New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz suffered a setback in his recovery from core muscle surgery and is done for the season.
Lutz made the announcement on social media.
“Unfortunately I had a setback during the rehab process that has forced me to shift my focus to being 100% healthy and shut it down for the season,” Lutz posted to Twitter.
Lutz suffered the core muscle strain during training camp and subsequently announced in early August he would have surgery to repair it. It was originally thought he would be out 8-to-12 weeks.
Lutz made the Pro Bowl after the 2019 season. He has played in all 80 games since joining the Saints in 2016.
Lutz connected on 23 of 28 field goals in 2020, the lowest percentage (82.1) of his career. He did make 57 of 58 extra points. Lutz led the NFL in extra points and attempts in 2017, hitting 47 of 50. He made 88.9 percent of his field goal attempts in 2019, including a long of 58 yards.
The Saints signed Brian Johnson off Chicago’s practice squad earlier this month and he connected for both of his field goal attempts in Monday night’s win at Seattle. His 33-yarder with 1:56 remaining in the game proved the game winner.
Johnson became the Saints’ fourth kicker this season after Cody Parkey injured his groin ahead of the Washington game and was put on injured reserve.
Johnson was waived by the Bears after the preseason, but then resigned to their practice squad. He made 54 of 71 field goal tries for Virginia Tech and converted all 131 of his extra-point attempts.
–Field Level Media