Detroit Lions kicker Michael Badgley will be placed on injured reserve and is expected to miss the upcoming season after sustaining a “significant” leg injury in Thursday’s practice, the team announced Friday.
“We feel awful for Badge,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “He worked his tail off to get ready for this season. He was having a good spring and was ready for camp. It’s tough.”
Campbell said the injury, which multiple media outlets reported as a torn hamstring, will require surgery.
Badgley was Detroit’s kicker for the final four regular-season games and the playoffs in 2023. He was 13 of 15 on extra points in the regular season and made all four field goal attempts.
In the postseason, Badgley made all 11 extra points and three field goals he attempted in three games. In the NFC Championship Game, he was twice bypassed for field-goal attempts with the team going for it on fourth down in a game Detroit eventually lost 34-31 to the San Francisco 49ers.
Badgley, who turns 29 on Sunday, also was Detroit’s kicker for the final 12 games of 2022.
Overall, he is 98 of 119 on field goals and 168 of 175 on extra points in six NFL seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers (2018-20), Indianapolis Colts (2021), Tennessee Titans (2021), Chicago Bears (2022) and Lions. He has 462 points in 64 career games.
Detroit will now turn to former UFL star Jake Bates, who signed with the team in June and had been expected to compete with Badgely for the job. The Lions waived kicker James Turner when they signed Bates.
Bates, 24, spent the spring with the Michigan Panthers and made 21 of 28 field goals, including a 64-yard attempt and two others of at least 60 yards. The Panthers play at Ford Field, the home of the Lions.
Bates played his senior season in 2022 at Arkansas, where he was a kickoff specialist and didn’t attempt field goals. He was named to All-SEC first-team after leading the conference with an average of 64.47 yards per kickoff.