Tag: special teams

Dave Toub says WR Mecole Hardman is the fastest Chief

Kansas City #Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub says wide receiver Mecole Hardman is the fastest player on the team.

The Kansas City Chiefs completed a trade for wide receiver Mecole Hardman, reuniting him with the franchise after a brief departure. The speedy receiver was a favorite in head coach Andy Reid’s system and a reliable star on special teams.

Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub was delighted to discuss Hardman’s return and possible utilization moving forward during his pre-practice press conference on Thursday.

“He could; I mean, if Andy (Reid) has him up, and if he’s up, he’s going to be a guy that I’ll play on some special teams for sure,” said Toub. “But obviously, he just got here and he’s got to get established again. And Andy will make that decision, probably pretty soon.”

Hardman was named to the 2019 Pro Bowl for his exceptional work as a returner on special teams, so the role is something Toub is very comfortable potentially handing over to him.

“He’s a dynamic player,” Toub explained. “He’s the fastest player. He’ll be the fastest player on our team now, as soon as he got here. So it’s that breakaway speed ability. We’ve seen the last time we had a touchdown was Mecole in the return game. So we welcome him back, and he’s got the right attitude right now. And he’s ready for a fresh start.”

Hardman’s speed is undeniable, but only time will tell if he will be used in the offense more than special teams in the immediate future.

Chiefs K Harrison Butker says he could’ve made a 65-yard field goal vs. Broncos

#Chiefs K Harrison Butker says he could’ve attempted a 65-yard field goal in Thursday night tilt vs. #Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs’ victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night was due in large part to their stellar play on defense. A significant portion of the praise goes to kicker Harrison Butker for contributing 13 of the team’s 19 points, including a 60-yard field goal.

Butker opened up about his big night during the postgame press conference, revealing his ability to make kicks from even farther.

“In warmup, I made a 65-yarder with some room to spare, and Coach [Dave] Toub loves banging big field goals at the end of the half or end of the game, but our offense is so good, we normally get a short field goal or even score a touchdown,” said Butker. “So a 60-yarder, definitely a 61-yarder was in our range, and going towards that tunnel, the wind was at my back. And you know, thankfully, it just went inside that left upright went through. And you know, it’s just something we practice, and we try to be the best we can leading up to the game so that when we get to the games, it just feels smooth and like we’re in a rhythm.”

Butker going 4 for 4 was important after his struggles last season following his ankle injury.

“You know, I don’t try to kick a ton of balls in the warmup, so like in past seasons, I’d go back to 70, 72, 74 yards and see what my max was, but this game you know, I made from 65. OK, I probably could make from 68, 69 or something with the wind, but yeah, I made 65 in the warmup.”

Jamal Agnew: ‘People are scared to kick it to us for a reason’

Jamal Agnew isn’t worried about the Jaguars’ punt return game lagging much longer.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ special teams unit bounced back from a rough showing against the Houston Texans in Week 3 to put together strong performances in London. Brandon McManus was a perfect four-of-four on field goals, Logan Cooke averaged 50.9 yards on nine punts, and opposing punt returners managed just nine yards across the two games.

The only thing that was missing was the Jaguars having a dangerous return game of their own.

After Pro Bowl returner Jamal Agnew missed Week 4 with a quad injury, he returned in Week 5 but managed only five yards on two punt returns against the Buffalo Bills. So what needs to change to get the return game back on track? Not much of anything, according to Agnew.

“Just stay patient and don’t force anything,” Agnew said Friday. “People are scared to kick it to us for a reason. We don’t get a lot of opportunities and, when we do, we get everybody’s best on returns. Obviously, they know who I am. They don’t kick it to me like they kick it to everybody else.

“So we just got to stay patient. That’s one thing I’ve gotten used to in my career is just waiting for the plays to come and not trying to force anything. Ten yards, I’m fine with that. That’s a first down for the offense. The big plays will come, we’ve just got to stay patient.”

Agnew made a big impact earlier this season when he ripped off a 48-yard return in the fourth quarter of a Week 1 game against the Indianapolis Colts to spark a 14-point quarter for the Jaguars.

Agnew said that play was starting to feel inevitable after he saw the way the Colts were punting earlier in the game.

“All day they were shanking them, they were scared to punt to me,” Agnew said. “Kick return, they were booting them out of the end zone. I think it was [director of player engagement] Marcus Pollard, said ‘Hey, just wait for it, it’s gonna come.’

“I had a 10-yard one and then it was a plus-50 punt and it was on the ground and I knew ‘this is the play right here.’ Stayed patient for it, grabbed it, and made a play. That’s all it is in the return game, you get one opportunity, you gotta stay patient, and take advantage of it.”

Agnew will get another chance to break a big one against the Colts — who have allowed 150 punt return yards (third most in the NFL) — on Sunday at EverBank Stadium.

