ALLEN PARK -- Matt Prater has some serious leg. We know this because he's kicked the longest field goal in NFL history. Just last year, he set the NFL record for most 55-yard field goals in a season.

He did it by Week 3.

This guy has a howitzer attached to his hip, and one reporter found that out the hard way during Lions practice on Friday morning in Allen Park. Prater crushed a ball so far, it traveled all the way through the end zone and landed in the media pen -- where it drilled ESPN reporter Michael Rothstein in the chest.

The ball traveled about 50 yards on the fly. But the media pen also sits about 10 feet above the ground, which means Prater really put some leg into it.

"It was an accident, I swear," Prater deadpanned.

Ironically enough, Prater said he didn't think he practiced well. He didn't feel right during warmups and never really recovered. At least that's what he said. But let's remember, he's also putting the ball through posts that are just 9 feet wide. NFL regulation posts are 18 feet, 6 inches.

The idea is simple -- practice with posts that are half as wide, and the target on game day will look twice as large. Prater had the skinny posts installed in 2015, and while it's impossible to say what kind of effect it's had on his kicking, you can't argue with the results. He's made 83 of his 95 field-goal attempts the last three seasons. That's 87.4 percent.

Before 2015, he made 81.5 percent of his attempts.

So whatever he's doing seems to be working. And this year, he's made things even more challenging on himself. He had the Lions lengthen the posts, which gives them the illusion of being even skinnier.

"You're always trying to learn from mistakes in the past," Prater said. "I always watch all the tape from the season before, and try to pick out at least one thing I can improve upon. And if that eliminates one or two misses, that improves my upcoming season."

Prater said he's also started practicing Pilates more regularly, which has improved his balance and flexibility. He often attends classes at Reforming Foundations in Berkley, a suburb of Detroit, after practice.

That might not help him hit a ball farther, but he thinks it could make him more consistent as he ages. He'll turn 34 next week.

"I've been feeling really good doing that," Prater said. "I feel different muscles I didn't even know I had. It's been good. I think a lot of guys are getting into it, and if it can help, awesome. ... We have a lot of down time, so I try to work out and do the cryotherapy and all that stuff, so I'm not just sitting around not doing anything."

The Lions landed Prater in 2014 due to what turned out to be a fortunate set of events. They went through two kickers in the first month of the season and were sitting at the bottom of the league in field-goal kicking. And it just so happened Prater was coming off suspension for substance abuse issues, then was cut by Denver.

Detroit offered him a second chance, and Prater has delivered handsomely. He stabilized the kicking that year by making 21 of his 26 attempts, and has been terrific ever since. Last season, he set the NFL record for 55-yard field goals in a season. He also hit a 52-yarder into a swirling wind that beat the Bears late. Much like the 58-yarder he drilled as time expired to force overtime against Minnesota in 2016.

In fact, he attempted six game-tying or -winning field goals in the final minutes that season. He hit all of them. Actually, he's never missed a potentially game-tying or -winning field goal in the final four minutes of a game. That sometimes gets overlooked in all these comebacks orchestrated by Matthew Stafford.

Stafford does the heavy lifting, but it's often Prater finishing them off. And through seven practices in 2018, it sure doesn't look like he's lost anything. Just ask Michael Rothstein.