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RICK STROUDMartin Gramatica's kicking struggles continue as the Bucs contemplate what to do.
TAMPA - Martin Gramatica has at least one more preseason game to straighten out his problems and his kicks.
Like his 44-yard field-goal attempt that buzzed the heads of his blockers Saturday night against the Dolphins, he keeps falling well short of expectations.
One year after having the second-most missed field goals in the league, the Bucs kicker continued his struggles by making 1-of-3 field goals against the Dolphins.
For the preseason, Gramatica is 5-for-8 on field goals, including a low, 44-yarder at Jacksonville that barely cleared the uprights.
Coach Jon Gruden acknowledged the team has considered signing another kicker in case the 28-year-old Gramatica continues to falter, but he said he has not lost confidence.
"Contingency plans are a part of football and a part of life," Gruden said Sunday. "Once again, we are confident in Martin Gramatica. He had a setback (Saturday night) and I think he'd agree with that. We are going to maintain our confidence in him and hopefully he gets his stroke back and his rhythm and timing where it needs to be. Obviously, contingency plans if necessary need to be exercised sometimes. But right now, our intent is to keep working with Martin. We still believe we've got a great kicker here."
Gramatica's performance against the Dolphins was particularly disturbing because it came on the heels of a good one Aug.20 at Jacksonville in which he connected on field goals of 43 and 44 yards.
Gramatica's mis-hits last season contributed to five blocked field goals and one blocked extra point, and he continues to struggle with low trajectory.
"The second one, he just hit poorly," Gruden said. "It looked like his approach was a little quick and he didn't hit the ball well. The first one it looked like he just missed it. Once again, as we said (Saturday night), it's discouraging. He kicked the ball extremely well in Jacksonville. We thought he was back on track. We've got to work hard to get him back on schedule this week. He's important to our football team."
Gramatica's inconsistency has been confounding, especially since he entered the 2003 season having made 82 percent of his career field goals.
But 26 kickers had more field goals last season than Gramatica, just one year after he booted the most in the league. Gramatica insists he is feeling no pressure to put last season behind him.
"It's over," Gramatica said Saturday night about last season. "There's nothing I can do about it. Last year is gone. I'm just going to get back to trying to hit the ball solid. I just have to hit it and put it through the uprights."
Of course, it might help if the Bucs could let Gramatica kick some extra points instead of field goals. Tampa Bay's starting offensive unit has not scored a touchdown in the preseason. Despite drives of 68 and 55 yards against the Dolphins, the Bucs were forced to settle for field goals. Gramatica missed the first from 43 yards and nailed a 30-yarder.
"I'm eager (to score touchdowns)," Gruden said. "We only had two possessions in the first half outside of the two-minute drive. Scoring touchdowns goes hand in hand with better play-calling and more opportunities. We've got to get off the field on defense on third down, and obviously get our offensive football team in better field position than the minus-20 yard line in one half of football against the Miami Dolphins, that's tough sledding, not to make excuses.
"We did execute two long-lasting drives that were very nice looking drives on the television set. But you're right, we do want to score touchdowns, not field goals."
Theories abound as to why Gramatica has struggled. He has had four holders in six seasons and is coming off a season in which he never fully recovered from hernia surgery after Super Bowl XXXVII. In fact, the Bucs signed 23-year-old rookie Nicholas Setta of Notre Dame to handle kickoffs in hopes of sparing Gramatica's leg. But neither Gramatica nor Gruden will offer excuses for the poor performance.
"We just have to get him back on the range and hit some balls, work on knocking the ball through the goal posts," Gruden said. "He's got work to do."