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FOXBOROUGH – It was another perfect day for kicker Andy Borreagles on Tuesday.
Now in year two, Borregales has already shown an ability to make kicks consistently and in some pressure spots. As a rookie, he had to beat out Parker Romo. This summer, Borregales is competing only with himself.
The second-year man out of Miami was 5-5 during the ninth camp practice, booming a 49-yard field goal and 52-yard field goal at the end of late game situations, the first time the team had practiced that so far.
He’s now 28-30 and it’s not like he’s barely making the longer kicks either. Ranges have been between 35-50 yards during ‘live’ kicking periods, with the 52-yarder on Tuesday being his longest so far.
Life can get pretty boring over on the left hand side of the Gillette Stadium practice fields for Borragles and punter Bryce Baringer. Before practice, I asked Mike Vrabel how he’s making sure Borregales stays sharp and what he’s liked from him so far.
“I think he’s made the majority of his field goals, a high majority. I think that that’s something that’s a fine balance of where you want your kicker to be,” he said.
“If you feel good about the competition or the job that he did last year, then I’ll just try to evaluate that each week. I think he’s continuing to work with Tom [Quinn] on his steps, the consistency and everything else. So, I know that there — Bryce [Baringer] does not have any competition either. We’ve got to make sure that those three guys – the more specialists you add that the less that you add on the rest of the roster.
“So, we try to figure out what is best for the team, and we felt like those guys would be okay without having to have some sort of competition.”
There’s a guy who used to wear No. 4 around here that’s going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend. Having him in your back pocket in clutch situations certainly worked out for Mike Vrabel as a player. If anyone knows the value of a consistent guy with a bit of a clutch gene, it’s him.
At least heading into year two, it feels like the Patriots might have found another money-on-the-table kicker for the next decade in Borregales.