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Bill Belichick singles out Saints’ All-Pro special teams ace J.T. Gray

Bill Belichick singled out the Saints’ All-Pro special teams ace J.T. Gray as ‘one of the top players in the league’ in the kicking game:

Bill Belichick knows excellent special teams players when he sees them. The New England Patriots head coach helped develop Matthew Slater into a fan-favorite and ten-time Pro Bowler for his efforts covering punts and kickoffs. And he sees many of the same qualities in New Orleans Saints ace J.T. Gray.

Few things have gone well for the Saints to start their season, but the special teams coverage has been excellent. New Orleans is one of five teams to limit opponents to a single kick return through four games (which was returned for just 24 yards). They’re also one of five teams to face 10 punt returns so far, but the Saints have held returners to just 63 yards. The other four teams in that crowd have given up 99 to 138 return yards. Gray leads the team with 3 special teams tackles in 3 games, having missed the season-opener with a shoulder injury.

“Real solid group led by Gray,” Belichick told reporters Wednesday. Speaking of Gray individually, Belichick said, “One of the top players in the league. Absolutely have to block him and account for him to have any chance of returns on punts and kickoffs.”

Belichick added, “He’s as good as anyone we play.”

Gray was an afterthought when the Saints signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State, back in 2018. His first contract with New Orleans carried just $5,000 in guarantees. But he impressed the team throughout his rookie training camp covering kicks, and he’s been a fixture ever since. He’s earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition and signed another extension this spring guaranteeing him $3.5 million. This summer he was selected as a team captain for the third year in a row.

The Saints will be counting on Gray and his squad in the kicking game on Sunday. Points will come at a premium between New Orleans’ struggling offense and Belichick’s stifling defense. If Gray’s unit can help the Saints win the field position battle, maybe their teammates on offense or defense can capitalize on it and get New Orleans back in the win column.

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Jaguars’ Ross Matiscik wants to lead NFL long snappers in tackles

Jaguars special teamers want to see Ross Matiscik win the long snapper tackles title this season.

Two times through the first three games of the season, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Logan Cooke boomed a punt for more than 50 yards and the opposing punt returner was brought down by long snapper Ross Matiscik after picking up just four yards.

That pair of plays made by Matiscik has him tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Christian Kuntz for the league lead in the long snapper tackles race.

It’s no Mark McGwire vs. Sammy Sosa, to be sure. But it’s still a race that Matiscik and the Jaguars are keeping a close eye on.

“That would be sick,” Matiscik said of winning the long snapper tackle title. “My job is to tackle and protect and then anything after that I kind of view as extra. But I take pride in my coverage abilities. I like making plays downfield and helping the team.”

Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell said Thursday that it’s a title the entire unit wants Matiscik to win.

“It’s something that’s funny because we have a lot of fun in our room and we actually show the long snapper tackle board,” Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell said Thursday. “It’s something we have a lot of fun with, they love Ross so it’s been a little deal with them on if he can lead the league in tackles. It’s a big part of what we do in our coverage.

“At some point, other coordinators are probably going to start blocking him and not treating him like a snapper, which is a respect for him and his coverage. He’s covering fantastic.”

Matiscik, 27, was a linebacker at Baylor before winning the long snapping job in Jacksonville in 2020. After two reliable seasons in the role, Matiscik signed a five-year, $5.965 million extension with the Jaguars last offseason.

Jacksonville’s special teams struggled in Week 3, allowing a blocked field goal and an 85-yard kickoff return touchdown. But the punt coverage unit has allowed only 5.6 yards per return and it has pinned its opponent inside the 20-yard line seven times — landing the Jaguars in the top 10 in both stats. Matiscik’s coverage downfield has contributed to that success.

“You see people actually blocking him when they usually just let snappers go,” Cooke said. “He just turns into an extra cover guy.”

“He always tells me, ‘Keep them away from the sidelines so they’ll come to me a little bit,'” Cooke added with a laugh.

Last year, Matiscik finished with four tackles — one behind the Denver Broncos’ Mitchell Fraboni and Dallas Cowboys’ Matt Overton for the league lead among long snappers.

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Jaguars ST coordinator Heath Farwell explains blocked field goal error

Heath Farwell explained why there was a crease exploited by Will Anderson Jr. on a blocked field goal.

After a sluggish start for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, momentum swung even harder in the Houston Texans’ direction when a 51-yard field goal attempt for Brandon McManus was blocked. Instead of cutting the Texans’ lead to 7-3, the visiting team quickly ballooned its lead to 14 points.

To block the kick, the Texans didn’t have a speedy player dive to make the play after bending around the edge. They didn’t have a player jump over the lines. And there wasn’t a Jaguars lineman pancaked on his back by a Houston player bulldozing his way to the kicker.

So why was Texans rookie linebacker Will Anderson Jr. able to squeeze through a gap and make the play?

“The way field goal protection works, everybody has to be in unison,” Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell explained Thursday. “It’s all interlocked in. When you have one guy that’s off or two guys that are off, you get a little crease.

“Our left tackle who has done a really good job for us so far this season, just got a little leaning forward and didn’t get his outside arm up. His job is to be interlocked in with that tackle, and make sure he has a heavy weight foot as his inside foot, so he doesn’t get pried out. Also, get a good arm hook. When you get a little crease like that, a good rusher like [Anderson], he’s able to get in there.”

