Gostkowski isn't one to kick

He won't criticize Belichick strategy

FOXBOROUGH - The biggest offseason commitment Stephen Gostkowski made didn't come in the weight room at Gillette Stadium. It came in April at the altar.

Judging by the smile on his face when he volunteered news of his nuptials, married life suits the 24-year-old Gostkowski. But after the way last season ended for him, are the Patriots still married to him as their placekicker? The defining kick of Gostkowski's Patriots career is one he never got to attempt.

More than four months later, it is still one of the nagging questions from the Patriots' 17-14 loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. With his team leading, 7-3, in the third quarter and facing fourth and 13 at the Giants' 31, why did coach Bill Belichick eschew a 49-yard field goal attempt and decide to go for the first down?

Surely, like everybody else, Gostkowski had to be thinking, "Why aren't I out there?"

"I didn't think of anything," said Gostkowski yesterday, the first day of a three-day mandatory minicamp. "I get ready to go, and if my name is called, I go out there. If not, I go back to the sidelines. I'm not a coach. I don't know much about football. I know about kicking. When they send me out there and call my name, I try to do the best I can. Other than that, I keep my mouth shut and do my job."

That's perfect Patriotspeak from a placekicker who knows his place, but Gostkowski, who is entering his third season, was a baseball pitcher and a pretty good soccer player. He's an athlete and a competitive one. He would have loved the opportunity to kick that field goal. So, Gostkowski bristled at the notion that Belichick's decision meant an offseason of wondering whether his employer had faith in him.

"No, I felt like I had a good year," said Gostkowski, who connected on 21 of 24 field goals during the regular season and set an NFL record with 74 extra points (in 74 attempts). "I work on being consistent. I gave them a consistent product. I have to go out there and keep putting up results.

"There were plenty of times during the year that we went for it. Why not? Our offense was great, so I never thought twice about it. There is nothing I could do about it. I just do my job, and when they call on me, I go out there."

Gostkowski wouldn't directly answer whether the kick was in his range, a determination made prior to the game when special teams coach Brad Seely, who observes Gostkowski in warm-ups, consults with Belichick. In warm-ups, Gostkowski connected from as far as 53 yards, but his long for the season was 45, which he hit twice, and his long attempt was 48.

"I'm not going to be one of those guys who runs out there before the coach calls the field goal team because it's not my decision. It's our coaches," said Gostkowski. "I trust everything that they do. They'd been there, done that. Coach Belichick has been coaching more years than I've been alive. There is no way I could ever argue with something he did."

If the Super Bowl snub was a vote of no confidence for Gostkowski, the fact the Patriots have elected not to bring in another kicker is perhaps proof they are still committed to him, although the team is somewhat hamstrung by the NFL's 80-man roster limit.

"We'll do whatever we think is best to give ourselves good competition and depth in training camp," said Belichick. "Scott [Pioli] and the personnel people are always working through those names, and we'll do whatever we think is best for the team. There is nobody imminent now, but I'm not saying that couldn't change."

Gostkowski, who beat out Martin Gramatica as a rookie to replace Adam Vinatieri, didn't have any competition in training camp last year, but said that whether the team brings in another kicker or not, he has to earn the job.

"I'm just ready to try to win a job. I don't care if someone is here or not," he said. "There is always someone working out. There is someone a phone call away. I got to do good either way."

As for the fateful kick-that-never-was, Gostkowski admitted that he ruminated about it for a few weeks, but then let it go.

"I spent my time souring over that a couple of weeks afterwards. I'm moving on to next year," he said. "Whatever I did or didn't do last year isn't going to affect me this year. I just want to have a good season this year."

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.