Anders Carlson Finally Addresses Sub-Par Performance Against Bengals

Anders Carlson was mid-sentence when he realized what he was saying wasn’t quite correct. The Green Bay Packers kicker was reliving his NFL preseason debut from Friday night’s win against the Cincinnati Bengals after missing his final two extra points wide right.

The rookie sixth-round selection was attempting to explain his self-evaluation process and why he isn’t panicked over his personal inconsistency, despite the fact that segments of the Packers’ fervent fan base are. “Even Cincinnati, I had a good game — I mean, not a good game results-wise,” Carlson said, smiling at his conversational misstep.

“But I had a good day overall. Warmups, I was dialed in and then I made four in a row (in the game). I think that’s the part where you’ve got to give yourself a little grace as a rookie and learn from that so the next week you can fix it.”

Asked Monday what Bisaccia told him after the two misses at the end of the game in Cincinnati, Carlson replied: “He’s challenging me, the way he should. He’s telling me to take it a day at a time and trust the process. ‘We’re going to have patience with you and we’re going to get you right.’”

“I don’t want to look too far into it,” coach Matt LaFleur said of Carlson’s performance against the Bengals. “It’s one game. As long as you learn from it and get better and make the necessary adjustments, then a lot of times you come back stronger from it.”

“I need to go back to my tempo and maybe go a little slower. I might’ve gotten a little excited,” said Carlson, who was 1 of 2 on extra points Monday and 3-for-4 on field-goal attempts (good from 41, 44 and 47 yards; wide right from 45). “I can’t have three that work and one that doesn’t. It’s got to be consistent. I know not every kick is going to go in, but it’s how you respond and how you bounce back.

“I hold myself to my own standard. As a kicker, you don’t really have your rookie year. You’ve got to get into it and you’ve got to perform like any other kicker would in the league. I know it’s the first year, but it’s got to be right.”

When asked if his recent misses have been wide right, Carlson said it could be due to his too-quick tempo, because approaching the ball with too much momentum as a right-footed kicker approaching the ball from the left would logically send the ball to the right.

“You don’t want to go right-left-right because then you’re kind of lost,” Carlson said. “I like my mindset. I’ve just got to fix some technical things.”

“For me, if they have the ball down and it’s standing somewhat straight up, it’s on me. I think that’s the mindset,” Carlson said. “I talk to them. If I think they can do something better, I’ll mention it to them. But they’re doing their job and none of the misses I’ve had I think have been them.”

“What’s my frustration level? I think being a kicker is all about being consistent — mentally and physically,” he replied. Obviously, you want the results to be consistent. But before the results come, you’ve got to be personally level.

“You’re going to ride the wave. I had injuries, I had results that didn’t go my way, so it’s not the first time for me, it’s not the first time for anyone. You learn each time and you get better as you approach it.

“I have days that I like, days that I don’t like. It’s just (about) not freaking out and taking it one day at a time.”