The Patriots have Nick Folk back from his appendectomy, but they wanted another kicker around just in case.
And just in case they find needing three points from behind a concession stand, they have their guy.
Via Phill Perry of NBCSportsBoston.com, the Patriots have signed kicker Josh Gable to the practice squad.
Gable never played college football, but he has some experience in minor indoor leagues, and has put together YouTube videos of trick shots and long field goals, and the team decided to take a look at him in actual conditions.
They’ve rolled through a number of kickers this season since Stephen Gostkowski went on IR, with Mike Nugent holding the job briefly and Kai Forbath doing it for a week while Folk had surgery. They also had now-Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo on the practice squad for a bit.
The Patriots worked out Gable earlier this year before they signed Nugent. And while some of his tricks on video will never come into play in an actual game, they might have at least helped get the Patriots’ attention.
Once upon a time, there was a quarterback named Alex Tanney who was best known for his trick-shot videos, and he’s still hanging around the league eight years later, as a backup for the Giants.