NFL Player News

Blankenship was 5-for-8 in field-goal attempts during Monday's practice at Lucas Oil Stadium, with misses from 39, 44 and 53 yards and appears behind Chase McLaughlin in the competition for the placekicker job, Stephen Holder of The Athletic reports.

Blankenship, who joined the Colts after a prolific college career at Georgia, entered training camp as an underdog to unseat McLaughlin, and it sounds like he's falling behind in the competition. Still, the Colts may not name a starter until close to the start of the regular season.

McLaughlin was 8-for-8 in field goal attempts in Monday's scrimmage at Lucas Oil Stadium and appears to have a lead over rookie Rodrigo Blankenship, Stephen Holder of The Athletic reports.

Blankenship was 5-for-8 in field-goal attempts, with misses from 39, 44 and 53 yards. McLaughlin looks likely to win the job, but the team may not announce the starting placekicker until shortly before Week 1.

The Patriots have officially re-signed Folk.

Folk -- who kicked in seven games for the Patriots last season and made 14 of 17 field goals in the process -- thus will compete with 2020 fifth-rounder Justin Rohrwasser. Whoever lands the job won't be working behind a Tom Brady-helmed offense, but if things click well under expected starting QB Cam Newton, the Patriots attack could provide a decent fantasy context for either Folk or Rohrwasser.

Rohrwasser (undisclosed) kicked field goals in team drills Sunday, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports.

This is Rohrwasser's second time kicking field goals in training camp, and he hasn't done so in nearly a week because he was dealing with an injury. Although the Patriots picked him in the fifth round of April's draft, the team is bringing in Nick Folk to compete with Rohrwasser for the kicking job.

Folk visited New England on Saturday and plans to sign with the team Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Folk will need to pass a physical and a COVID-19 test, but he's ready to compete with rookie fifth-round pick Justin Rohrwasser (undisclosed) for the starting kicker role. Rohrwasser hasn't been practicing during training camp, and the Patriots haven't revealed why. Folk played seven games with the Patriots in 2019 and made 14 of 17 kicks and all 12 extra points, so he could be the Week 1 kicker if Rohrwasser stays off the field.

Pineiro, who has been dealing with a groin issue of late, "hasn't attempted a kick in front of reporters all week," according to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.

With that in mind, it's not surprising that the Bears plan to sign Cairo Santos to provide insurance and/or competition for Pineiro, who previously had seemed to cement the team's kicking job after Ramiz Ahmed was waived earlier this month.

Santos is slated to sign with the Bears, Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic reports.

Once Santos -- who kicked in five games with the Titans last year -- clears the NFL's COVID-19 protocols, he'll be able to join the Bears, who he played for in 2017. He'll presumably then have a chance to compete with Eddy Pineiro, who has been dealing with a groin injury of late, per Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.

Joseph has looked much better than rookie Tucker McCann in practices thus far, Erik Bacharach of The Tennessean reports.

Joseph was brought back by the Titans after making his only field-goal attempt for them last season. Although the team signed McCann to compete with him in advance of the regular season, it sounds like Joseph is ahead by a comfortable margin at this stage, giving him the inside track for the job.

Maher is competing with Sam Ficken for the Jets' starting kicking job, Ethan Greenberg of the team's official site reports.

Maher was released by the Cowboys after missing 10 of his 30 field-goal attempts through 13 games last season. In joining the Jets, he's aiming to regain a starting job at the expense of Ficken, who struggled himself last term, missing 11 kicks in 15 appearances for New York.

Rohrwasser has not attempted a single kick in the Patriots' last four practices, Mark Daniels of The Providence Journal reports.

Rohrwasser made three of five kicks in Monday's session but since then has been restricted to solo work before practice starts. When asked about his recent inactivity, neither head coach Bill Belichick nor special teams coach Cam Achord offered a concrete explanation. With Rohrwasser listed as the only kicker on New England's current roster, the rookie fifth-rounder's situation should certainly be worth monitoring in the near future.