“Just I think by where it got to, there wasn’t that much of a decision. It’s always tough with that, especially when you have a talented guy. I have some experience with that in my past. I remember when I was in Washington, I didn’t have that experience, and our kicker lost us a game and remember how adamant I was when I went into the head coach’s office and said, ‘you need to make a change, like what are we doing?’ He snapped at me and said ‘you don’t know kickers, this guy’s really talented. We’ve got to give him some time. I’m not going to watch him go be a Pro Bowler for someone else.’ Then two weeks later, he missed a kick and lost us a game. So, I felt like validated. I was like ‘I told you,’ which I was right for like a day because then the next year, he went on to be a Pro Bowler and the highest paid kicker in the League for the next three years for another team. So those are things that you kind of think about. It’s tough with a kicker. I think Jake’s got a chance to have a hell of a future. He is that talented. But, when it gets to that spot where it is, we all know how last year ended, we know how everyone was looking at him and obviously when it gets to that point, you can see it affecting him from a mental game. Then you don’t how much choice. You’ve got to move on, and hopefully Eddy will come in here and do the job.”
