Bucs will work out place-kickers Coutu and Andrus after Nugent misses

Mike Nugent's future with the Bucs could be in jeopardy

After watching Nugent miss two more field goals in Sunday's 16-13 loss, coach Raheem Morris said the team has invited free agent kickers to work out for the team.

Morris would not identify the kickers Monday, but the Times confirmed they are former Seattle Seahawks' place-kicker Brandon Coutu and former Colts kicker Shane Andrus.

Coutu spent the 2008 season on the Seahawks' 53-man roster with Olindo Mare but never attempted a field goal in the regular season. He lost the job this year to Mare in training camp.

Andrus signed as an undrafted free agent with the Colts in 2006. He spent the preseason with Indianapolis and kicked off in the first regular season game before being released.    

"We've got kickers coming in today to work out,'' Morris said. "If got an opportunity to get better, then you try to. If you don't, then you don't.''

Nugent missed his first four field attempts this season before connecting on attempts of 37- and 22-yards Sunday.

"Kickers are not my real expertise, '' Morris said. "But we missed them. The only thing that really matters about a kicker is the result. When you go out there, you either make it or you miss it.

"The operation went good. The snap went good. It was down in time and we missed the two field goals. It was a windy day, and again, I'm not going to sit here and make any excuses for anybody. Their kicker made kicks in the wind, ours has to make kicks in the wind. Mike's aware of that. He's got to go out and make kicks.''

   

Comments

[Robert]

They r only bringing in kickers to light a fire under nugent's A$@. They have absolutely 0 roster spots on this team and I doubt they will cut Nugent already! This is just to make us fans THINK they r willing to make a move.. PROB another BS idea from the WORST OWNERS ON EARTH!

[Itch]

How about working out a new offensive line, offensive coach and head coach while they are at it?

[Robert]

Rick, I love u guys to death, but there should be alot more to report 2day after what happend yesterday. We know our kicker has his head up his A%%, but what else is going on? Dline started well and fell off.. couldnt hit a WR with a pass in 2nd half.. Has ne1 spoke with TJ that is coming off his suspension this week? I mean there should be alot of things going on with our 0-4 squad.. alot more than our kickr being on the hot seat!

[Andy]

I would've cut him after he missed the second kick. We don't need him. Yeah there are other needs to address, but we would've been alot closer to a victory with some made kicks.

[flalawdawg]

Only one kicker needs to be called and that is Matt Bryant. Look at his numbers over the last few years. They bring in a few bums who have zero NFL experience worth mentioning. The problem is Raheem and Dominick are young and can't swallow their pride long enough to call Matt Bryant. God forbid they admit they made a mistake. I guess they are not human. I would respect them much more if they admit failures.

[bucnut45]

Why don't they call Matt Bryant? Raheem, you've already put your stamp on the team.... 0-4. Let some of the proven players help.

[Matt H]

I think Matt Bryant may be in Buc's exile.

I heard an interview with Jon Gruden 2 weeks ago on ESPN Chicago where he said he just got done playing a round of golf with Derrick Brooks and Matt Bryant. Could be a blacklist trio?

Nugent has so far been worse than I remember Grammatica ever being.

[kenm]

This is disgusting. I was excited about Raheem as the coach before the season but he has now lost me with some of his decisions and comments. Just admit when you make a mistake and try not to do it again Raheem.

[Scott]

While I think Nugent does have his head up his butt... I think Raheem Morris is showing that his head is stuck his rear as well. "We need to get younger", so you cut a good kicker in Bryant for Nugent???! He's a friggin' Kicker!! Who cares how old he is as long he gets it through the uprights! He wasn't the best, but he was leagues better than Nugent! It just illustrates that Morris is not Mike Tomlin. He has no clue what he's doing. The Glazers basically handed the keys to the caddy over to Helen Keller. I thought we would be in the 4-12 region this year, but I think it will be much worse now!

[angrybuddha]

Rick -

At the risk of repeating other posts, maybe you can clear up Bryant's status. I was under the impression he lost the job in camp because his hammy wasn't right and he never got a chance to kick. If he's better now, why don't we give him a shot? And if he's not... what's the prognosis?

Or is he happy to be retired?

-angrybuddha

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1524018245]

Call Matt Bryant. He lives in town, he's available, and he's a good kicker. The team shouldn't suffer just because Morris will have to swallow his pride and admit a mistake.

[BigBucDaddy]

This idiot stick of a regime is too proud to call Matt Bryant! The only thing more stupid than them cutting Matt Bryant is NOT RESIGNING HIM!

[JH]

The Bucs have stumbled out of the gate to say the least. The fact that we changed the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator (twice), the QB, and now the kicker points to the fact that we are still in training camp mentally. We need stability all the way around.

