Alex Henery had a terrific rookie year with the Eagles in 2011, and the kicker drafted in the fourth round missed just three field goals the entire season -- his success rate of 88.9 percent (24-27) is the highest in Eagles history.
Well, this season is just one game old and Henery has already missed a makeable field goal, a 45-yarder in the season opener against the Browns after he made a 42-yarder.
What bothered special teams coach Bobby April the most about the miss wasn't the distance as much as the circumstances. The Eagles trailed by six points after the fourth-quarter miss, which meant they had to score a touchdown in the final minutes and couldn’t play for a field goal.
“He’s got to make those kind of field goals,’’ April said. “For nine minutes, our offense had to get a touchdown to take the lead instead of having the security, if that’s the right word, to not have to get it all the way down there.
“Those are big plays. We’re counting on him to accomplish that and when he doesn’t, there’s a disappointment level."
Nobody, of course, was more disappointed than Henery, or more surprised.
“I have to make that kick, plain and simple,’’ he said. “Everything else was perfect, the snap and the hold. The guys work real hard to put me in that position and I have to come through for them.
“Now I have to put that behind me, because I have to be focused on the next kick, not the last one. And I’ll take that next kick confident I’ll make it. Nothing will change that.”
April also said he’s not concerned that Henery is going through a sophomore slump or will let one miss, albeit a big one, to erode his confidence.
“I think his mentality is such that things don’t weigh on him,’’ April said, smiling as he added “It’s pretty hard to be neurotic and do something like that. You’ve got to have steady nerves and he’s got the right mentality for that.”
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