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What Tyler Bass said about Bills signing a new kicker to practice squad

Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass spoke to reporters about the team signing a new kicker to its practice squad.

Kyle Silagyi

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There oft-comes a point in life when waiting for things to change by themselves proves fruitless, and the Buffalo Bills reached this point this week with regard to kicker Tyler Bass.

The team signed kicker Lucas Havrisik to their practice squad Thursday morning, not necessarily signaling a pivot from their veteran specialist, but perhaps setting the stage for one should his struggles persist. Once one of the league’s more consistent kickers, Bass currently finds himself in the midst of a rough patch that dates back to last season; he made just 82.8% of his kicks throughout the 2023 campaign (22nd amongst kickers with 25 or more field goal attempts), missing three of his five field goal attempts in the postseason.

His woes have carried over into 2024, as he’s made just 75% of his field goals and 90% of his extra points through six games. The organization has reiterated its confidence in Bass as he’s attempted to rebound, but its tone shifted a bit following the kicker’s particularly ugly Week 6 outing in which he wildly missed an extra point in the second quarter before missing a 47-yard field goal attempt later in the contest.

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And that’s led us to now; Buffalo still has confidence in the player it signed to a four-year, $20 million extension last year, but it’s positioned itself to move on if necessary. Bass spoke about the team’s decision to sign a kicker to the practice squad on Wednesday, telling reporters that he understands the reasoning.

“[Communication] has been real professional, real honest,” Bass told WGRZ’s Jonathan Acosta. “At the end of the day, it’s a results-based business. A couple of my games this year haven’t been great and not the results we’ve desired. You understand it, man. You understand it. It’s a business, it’s a result-based league. At the end of the day, you’ve just got to keep putting in your work and control what you can control.”

There’s a world where the Bills leave Bass on the inactive list for a few weeks while elevating Havrisik, but the team will more than likely give the veteran a few more opportunities to bounce back before scratching him. He’s already moving on from his lackluster Week 6 outing as he prepares for his next opportunity.  

“After tough games like Monday night, you come in here and you have to be fully accountable,” Bass said, per Acosta. “You have to be honest with yourself, talk to your coaches, figure out the issue, and you’ve got to move forward. Once you come in on Tuesday, since we played Monday, you watch the tape and then you flush it. You figure out a plan, keep it simple this week, and focus on that to the best of your abilities.”

The 27-year-old was once one of the NFL’s top players at his position, this resulting in his 2023 mega extension. He knows he’s capable of playing at a higher level and that his recent woes aren’t reflective of the player he is, something he’s focusing on as he attempts to regain his form.

“I’ve hit every kind of ball; I’ve had misses, I’ve had makes, there’s nothing I haven’t experienced,” Bass said. “I just remind myself, just that 12-year-old kid that when he started and when he’s kicking, just in the backyard and at the high school, just what he was thinking. At the end of the day, it’s just all about having fun, keeping it simple, and really believing in yourself, knowing you can do it. I’ve seen myself do it, I know I can do it, and at the end of the day, just got to really lean into that.”

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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