The Lions lost kicker Michael Badgley for the season Thursday when he tore his hamstring. They have former UFL kicker Ryan Bates on their roster but will make him compete for the job.
The Lions worked out four kickers Friday.
Matt Ammendola, Lucas Havrisik, Andre Szmyt and Matthew McCrane are competing for a spot on the roster.
Bates made three field goals of 60 yards or longer in the spring season for the Michigan Panthers, including a 64-yarder, but he was only 17-of-22 overall on his field goal attempts.
Szmyt also played in the UFL, and he led the league in field goals made in going 19-of-21, including 4-fo-5 from 50 yards or longer for the St. Louis Battlehawks.
Ammendola played five games for the Texans last season and has played 20 games in his NFL career, going 24-of-35 on field goals and 29-of-33 on extra points.
Havrisik kicked for the Rams in nine games last season, his only NFL experience, and went 15-of-20 on field goals and 19-of-22 on extra points.
McCrane kicked for three teams in 2018 and was good on 8-of-12 field goals and all nine extra points.
Michael Badgley won’t be the Lions kicker this season.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said at his Friday morning press conference that Badgley will miss the entire 2024 season after suffering an injury while getting ready for practice on Thursday. Campbell did not disclose the specific injury, but multiple reports indicate it is a torn hamstring and Badgley will need to have surgery to repair it.
Badgley appeared in four regular season games and three playoff contests for the Lions last season. He was 7-of-7 on field goals and 24-of-26 on extra points.
The Lions signed UFL standout Jake Bates this offseason to compete with Badgley for the kicking job. Campbell said the team is working out other kickers as they look to move forward without Badgley.
The Lions picked up a defensive lineman on Thursday.
The NFL’s daily transaction report shows that they have signed defensive tackle David Bada to their 90-man roster. No corresponding move was needed to get Bada on the roster because the Lions got an exemption for him as an international player.
Bada was born in Germany and played for several European teams before signing with the Commanders in 2020 through the International Player Pathway Program. Bada spent the last four seasons with Washington and appeared in two games during the 2022 season. Bada was credited with two tackles in those appearances.
The Lions are down one lineman with D.J. Reader on the physically unable to perform list, so Bada gives them some more depth to work with until he’s back.
The history of the NFL has seen teams come close to winning it all one year before coming back to finish the job the next season and it has seen teams come close before falling flat upon their return to the field.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell wants his team to be in the former category. They led the 49ers by 17 points at halftime of the NFC Championship Game last year, but they gave up 27 points en route to a 34-31 loss that sent the 49ers to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. That run and the fact that the Lions have their best players back has made them one of the favorites heading into the 2024 season.
On Wednesday, Campbell recalled being on the 2000 Giants when they lost in the Super Bowl to the Ravens. The team returned with their key players in place for the next season, but went 7-9 and Campbell said they lost their identity and everything else that made them who they were “because, ‘You know what? We’ll be OK. We’ve got the same guys.’” The coach vowed that the same thing won’t happen with the Lions.
“We don’t live off reputation. We live off of work,” Campbell said, via the team’s website.
There are a lot of variables like injuries that the Lions won’t be able to control over the coming months. They can control their effort, though, and Campbell is adamant that won’t flag as the team renews its pursuit of the first championship in franchise history.
The Lions roster will be looking a little fuller in the rest of this week’s training camp practices.
According to the NFL’s daily transaction report, the team has activated seven of the players they placed on injury lists heading into training camp. That list includes defensive back Brian Branch, who was placed on the physically unable to perform list because he was coming back from offseason ankle surgery.
Branch is now cleared to practice along with edge rusher Marcus Davenport, who joined him on the PUP list last weekend.
The report also shows that cornerback Carlton Davis, tackle Giovanni Manu, wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, cornerback Amik Robertson, and wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith passed their physicals to come off the non-football injury list. The team announced Davis, Peoples-Jones, Robertson, and Smith went on the list on Wednesday morning.