Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Newly promoted Vikings Special Teams Coordinator Ryan Ficken said Tuesday that he is confident in Bailey, but also added the organization is always looking to add competition to the roster.
"Dan's a true professional. I rely on him and a lot of things he's done. His résumé speaks for itself," Ficken said. "I think Dan has got the opportunity — he's here on this team — I think he's got the opportunity to have great success here in the future and I'm looking forward to that opportunity, but it's somewhat difficult at times to go ahead and work through some of those challenges. He's such a pro's pro in the way he approaches this game that there's no one else you'd rather have on a team to go through this battle with.
"In terms of competition, we're always looking for competition. It doesn't matter if you're bringing in a backup quarterback to compete for the quarterback job or wide receivers or running backs," Ficken said. "That's the honest truth. You're always looking to sharpen our team, to bring in the best talent out there that's available and find out who can actually help us win these football games down the road."
Bailey missed one extra point and two field goals in the first 11 games of the season, but he hit a slump in the final five games with 10 total missed kicks (five field goals and five extra points) in Minnesota's final five games.
Bailey made 15 of 22 field goals (68.2 percent) and 37 of 43 extra points (86.0 percent) in 2020. He also had 53 touchbacks on 83 kickoffs (63.9 percent).
Minnesota also ranked 32nd in overall field goal percentage at 68.18 and was the only team below 70 percent around the league in 2020.