Jets place Greg Zuerlein on IR and add 2 kickers for Texans game

FLORHAM PARK, NJ – Instead of cutting kicker Greg Zuerlein, whose slump played a key role in their disappointing season, the New York Jets simply placed him on injured reserve on Wednesday, an injury that was only announced the day before.

The Jets' kicker for Thursday night's game against the Houston Texans will be either Riley Patterson or Spencer Shrader, both of whom were signed to the practice squad on Wednesday. They were among six kickers who applied for the job Tuesday at MetLife Stadium.

Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich was noncommittal about the 36-year-old Zuerlein after Sunday's 25-22 loss to the New England Patriots, a game in which he missed a 44-yard field goal and an extra point.

Zuerlein's days seemed numbered, but he appeared on the injury report on Tuesday. The right-footed kicker has a bad left knee, giving the Jets some time to sort out the kicking mess.

“May the best man kick,” said Ulbrich, who did not disclose Zürlein’s injury in a post-training press conference on Tuesday.

Zuerlein, in his third season with the Jets, was one of their most reliable players in 2023. They thought enough of him to give him the largest contract in team history for a kicker – two years, $8.4 million, including 4 $.2 million in guarantees. But they endured a stunning decline from Zuerlein this season, whose misses contributed to three of New York's six losses.

Before Sunday, Zuerlein missed a potential game-winner from 50 yards in the final seconds, losing a point to the Denver Broncos. He also failed from 32 and 43 yards, resulting in a three-point loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Zuerlein is making 9 of 15 field goals, a career-low 60% success rate. He joined Brett Maher as the only kickers to miss six field goal attempts in his team's first eight games of the season over the last three years.

In the fourth quarter, Zuerlein is 2-for-5, including 1-for-4 when the game is within three points.

The Jets, who began the season with Super Bowl aspirations, fell to 2-6 with their fifth straight loss. Ulbrich said after Sunday's defeat that he didn't regret staying with Zürlein for so long, but it became clear that something had to be done.

Patterson and Shrader are both 25 but have different levels of experience. Patterson shot for the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns and posted an 88% field goal success rate (59 of 67). Shrader has only played in one game – this season for the Indianapolis Colts. He had no field goal attempts but was 3 of 3 on extra points.

The Jets ruled out four injured starters for the game – wide receiver Allen Lazard (chest), linebacker CJ Mosley (neck), guard Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle) and safety Tony Adams (hamstring).