Patriots Kicking Battle Still Open

In the practice sessions that led up to Monday, both placekickers were almost perfect. The Miami rookie's strong leg was evident all camp, drilling field goals upwards of 55 yards in length. When he wasn't in, Romo would come in and hit a kick just as impressive.

It's another season where the Patriots have a kicker competition on their hands. In 2023, rookie Chad Ryland beat out established veteran Nick Folk for the kicking job. Folk was later shipped to Tennessee on cut-down day for a future draft pick. One year later, Ryland was kicking in Arizona for the Cardinals after free agent Joey Slye came in.

Now in 2025, the Patriots have two kickers — both of whom haven't kicked in a regular season game for them — fighting for one spot.

"Well, they've both have done very well," Vrabel said on Aug. 4. "I think they've gotten better and it's a good competition and I’m glad they both got to kick in the stadium and try to get the extra points and get the end of game kicks and everything that we did. So, just trying to get the volume and try to – every day Jeremy and (assistant special teams coach) Tom (Quinn) have a plan for them on how they're going to kick."

In Friday's game against the Commanders, the Patriots continued to rotate both of them onto the field. While Borregales was the first to trot out for an extra point, Romo came in to try and make a 57-yard field goal late in the first half. The former XFL star nailed the kick in what was the most impressive field goal in recent preseason memory for New England.

For Springer, he's just happy that both Borregales and Romo are competing.

"At the end of the day, we’ll see what happens at the end of training camp because we still have a long way to go,” Springer said. “I love how both guys are competing right now to earn a role, and that’s the biggest thing. Earn a role, but you’ve got to be consistent to do that.”