Colts Cut Former Georgia Kicker Rodrigo Blakenship

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rodrigo Blankenship’s three-year run with the Indianapolis Colts ended Tuesday when he was waived two days after slicing a 42-yard field goal to the right in overtime and sending two fourth-quarter kickoffs out of bounds.

The Colts wound up settling for a 20-20 tie at Houston — the franchise’s first in 40 years.

Blankenship will be replaced by either Chase McLaughlin or Lucas Havrisik on Sunday in Jacksonville The two kickers were signed to the practice squad and will spend this week fighting for the job Blankenship lost.

“I always tell our players and specialists it’s OK — everyone is expected to make a mistake,” special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone said Tuesday before the move was announced. “You’re going to have ups and downs in a game. It’s how fast can you respond and how fast can you self-correct it.”

The bespectacled Blankenship won’t get that chance — at least with the Colts.

He won the kicking job as an undrafted rookie out of Georgia in 2020, but after scoring 139 points in a strong rookie season, Blankenship struggled.

He hurt his hip before last year’s game at Baltimore and the ensuing kicking woes that day proved costly in an overtime loss. Blankenship never returned to the field afterward, missing three of 14 field-goal attempts and an extra point in five games before finishing the season on injured reserve.

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