Eagles kicker Jake Elliott is thrilled with the season that made him a Pro Bowler

LAS VEGAS — Following the worst season of his career, Eagles kicker Jake Elliott never wanted to view 2021 as a rebound year. What he preferred to do was to keep on kicking footballs.

So he did just that. Throughout the offseason, he remained in the Philadelphia area and bounced around local college campuses and fields. Whether he had a holder or lined up from a tee stand, Elliott stacked reps every single day. He didn’t necessarily tweak any parts of his routine — Elliott only remained consistent.

The results: 30 of 33 made field goals. Elliott’s 90.9% success rate set a new franchise record, and he converted all 44 of his PAT attempts en route to scoring a career-high 134 points and earning his first Pro Bowl honor as an alternate for the Rams’ Matt Gay.

“Once you get into the league, you always dream of making it here,” Elliott told The Inquirer on Thursday. “Obviously, winning a Super Bowl is always the No. 1 thing, but making the Pro Bowl is always a nice consolation prize. It means you’re here with the best.

“I just wanted to put my best foot forward and make kicks. I wanted to get better every day, and I feel like I did that. The numbers show it for themselves this year. It was thrilling to put a season like that together and be rewarded in Vegas.”

During the 2020 season, Elliott finished with a career-worst 73.7 percentage, converting on just 14 of 19 field goals. Three of his five missed kicks occurred from 50-plus yards. He also missed two extra-point attempts.

Elliott’s remarkable turnaround — he was 3 for 3 from 50-plus yards this past season — was fueled by consistency and reps.

“Jake got to this level by being a professional and being really good at his technique,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said in November. “You probably see him as a smaller kicker, but he’s probably one of the most athletic guys on this team and in all sports.

“His competitive edge, he wants to be great. It’s like a light bulb switches and he’s in there and wants to put as many points on the board as possible to help this team win.”

» READ MORE: From the archives: Jake Elliott spent the offseason restoring his confidence

Elliott owns multiple franchise records, including the longest field goals in the regular season (61 yards) and the playoffs (53 yards). His 43- and 46-yard field goals in the 2018 Super Bowl mark the two longest field goals by any rookie in Super Bowl history. Elliott needs just one more 50-plus-yard field goal to tie David Akers’ franchise record of 16 from long distance.

“We trust Jake in any situation,” Pro Bowl teammate Javon Hargrave said. “He’s the best of the best, the most clutch and calm when we need those points.”

After this weekend’s Pro Bowl festivities conclude, Elliott plans on returning to the Northeast, where he will resume his offseason training from home.

“I jump around from Temple to Penn to local high schools to over in Cherry Hill – really anywhere I can get on the field,” Elliott said. “It’s also a fun time of year, getting those reps in with [long snapper] Rick Lovato, I always insist staying local because it’s good for our chemistry.

“The longer you can keep a group together, the more comfortable you’re going to become. The operation is so so important. As that transitions and as long as you can keep some parts together, it makes it easier on me.”

That special teams operation features Elliott, Lovato, and punter/holder Arryn Siposs. While Elliott shined throughout the season, Siposs struggled near the end. Over the final month, Siposs shanked several punts, including a couple of poor boots during the team’s loss to the Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card round.

“We went through some tough weather games,” Elliott said. “There were also a couple of games where we were trying to be conservative, so the numbers might not show up that well. But I think Arryn did a great job all year, honestly. He put together a really nice rookie season to build on. He’s a confident guy and strikes the ball well. Just like how my teammates did with me last year, I’m not going to lose any faith in him.”