Playoff-bound Bills sign kicker Matthew Wright to practice squad with Matt Prater's status uncertain

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The playoff-bound Buffalo Bills signed kicker Matthew Wright to their practice squad on Tuesday in a precautionary move in the event Matt Prater is sidelined after aggravating a quadricep injury to his right kicking leg last weekend.

The 29-year-old Wright has six seasons of NFL experience and appeared in four games with three teams already this season, including two most recently with the Houston Texans in November. The Bills turned to Wright after he joined kickers Younghoe Koo and Matt Gay in working out for the team earlier in the day.

Wright has played at least one game with eight teams since making his NFL debut by appearing in three outings with Pittsburgh in 2020. His most extensive experience came with Jacksonville in 2021, when he hit 21 of 24 field goals and 13 of 15 extra points attempts in 14 games.

This season, he’s hit all five field-goal attempts — including three beyond 40 yards — and gone 4 of 4 on extra points.

Overall, he’s 60 of 68 on field-goal attempts, including 7 of 11 from 50 yards and beyond, and missed just two of 47 extra-point tries.

Wright has no postseason experience, though his familiarity with kicking in Jacksonville comes in handy with sixth-seeded Buffalo (12-5) traveling to play the AFC South champion Jaguars (13-4) in a wild-card playoff game on Sunday.

Prater’s status is uncertain, with coach Sean McDermott on Monday saying the team would bring in a potential replacement this week. Prater was hurt in the first half of a season-ending 35-8 win over the New York Jets on Sunday in his return after missing two games.

Buffalo avoided re-signing Michael Badgley, who missed an extra-point attempt and had another blocked in the two games filling in for Prater. The Bills signed the 41-year-old Prater in the days before their season opener after Tyler Bass was sidelined by hip and groin issues. Bass has since had season-ending surgery.

Buffalo freed up a practice squad spot by cutting offensive lineman Richard Gouraige. The Bills also signed former Austin Peay and Temple kicker Maddux Trujillo to a reserve-future contract.

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