Patriots kicker Ryland a stand-up guy
He shoulders blame for missed attempt
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Chad Ryland offered up no excuses.
Given multiple opportunities to blame the conditions, his teammates, or anything else that might have had a role in him going wide left from 35 yards at the end of Sunday’s game, the rookie kicker said he was the only one at fault for his missed field-goal attempt in the Patriots’ 10-7 loss to the Giants.
“I felt solid in my pre-kick routine.
Snap, hold, kick, operation, protection. It was all good. Just missed it,” he said while standing alone, hands behind his back, at his locker. “That’s what I’m here to do. That’s what they trust me to do. And I didn’t do a good job of that today.
“I have a lot of faith in my teammates. I have faith in myself. That’ll never waver. I’ll promise you that.”
Ryland was put in the position to be the hero. With 3:15 left in regulation, Bailey Zappe started a drive that began at the 50-yard line, and with six seconds remaining, Zappe and the Patriots had navigated to the Giants’ 20. After timeouts from both teams — and with a light rain falling — Ryland lined up from the right hashmark, but the 24year-old pulled it left.
Ryland, who was 3 for 4 from between 30 and 39 yards before Sunday’s miss, was 12 for 17 overall coming into Sunday’s game. His miss will again stir second-guessing regarding the decision to go with the rookie as opposed to veteran Nick Folk out of training camp, especially with Folk 22 for 23 (and 8 for 8 from between 30 and 39 yards) with Tennessee.
Ryland’s teammates rallied to his defense.
“One kick in this league doesn’t define a player. Those things are going to happen,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “We have a lot of confidence in Chad. It’s unfortunate that today it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to. But we have a ton of confidence in him. He’s a great teammate. He just has to keep trusting his process. Adversity is a part of this game. Things happen. You just have to move forward. And we have 100 percent confidence in him moving forward.”
Said Ryland: “That’s obviously a kick I have to knock down. I have knocked down. And I’ll knock down in the future. I just have to continue to work in the right direction.”
Interesting moves
The Patriots had a lineup wrinkle on each side of the football.
Veteran left tackle Trent Brown, who was active for the first time since the Oct. 29 loss against Miami, didn’t start, with Conor McDermott getting the nod. Brown came on later in the first half.
On the defensive side, J.C. Jackson made his return to the starting lineup at cornerback. Jackson, who hadn’t played since the Miami contest for multiple reasons, ended up leading the Patriots with six tackles.
DeVito close to home
Prior to the game, a league source confirmed the Patriots “inquired” about the possibility of adding quarterback Tommy DeVito to the practice squad before the start of the regular season, but the New Jersey native opted to go with the Giants.
The 25-year-old DeVito ended up sticking with Brian Daboll’s team and was 17 for 25 for 191 yards and a touchdown Sunday. Meanwhile, New England has shuffled through a variety of backup quarterbacks, a group that includes Bailey Zappe, Will Grier, Ian Book, and others.
Leaving disappointed
For his part, Jabrill Peppers was one of the best players on the field for the Patriots. The Jersey native had a sack and recovered a fumble in the loss to go along with three tackles. “It’s definitely tough. It’s definitely tough. I really wanted this one,” Peppers said. “If you don’t let them score, you can’t lose. A couple of plays we wish we could have back on defense, but it is what it is.” . . . In addition to the work of Douglas, the only other reliable offensive option was running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who had a season-high 98 yards rushing. Stevenson, who also had 9 yards receiving, is only the second Patriot in the last 10 seasons to have three straight games of at least 100 yards from scrimmage, joining Sony Michel (2018) . . . The Patriots featured nothing but healthy scratches when it came to their inactives, as a cross section of backups and newcomers ended up sitting: cornerback Alex Austin, running back JaMycal Hasty, offensive tackle Vederian Lowe, wide receiver Jalen Reagor, and defensive end Sam Roberts.
ºNote to readers: Because of technical issues, the Globe was unable to publish a Patriots summary in Monday’s editions.