Jets, kicker booted from MetLife by soccer match

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The New York Jets were hoping to take new kicker Kaare Vedvik to MetLife Stadium on Friday to get acclimated ahead of Sunday's opener, but they got booted from their own stadium by a soccer match.

The USA hosts Mexico in a soccer friendly on Friday night, so the uprights are down and the artificial turf has been replaced by grass.

"We'll have to adjust on the fly," special-teams coordinator Brant Boyer said Thursday.

The Jets have been doing a lot of that.

After failing to re-sign Pro Bowl kicker Jason Myers, who left in free agency, they signed journeyman Chandler Catanzaro. He struggled and retired in the middle of training camp. Next up was Taylor Bertolet, who missed three field goals in the fourth preseason game and got cut.

In came Vedvik, whom they claimed on waivers from the Minnesota Vikings.

The Norwegian-born Vedvik, 25, has no regular-season experience and no MetLife Stadium experience. That explains why they were planning to make the 40-minute drive to the stadium Friday for a dry run. Long snapper Thomas Hennessy and holder Lachlan Edwards were going to be there, too.

The idea was "to test the winds a little bit because it swirls a little bit in some areas," Boyer said. "It's always good to get in there if you can. It's just a matter of them having that soccer field in there."

Boyer said they will try to have a longer warm-up period Sunday before facing the Bills. The hope, he said, is to get into the stadium next week for an extra workout. Of course, that won't help them Sunday.

Vedvik's lack of experience, coupled with his wild swing in consistency, has created anxiety at One Jets Drive. He arrived on Sunday night and will have only three days of practice with the team before his debut.

He struggled so much that the Vikings decided to part ways with him, a costly blunder because they traded a fifth-round pick to acquire him. He made only one of four field-goal attempts in two games, missing from 37, 43 and 54 yards. His only make came from 27 yards.

Previously, Vedvik was a preseason phenom with the Baltimore Ravens, as he made 12 of 13 field goals in the 2018 and 2019 preseasons.

He refused to blame his misses on a mechanical issue, saying, "I just went 1-for-4. Anything more into it is just over-analyzing a problem that doesn't necessarily exist."

Boyer said Vedvik is as talented as any kicker in the NFL -- "He's got a sweet swing" -- but he acknowledged that the young kicker needs to get past his recent struggles.

"What you do as a coach is you put your arm around the kid and you say, 'Hey, this is a new beginning for you,'" Boyer said. "He's got a really big opportunity here. It's all ahead of him. It's just a maturation process. If he can grow and learn from his mistakes, I think he can do really well in this league, I really do."