Detroit Lions place kicker Jake Bates (39) is seen during warmups prior to the game against the Los Angeles Rams Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Detroit Lions Dave Fipp Fully Supports Jake Bates

Originally posted on Detroit Lions on SI
By John Maakaron | Last updated Dec 18, 2025 1:19 PM ET

Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates has missed attempts in each of the past two games.

The second-year kicker had a similar stretch earlier this season. In 2025, Bates has gone 21-27.

Despite recent struggles, the Lions fully support Bates. Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp indicated that the 26-year-old has made the most practice kicks of any player he has ever been around.

With so much charting the past couple of seasons, Fipp is quite confident Bates consistency will eventually showcase itself.

"For me, it's pretty easy. Number one, just look at the big picture. I mean, do you have a good player or not? To make it clear that we have a very, very good player. If you were to put him on the streets, there would be a bunch of teams climbing right away," said Fipp. "And the truth is, we'd have a really hard time finding a guy who is the same player as him. So, that would be one.

"The next thing I think I've kind of said all along. You're going to have some ups and downs. All these guys do year-to-year," Fipp added. "Even, you know, older players have ups and downs. And a lot of that is the sample size is small. Anytime you have a handful of kicks blocked, obviously you don't have a chance to make the thing. So the numbers are going to go down."

Since joining Detroit in 2024, the veteran coach has sung the praises of a player with a booming leg, but lacked the same pedigree as other kickers who played collegiately.

"I really am not worried about him at all. I think he's a great player. He's going to be an incredible player in this league. He's a tremendous talent," said Fipp. "Like I said, we'd be dying to find a guy like him, if we didn't have him. And that doesn't mean he's not going to have some ups and downs. He's going to have that throughout the course of his year and his career. As you're growing, as you're getting better, I think in hindsight for him, he'll probably look back at this year and it'll be one of the best years he's ever had, just in terms of growth."

Bates' mindset allows him to process misses quickly. He is notably diligent in his efforts to focus on his process and working with the unit to fine tune his contact point and trajectory.

"He's probably learned a lot throughout the course of the year, what he has to do. Anything he might have to do different," said Fipp. "A lot of times, when they're having just a lot of success and I'm getting a lot better, you're just kind of doing the same thing over and over and it's just working out. But, that doesn't necessarily mean you're playing at that level either. So, obviously we want to make every kick that we can.

"I have a lot of confidence in him. I totally believed in knowing he's a great player. I will not waver. Not one bit. He's got to continue to grow and develop. We got to do a better job also. Like I said a week ago, I got to do a better job of protection, too."