The struggles of Dustin Hopkins continued Sunday. The Washington Football Team kicker missed a 43-yard field goal which proved critical in Washington’s 30-27 loss to the Detroit Lions.
The miss was Hopkins’ fourth between 40-49 yards this season and fifth overall. He hadn’t missed no more than two kicks from that range in a season prior. After previously showing his support for Hopkins, head coach Ron Rivera admitted Washington is “discussing” the possibility of making a change at kicker.
“That’s something that we are talking about and discussing,” Rivera said per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “The hard part is when you bring a guy in, you want to make sure you have a guy that’s going to fit you, you have a guy that’s got a lot of experience because you’re going to replace an experienced guy. So again, that’s something we’re discussing.”
Hopkins was battling a groin injury and was limited in practice throughout week leading to Detroit. However, his struggles precedes the injury.
He has been a rare mainstay for Washington since Week 2 of the 2015 season. But this season he is 12-of-17 on field goal for a career-low percentage of 70.6.
Washington has Kaare Vedvik on the practice squad. But, the young kicker has only one NFL field goal attempt. Yet, Rivera hinted they’d prefer replacing Hopkins with a kicker with experience. But for now Washington is “discussing” the possibility. The possibility could become reality if Hopkins continues to be unreliable.