[GiG-Buc Fan]

Rick:,,,i agree with alot of posts on here, they need to get Matt Bryant back, Nugent is messed up in the head somehow, remember Gramatica? he never did get back to 100%, also Rick, the Glazer's need to be more fan consious, it appears they dont care about this team this year, 8 losses in a row, how much do us TB fans need to endure before they do something positive, ok, you fired Gruden, but WHY in the world would they hand the reins over to Raheem? also, i remember seeing that the old 49ers owner ( Ed DeBartola ) was interested in buying the Bucs, i say let him buy the franchise, so he can get Bill Cowher in here to run the show, the Bucs are going down fast, and are close to hearing only crickets in the stands, time for a major change here, cause us fans are sick of this crap.....

[Go Long]

How DUMB are the Bucs?
Dumb decisions in 2009:
1. Firing Gruden & Allen
2. Drafting Josh Freeman (he who can't complete 60% in college against terrible defenses)
3. Hire Jagozinski...then fire him before the season-that's a good one!
4. Resigned Clayton for 25 mil. He hasn't caught ONE BALL since week 1! I think that speaks for itself. Coach Morris - still want to call people out about asking WHY he is on the team.
5. Trade too much for Winslow (who were the Bucs bidding against to get him again?) THEN the GM SAID he would not get a new contract with 2 years left....THEN a week later GAVE HIM A NEW CONTRACT.
6. Cutting Matt Bryant (or signing Ted Nugent) - I think that speaks for itself.
7. I'm too bored with this to keep going....other subjects Leftwich, McCown, Josh Johnson, Talib,

This has become a National Disgrace.

[Fugilebrity]

This team has no clue! The results speak for themselves. It is impossible not to improve on a shutout beating by one of the best teams when you play the 31st best the next week.

This is bufoonery at its best. It is like a three ring circus. The only difference is there is no qualified ringmaster.

Well, at least the team can get a nice London vacation in a couple of weeks. We all know how stressed out these players are! Yeah right.

Barnum and Bailey are turning over in their respective graves!

[Greg]

Go Long, I'm sure you meant to put# uno as the incompetent ownership. Damage control is in order unless the stench from R.J. gets worse than the Bay from fish kill after the red tide.

[Tom]

The Colts have the lowest payroll in the NFL and were unwilling to re-sign their HOF WR even when

The Raiders have the second highest payroll in the NFL and stink it up every year. They go after tons of free agents and overpay their rookies.

Spending the most money doesn't get you the best team.

[Tom]

even when the Colts are thin at WR with the injury to Gonzalez. (didn't finish)

[Rick Stroud]

Robert,
Thanks for the love, but unfortunately, the 'news,' of the day is that they're considering bouncing Nugent. That and the fact that Josh Johnson will continue to be the QB while Josh Freeman sits.
Morris threw some bouquets at Gaines Adams, Aqib Talib, Geno Hayes, etc. They're trying to keep it positive while realizing things are pretty bleak.
As for Matt Bryant, physically his hamstring is fine now. He was about a week shy of being healthy when he was released. I think he burned too many bridges with the Bucs, unfortunately. Re-signing him seems simple enough to me.
Look, as for the pleas for another coach/GM -- they've played four games. I don't think anyone realizes what the talent level was on defense when six of the past seven years, the top part of the draft was devoted to offense.
The criticism of Jon Gruden by the OWNERSHIP was that Jon didn't develop a young QB. So they're beginning that process and it's a painful one.
We devoted a ton of pages to discussing the Bucs problems following Sunday's game in Washington. We'll have more tomorrow. But don't expect anything radical. I suspect at some point afte the bye week, Freeman will play. But for Bucs fans, this season is going to be painful to watch at times.

[ceh]

go long i believe its mike not ted granted the guitar player could probably do a better job

[Mr.Fabulous]

As bad as the Bucs looked for three quarters yesterday, I might honestly be glad those FGs were missed and the game lost... else all we'd hear is how the team had heart and had turned the corner, bla bla bla bla. Sometimes it's better long-term to point out your vast shortcomings today. Fine, find a kicker, at this point it can't/won't hurt. But MY GOODNESS do we have problems, here. In all areas (except for maybe Caddy, who looks great).

[ref813]

Coutu was pretty good at UGA. One thing that makes no sense is that college kickers have to kick from wider hashmarks. If they manage to have a good percentage in college, you would think that would be the only position where the job is easier in the NFL. For whatever reason, many good college kickers just don't make it in the pros. Isn't Gano still running around somewhere? He was decent at kicking and punting.

[ref813]

Rick, it already has been. I just hope they quit giving me hope by playing so well at times. I'd rather just see that they are terrible and watch a good game on Sunday Ticket than continue my weekly self-endured 3 hours of torture.

