“Feel awful for Badge, man,” Campbell said. “He worked his tail off to get ready for this season. He was having a good spring and he was ready for camp. Anyways, it’s tough.”
Badgley won the Lions’ kicking job in the middle of the 2024 season, and made some significant kicks along the way, including a 54-yard field goal in the Wild Card game against the Los Angeles Rams. Over the past two years in Detroit, Badgley has made 24-of-28 regular season field goals while making 46 of 48 extra points.
Campbell noted that the Lions intend on bringing in another kicker for competition, and have already had a workout at the facility.
“It’s something that Brad (Holmes) and I are talking about right now, but we’re not in a hurry, either,” Campbell said. “We find the right guy that helps us with competition in for camp, then we’ll do that.”
But, for now, it appears the kicking job is there for Jake Bates to take. The Lions signed Bates at the conclusion of OTAs after the former Michigan Panthers kicker had a successful year in the UFL. While Bates didn’t kick field goals in college or most of high school, his big leg was on display over the spring with the Panthers. Most notably, kicking at home in Ford Field, Bates nailed a game-winning 64-yard kick in the season opener.
In practice on Thursday, Bates took all of the field goal reps in camp, appearing to make six of six field goals, with a long of 52. Despite the strong start, Bates said after Thursday’s practice that he’s not getting ahead of himself.
“I mean you take every day one at a time,” Bates said. “It doesn’t matter what you do day to day if you’re not consistent every single day. It doesn’t matter if you’re really good one day. One day down and a bunch more to go.”
The Lions have yet to make the roster move official and have not yet signed a replacement. We’ll update this story as it develops.
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