What to know about Tennessee Titans kicker Nick Folk
Nick Folk began Year 16 of his NFL career on Sept. 10 when the Tennessee Titans faced the New Orleans Saints in Week 1.
Folk, 38, was acquired by the Titans from the New England Patriots for a 2025 seventh-round pick after the team ran through three kickers in the preseason and was looking for stability.
The ex-Arizona Wildcats player has stayed in the NFL with his dependability and consistency inside 50 yards.
Here's what to know about the Titans' new kicker:
Nick Folk goes from Dallas to the New York Jets
The Dallas Cowboys took Folk in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He earned a Pro Bowl nod after a good rookie season (26 of 31 field goals made) that included the winning 53-yard field goal against the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 8 on "Monday Night Football."
Folk was even better the next season, making 20-of-22 field goals, including both attempts from more than 50 yards., but he missed 10 attempts in 2009. He was released before the end of the season, and signed with the Jets in 2010.
During the next seven seasons, Folk was good enough (making 82.2% of his field goal tries) to entrench himself as the Jets kicker. He is second on the Jets' all-time points scored list and is the most accurate kicker in team history (minimum 100 field goal attempts). He was released in a salary-cap move after the 2016 season.
Tampa Bay struggles
The lowest point of Folk's career came with Tampa Bay in 2017 — specifically, in a 19-14 loss to New England on "Thursday Night Football" on Oct. 5.
Folk replaced the struggling Roberto Aguayo to start the season but missed five field goals and two extra points in the first four games. Against the Patriots, Folk missed from 56, 49 and 31 yards in the five-point loss. He was placed on injured reserve shortly after the game, ending his season. The Bucs released Folk in the offseason.
Nick Folk's revival with the New England Patriots
Folk did not kick in the 2018 NFL season, spending time in the Alliance of American Football league in spring 2019.
He was not on any NFL team to start the 2019 season until October, when the Patriots signed him to replace the injured Stephen Gostkowski.
Folk kicked well enough: 14 of 17 on field goals and 12-for-12 on extra points, even after missing a week because of an appendectomy. The Patriots attempted to replace him with a younger option in Justin Rohrwasser, but re-signed Folk before the 2020 season.
He was a consistent and accurate kicker for the Patriots during the next three seasons, making 89.3% of his field goal attempts and 91.3% of his extra point tries.
Nick Folk off to good start with Tennessee Titans
Folk was 5-for-5 on field goals, accounting for all of the Titans' points, in the 16-15 loss to the Saints. He already has gained the trust of the Titans coaching staff, as evidenced by a decision to attempt a 29-yard field goal with 2:20 left and Tennessee down by four points.
"Find a way to get (the ball) inside the 40 and kick a field goal to win the game, that's what I believed," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said about the decision to kick at that point.
Not the biggest leg at this stage of his career
Folk made a 50-yard field goal in Week 1, which may be toward the edge of his range at this point of his career.
He career long is 55 yards, made with the Jets in 2015. As accurate as he has been from inside 50 yards, don't expect the Titans to try many 60 yarders in 2023.
Folk also had one touchback in six kickoffs against the Saints, which is in line with his recent history. Last season with New England, he had three touchbacks on 33 kickoffs. He was never the full-time kickoff player for the Patriots, with 49 in four seasons.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nick Folk: What to know about Tennessee Titans kicker
