A Confident Jaeger Eyes Comfort Zone : Raiders: Five for 11 in field-goal tries, kicker says he can make the next 15, if he can ‘get on a roll.’

As Jeff Jaeger trotted off the Raider practice field Wednesday, a reporter asked him about doing an interview Thursday.

“Sure,” Jaeger said, “if I’m still here.”

Insecurity?

More like reality. Every NFL field-goal kicker who has ever taken aim at a goal post knows that, regardless of his previous accomplishments, his job is usually about as sure as a 54-yarder into a howling wind.

Take Jaeger, for example.

A year ago, he was on top of his game. He kicked a Raider-record 29 field goals in 34 attempts, was second in the AFC with 116 points and made it to the Pro Bowl for the first time.

It couldn’t get any better.

And it didn’t.

This season, Jaeger has already missed six kicks, one more than all of last season.

There have certainly been extenuating circumstances. Two of the misses were blocked. Two were from beyond 50 yards--one from 52 and the other from 59. Another miss was on a 48-yard attempt.

The only one in Jaeger’s comfort zone was a 29-yard try against the Cleveland Browns.

“Yes, I’m five for 11, but the way I’m approaching it, I know I can make the next 15 if I just get on a roll,” Jaeger said. “That good roll is just around the bend.”

All kickers feel that way. At least the ones who are still in the league. If they lose their confidence, they usually lose their jobs as well.

“That’s all this is is confidence,” Jaeger said. “There are plenty of guys that have a strong leg and can hit it a mile. But you’ve got to make it.”

It’s not as if anybody is threatening Jaeger’s job. No kickers are being brought in for tryouts. The Raiders have seen what Jaeger can do.

Yet fingers have been pointing in all directions as the team has stumbled to a 0-4 start. Quarterback Jay Schroeder, wide receiver Mervyn Fernandez and offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie have been demoted.

It would be natural to worry that the next place a finger might stop in the never-ending search to end this tailspin is at Jaeger’s locker. But he won’t allow himself to think the club might lose confidence in him if he keeps coming up short, wide right or wide left.

“If I start worrying about that, then they will,” Jaeger said. “And I wouldn’t blame them.”

Jaeger, 27, has had a long time to build up the confidence he now carries on the field.

He has been a kicker since the fifth grade, since that day his coach asked who wanted to kick and Jaeger, seasoned in youth soccer, responded with the longest boots.

“I would watch all the football games on television,” Jaeger said. “The way most people are, when it’s fourth down and the team has to punt or kick a field goal, everybody goes to the fridge for food.

“Not me. I’d want the (offensive) team to be stopped so I could see a field goal or see a punt.”

At the University of Washington, Jaeger’s kicking made him a two-time All-American. He set an NCAA record with 80 field goals.

Drafted by the Browns, Jaeger established a team rookie record with 75 points, even though he appeared in only 10 games.

But he learned as much from the misses that year as the successful kicks.

“What I learned was not to listen to every little thing everybody says,” Jaeger said. “Not to go out there and try to change something every day.”

Jaeger, who became a Raider via Plan B in 1989, doesn’t have to depend on outside advice now. He knows what he has done wrong when a kick goes awry.

“Most of the time I can tell before looking up if I missed,” he said.

In his current slump, there isn’t any particular thing he’s doing wrong.

“I’m just as confident now as I was last year,” he said. “I’m not going to let that change.”

Nor will he let his problems eat him up off the field. He knows how easy it is to let that happen in his precarious profession.

“If I sat there and thought about it, I’d go nuts,” he said. “There’s a lot of time between games. Obviously it bugs me, but I know that if I think about it all the time, it will never get any better.”

When he does allow his mind to focus on his kicking, he zeros in on his past glories rather than his recent failures.

“As long as I have that approach, I’m not going to be scared going out there,” he said.

“I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again.”