The Packers’ season ended in the divisional round of the playoffs thanks in large part to a miserable performance by their special teams units that included the 49ers blocking a Mason Crosby field goal attempt.
Crosby had a rough season leading into that playoff game. He was 25-of-34 on field goals during the season, which marked his most misses since the 2012 season and raised questions about whether the team would make a change at kicker. That speculation continued when the Packers signed Dominik Eberle this week to go with JJ Molson as other options.
During a Wednesday press conference, Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst said the team hasn’t made any decisions about their kicker for next season while stopping short of ruling out a change.
“Obviously, Mason had to adjust to a lot of the things that were happening with our special teams unit and the snappers and the new punter and holder,” Gutekunst said, via Bill Huber of SI.com. “With those moving parts, he had to adjust and I thought he did a really nice job toward the end of the year. We’re in that offseason period where we get a chance to look at a lot of guys. . . . Mason, where our football team is, having a championship kind of kicker, a guy who can compete at that level is important. There will always be competition and everybody’s got to hold their own. We’ve got to make kicks but, at the same time, there was a lot of moving parts there.”
Crosby has rebounded from poor performances in the past, but a commitment to putting the best special teams units on the field means the Packers have to be open to other options to improve the production for the 2022 season.