Packer Central

From ‘Rock Bottom,’ Brayden Narveson’s Confidence, ‘Swagger’ Returns

No kicker in the NFL has missed more field-goal attempts than Brayden Narveson, but he – and the Packers – remain confident.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers place kicker Brayden Narveson
Green Bay Packers place kicker Brayden Narveson / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – After missing two field goals in the loss to the Vikings, Green Bay Packers kicker Brayden Narveson said he “felt what rock bottom feels like in a game.”

By Wednesday, Narveson had put that game behind him. His sole focus is on splitting the uprights for Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Rams.

“I’m in a great spot,” he said after practice. “From here, all I can do is be confident and enjoy it. If I’m being honest, most places, you never know if you’re going to come back after a game like that and even get a chance to go throughout the week and whatnot.

“I’m just extremely grateful for that and I’m going to take that as a token of gratitude and a blessing and I’m going to go prepare my ass off all week. I’m going to make sure that I leave everything out on the field. 

“Every time I step on the grass is potentially your last time, regardless of what position you play, and I really want to hone that, be confident and take a little bit of swagger, a little chip on my shoulder, because a lot of people are probably writing me off right now. I’m going to take that with, not to prove people wrong, but prove the people that believed in me right.”

Among the people who believe in Narveson are general manager Brian Gutekunst and coach Matt LaFleur.

While the team brought in a couple veteran kickers for workouts this week and might continue to do so, they see Narveson’s talent and aren’t ready to give up on the rookie, even though he’s missed at least one field-goal attempt in all four games.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence and won’t blink if we have to put him out there in another situation,” LaFleur said immediately after the two-point loss to Minnesota.

Sure, those are just words, but there was a conviction behind them. That was confirmed by a source this week, who said the Packers indeed have a strong belief in what Narveson can become.Yes, he’s got to make kicks, but he’s got the ability to become one of the better kickers in the league.

“It means the world,” Narveson said. “I’m very, very blessed to be here and blessed for that. But, at the end of the day, I’ve got to be better.”

All five of Narveson’s misses – including one nullified by a penalty against the Titans – have been to the right.

The problem is easily identifiable.

“I could tell, Rich (Bisaccia) could tell, my kicking coach could tell and Matt (Orzech) could tell, and Matt snaps,” Narveson with a smile. “We all could see the same thing. It was pretty apparent. It’s something that I don’t do at practice. Just being a little more meticulous about my process, my steps, the preparation, and really honing in and fixing that and we should be good to go.”

The Packers like Narveson for two reasons. One, he’s got a strong leg, as demonstrated by his 59-yard field goal to win a preseason game while with the Titans. Two, he kicks the ball straight. Even the misses have been straight.

So, it’s a matter of getting his steps and alignment consistently correct.

Narveson has missed a league-worst four field-goal attempts. He is second-to-last in field-goal percentage. From 30 to 39 yards, Narveson is the only kicker with a miss.

From that “rock bottom” feeling against Minnesota, Narveson is confident heading into the game against the Rams.

“I’ve hit so many footballs. I mean so many, so many footballs in my life,” he said. “At the end of the day, I can stay confident knowing that I prepared, knowing that I know why I had missed, and that I get a full week’s worth of preparation and practice to fix that.”

Narveson is looking forward to Sunday, just like he looked forward to practicing on Wednesday. It’s a “cutthroat” business, he said, and the team’s confidence in him will only go so far.

In the easiest position in sports to analyze – the kick is either good or it’s not – Narveson knows he needs to make kicks.

“I’m at the point right now where it’s almost like a screw-it mentality,” he said. “I’m a dawg. I’m that guy. I’m going to go out there and bang the kick. That’s how I’m thinking about it this week. Just continuously telling myself positive feedback and just go out there.

“It’s a game, have fun with it. A lot of people put a lot of time into this game, me included, but, at the end of the day, I’m going to go out there and own it and be confident this week and I’m going to go out there and perform.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packer Central, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.