Jake Elliott is coming off a bad game in the worst season of his career, but the Eagles are sticking with him.
Head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed his confidence in the Eagles’ kicker during a virtual press conference Monday afternoon and said the Eagles are not bringing in any other kickers for tryouts this week.
“A lot of confidence in Jake,” Sirianni said. “I love the roster the way it is and like I said, I have a ton of confidence in him with Jake and that he’ll rebound from whatever setbacks that he has.”
On Saturday in Washington, Elliott missed field goals from 43 yards and from 52 yards out. He also missed a 57-yarder that didn’t count. All three of those kicks sailed wide left.
But it wasn’t just one bad game. This has been a bad season for the two-time Super Bowl-winning kicker, who has a career-low field goal percentage through 15 games.
“I think we’ve seen Jake, he’s had such a great career with so many highs,” Sirianni said on Monday. “But like any player, he’s had some moments of struggle as well. All I’ve ever seen him do was get up out of that and rise from that.
“I know he went through some struggles last year and ended up having however many field goals and extra points in the Super Bowl and in the NFC Championship Game. I have no doubt in my mind of the competitor he is and how mentally tough he is to be able to rise from this situation as well.”
Elliott, 30, has made just 17 of 24 field goals this season. That 70.8% is 39th of 41 kickers this season behind just Younghoe Koo (66.7%) and Joshua Karty (66.7%), who were both released this season.
And Elliott is also just 4-for-8 from 50+ this season. While Elliott is at 50% on those long field goals, the rest of the league is at 68.3% this season.
“It’s always about your process,” Sirianni said. “I think Jake always has a great process going in, the week of work leading up to it. It think it’s always important, everybody needs to know they’re loved and appreciated. My love and appreciation for Jake isn’t just when you guys ask me questions about it but also in times like this, you want to make sure you reconfirm those things.”
There’s no doubt that Elliott has had a great career but the last two years have been troubling. Here’s a look at Elliott’s stats from the first seven years of his career vs. the last two:
2017-2023: 86.2% overall and 70.3% from 50+
2023-2024: 75% overall and 33.3% from 50+
It is worth noting Elliott’s previous worst FG percentage in a season came in 2020, when he made just 73.7% of his attempts. He followed that year with a 90.9% season and the only Pro Bowl nod of his career.
Last season, Elliott made 77.8% of his kicks in the regular season, including just 1-for-7 from 50+ but was better in the playoffs. Although Elliott missed three PATs in the 2024 postseason, he made 10 of 11 FGs and was 4-for-4 in Super Bowl LIX.
The Eagles are hoping he figures it out again.
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