[TrueBucFan]

Well, JJ has a strong arm and can make deep throws... I saw his college tapes. If you really watched the game.. the play calling was not aggressive at all... Just like when they put Luke in in 07. Hell there were not too many bootlegs at all. The offense needs more movement with a QB like JJ. Hey DR how about that 51 yard catch by Marshall on your Cowgirls? Hey DR I see you are not sticking up for your boy Clayton as much. He had a good game on the cowgirls because their secondary sucks. I want JJ to do good. But I would like to see Freeman go in and get killed so we can use this high draft pick for Colt Mccoy or Bradford. So the Bucs can have a true franchise QB. Not an a$@ clown like Freeman that we have to wait for him to be ready and he will never be that guy. He thought he was better then Sanchez and Stafford... ROFL....anyways I agree with all the you Freeman lovers but for different reasons.... I want to see him fail horribly so it shows nothing Morris did was right and FIRE his butt and bring in a real coach..Morris says he does not like to make excuses.. thats all he does...He also says the team is always making constant evaluations and he is the worst one on the team. FIRE YOURSELF IDIOT! Glazer Family...you suck as owners and you are horrible management, sell the team to Eddie DeBartalo please. And we all know you will not and keep this train wreck going.... at least admit you were wrong and fire Morris and try and hire Bill Cowher.... show him the money if you are not cheap...

[jerseybuc]

Rick:
We all know that Gruden loved vet QBs, but ownership blaming HIM for not developing young QBs? What did McKay and Allen get him? He had Chris Simms who he was never fond of, but played him til he almost got killed thanks to his O line, and Luke McCown, who Jon had no confidence in. It's not like they had a big time QB on the bench. I also believe if Gruden was still here JJ would have broken camp with the job this year.
Our biggest problem is the 4 high round draft picks we traded away for Key and Gruden to make our SB run. Those players would now be the vet leaders on this team. We just don't have the talent, and our depth is woeful. Redskins went thru the same thing in the 70s when George Allen left, but they turned it around for a nice run in the 80s.

[Tom]

Someone must've kidnapped Gaines Adams and wore his jersey yesterday. That guy was playing great. He even made a great swim on the TE to penetrate the backfield.

[Scott]

Raheem has shown poor logic in his field decisions, so the mess we are in is probably a result of other poor uses of logic.

Heck, he could have downed the ball at the four yesterday (instead of kicking the field goal) and have been better off....and I am serious. If you down the ball and the other team gets 6 yards, a 40 yard net punt puts you at the 50 yard line, with 50 yards to go for the win. By, kiking the field goal, the average field position of kickoffs is the 27. So, add 6 yards to the 33 and then add a 40 yard punt to the Buc's 27. They would then need 50 yards simply to get to the 23 yard line of the Skins to have a 41 yard field goal attempt to...TIE. Is anyone else seeing how incredibly stupid his decision not to go was? It was not just a poor decision, it was completely idiotic and lacking of logic.

Now, raise your hands if you think that this poor use of logic has also resulted in other poor decisions that have led us to this point.

On a side-note, Raheem is just the chump that the tricky Glazers are using to be cheap with this B.S. rebuilding guise. Let us not forget the real villians.

[mike]

So Stroud you say the OWNERS were upset that Gruden did not develop QB's. Ok But my question to the OWNERS is who should have been drafted to develop ? Looking back at the drafts with 20/20 hindsight The only QB's the Bucs could have gotten were Arron Rogers But they got Cadillac Williams Hindsight would say it was a mistake but at the time RB was also a need and I believe Williams had a higher draft grade. They could have also gotten Brady Quinn but he just cracked the starting line up and the jury is still out on him. So I submit that the owners are just saying that to justify their panic move.

[SC-Carl]

Gee, how about Matt Bryant? Did Matt Bryant cross any coach's or general manager's mind as the second field goal was missed? I think Matt Bryant is available. I think his price might be going up with every gust of wind, don't you? HOW ABOUT MATT BRYANT?!?!?!?!?!?

[Brandon]

I just heard on PFT that Nugent was cut.

In defense of JJ, it doesn't make for success when he went through TC as the #4 QB, barely got reps in preseason, etc. Some of the difficulties he had had to be attributed to rust.

[oldtimer]

Matt Bryant won't be back. He had the audacity to speak the truth and that bridge has been blown up! Bryant got hosed. He kenw they brought in Nugent not for "competition" as they stated but as Bryant's replacement. Nugent said that he signed with the Bucs because it was "the best opportuity" available. Sure was. Bryant was viewed as a "Gruden Guy." Same as Derrick Brooks, Jovan Haye, Warrick Dunn ...

Funny how a guy who CLEARLY was not a "Gruden Guy" Michael Clayton received BIG DOLLARS to return. It sure says a lot about this team.

[TriplePlay]

Sign Andrus!!!! Very strong leg and accurate kicker. The only way to beat out Vinatieri is with a glock.