Latest Patriots news puts starter in hot water

It has been a rough few weeks for New England Patriots kicker Chad Ryland. 

On Sunday, the rookie missed a 35-yard field goal that would have tied Sunday's game against the New York Giants and forced overtime. But instead, the Giants earned the win and the Patriots suffered their ninth loss of the season. 

And the following day, Bill Belichick gave a blunt assessment of Ryland after the miss. 

"Chad’s a very talented player, but this is two weeks in a row we’ve basically missed extra points,” Belichick said Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “So it’s not good enough.”

And it seems he is also looking to go down a different path, possibly signing another kicker. 

ESPN's Mike Reiss reports that the Patriots hosted 13 players for free-agent workouts on Tuesday. And five of those players were kickers. 

Tanner Brown, Parker White, Matthew McCrane, John Parker Romo, and B.T. Potter were hosted by the team, but none were signed immediately after. 

The Patriots also brought in wide receivers Kaylon Geiger, Kalil Pimpleton and Matthew Sexton, punters Michael Turk, Corliss Waitman and Ty Zentner, along with long snappers Dalton Godfrey and Carson Tinker. 

Ryland was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round out of Maryland. So far this season, he is 12-for-18 on field goals and 14-for-14 on extra points. 

Let's see if the team decides to stick with Ryland or go in a different direction.