Patriots reportedly work out ‘Scottish Hammer’ punter

The Patriots brought veteran punter Jamie Gillan for a workout this week, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo.

Garofolo also included Gillan’s nickname in the report. The 29-year-old, who was born in Scotland, was nicknamed the “Scottish Hammer” when he was in high school.

Gillan attended a historically Black college, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, before signing with the Browns as an undrafted free-agent in 2019. He spent a season with the Bills before heading to the Giants for three seasons.

While he was with the Giants, Gillan told reporters his high school football coach gave him the nickname, which has stuck during his time in the NFL.

“My coach, his name was Brian Woodburn. He was the one that got this whole journey started and he just happened to give me that name … It stuck,” Gillan said. “Tom Pellissero brought it up on one of the football talk shows before the draft and as soon as it came up it stuck. So, I’m just going to take it and run with it and have fun with it.”

The Patriots have been testing out punters since Bryce Baringer went down with an injury during last week’s preseason win against the Eagles.

Third-string quarterback Behren Morton finished out the game as an emergency option. New England signed Matt Haack last week. Gillan had a workout sometime after Baringer’s injury.

Thursday’s preseason game against the Browns was Haack’s Patriots debut. He made four punts for a total of 186 yards, good for an average of 46.5 yards per punt. He hit a long of 63 during the loss, which dropped the Patriots to 1-1-1 on the preseason.

“It felt good, the biggest thing for me — I’ve been doing the free-agent life the past three or four years now, so just at home making sure I’m staying ready, getting the reps I need to last the whole game,” Haack told reporters.

“Obviously game day is completely different than going out to the field and punting for an hour or so.”

Haack was asked after the game how his situation in New England was presented to him and whether or not it was viewed as a competition.

“There’s usually not a whole lot of information” that coaches give about such things, he said. He and Baringer are currently the only punters on the Patriots roster.

Morton, who averaged 44.3 yards over his three punts in the win against the Eagles, stuck to playing quarterback on Saturday night.

Saturday night’s loss closed out the preseason for the Patriots, who rested their starters. New England will kick off the regular season with a Super Bowl rematch at Seattle on September 9.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.