Brayden Narveson was supposed to be the answer Packer fans have been looking for.
After he was brought in at the end of the preseason, most people expected the Packers kicking problems were over.
But one month into the 2024 regular season and Narveson has struggled.
He’s missed at-least one in 3 of the 4 games he’s played in so far.
And after Sundays performance where Narveson missed 2 field goals, it seems like the kicking woes are back.
But that does bring up the question, is it too early to panic on Brayden Narveson?
The short answer
The short answer is no.
Clearly the Packers see something in Narveson that we don’t see on the field.
The team has always had faith in Narveson and his kicking abilities.
Head coach Matt LeFleur said after Sundays game he still has “a lot of trust and faith” in Narveson.
LeFleur also said he has “a lot of confidence” in Narveson and wouldn’t hesitate to use him in a big spot moving forward.
Things to keep in mind
You have to remember that Narveson is a rookie.
There is going to be some growing pains with rookie kickers.
While it’s seemingly the same thing we went through with Anders Carlson last year, there are some differences.
Narveson seems to be constant when it comes to field goals 40 yards and shorter.
Carlson struggled to be consistent.
Another difference is how Narveson deals with missed kicks.
Yes, he did miss 2 field goals but Coach LeFleur has praised Narveson’s performance in practices and overall demeanor as a kicker.
Patience
As always with rookies and kickers you have to have patience with them.
Some kickers develop quicker than others.
Narveson is just a rookie and patience could payoff if the Packers have that.
Earlier in the season Packer General Manager Brian Gutekunst said he needed to have more patience when it come to kickers.
Hence, the reason why the Packers moved on from Carlson so fast.
Now more than ever though there needs to be patience.
Who knows it could payoff?
Conclusion
All kickers have to start out somewhere.
Not all kickers start out great or are perfect.
The Packers need to have some patience with Brayden Narveson before deciding to move on from him.
One bad game isn’t going to decide the kicker position.
Narveson will have to redeem himself against the Rams next Sunday.
If he has one more bad game though, maybe at that point we can start panicking.