Patriots lose Gostowski for season

Apparently being much worse than originally thought, the New England Patriots have lost placekicker Stephen Gostkowski for the season with a thigh injury.

The team put Gostkowski on injured reserve Wednesday and signed former Cincinnati Bengals kicker Shayne Graham to replace him.

Gostkowski felt tightness in his right thigh while warming up before Sunday’s 34-14 loss at Cleveland. He didn’t return after kicking off following a New England touchdown with 6:17 gone in the second quarter.

In five seasons with the Patriots, Gostkowski has made 84.3 percent of his field goal attempts and missed one of 231 extra-point tries. This season, he made 10 of 13 field goal attempts and all 26 extra points.