Bears teammates offered their support for Robbie Gould after the veteran kicker missed a key field goal Sunday for the second straight week.
In a 24-21 loss to the Redskins, Gould pushed a 50-yard attempt wide right with 1:40 left in regulation. It came after he had missed his last two kicks in last Sunday's overtime loss to the 49ers, including a 36-yarder on the final play of regulation.
"We have all the faith in the world in him," said tight end Zach Miller. "He's the franchise leader in points. I'd put him out there again. For some reason, he's been off the last two weeks. That's just how it is. We've got his back. I told him that when he came in [the locker room]. We're going to keep putting him out there and hopefully next time he makes it."
"We're going to support him," added quarterback Jay Cutler. "We had many opportunities on offense--we're just going to look at ourselves—many opportunities to score more points to send this game in a different direction."
While Gould felt that he rushed on both misses last week, that wasn't the case Sunday.
"I definitely didn't rush it," Gould said. "I had good tempo all day. I had really good tempo all week. I just pushed it right. I don't know what to tell you. I thought when it left my foot, it felt pretty good. Wind was blowing right to left and it just stayed right, didn't come back at all."
After last week, Gould was eager to get an opportunity to redeem himself.
"I was excited," he said. "I live for that moment. I enjoy that moment. I was excited to go out there and do what I've done all week in my preparation to get ready to make the field goal. The guys did a great job of getting it into range. I have to make it."
Since making his first 17 field goals this season, Gould has missed six of his last 15 attempts, the worst stretch of his 11-year career with the Bears. In fact, this marks the first time he's missed as many as six in an entire season since he went 21-of-27 as a rookie in 2005.
Despite the slump, coach John Fox also expressed support for Gould after Sunday's loss.
"It's unfortunate that it's come down to two games where there were pivotal kicks," Fox said. "Unfortunately, we came up a little short and didn't connect on it. But we're not going to lose faith in guys. We will continue to work on our craft."
