The Patriots have placed PK Stephen Gostkowski on injured reserve with a thigh injury.
Gostkowski aggravated a quad strain during last Sunday's Browns game. He reportedly felt the thigh tighten up in pregame warmups and then it got worse after a kickoff in the second quarter. Wes Welker had to handle kicking duties thereafter, and the productive wide receiver connected on his only extra-point attempt.
Prior to landing on I.R., it was believed that Gostkowski would miss a couple of games.
The Patriots signed PK Shayne Graham on Tuesday to fill in for Gostkowski.
The way we see it
Apparently the Patriots didn't want to give up a roster spot while waiting for Gostkowski to heal and decided to go with a proven, veteran kicker for the rest of the season.
Graham, 32, has connected on 85.2 percent of his field-goal attempts during his career. Gostkowski, who had never missed a game in his Patriots career, has hit on 84.3 percent of his FG tries.