The NFL season is only one week old and the Colts have already made the decision to move on from their kicker. The team announced it has decided to cut ties with Rodrigo Blankenship following his rough outing in Houston.
The Colts had a chance to score the go-ahead points on Sunday with a 42-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime, but Blankenship sent the kick wide right and the game ended in a 20-20 tie. Following the game, Blankenship took full responsibility for the miss.
"Snap and hold were great. I just need to do my part and finish it off," Blankenship said, via The Athletic. "It didn't feel great coming off my foot."
Besides the missed field goal, Blankenship also sent a kickoff out of bounds with just under two minutes left to play in regulation, which gave the Texans the ball at their own 40-yard line. Colts coach Frank Reich was asked on Monday if Blankenship would be his kicker going forward and he didn't exactly give him a vote of confidence.
"[General manager] Chris [Ballard] and I will sit down and have a long discussion about that tonight and see where we're at," Reich told the media.
With just five days to go until their next game, the Colts aren't going to have much time to find a kicker. The team started that process on Tuesday with a tryout that eventually ended with Chase McLaughlin and Lucas Havrisik both getting signed to the practice squad.
It won't be surprising at all if McLaughlin is the kicker on Sunday in Jacksonville. Not only is the coaching staff familiar with him due to the fact that he spent four games with the Colts in 2019, but he also spent some time with the Jaguars, so he knows what it's like to kick in their stadium. Havrisik is an undrafted free agent who has never kicked in a regular-season game, so he would seem to be the longer shot to earn the job. However, the Colts are familiar with him after inviting him to their rookie minicamp in May.
As for Blankenship, the move by Indianapolis brings his career with the Colts to a disappointing end. Blankenship made the PFWA's All-Rookie team back in 2020 after a season where he drilled 86.5% of his field goals (32 of 37). However, Blankenship would miss most of the 2021 season after injuring his hip early in the year.
After returning from injury, Blankenship won a kicking competition during training camp that allowed him to keep the job to start the 2022 season. In his final game with the Colts, Blankenship made two field goals (27, 45) on Sunday before his wayward attempt in overtime.
