Saints kicker Wil Lutz keeps getting kicks blocked, and he says there’s no one to blame but him.
Saints coach Sean Payton doesn’t necessarily agree.
Even though Payton was upset with the latest blocked kick (which was nearly returned for a touchdown by the Panthers, a week after an extra point was blocked and returned for a game-winning conversion by the Broncos), he said he believes in the rookie kicker.
“You’ve heard me say this,” Payton said, via Christopher Dabe of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, “Clearly, we have the right kicker.”
Lutz wasn’t as generous, saying last night’s against the Panthers was “on me.”
“It definitely tests your mental capacity, how much you can handle,” Lutz said. “Other than that, I’m learning a lot about myself and what I need to fix to be able to be a kicker in the NFL.”
He can’t fix the blocking, and Payton acknowledged that was a problem last night. But Lutz wasn’t hearing it.
“You got 300-pound guys lined up against you, and someone is going to get close, but blocking had nothing to do with that kick,” he said. “Everyone is going to get pushed back a yard, it’s part of being on the field-goal team. It’s my job to get it up there.”
Lutz has had three blocked kicks, and two others deflected which went through. And while that’s clearly an issue, he’s also hit enough kicks for Payton to keep him around, and keep everyone else on notice.