Vikings K Blair Walsh Concentrates On Talent, Not Misses
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (WCCO) -- After he missed that heartbreaking field goal last year in the playoffs, we all wondered all offseason how it would affect Blair Walsh this year.
And then he missed two field goals and an extra point in last week's season opener.
Now it's fair to wonder if he's on thin ice.
If you're wondering about his mindset; how he deals with missing kicks and the scrutiny and the pressure that comes with it?
It's by telling himself how good he is.
"I'm one of the best in the NFL and I believe that," Walsh said Thursday. "My career says that. So all I'm going to do is go out there and continue to perform like it…. Heck, when you have four field goals that you make in the game, obviously you did something right. Like I said before, you want to make the other two, and you want to be more consistent for your team, but I have been in the past and I know I will be in the future. So I'm not going to let one game get under my skin or bother me."
That's been a popular answer from Walsh ever since the miss last year again the Seahawks. He's a big believer in positive reinforcement – that talking about past success helps it to happen in the future.
But it does seem that the scrutiny is starting to get to him.
"It's pretty commonplace over the last eight months, and it's just, you deal with it, you live with it and you move on," Walsh said. "It's the nature of the business. You guys want to say what you want to say and that's understandable. (I've) got to get up here and be accountable for (my) mistakes, I understand that. But we had a nice good team win, and I was part of it in the second half and I was part of a lot of the team wins last year too. So that's how I feel going into this game and the rest of the season, and I'm confident, and I'll continue to do what I know how to do."
The question is what happens if he continues to miss.
