Ahead of key Cards game, Jets switch kickers

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The New York Jets are changing kickers — again.

They released Riley Patterson after one game and signed Anders Carlson to the practice squad Friday, but the plan for Sunday’s virtual must-win game against the Arizona Cardinals is to use Spencer Shrader, who will be elevated from the practice squad.

“Shrader kicked very well today, so I think he’ll get the nod on Sunday,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said Friday after practice.

In less than a year, the kicking position went from a strength with Greg Zuerlein to a revolving door. Shrader will be their third kicker in the past three games.

Shrader, 25, who finished his college career at Notre Dame in 2023, never has attempted a field goal in an NFL game. His only regular-season experience came earlier this season with the Indianapolis Colts. In one game, he attempted only three extra points, making all three.

The Jets’ kicking carousel started spinning Oct. 30, when the slumping Greg Zuerlein was placed on injured reserve with a previously undisclosed knee injury. That came only days after he missed a field goal and extra point in a three-point loss to the New England Patriots — the third loss in which Zuerlein’s misses loomed large.

Patterson won a six-man tryout to land the job as Zuerlein’s replacement. Shrader, too, was among the group, and he was kept on the practice squad as insurance.

Patterson was perfect in last week’s 21-13 win over the Houston Texans — 3-for-3 on PATs, although one hit the upright. His leg strength, however, apparently caused some concern. He had no touchbacks on four kickoffs.

“We were looking for a live leg,” said Ulbrich, explaining the latest shakeup.

Carlson, 26, became available this week, as he was released by the San Francisco 49ers after two games as an injury replacement for Jake Moody and Matthew Wright. He was 5-for-5 on field goals, including a 55-yarder, and 3-for-4 on extra points. Carlson was a 2023 sixth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers, who acquired that pick from the Jets in the Aaron Rodgers trade.

They still haven’t shut the door on a Zuerlein return.

“[He] was coming off of a career year last year and we all still believe in Z,” general manager Joe Douglas said Wednesday. “Obviously, he struggled with some of the mechanics and had a little tweak here, so I think this is a good opportunity for him to kind of hit the reset button. No one has given up on Zuerlein coming back here and helping us win games and, possibly, win a championship.”

In other injury-related developments, right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker is expected to return to the lineup after missing two games with a high-ankle sprain. Left guard John Simpson, who didn’t finish last week’s game because of a groin injury, also is expected to play.

The Jets (3-6), who snapped a five-game losing streak last week, still have an 18% chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN Analytics.