
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of The Cooler, where the more things change … let's get to it:
*I'd like to see Blair Walsh succeed. I believe there should be a limit to human suffering, to the prison of one's own mind, and that somewhere within Walsh there lives the kicker who was dominant as a Vikings rookie in 2012 — absolutely an underrated reason that Christian Ponder-led team went 10-6 and made the playoffs — but has fought the yips periodically since then and particularly after missing wide left in the playoffs after the 2015 season.
Walsh is the subject of one of the funniest and most sincere moments I've ever witnessed at Vikings training camp, and he did not run away from his lowest professional moment. He met it head on.
As such, it gives me no particular joy to report that Walsh, who kicked for Seattle in 2017 but was out of the NFL last season, does not seem to be seizing his third chance after being added recently to the Falcons camp roster.
I cannot confirm the distance of this attempt captured on video from Tuesday's practice by ESPN's Vaughn McClure, but I do know that it missed wide left. Trigger warning. Here it is:
That was just one of four kicks Walsh reportedly missed in practice Tuesday.
It has Falcons fans (and maybe even owner Arthur Blank) thinking fondly of Matt Bryant, the 44-year-old kicker who made 95% of his field goals last season for Atlanta and 88.7% over the last decade but was cut in February.
As a reminder: The Vikings and Falcons meet in Week 1 at U.S. Bank Stadium, a mere 11 days from now. Neither team's kicking situation is anywhere near settled.