Nick Folk Named AFC Special Teams Player Of The Week After Four-Field Goal Performance In Houston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Nick Folk continues to be among the steadiest and most reliable contributors to the Patriots. He's now got another accolade to show for it.
Folk was named AFC Special Teams Player of the week on Wednesday, for his four-field goal performance in Sunday's 25-22 win over the Texans in Houston.
For the veteran kicker, it's the seventh Player of the Week award in his career, and his third with the Patriots.
On Sunday, Folk missed a PAT early in the second quarter, but was perfect the rest of the way. He successfully booted a 52-yard field goal before halftime, then hit another 52-yarder midway through the third quarter. His 32-yard field goal late in the third quarter cut Houston's lead to seven points, and Folk's PAT tied the game in the fourth quarter. With 15 seconds left, Folk made his 21-yard chip shot to lift the Patriots to victory.
The 52-yarders were Folk's longest kicks as a member of the Patriots. The only other kicker in Patriots history with multiple 50-plus-yard field goals in the same game is Stephen Gostkowski, who achieved that feat three times.
Folk was listed on the injury report with a left knee issue entering the game, but special teams coordinator Cam Achord said Folk is not lacking in toughness.
"Yeah, Nick's mentally tough. He knows how to take care of his body and what he has to do to get ready every day and every week," Achord said Tuesday. "Obviously, we have all the confidence in the world in putting him out there every week, and he's doing everything he can to keep himself there and maintain his body and be ready to go. Obviously, like you said, he's delivered some big kicks for us and hopefully he'll continue that moving forward.''
The 36-year-old Folk is now 14-for-15 on field goal attempts this year, his lone miss coming on the 56-yard game-winning attempt in the rain against the Buccaneers. He leads the NFL in field goals made and field goals attempted through five weeks of the season.
