Coutu, 3 other kickers tryout for Falcons

By D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With veteran kicker Jason Elam mired in a slump, the Falcons brought in four kickers for tryouts Tuesday.

Former Georgia standout Brandon Coutu, Steve Hauschka, Sam Swank and Shane Andrus all worked out, but none was extended a contract offer.

The Falcons consider the tryouts a personnel matter and declined comment about them.

Elam has missed six field goals this season after making 29 of 31 attempts in 2008.

He had key misses in the past two games, a 34-yarder in a two-point loss to Carolina and a 35-yarder against the New York Giants on Sunday. The Falcons lost in overtime 34-31 against the Giants.

Elam glared at holder Michael Koenen after both of the misses. Also, long snapper Bryan Pittman was added to the mix Nov. 5 after Mike Schneck was placed on injured reserve with broken ribs.

"That is an operation that has not been smooth for us over the last two games, and it's costs us points," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "It's something again, not going to call out one person in terms of how it should go. [But] it's a sequence were we have to snap the ball when the snapper gets the signal, and the kicker has to kick the ball on time. Right now we are not doing that efficiently."

Against Carolina, Elam, who appears to look down at the holder and not at the center, started and stopped his motion before the ball was snapped to Koenen by Pittman. This signaled, perhaps, that the ball might not have been snapped after Koenen gave the signal.

Against the Giants, Elam appeared to hesitate slightly before going into his motion. It appears that the unit's timing is off.

Elam, a star at Brookwood High School, is one of the games storied kickers. He is tied with Tom Dempsey for making the longest field goal (63 yards) in NFL history. He was signed in March 2008 to a four-year, $9 million contact, which included a $3.3 million in guarantees. He's making $1.7 million this season and is set to make $1.97 in 2010 and $2 million in 2011.

Coutu, who played at Collins Hill High School, was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 2008 and made their active roster, but was inactive for all 16 games. He was placed on waivers in September. At Georgia, his longest field goal was a 58-yarder against Louisiana-Monroe in 2005.

Coutu, who worked out with former Falcons kicker Morten Andersen this offseason, made 51 of 64 field goals at Georgia. He was 5-of-11 on field goals between 50 and 59 yards. He was 29 of 31 on field goals under 40 yards.

Haushka, recently was cut by the Baltimore Ravens after he missed four field goals in nine games, including a potential winning 44-yarder against Minnesota and 38-yarder in Cincinnati that would have gotten Baltimore within a touchdown late in the game.

Andrus has been with Seattle and Tampa Bay.

Swank, a former Wake Forest standout, has been with Philadelphia and Cincinnati.