The Bengals’ offseason work ended with kicker Evan McPherson nailing a 63-yard field goal while teammates harassed him.
“He kept his concentration and piped it right down the middle,” special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons said, via Geoff Hobson of the team website. “He has to use his experiences that he had a year ago and become a self-starter. I think that’s the one area he has to work really hard to improve. He has to be a self-starter. He has to be a better practice kicker.”
McPherson was 15-of-16 last week after going 9-of-12 the previous week, per Hobson.
The Bengals kicker had one of the greatest rookie seasons ever by a player at his position, making 28 of 33 field goals and 46 of 48 extra points in the regular season. He tied Adam Vinatieri for most field goals made in a single postseason, going 14-of-14 with back-to-back, game-winning field goals to send the Bengals to the Super Bowl.
The Bengals hope he’s even better in his second season after a productive offesason.
“Some of these young guys are going to have to make a big jump from what they did this spring and what they need to do to have a chance to compete this summer,” Simmons said. “The younger players are going to have to do a lot of that on their own. Don’t take a break this summer. Don’t take a breather. They have to put the hammer down.”