Bengals Kicker Evan McPherson on Struggles, Importance of Bye Week

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

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00:00for you to kind of recalibrate?

00:01Yeah, I was telling Dan,

00:04bye came at a fantastic time for this team.

00:06I feel like, I feel like it just rejuvenated the spirit.

00:09Obviously we've got the ping pong tables

00:11back in the locker room.

00:11Everybody's excited about that.

00:13I just get to compete and not just football.

00:17And I feel like, yeah,

00:19it just rejuvenated everybody's spirit and we're excited

00:21and we're treating this like a whole new season.

00:24And these games coming up,

00:25I think are probably the most important of the year.

00:27For you personally, was it a good time for it?

00:28Because sometimes when you have a game like that,

00:30maybe you want to get right back out there

00:31and kind of shake that off.

00:34I mean, personally,

00:35I felt like Dubai came at a perfect spot for me.

00:38Personally, I really enjoyed just, you know,

00:41getting back to Fort Payne.

00:42Like I said, my wife's mom,

00:46she has a place up on the mountain, no cell service.

00:48And so I was totally unplugged for the week.

00:51And it was just, you know, it was a great time

00:53just spending with family.

00:54Me and my wife are from the same hometown.

00:56So I get to spend time with my parents.

00:59I get to spend time with her family

00:59and kind of have early Thanksgiving,

01:01just enjoy each other.

01:02And it was really fun.

01:04Are you sensing a theme this year on any of your missed kicks

01:08when you've went back and looked at it with Darren?

01:10Like, has it been the same thing

01:12or does each one tell a different story?

01:14Yeah, I mean, for the most part, my miss has been left.

01:16And for me, that's kind of interesting

01:19and kind of confusing at the same time.

01:21My whole career since I've started kicking,

01:23my miss has always been right.

01:25And for these to be left, you know,

01:28it's pretty interesting for me.

01:29And so I feel like the bye week and then this week,

01:33my focus is just figuring that out

01:36and figuring out what I'm doing wrong

01:37and trying to make corrections.

01:40None of us are, wait, none of us are kickers.

01:42So can you walk us through, like, when it's,

01:45you're saying it's going left, it's weird for you.

01:48Like, what are you breaking down as to why that's happening?

01:51Yeah, well, usually right footed kicker

01:54has a right miss normally,

01:57just because you're a little late,

01:58you're hitting it with your leg a little bent

02:01and you're not catching it clean.

02:03I mean, you're not fully locked out.

02:04And so the ball is just kind of weak

02:06and fast spinning off to the right.

02:08But left, you can kind of come into play

02:10like your toe can wrap.

02:13You could pull a little harder

02:15and just tug it a little bit, is what I say.

02:19So yeah, I mean, I feel like for righty,

02:22normal miss is right,

02:24just from not pulling through harder than you usually do.

02:27But maybe I'm just overcompensating

02:29and swinging a little too hard.

02:30What has the mental part of this been like for you, Evan?

02:32Do you do a mental reset?

02:34No, I mean, mentally it's been just fine for me.

02:38I haven't, I feel like I haven't

02:41felt negatively about this season.

02:43I feel like I'm hitting the ball well.

02:46I'm just not putting the ball where it needs to go.

02:48And so mentally I feel like, you know,

02:51I should just continue doing what I'm doing,

02:54but just find those little things here and there

02:56that are going to help me put the ball through the upright.

02:58And I feel like it's walking out there

03:01with a little more confidence in myself

03:04and knowing that day in, day out, practice, pregame,

03:07you know, I do the same thing as I do during the game.

03:10So just really understanding

03:13and not overthinking kind of what I'm doing.

03:16Do you think you're in a good mental place?

03:18Yeah, I think I'm in a fantastic mental place.

03:19I think my wife and my daughter definitely help with that.

03:23Just going home to her every day,

03:25and she doesn't care if I go 0 for 5 in a game

03:29or 5 for 5 and hit a game winner.

03:31You know, she's still going to treat me the same

03:33and just know me as dad.

03:35So I feel like having her this year has been wonderful

03:39just because if I do have a bad day at practice or a game,

03:42I get to go home and just enjoy that time.

03:46How much reflecting did you do during the bye week on it?

03:49So I feel like everybody during a bye is,

03:51you think about it on maybe like Monday, Tuesday,

03:54and then you just kind of shut everything off.

03:55You don't even think football.

03:57Like I said, I played a lot of golf over the bye week

04:00and just enjoyed that time with my family,

04:03just getting to walk the golf course

04:05and meet new people out at the golf course

04:08and just kind of hang out and chill.

04:10But I feel like you think about it

04:11and reflect on it early on,

04:13and then you just kind of let it go and just relax.

04:16Because, I mean, you got seven more weeks of regular season.

04:20And so, I mean, this is all we're going to think about

04:23for seven weeks.

04:24I feel like for the most part during the bye,

04:25you're just trying to unplug from football.

04:29When you go back and you look at the missed field goals,

04:32is that something mentally tough for you,

04:34seeing the misses?

04:35Because it's not like you're watching success

04:37in those points.

04:38Yeah, you know, I think you learn a lot from the misses.

04:41And I think I've expressed before is like,

04:43whenever you are struggling,

04:44I feel like you learn a lot more about yourself

04:46and your fight and kind of your will to win.

04:50And you either got to figure it out

04:52or you're probably not going to be playing anymore.

04:55So I think that's kind of to the point where I'm at,

04:58is like, I got to figure it out.

04:59I got to figure out

05:00and I got to put the ball through the uprights

05:02and help this team win these next seven games.

05:04You still have confidence?

05:06Yeah.

05:07Go ahead.

05:08You still have the utmost confidence in yourself

05:09that say it's a tie game,

05:11three seconds left on the clock,

05:13you can go out 50 plus yards and put one through?

05:16Yeah, no, certainly.

05:17I feel like I'm always going to have confidence in myself.

05:20And I feel like I build that in practice and pre-game

05:24and just knowing that those kicks in the game

05:26are no different than those.

05:28And so just really dialing in practice

05:32is kind of my priority

05:33and just getting ready for the game.

05:36Since you were unplugged Sunday,

05:39you probably missed some of the chaotic kicking that-

05:43Yeah.

05:44And I don't know if that kind of,

05:46does that help you in knowing that

05:49you weren't the only guy going through stuff?

05:52No, I mean, I always hate to see guys do bad.

05:54And I feel like all kickers are kind of similar.

05:57It's like we all want each other to succeed and do well.

06:01We hate when one guy misses an important kick

06:04and you feel for those guys and what they're going through.

06:07And I assume everybody's got great teammates around them

06:09to build them up and not tear them down.

06:12You just kind of hope the fan base does the same thing.

06:16Everybody screws up, so.

06:17I mean, you're not rooting for anybody to screw up,

06:19but it does seem like you've got company.

06:23Yeah.

06:24Yeah, I mean, everybody struggles.

06:25Everybody goes through their struggles,

06:28but I feel like usually everybody bounces back pretty well.

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