Falcons release Bryant, sign Koo

A day after holding tryouts, the Falcons released veteran kicker Matt Bryant on Tuesday.

Younghoe Koo, (pronounced “Young Way Coo”) who played at Georgia Southern and last kicked in the NFL for the Chargers in 2017, was signed.

The Falcons also put Elliott Fry, who played at South Carolina, through a tryout.

» MARK BRADLEY: A sign of times, releasing Matt Bryant

Bryant missed field-goal attempts from 51 (wide left) and 53 yards (wide right) as the Falcons fell behind 24-0 against the Seahawks on Sunday. He made field goals from 47 yards and one from 37 yards with 1:21 to play to pull the Falcons with in one score in an eventual 27-20 loss.

The Falcons cut Bryant — the franchise's all-time points leader — in February. He made 9 of 14 field-goal attempts after rejoining the team just before the start of the season.

Giorgio Tavecchio was slated to be the field-goal kicker, but he was too erratic in the exhibition season and the team re-signed Bryant.

Bryant, 44, has made just 2 of 6 of his field-goal attempts from 50 yards or more this season. He’s made 3 of 3 from 40 to 49 yards, 3 of 4 from 30 to 39 yards and 1 of 1 from 20 to 29 yards. He’s also missed an extra-point attempt that could have tied the score against Arizona.

“Over the last few weeks, we’ve missed the mark,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Monday. “We wanted to take at look and evaluate.”

Koo was on the Patriots’ practice squad. In 2017, he played in four games and was 3-of-6 on field goals, including 1-of-4 from 40 to 49 yards. He’s never attempted a kick beyond 50 yards in the NFL.

Koo was the kicker on the Atlanta Legends, during their short-lived Alliance of American Football season. He was a perfect 14-of-14 on his attempts, his longest at 38 yards.

Koo is the fourth NFL player born in South Korea.

In college, he was an All-Sun Belt selection and a finalist for the Lou Groza Award.

Also Monday, the Falcons waived quarterback Danny Etling and cornerback D.J. White. However, the team later released punter Kasey Redfern and added Etling to the practice squad.

Redfern, who also handled kickoffs, was signed before the Arizona game Oct. 13. He played in three games for the Falcons and averaged 41.2 yards on nine punts.

Etling was active Sunday as the backup to Matt Schaub.

Matt Ryan (ankle sprain) is expected back after the bye week.

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