ATLANTA – The preseason hasn't necessarily gone the way the Falcons and kicker Giorgio Tavecchio had hoped.
Tavecchio is 4-of-8 on field goal attempts with his most recent miss coming on Thursday night in the first quarter of Atlanta's fourth exhibition game, a 39-yard attempt that sailed to the left side of the goal post.
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Coming off a game in which he missed two 50-plus-yard field goal attempts – one of which was blocked – against the Jets, Tavecchio was hoping to respond in a positive way.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen this time around.
Falcons head coach Dan Quinn was asked following his team's 19-7 loss to the Redskins if he's concerned about the kicker position moving forward. One week after saying he had "great trust" in Tavecchio, he responded to the question by saying the evaluation process remains the same for every position, including kicker.
"I think like everything, we're going to evaluate that spot like others as well," Quinn said. "That's what the preseason is for is to get the chance to look at guys to see what they can do and develop players. It's definitely a spot we're continuing to evaluate and that's always the case."
Tavecchio was unable to pinpoint exactly what he thought was the cause for the missed kicks but did acknowledge the results in the preseason have been "a little disappointing."
After a season in which Tavecchio was a perfect 5-for-5 on field goal attempts in the 2018 season, he'll spend the next week in practice and final preseason game proving he can be the reliable kicker the Falcons know he can be.
"[I] didn't get all the results I wanted this team deserves better and I'm going to take a look at what happened and continue to improve," Tavecchio said. "My focus is always on myself and controlling the controllable."
