Former Houston Texans kicker Nick Novak was spotted walking around the Chargers facility on Thursday afternoon. As first reported by NBC San Diego's Fernando Ramirez, Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn later confirmed Novak's signing, and the release of kicker Younghoe Koo.
Traditionally teams reach out to kickers on Mondays for a Tuesday tryout, but this happened to be a special case for Novak. He spoke with the coaching staff on Wednesday, then took a physical on Thursday and signed on for the rest of the year.
"Nick's been a very accurate kicker in this league for a long time, and he's been here before," Lynn explained. "We're familiar with him, and his experience in big games. As you know, every game we've played so far has been a close game, and every play, every point matters."
The larger question became why release Koo now and sign Novak in Week 5 as opposed to signing him earlier in the season?
"He had the one bad outing in Miami," Lynn said. "Players have a bad day, or a bad game every once in a while. But watching him over the last couple weeks, pregame, in practice, I've seen enough. It was time to bring in someone with a little more consistency."
Though Novak has made many stops in the NFL beginning with the Chargers, Washington, Chiefs, Texans, and now back with the Chargers. Throughout it all he continued to live in San Diego, and now feels there is a greater energy by playing for the Bolts now.
"I take a lot of pride in wearing the lightning bolt, and the name on the back of the jersey," Novak said. "Like I said, I just want to be a good teammate. It's great to play."
Novak's signing could be just the jump start that the Bolts need to get into the win column on Sunday against the New York Giants at Met Life Stadium.
The 10-year veteran is excited to be back with his team, and told reporters that he feels great and he's ready to go.
Novak gave great praise to Koo, who was seen giving his former teammates hugs and high fives as he exited the locker room.
"Koo's a very talented kicker," Novak said. "He's got a live leg, and a lot of talent."
Lynn also added that he thought Koo was a young talented kicker who could have longevity in this league.
"A lot of rookies get cut early in their career, and then come back and play for a lot of years," Lynn said.
