The Carolina Panthers found themselves in the brutal scenario of needing to find an emergency kicker after Zane Gonzalez got hurt during pregame warmups.
Gonzalez injured his quad prior to Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, putting the Panthers in a very difficult spot with no way to get a replacement in. To make matters worse, the Panthers couldn’t just turn to their punter to take over kicking duties. Punter Lachlan Edwards was born and raised in Australia and has no experience kicking field goals.
That led to a surreal scene in which various Panthers players tested their kicking skills during warmups. Among them were reserve wide receiver Brandon Zylstra, who landed kickoff duties, and backup quarterback P.J. Walker, who served as a kicker in college.
Update: Panthers K Zane Gonzalez suffered an injury during pregame warm ups and is now OUT.
Our crew breaks down how Carolina will handle the kicking situation in today's game. pic.twitter.com/rqC3hZ6j3e
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 19, 2021
Some of those attempts are best left forgotten. Walker’s straight-on run-up is genuinely hilarious, though.
Position players serving as emergency kickers is rare, usually because most punters are capable of handling the job in a pinch. Plus, kicker injuries aren’t that common to begin with, especially immediately before or during games. When we do see something like this, it’s usually not serious, but the Panthers have to come up with something for Sunday, at least on kickoffs.
