Falcons’ Thomas Morstead Wins NFL Player of the Month

Atlanta Falcons punter Thomas Morstead has been named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for December.

Morstead was picked up by the Falcons prior to the Week 12 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he promptly won Special Teams Player of the Week.

He continued his good work into December and added an even bigger honor to his resume. 

Not bad for a player who was waived by the lowly New York Jets on November 8. 

Morstead has averaged 48.2 yards per punt since joining the Falcons, while his replacement, Braden Mann, has averaged 44.9 yards per punt for the Jets since taking over for Morstead.

Morstead spent nine seasons with the New Orleans Saints, and first-year Atlanta general manager Terry Fontenot made a shrewd signing. Fontenot worked with the Saints each of Morstead's nine seasons in New Orleans.

Morstead punted 11 times for 539 yards (49.0 gross average., 45.9 net.), including six punts inside the 20-yard line and a long of 64 yards in December. Morstead led the NFL in net punt average in December, while his 49.0 gross punt average ranked second in the league.

The 35-year-old punter landed 54.5 percent of his punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line in December. Per TruMedia, following punts, Atlanta’s opponents had the second-worst starting field position this past month.

This marks the second Special Teams Player of the Month award of Morstead’s career after earning the honor in September of the 2019 season. Morstead is the first punter in franchise history to win the award and is the first Falcon to be named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month since Younghoe Koo in November of last season.