Nordin ‘passed Go’ on Tuesday
Described how he spent cutdown day
FOXBORO — What do NFL kickers and NHL goalies have in common? They tend to be quirky, eccentric, and a bit odd-ballish.
Quinn Nordin isn’t the exception. He fits the profile.
For better or worse, the kid with the cannon leg is the Patriots’ new kicker — barring Nick Folk being elevated from the practice squad on game days.
How did he spend the ohso-anxious cut down day Tuesday?
By talking with college teammate Carlo Kemp and playing online Monopoly.
He eventually showed up at Gillette Stadium for a scheduled practice midday, and was “walking on egg shells” not knowing if he was in, or out.
“No one told me I made the team. No one told me I didn’t make the team,” he said. “So, I’m just kinda still here, and I’m going to be here until they ask me to leave.”
Nordin, who was undrafted out of Michigan, was lights out until having a meltdown the second preseason game against the Eagles, missing two of four extra points, while only connecting on 1 of 2 field goal attempts.
Ten days later, he recovered nicely with a pair of field goals against the Giants. That prompted to Patriots to keep him on the 53-man roster.
“I think it was a great opportunity, honestly. To have a decent first game and then to have that, to show what I was made of mentally,” Nordin said of the disaster against the Eagles. “I think that’s super important ‘cuz it’s not always going to be, you have a good game ... there’s going to be some downs.
And so, for me, that was a good opportunity to showcase mental toughness and what I’m made of.
“In college, it wasn’t always great for me,” he went on. “There was a lot more downs than ups. So to be able to bounce back, to show I could come back from a game in ten days, it kind of showed who I am.”
Describing how kicking relates to cornhole and NASCAR also speaks to who he is. While that may seem odd, it made perfect sense after listening to him.
He explained the motion of throwing the cornhole bag is like the mechanics of kicking, “being smooth with a repeatable motion, at a very small target.” NASCAR? “Mentally, when you’re driving around a NASCAR track, you have to stay focused the whole time,” he said. “There’s a saying if you put a robot in a car, he would be able to do the same thing around a track a million times in a row.”
Asked if he was trying to be a machine, Nordin responded: “We’ll see.”
53-for-53 at practice
The Patriots are starting their new season on a healthy note.
All 53 players on the active roster were present for Thursday’s practice, the team’s last before a threeday break heading into Labor Day weekend. Linebacker Harvey Langi returned after being cut Wednesday. According to sources, the Patriots always intended to return Langi, who fell the victim to some procedural roster shuffling after the NFL’s league-wide final roster cuts Tuesday.
New wide receiver Malcolm Perry wore No. 19 in his practice debut. Center David Andrews was limited.
The Pats also fielded their new practice squad, which has one open spot remaining. Quarterbacks Brian Hoyer and Garrett Gilbert both threw to a full receiving corps. Gilbert, formerly with the Cowboys, wore No. 14, while former Ravens fullback Ben Mason donned No. 35 and former Lions linebacker Jahlani Tavai has been assigned No. 52.
Re-signed tight end Matt LaCosse wore a non-contact jersey in his first practice appearance in more than two weeks. LaCosse was knocked out of a joint session in Philadelphia on Aug. 16. Starting tight end Hunter Henry shed his non-contact jersey earlier this week.
Third-year cornerback D’Angelo Ross was the only player missing Thursday. He re-signed to the Pats’ practice squad, where he spent all of last season.
Harry placed on IR
Former first-round wide receiver N’Keal Harry was officially placed on injured reserve Thursday.
Harry will be out until at least Week 4, when he can return to practice and be activated to the 53-man roster. He hasn’t been seen since hurting his left shoulder in the second quarter of a preseason game at the Eagles on Aug. 19. Harry’s move to injured reserve created an open roster spot for Langi to return.
Without Harry, the Pats are down to Jakobi Meyers, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, Gunner Olszewski and Perry on their wideout depth chart.