Added Leg Strength Aiding Detroit Lions' Riley Patterson

Throughout the first two weeks of training camp for the Detroit Lions, several position battles have emerged.

One of those battles will determine the team’s starting kicker come Week 1 of the regular season. The current competitors for the job are Riley Patterson and Parker Romo.

Patterson possesses 24 games of NFL experience (including seven games with the Lions in 2021). Additionally, he suited up for a full season’s worth of games in 2022 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. While with the Jaguars, he converted on 85.7 percent of his field-goal attempts, and recorded a long of 53 yards.

Meanwhile, Romo suited up for the San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL this past spring, and executed on 17-of-19 field-goal attempts, including a long of 57 yards. For his efforts, he earned All-XFL honors.

While Patterson’s prior NFL playing experience might give him the slightest of edges in the battle, it doesn’t mean that he’s outperformed Romo in camp. In fact, according to pundits and fans alike, the competition between the two has been neck-and-neck.

Detroit special teams coordinator Dave Fipp is excited for the battle in camp that’s brewing between Patterson and Romo.

“We feel like we have two guys (who are capable kickers),” Fipp told reporters Saturday, from the site of the Lions’ Allen Park practice facility. “One, you know, has a lot of leg talent, in Romo. So, he’s got a lot of leg talent, and maybe needs a little bit more development. But, we feel like he’s done a nice job. And then, a little bit more consistent, but a young player. And Patterson, who we obviously know a lot about and had. And, the truth is he’s really come along, and his leg strength’s really increased. He looks really good in training camp. So, I’m really excited about him.

“And, I think sometimes with young players, you see that, where they bounce around a little bit for the first couple years and then all of a sudden, they start to grab ahold of something there. So, hopefully he does that for us. But, yeah, I’m encouraged.”

As for Patterson, he’s been used to battling it out for playing time since his earliest days as a pro.

“I’ve been kind of in a competition, whether (with) someone else or standard, (in) general, with kickers, ever since I’ve been in the league,” Patterson expressed. “It’s really just me doing my own thing each day, with (long-snapper) Scott (Daly), with (long-snapper) Jake (McQuaide). Just trying to figure out how I can be better each day, and honestly just taking it a day at a time. Staying present, not worrying about the result. And, at the end of the day, they’ll pick whoever they want to pick, and I’m just gonna try to put the best stuff out there that I can.”

Over the offseason, Patterson worked on increasing his leg strength for his kickoffs, and early on in training camp, it’s paid dividends for the 23-year-old.

“Really just worked on some different techniques on kickoffs. Just trying to be as efficient as possible,” Patterson said, in reference to his improved leg strength. “A lot of times, I sink into my plant foot and just try to swipe across it. I started driving through the ball a lot better recently. So, yeah, I feel a lot better about it.”

Long-Snapper Battle

The Lions also have a long-snapper battle on their hands, involving the incumbent, Scott Daly, and veteran Jake McQuaide.

Daly has spent the past two years as Detroit’s starting long-snapper. Meanwhile, McQuaide is entering his 13th NFL season, and was a Pro Bowler with the L.A. Rams back in 2016 and 2017.

Fipp and the Lions have been confident in Daly’s abilities since day one. Yet, they wanted to add competition to the position, and decided to acquire McQuaide this offseason.

“Daly’s done a great job since he’s been here,” Fipp said. “But, at the end of last season, I felt like personally, him and I have talked about this. But, I felt like personally, he didn’t make the step forward that we wanted to see from him, from the year before. We thought he got better, but we thought that maybe he could get better at a faster rate. Sometimes competition helps accelerate that process.”