Packers' Mason Crosby sees no 'I' in kicking, but his 'we' might be changing

For as long as Mason Crosby has been kicking in the NFL, for as many crucial field goals he’s made over his first nine seasons with the Green Bay Packers, he’s always talked in terms of “we.” For him, there’s never been an “I” in kicking.

But there’s a chance his “we” will be vastly different in 2016.

Not only is longtime Packers long-snapper Brett Goode still unsigned and coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee suffered Dec. 20 at Oakland, but holder Tim Masthay will face competition for the punting job with the signing of undrafted rookie free agent (and Green Bay native) Peter Mortell.

So as the Packers open organized team wholesale NFL jerseys activity practices Monday, they’ll do so with Rick Lovato -- Goode’s replacement for the final two regular-season games and the playoffs -- as the long-snapper and Masthay and Mortell alternating on holds.

“Obviously with circumstances of different things, for me, it’s just finding a comfort level, trusting those guys, making sure I’m prepared for whatever decisions [the organization] will make,” Crosby said while making an appearance to promote the upcoming 46th annual Vince Lombardi Golf Classic, which raises money for the Lombardi Cancer Foundation. ”We’ll let everything fall as it needs to. I love having that cohesive group, that consistency and that trust we’ve had over these last six, seven years.”

As a rookie in 2007, Crosby had punter Jon Ryan as his holder and veteran Rob Davis, now the team’s director of player programs, as his long-snapper. Crosby then endured rotating holders during his second season in 2008, when the Packers unexpectedly wholesale jerseys cut Ryan at the end of training camp.

That was also the year they added Goode, who’d been working construction when the Packers called after an injury to Davis’ expected replacement, J.J. Jansen. Masthay won the punting job in 2010 and has held it ever since.

“Obviously that continuity is extremely important. That’s cheap NFL jerseys something that [was lacking] early in my career when we had a lot of moving parts there with the punting position,” Crosby said. “And the consistency of just having Tim and Brett, all of us together for that long, has been excellent.”

So have the results. Except for a disastrous 2012 season -- when he did, in fact, opt for talking only about himself amid his struggles -- Crosby has had four of his best cheap NFL jerseys seasons over the past five cheap jerseys years. He’s also bounced back from that 2012 off-year (21-of-33) by making 97 of his 111 attempts (including playoffs) the past three years, a success rate of 87.4 percent.

Only six of those field-goal attempts -- all of which he made, by the way -- weren’t a Crosby-Masthay-Goode production. Those were the six kicks he made last season with Lovato filling in.

Crosby was careful not to overstep his bounds when asked how important it is to him to have Goode and Masthay this season -- “I’m not a personnel guy,” Crosby said -- but it’s clear he’d like to see Goode re-signed once his knee is deemed healthy.

“Obviously with Brett’s situation, he’d never missed a practice, never missed a game in eight years and then tears his ACL there with two games left in the season. The timing couldn’t have been worse for him,” Crosby said. “I know he’s down in Arkansas working hard, just talked to him the other day. I talk to him quite a bit. I just hope for his sake he gets a look, gets a chance [to come back] and they evaluate it.

“They’re going to make what they think is the best decision for this team, and for the future. But you can’t help but think that if he doesn’t tear his ACL, he was going to continue to be our guy. But at the same time, I don’t make those calls. Rick came in, did a fabulous job. We’re working together this offseason and through OTAs and stuff and we’ll see what happens when Brett gets healthy.

“But as of right now, cheap jerseys I’ve got to work with Rick like he’s going to be the guy until I’m told otherwise.”