Cardinals GM: Keeping kicker Matt Ammendola is in team’s best interest

The Arizona Cardinals will be without starting kicker Matt Prater Sunday for a second straight game, as head coach Kliff Kingsbury ruled him out against the Seattle Seahawks.

Matt Ammendola will fill in once again as the Cardinals signed him from the practice squad to the active roster Wednesday.

Ammendola went 1-for-2 on field goal tries last week with a costly miss. He pushed right the potential game-tying field goal in the final minute from 43 yards out and Arizona lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17.

General manager Steve Keim told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Friday that an NFL kicker has to make the attempt Ammendola missed last week, but explained the reasoning for his return.

Ammendola was his choice after Arizona tried out four kickers ahead of the loss to Philadelphia.

“We had four kickers in the previous week and he was the most consistent by far as far as accuracy and get off and those sorts of things,” Keim said.

“It’s easy to just say, ‘Let’s just change out to change out.’ Now all of a sudden you have a guy who can step in and potentially miss extra points and those sorts of things. There’s something to be said in the NFL for timing and those sort of things with the snapper, the placeholder, those things.”

The Cardinals also tried out Rodrigo Blankenship, Jose Borregales and Jonathan Garibay, and Keim said it was in the team’s best interest to keep Ammendola.

Keim noted that Sunday’s loss does not fall on one person.

“We’ve seen him kick well in practice and he’s kicked well in games in this league, so we’re past it,” Kingsbury said Wednesday. “On to this week.”

Ammendola also played two games for the Kansas City Chiefs this year. Overall, he is 5-for-6 on extra points and 4-for-6 on field goal attempts.

Kingsbury said Prater could return in Week 7 when the Cardinals face the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football, but the veteran’s status is unclear beyond this week.

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