Yahoo Lifestyle Bruce Arians said K Matt Gay ‘ain’t goin’ anywhere’ despite slow start to season
Even after his rough start to the season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians has no plans to move on from rookie kicker Matt Gay.
Gay, who missed a field goal in week two, missed two extra points and a game-winning kick on Sunday in their game against the New York Giants — leaving five points on the table in the 32-31 loss.
Still, Arians believes in his kicker.
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“He ain’t goin’ anywhere,” Arians said Monday, via ESPN.
In Gay’s defense, his misses on Sunday can’t fall solely on his shoulders.
One of the two extra points he missed in the first quarter was blocked. His 34-yard miss at the end of the game should have been five yards closer, too, and was only moved back after Arians purposely took a delay of game penalty to make it “easier.”
Despite that logic making absolutely zero sense — one kicking coach told Yahoo Sports on Monday that the move was “completely asinine” — Gay still took the blame for the loss, and doesn’t think he hit the ball cleanly on the final kick.
“The loss is 100 percent on me,” Gay said, via ESPN. “I've got to live and learn from what I did, go back and make sure I learn from the mistakes I made ... but look at going forward.”
Gay, Tampa Bay’s fifth-round draft pick this year, is now the 11th kicker for the organization in the past decade. Though that may look like a systematic issue to some, Arians isn’t buying it.
They just need to keep moving forward.
“This history s--t … this is a new team,” Arians said, via ESPN. “This is our team, a new team.
“Just go kick. Just go kick.”
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