Jack Fox has introduced himself to the NFL in emphatic fashion.
Through the first month of the 2020 season, Fox leads the league in Average Punt Yards per Attempt (53.1 yards), Net Punting Yards (51.1 yards), and Hang Time on punts (4.78 seconds). Additionally, Fox sits atop Pro Football Focus’ punter rankings with a 92.8 grade and is nearly 20 points higher than the next punter.
Fox’s hard work and fantastic performances throughout September have been recognized by the NFL and he has been named Special Teams Player of the Month — the first time a Detroit Lions punter has ever be recognized with this award.
First month in the @NFL ✅
Special teams player of the month ✅@MrJackFox pic.twitter.com/oKJ4M87SRn— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 1, 2020
As impressive as Fox has been throughout the year, both he and special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs have bigger aspirations ahead:
“Me and Jack are kind of on the same page in terms of the more success we have, we’re just going to keep raising the bar,” Coombs told the media on Tuesday. “We’re not really looking back right now and talking about anything that we’ve done. As he continues to go out and do better, then we’re just going to raise the goals higher and try to accomplish more… He knows that I’m very, very confident in him. I just don’t want he, or us, ever to feel satisfied or like we’ve arrived. We’re just going to keep trying to reach higher and higher and see how far we can take it.”
If Fox improves — or even maintains his pace — he will blow the NFL records out of the water. For perspective, the single-season NFL record for Net Punting yards is 46.0, and last year’s leader finished with an average of 44.5 yards.