Lions Give 'Kickalicious' Another Tryout After 31-Yard Miss By Akers
By Ashley Dunkak
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) - The Norwegian YouTube sensation is back in Detroit - at least temporarily. Havard Rugland, who competed with veteran kicker David Akers for the Detroit Lions job throughout summer and training camp, tweeted Monday afternoon that he had a workout with the Lions.
NFL teams bring in players every week for workouts, but Rugland's presence could have something to do with a recent poor performance by Akers, whose completion percentage is tied for 28th in the league.
Akers has made 15 of 20 attempts. Two of his misses have come in the 30-39-yard range, while the other three missed were in the range of 40 to 49 yards. Akers missed wide right from 31 yards in the Thanksgiving Day game.
Lions head coach Jim Schwartz expressed continued confidence in Akers after the game.
"I told him after halftime that if we need a game-winner we're going to put him right back up," Schwartz said. "We're not going to be going for it on fourth down. I think he just tried to baby that one a little bit. You watch his next extra point, he stepped up, he drilled it. He bounced back.
"What's the difference between that and Reggie fumbling or Matt throwing an interception?" Schwartz continued. "Those kind of things happen in a game, and you have to be able to bounce back from them. We have a lot of confidence that David bounced back."
