Falcons leave shaky Younghoe Koo home, eleveate K Parker Romo

The Atlanta Falcons didn't travel Younghoe Koo for their road game at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night and elevated fellow kicker Parker Romo from the practice squad to handle the duties.

The Falcons downgraded Koo to out with a non-injury designation on Saturday. Koo has been Atlanta's kicker since 2019.

But Koo was wide right on a game-tying, 44-yard field-goal attempt with two seconds left in a 23-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1.

On Tuesday, Romo won a kicking competition held by the Falcons and was signed to the practice squad.

Ironically, Romo played four games for the Vikings last season and made 11 of 12 field goals and 7 of 8 extra points.

Romo, 28, played college football at Central Florida (2016), Tulsa (2018) and Virginia Tech (2019-21). He was 18 of 22 on field goals in 2021.

Koo, 31, is in his eighth NFL season. The South Korean has made 85.8 percent of his NFL field-goal attempts but connected on just 73.5 percent (25 of 34) last season.

The 2020 Pro Bowler was successful on boots of 41 and 36 yards last week against Tampa Bay before the game-deciding miss. The 36-yarder clanked off the right goalpost and caromed away.

Atlanta also placed safety (knee) Jordan Fuller on injured reserve and signed receiver David Sills V to the 53-man roster.