Tuesday, October 23, 2001
Bengals look for a kicker
Rackers hardly secure in job
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Three free-agent kickers will receive tryouts today from the Bengals, who have an open spot on their practice squad.
That means struggling second-year kicker Neil Rackers is safe -- for now.
The three kickers are Jaret Holmes, who had nine points for the Giants in the regular season in 2000, former Louisville kicker Jon Hilbert and rookie Vitaly Pisetsky, who was cut by the Bears in spite of an impressive preseason.
One of those kickers could eventually challenge for Rackers' job if they earn the spot on the team's practice squad. The Bengals are not interested in veterans Richie Cunningham or Doug Pelfrey because, club officials says, they do not kick off well enough.
Rackers has made just 3 of his past 9 field goals and is 6 of 12 this season. He missed a 39-yard attempt Sunday.
“There's no secret we want to do better with our kicking game,” Bengals president Mike Brown said.
Rackers' performance came up several times Monday in coach Dick LeBeau's news conference. “Professional football means you are paid to produce and that all players will have to produce to keep their job,” LeBeau said. “Neil is a young kicker. He kicked exceptionally well in one game (New England).
“He came back for a very good half of kicking against Cleveland in an important time. His performance, if you were evaluating the productivity of our kicking game, it is below NFL standards. It has to get up there.”
Rackers has been working with new holder Nick Harris since the week before the opener. The Bengals released punter Daniel Pope, who had held for him as a rookie.
“We've had problems with the entire snap-hold-kick sequence,” Rackers said after Sunday's game. “But this one (the miss) was all me.”
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Bengals look for a kicker
