The Arizona Cardinals' three coordinators talk to the media every week on Thursday and face all manner of questions about the previous game and the one coming up.
Finally this week, the man in charge of special teams, Michael Ghobrial, was asked about the obvious struggles this season by punter Blake Gillikin.
Whether it’s still a lingering issue from an injury to his right groin suffered in pregame warmups prior to the Aug. 22 preseason game against the Cowboys isn’t known, but his production is significantly down from his previous two seasons and the first two preseason games this past summer.
In 2024, prior to missing the final four games of the season because of an ankle injury, Gillikin averaged 49.7 yards per punt with a 44.2-yard net and
19 punts inside the 20.
He was off to a blazing start in 2025 until injuring his back in Week 5 and missing the remainder of the season. In those five games, he averaged 51.7 yards per punt with a 45.4 net and eight inside the 20. Both the total average and net ranked fourth in the NFL at the time of the injury.
After undergoing back surgery, Gillikin said in training camp this year there were no issues with his back, and it showed in the first two preseason games although he punted only three times.
In the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, he punted once for 55 yards (average and net) with the kick inside the 20. The next week against the Raiders, he had two punts of 50 and 53 yards with one inside the 20 creating an average of 51.5 and a net of 46.5.
In the final two preseason games, kicker Chad Ryland handled the job against the Cowboys, while free-agent addition Jack Browning was the punter in the preseason finale against the Packers.
The groin injury landed him on the injury report in the run-up to the Week 1 game against the Chargers, although he had full participation. He hasn’t appeared on the injury report since then, but the below-par results have been the norm.
Entering Sunday’s game at Dallas, Gillikin has averaged 43.7 yards per punt with a 37.6 net on 33 punts. Among 30 league qualifiers, the overall average is ranked 28th in the NFL and the net is 29th.
He has had seven punts in the 30s and another seven from 40-44.
In last week’s loss to the Broncos, Gillikin punted five times for a 36.0-yard average and 34.4 net, although it is skewed by a seven-yard punt that was partially blocked. However, even without that outlier, the average was only 43.3 with a 41.3 net.
Ghobrial said the block, which featured Broncos fullback Adam Prentice breaking through the middle of the line untouched, was “a communication error on our part. We've got to do a better job of communicating, and it starts with me. And then obviously credit to them, they made a good play.”
These are merely numbers. Most important are three returns of 20 or more yards and three touchbacks that combined with lower hang time, have significantly affected field position.
When then asked to evaluate Gillikin’s performance, Ghobrial acknowledged, “Probably not where he holds himself to or where I hold him to. But the fact of the matter is he's a hungry player who wants to continue to improve, and he is scratching and clawing to do right. So he's very intentional and deliberate in practice, and that's a cool thing about coaching him and coaching any of the specialists and really anybody on our team.
“Like we have such a good group of guys that truly want to put their best foot forward and be the best versions of themselves. He's gotten back to the roots and is doing a nice job this week in practice. So I'm excited for him to get another opportunity.”
The overriding question is simple: if the sub-standard punting continues, how many future opportunities will there be?
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals P Blake Gillikin's punting struggles rarely mentioned this season
