Martin shows his versatility by kicking

Ingle Martin became a can-do guy on Wednesday when he assumed the place-kicking chores at practice. Mike Strasinger for The City Paper

There’s an old adage around NFL camps that starts off, “the more you can do.”

Nashville native Ingle Martin became a can-do guy on Wednesday when he assumed the place-kicking chores, filling in for injured kicker Rob Bironas.

While Bironas remains out with a groin injury, Martin’s ability to be versatile has kept the Titans from having to make a roster move just to bring in another kicker for a few days.

“It’s one of those things that I’ve been blessed with the ability to kick a little bit and if they needed me to, I told them I would,” said Martin, who starred at nearby Montgomery Bell Academy before playing college football at Florida and then Furman.

“He’s got a real strong leg. He’s just got to get it between those poles,” Titans coach Jeff Fisher said.

There’s just one problem with that statement. The Titans moved the special teams portion of practice to their indoor facility because of a thunderstorm, and Martin performed his kicks on the end where there was no goalpost.

“I don’t know if coach Fisher did it in purpose, but we weren’t kicking at any uprights, just kind of at a video guy,” Martin said. “I don’t know if it hurt or helped my confidence, but it was fun nonetheless.”

Martin’s kicking debut wasn’t auspicious as cornerback Marquice Cole came around the end and blocked his first attempt.

“I kind of thought that live kicking was like being a quarterback here — they’re really not going to come block it,” Martin said. “Of course, the first one, they come up and try and block it. None of the other ones got blocked, so I figured I would speed it up a little bit.”

Several of Martin’s kicks appeared as though they would have been good. He had been practicing the day before and made a 51-yarder.

“Yesterday, I hit a 51, and last year I hit a 55 in our Saturday morning deal.” Martin said.

As for how long he’ll hold the kicking job, Martin said, “Until Rob gets back or Craig [Hentrich] is healthy enough to kick, I guess I’ll be in there.”

And if he is still on the job when the preseason arrives in 10 days?

“I’ll win the game. I’m not scared,” Martin said. “I’ll either make it or miss it, and I do have some experience kicking in those situations. It’s been awhile, but it’s like riding a bike. I’ll be able to get back on and just deal with it.”

Bironas, who declined to reveal the timetable for his return, said it would be interesting to see Martin kick in game conditions.

“I’d like to see Ingle get a couple of kicks in preseason. I think he’d get really nervous back there, and be shaking a little, but if it come down to it, he’d put it through the uprights,” Bironas said.