Mason Crosby has a new mantra for this season.
"Just make kicks, the Green Bay Packers kicker said during a recent break from organized team activities.
Sounds simple enough. But for a kicker who went through a rough patch last year in the middle of his third NFL season, doesnt it have to be more complicated than that?
I think at times last year I put a little added pressure on myself to make kicks and be a certain percentage, Crosby said. Instead, lets just go out there and focus on putting the ball through the uprights. I have all the ability, so lets just make kicks.
Crosby and special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum have examined every kick Crosby hit last season, when he made 27 of 36 field goals but had a four-game stretch late in the regular season in which he missed a kick in every game. All of those misses were from 43 yards or less.
Though Crosby was fourth in the NFL in scoring among kickers with 129 points, his field-goal conversion rate of 75 percent was fourth-lowest among the leagues top 25 kickers in terms of scoring. Four more of his misses last season were from 50-plus yards.
The Packers drafted Crosby in the sixth round in 2007 with the hope he would be an 80 percent kicker. After two years, he was at 79.5 percent, but last season lowered his career average to 77.98 percent.
Instead of going home to Texas this offseason, Crosby stayed in Green Bay almost the entire time, working with Slocum and new strength and conditioning coach Mark Lovat.
Crosby always has been known for his strong leg, but he and Lovat developed a workout program specifically designed to help his kicking.
We just strengthened certain things that I felt might have been not necessarily weakened, but things I wanted to build up, Crosby said. So I worked on a lot of stability, a lot of core stuff and focused on whats going to make me better as a kicker and not just be pounding the weights just to lift. Marks had a great offseason program.
Crosby said he has noticed an improvement on his kickoffs and on field goals. He hasnt been put to the test much during the OTAs that have been open to the media, but on a blustery day two weeks ago, he made his only two field goals in team drills, both from 43 yards into a crosswind.
I feel really solid on field goals right now, Crosby said.
Mechanically, Crosby hasnt changed much, although hes trying to rely less on his leg strength and more on fundamentals.
Just working on fundamentals and consistent through drill work, through mental preparation, through things that we start all through the spring and summer and continue throughout the fall and the course of the football season, Slocum said when asked how to improve Crosbys accuracy.
Its always going to be a challenge to kick in a northern climate and to kick in an outdoor stadium thats got unique wind conditions. That will always be an issue. The thing that weve got to do is that when we step on the field on Sundays, we need to be a better kicker than our opponent.
Crosby also might have to break in a new holder. Backup quarterback Matt Flynn served in that capacity for most of the season but in the middle of Crosbys late-season slump, the Packers replaced Flynn with punter Jeremy Kapinos. With Kapinos no longer on the team, the duty could fall to Flynn or the new punter. At this point, Australian Chris Bryan and street free agent Tim Masthay are competing for the punting job.
I think its best for the punter to be the holder because No. 1, they catch the snap time after time through practice and games, and then they have the opportunity to work with the kicker daily, Slocum said. So I think thats the best scenario.
The Packers dont have another kicker competing with Crosby, who is in the final year of his four-year rookie contract. With the 80-man roster limit, its unlikely another kicker will be brought in for training camp, unless Crosby struggles again.
I think weve got a very good kicker, Slocum said. Hes going into his fourth season. I think well see an improvement. He made a bunch of field goals last year. He made 27 field goals.
"The thing that may change his process is that if we punt the ball better, we may not have to try as many long, 50-yard field goals. Well just say, 'Hey, we can put them inside the 10, go get the ball back at midfield and then we can score touchdowns.' That whole process works together."