Folk's Feeling Good About a Career Restart Published: Thu, April 8, 2010 - 11:38am ET By Randy Lange Lange is editor-in-chief of newyorkjets.com. He covered the Jets for 13 years for The Record of Hackensack, N.J. File Under: Mike Westhoff, Rex Ryan, Dallas Cowboys, Nick Folk, new Meadowlands stadium, Jay Feely, Cowboys Stadium, Clint Stitser, John Hall change font email article 04/08 — Nick Folk was asked this morning about special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff. He responded by talking about Friday morning, which will be the biggest day to date in his Jets career. "He's been great so far. We're going out tomorrow to kick a little bit," said Folk in front of his locker during the media availability period in the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. "That'll be my first kicking experience here except for my workout. It'll be good." It'll also be Folk's first Green & White outdoors workout as the most experienced PK on the Jets' roster, after Jay Feely's signing with Arizona last week. But that's not what will make the outdoor session (perhaps in the rain here in North Jersey) so good for him. "Coach Ryan told me somebody will probably be in here competing with me," he said. "I've competed two out of three years for someone, so it's not bad. I don't mind it at all. It'll bring out the best for the team and I think it should bring out the best in you." Folk needs to show his best because it's better than how he ended last season with Dallas. Many remember his struggles as he went 4-for-11 on his field goal tries in a six-game span before the Cowboys released him with two games to go in the regular season. Looking back on December, he was asked, was he surprised he was let go? "The way I was kicking? It was going to happen at some point unless I started making kicks," he said. But the downside of this game often is that the good work of players and teams gets forgotten in the blink of the eye that is the NFL's 16-game season. What folks might forget about Folk is that for 2½ seasons, he was fashioning a career as one of the league's best young kickers. Folk wasn't going to go into all the reasons that career got put on hold for a while. But he allowed that a lot had to do with the hip procedure he underwent in May 2009 after that joint had bothered him for much of '08. "I don't want to blame anything, but everything leads back to the surgery. That's what I can kind of attribute it to," he said. "I talked with my kicking coach and there was something really minor I had picked up, and it was because I felt I needed to get more aggressive to the ball to compensate for things. That's just the way it was. But everything feels good now." There's no telling who all will be competing against Folk for the kicking job this off-season and training camp. On Tuesday the Jets announced the signing of Clint Stitser, the Fresno State kicker who reminds me just a bit of John Hall — not quite as big at 6'1" and 200 pounds as Johnny was, but still big enough, and raw with 71 percent career accuracy at Fresno, similar to how raw Hall was coming out of Wisconsin as a free agent under Bill Parcells in 1997. Stitser had a strong workout for Westhoff and the Jets before signing on and for now he's in the competition. But Folk is even bigger at 6'1", 225, and he looks as if he's got back the confidence that led him to a Pro Bowl appearance as a rookie in 2007 and an even better non-PB season the next year. "It's such an up-and-down game. I've just got to keep my head to the grind, keep working, keep going," he said. "We'll get it fixed." I asked him about the possible opportunity to open another new NFL stadium in style. Last year Folk converted the first placement, an extra point, in Cowboys Stadium's Aug. 21 preseason debut, then hit all his kicks (4 PATs and a 47-yard FG) in the official Sunday night unveiling in the loss to the Giants last Sept. 20. He may well have the chance to hit the first kick in New Meadowlands Stadium in the Monday night preseason opener against the Giants, not to mention the first "real" kick in the the Jets' NMS history in the Monday night regular-season opener. "It's important, but I think it's more important for the team to get a win in the first game," he said. "We didn't win the first one last year in Dallas. I could care less how many field goals I kick. I could kick extra points all day long if we win games and win the Super Bowl." I reminded him that I didn't think he'd ever missed an extra point in all the ups and downs of his three-year pro career. He didn't say a word, just knocked on the wood panel at the side of his locker, before heading to today's practice. Here are some pertinent breakdowns for Folk and the NFL the past three seasons. They don't prove anything, but they should remind us that the Jets have a pretty decent kicker on the roster. 2007 Week 1–2009 Week 9 FG-FGA Pct XP-XPA Pct Nick Folk 60-70 85.7 118-118 100.0 All Other NFL Kickers 1938-2331 83.1 2827-2855 99.0 2009 Week 10–2009 Week 17 FG-FGA Pct XP-XPA Pct Nick Folk 4-11 36.4 13-13 100.0 All Other NFL Kickers 752-919 81.8 1152-1172 98.3 2.75/5 : Rate this Post 4 ratings submitted
Decent article on Folk. Haven't really heard to much about him since his signing. Signing Folk is gonna wind up being really good for this team or it's gonna be a huge mistake. Until he starts kicking in the regular season we'll never know.
It was definitely a huge gamble if they let Feeley go to make a run at Taylor. But it is what it is and hopefully it will work out. I have a feeling it will. Karma seems to be with us lately.
He was really good in a wind free stadium for a few years. Not sure how the wind will play at the new digs, but I'd assume it will be way worse than in Dallas. Not sure about a guy who sucks that bad for half a year and blames everyone but himself.....
Where does he blame anyone but himself? He's always been very clear that he has had to fix a mechanics flaw that he developed after his surgery, and it says right there that he developed that flaw because of his own poor perception. He also says he doesn't blame Dallas for cutting him since he wasn't making kicks. Who else is he blaming?
ive always thought he sucked, ill probly continue to think so untill the end of the season when hopefully he has proved me wrong.
You're right, he's totally shitty. How dare we bring in someone with 'upside' pfft. Let's go out and get Doug Brien.
I think Folk will be fine. I had him on my fantasy team for 3 years, so I got to follow him. He caught a tough break last year, and he paid the price. This happens with a lot of kickers. If he's mentally tough, he'll bounce back and pay dividends. He's also got a strong leg, and he kicks off well. Which will also help our defense to pin teams back. I wasn't high on Feeley when we brought him in, and he completely outplayed Nugent.
This is a position that will be under the microscope all season. We went into the offseason with a few positions we needed to upgrade and kicker WASN'T one of them. I can only look for my own piece of wood to knock on.
I agree with Folk. The only way to go about this is with a positive attitude. Westhoff can figure this kid out, we'll be all set.
Glad to hear that Folk is now 100% and he can focus solely on his mechanics. I hope this works out for the best.
I can't believe how much malice Folk is getting around here. I was a huge Feely fan, and I'm basically on a "Let's give this kid a chance" mindset. If his only problem was that his mechanics were off, I'm pretty sure that the great kicking coach he's been working with, along with the NFL's best Special Teams coach can set him straight. Then we have a great kicker for years.
Id have rather kept Feeley but I'm fine with Folk. Feely had a personality which you don't see much with kickers in the league hopefully Folk develops one.
I was with you until you said he "kicks off well". He says he's been working on it, but Folk has always been terrible in the KO department. Verrrrry few touchbacks.
I could have sworn this kid had a boot to KO. You're right, I just checked his numbers. However, maybe that's why they brought in Clint Sistler.
Personally, I don't care about his personality. Kickers don't need to be loved in the clubhouse for anything but doing their jobs well. Feely was a great guy, but whatever. ------------------ As far as KOs, what I'd like to know is his hang time. Looking at his statistics, he's had better returns against him than Feely, but the key is, how high in the air can he kick it, and can he consistently boot it to the 10? With our ST unit, all a kicker needs is to drop it consistently inside the 15 with good air time and the opposing field position will be better than with touchbacks.
Apparently you weren't paying attention last year. He kept coming up with excuses, including blaming his holder, so they went back to using Romo. The announcers even commented after some misses about who's fault would he blame this miss on.
