As the winter winds continue to swirl around Lambeau Field, the questions are swirling about whether rookie Mason Crosby can be a reliable, cold-weather kicker the Packers can count on in the playoffs.
But don't count Crosby, or special teams coach Mike Stock, among the doubters. Anyone who thinks the two missed field goals with temperatures in the teens at Lambeau last Sunday have shaken the confidence of the sixth-round draft choice would be mistaken.
"I just have to trust my ability, trust what I do, not overswing, not overkick," Crosby said. "That's the biggest thing is just say, 'I've got the leg strength, I just have to kick the ball solid.' That's where my mindset is now. I just have to make sure I learn from what happens and keep moving on."
In other words, Crosby isn't about to dwell on the misses, just like he hasn't bothered to marvel at some of his accomplishments in his first NFL season.
He was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November, an award no other Packers kicker has received in his first season. With 115 total points, he's just 16 shy of Ryan Longwell's franchise record for points in a season by a kicker (131 in 2000) and he currently leads the NFL in scoring.
He'll have plenty of competition to hold onto that league lead. Four other kickers, including another rookie in Dallas' Nick Folk, are within 10 points of his total, and he's just one point ahead of New England receiver Randy Moss, who has 19 touchdowns for 114 points.
"I didn't realize I had that many points until a couple of weeks ago," Crosby said. "Before the Dallas game somebody told me I was almost to 100, and I thought I was in the 70s and just kind of lost track of it."
He'll just as easily lose track of his first cold-weather game as a pro, and that's a good thing. On his first miss, from 43 yards in the second quarter, his footwork wasn't right and the ball came out low and left. His second miss, from 52 in the fourth, was a solid hit but the ball just leaked left, perhaps with some help from the wind.
Crosby was disappointed to be sure, particularly with the miss from 52 because he was true from 44 yards in the third quarter after the early miss. He looks at every kick, whether it be a field goal, extra point (he's 40-for-40 on those) or kickoff, as an opportunity to either remain in, or get back into, a groove, so it was a little mystifying after the 44-yarder and two PATs that his 52-yarder sailed wide.
But the worst thing the decorated University of Colorado alum can do is let the elements, like the weather, change his routine or get into his head.
"He's kicked in weather conditions like this," Stock said. "There's inclement weather in Colorado. Where he has had to play in that Big 12 Conference, they've had everything we're going to have here. Maybe not as cold a temperatures perhaps, but it wasn't so bad the other day at all."
It's also worth noting he was a solid 80 percent (24-of-30) this season with six straight makes, including three from 47, 47 and 52 yards, before his 1-for-3 game Sunday dropped him to 76 percent (25-of-33) on the year. Only one of Crosby's misses has come from less than 40 yards.
Stock has preached all season, beginning with the training camp battle with Dave Rayner, that every kick is important whether it's in a practice or a game, and Stock said Crosby has continued to be very accurate in practice, so he's not concerned about a potential late-season slump.
"It really doesn't matter where it is or in what conditions they are, he's going to have to come through, and he knows that," Stock said. "That's part of his job, that's what he's here for.
"Crucial situations when you're not scoring the six points and you have to have the three, you can't go out there and let those points wisp away somewhere. You have to capitalize, and he knows that."
{sportsad300}It will help that Crosby will have two more outdoor, cold-weather games before the playoffs roll around. After playing in a dome this week in St. Louis, the Packers will play at Chicago's Soldier Field on Dec. 23, and then come back home on Dec. 30 to wrap up the regular season.
That should give him plenty of swings in the toughest conditions prior to a postseason game at Lambeau in January, and the more exposure the better.
"I think it's good to get those experiences," Crosby said. "It's a big learning curve right now, and it's good to get those situations and be able to learn from them, and have adversity. My job is to overcome that and not dwell on those kicks. I'm going to go out this week, have a solid week, and just keep moving forward."
And if an NFL scoring title and/or a franchise record come his way in the process, the humble, level-headed rookie will have laid one heck of a foundation for his career.
"I think it would be a big honor," Crosby said of the potential milestones. "It's something you have to give credit where it's due, to the offense and defense, just everybody involved. I've been fortunate enough to kick a lot of extra points and get a lot of field goal tries.
"It's definitely a big honor if that happens, and I'm happy to be where I'm at. I just have to continue to make kicks and finish the season strong so I have a chance to do that."
