As per reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, The Indianapolis Colts are waiving the kicker Rodrigo Blankenship following a disappointing performance in Week 1 against the Houston Texans, When the kicker missed a game-winning, 42-yard attempt on Sunday and sent two kickoffs out of bounds in crunch time.
The #Colts are waiving kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 13, 2022
The Indianapolis Colts worked out a handful of kickers after evaluating on Tuesday, including two former Jacksonville Jaguars, and they plan to sign one or two of them for another competition, according to Tom Pelissero.
Rodrigo Blankenship converted 45 of 54(83.3%) of his field goal attempts in his two-plus seasons, along with 52 of 55(94.5%) extra point attempts. He converted just one of four attempts from 50 yards or longer in his stint with the Indianapolis Colts.
Photo by: Scott Cunningham
Indianapolis did not immediately fill the kicker spot on their active roster, instead signing kickers Chase McLaughlin and Lucas Havrisik to their practice squad. They likely will promote one of the new kickers to the active roster before their Week 2 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The Colts filled the place of Rodrigo on the 53-man roster by signing cornerback Tony Brown from their practice squad.
The Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich was asked Monday whether Rodrigo had a confidence issue.
Colts coach Frank Reich was asked Monday whether Blankenship had a confidence issue.
Reich said that If you play long enough you are going to have a bad day or bad days. Your confidence is going to waver It is how you respond to… and it is everybody, there’s no exception to that. The greatest players in the world’s confidence waver, So “Obviously as we evaluate that and how we feel about it, you consider all those things, and then it is a question of hey, a guy had a bad day, can he bounce back? Do we have the patience for the guy to bounce back?
Who is Rodrigo Blankenship
Rodrigo John Blankenship was born on 29 January 1997 in Marietta, Georgia to Ken and Izabella Blankenship. His nickname is Hot Red and he is an American football placekicker and is a free agent. Rodrigo Blankenship father’s Ken, also takes part in Football at Florida in year 1967-1969.
Photo by: Michael Hickey
Rodrigo began kicking a football at ten years old. He participated as a high schooler in the 2014-15 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and he was ranked the place of the ninth-best kicker in the country by 247 sports.com. He also played college football at Georgia, where he kicked the longest field goal in Rose Bowl history.
Blankenship has received considerable media attention for the thick glasses that he wears during games.
Rodrigo Blankenship signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2020. In the first game with Indianapolis, he made both extra-point attempts and two of three field goal attempts in a 27-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars the jaguars’ only win of the season. Against the Green Bay Packers in Week 11, he kicked a 39-yard game-winning field goal in overtime during the 34-31 win and later earned the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award. He had converted 43 out of 45 extra point attempts and made 32 out of 37 field goal tries, with a long of 53 yards by the end of the regular season.
Rodrigo Blankenship played the first five games for the Indianapolis Colts before being placed on injured reserve on 16 October 2021 due to a hip injury.
And now on 11 September 2022 in the Colts’ season opener against the Houston Texans, he went 2-for-3 on field goals, kicking two kickoffs out of bounds and missing a game-winning 42-yarder in overtime as the game ended in a 20-20 tie. And he was waived after two days on September 13.
