Why Bills kicker Tyler Bass is grateful for his misses: ‘Just feeling it again’

Tyler Bass missed a couple more field goals.

The Buffalo Bills kicker foozled attempts from 35 and 42 yards during Thursday’s joint practice against the Cleveland Browns. Five days earlier, in the preseason opener at Highmark Stadium, a 45-yard try veered too far right.

Bass, however, insisted he’s all right. In fact, he added that missing kicks feels good.

The notion seems as cockeyed as Bass’ signature gameday routine of applying eye black beneath only his left one.

But in a conversation with The Athletic, Bass explained that missing the entire 2025 season and undergoing sports hernia surgery taught him to value the entire NFL kicking experience, even the misses that come with such a high-pressure job.

“I’ve done it for a while, made a lot of kicks, missed kicks,” Bass said. “Sometimes it doesn’t work, you know? Even having a miss in the preseason game, I was grateful just to feel that. It’s been a while, so I got to feel all the emotions of dealing with that.

“Just feeling it again, that’s what you deal with in this job.”