Rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald impressed in opener
If Ryan Fitzgerald had been nervous on Sunday, it would have been expected. He’s a rookie, playing in his first NFL game, with the pressure and attention that comes with such a role. Special teams coordinator Tracy Smith thought Fitzgerald might be anxious. But when he approached his young kicker ahead of kickoff, he found someone completely calm.
“Maybe it helped him being close to home, but, he seemed very comfortable the entire day. It was a weird one, you know, from being there, the long delay, the lightning thing, the weather changing pretty dramatically from when we first walked out there and you felt like you were on the sun and then when we left when it was kind of like a breezy, maybe not rain the whole time, and he was pretty smooth,” Smith said.
“I checked in with him several times throughout the game and, just kind of felt like a a normal kicker to me, which is a good thing.”
Fitzgerald, from Colquitt County, Georgia, was near home for his first game, something that may have contributed to his calmness, according to Smith. That is partly why the Panthers felt comfortable trotting Fitzgerald out during the first quarter for a 48-yard field goal for his first regular season kick.
There was a chance later on to kick a 57-yarder, but the Panthers elected to punt instead. Smith explained Thursday that decision had less to do with Fitzgerald’s range, and more to do with the flow of the game.