Matt Gay Released by Commanders, What HC Said About Kicker After Crucial Missed FGs

The Washington Commanders are moving on from their kicker.

The team announced Monday that it has released placekicker Matt Gay after he missed a pair of field goals in Sunday's overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins in Madrid.

"The performance, you've got to have it," head coach Dan Quinn said. "We wanted it to work long-term with Matt. It wasn't (about) one game."

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, the Commanders signed Jake Moody off of the Chicago Bears' practice squad.

Quinn added that Gay is "an all-time good dude" and said he's "really bummed that it didn't work out." He also said it was a "difficult decision," but they had to do what was best for the team.

Gay, a former Pro Bowler, has been consistent throughout most of his career but has struggled this year. He's made a career-worst 68.4 percent of his field goals after hitting 83.8 percent of them a season ago. He has a career make percentage of 84 percent. Five of Gay's six misses this year have been from 50 or more yards.

Both of his misses against the Dolphins were costly. The first miss was from 51 yards out and would have tied things up at six points apiece in the second quarter. The second miss was from 56 yards and would have given Washington the lead with just 15 seconds remaining.

Instead, the game went into overtime and Miami left with a win.

▶️ Full Commanders-Dolphins Recap

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The Commanders haven't managed to find a consistent kicker in recent years, and Moody is the eighth of the Quinn and Adam Peters era, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic.

The Commanders, who fell to 3-8 with Sunday's loss, will look to get a more consistent kicker with Moody. Gay will try to find his way back onto an NFL roster and prove he's still capable of playing at a high level.