Jake Verity for the gig. According to Pelissero, the Colts auditioned a number of kickers in a group workout Tuesday and will likely sign one or two to the practice squad before deciding on a replacement ahead of Sunday's game in Jacksonville.