While Farwell didn’t name anyone specifically, the issue came when tackles Walker Little and Anton Harrison didn’t work in unison on the left side of the line.

“Just not great execution and that’s on me,” Farwell said. “That’s something we have got to be much cleaner, that’s something we will work on a ton and it’s been addressed. We’re moving forward with it.”

It was one of two massive errors for the Jaguars special teams unit Sunday, as the team also allowed Texans fullback Andrew Beck to break free for an 85-yard kickoff return.

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Florida kicker Trey Smack names SEC Special Teams Players of the Week

Florida’s sophomore kicker, Trey Smack, earned SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after nailing all five field goal in Week 4.

Most of Florida’s points during Saturday’s 22-7 win over the Charlotte 49ers came off the foot of sophomore [autotag]Trey Smack[/autotag], who was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday.

Smack nailed all five field goal attempts made in his first start as a placekicker for the Gators. He drilled a 27-yarder in the first quarter and a 23-yarder in the second, but those were merely a warmup for a 54-yard attempt that split the uprights with eight minutes to go in the half.

With that 54-yard kick, Smack locked himself in as Florida’s placekicker moving forward, and he also etched his name in the history books. Smack’s field goal was the seventh-longest in Gators history, and no Florida kicker has made five in a game since Eddy Pineiro in 2017 against UAB.

“Hats off to Trey Smack to step up and hit all five of those,” Florida head coach Billy Napier said after the game.

Smack is the third Gator this week to earn SEC Player of the Week honors. Jordan Castell (Freshman) and Cam Jackson (Co-Defensive Lineman) were honored after Week 3’s upset win against Tennessee.

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Why the Broncos worked out a punter instead of a kicker

Wil Lutz missed two kicks in Week 1, but the Broncos brought in a punter for a workout, not a kicker. Here’s why.

When news broke that the Denver Broncos brought in a specialist for a workout on Wednesday, some fans were surprised to learn that the team hosted a punter, not a kicker.

Broncos kicker Wil Lutz missed two kicks in the team’s season opener, so fans thought competition might be on the way. Denver coach Sean Payton has backed Lutz to bounce back, though, and Payton is not going to undermine the kicker’s confidence — at least not at the moment.

The Broncos are also content with punter Riley Dixon, but he is a right-footed punter and Denver is set to face a left-footed Tress Way when they host the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

Payton likely wanted to give Denver’s punt returners — Marvin Mims and Tremon Smith — reps fielding left-footed punts in practice this week ahead of Sunday’s game against Way.

So the Broncos brought in former XFL punter Brock Miller, a lefty, for a workout. Denver also hosted veteran long snapper Jake McQuaide, according to the NFL’s transaction wire.

If Lutz continues to struggle, the Broncos might bring in kickers down the road. For now, though, it seems that Denver just wanted to get practice reps with a left-footed punter, and they brought in a long snapper to workout with him on Wednesday.

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Saints say special teams LB Ryan Connelly re-injured his knee

Saints head coach Dennis Allen says special teams linebacker Ryan Connelly re-injured his knee against the Titans. They’ll need more help covering punts and kickoffs:

Ryan Connelly can’t catch a break. The New Orleans Saints backup linebacker didn’t make the cut for a spot on the 53-man roster despite having played well in preseason both on defense and special teams, ultimately having to settle for the practice squad.

And when he got elevated for their Week 1 matchup with the Tennessee Titans, Connelly played almost every snap in the kicking game (21 of 24 reps) before going down with an injury that slowed him down earlier this summer. Saints head coach Dennis Allen shared an update on Connelly’s status after the game.

“Ryan Connelly probably is going to miss some time with that same knee that he had injured earlier,” Allen said, referencing the knee injury that the team feared could have required surgery and threatened Connelly’s season. Further exams revealed less damage than expected, but now he’s going back on the mend.

Because Connelly was on the practice squad, the Saints won’t have to designate him to injured reserve; instead, if this as severe as Allen’s comment suggests, he can be placed on the practice squad/injured list which functions the same way. It’s an approach the team used with wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey back in 2020, sidelining him for more than two months.

So who could replace him? The Saints elevate different players from the practice squad each week (remember, each player may only be elevated three times before being signed to the 53-man roster) so they may approach things differently with less of an emphasis on special teams. But if the Saints do want someone else out there covering punts and kickoffs, it would make more sense to elevate rookie linebacker Anfernee Orji than his veteran teammate Jaylon Smith given Orji’s performance in that role during the preseason games. It’s not something Smith has shown he can do.

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Alabama’s James Burnip named the Ray Guy Punter of the Week

Alabama’s James Burnip named the Ray Guy Punter of the Week for his efforts against Texas

There weren’t a ton of bright spots for Alabama in their 10-point home loss to Texas on Saturday. The offense and defense both played well below their capabilities, however, one area that really shined was the special teams unit.

Will Reichard, already a Crimson Tide legend, kicked the game-winning field goal against the Longhorns in Austin last year and was phenomenal again as he was 3/3 this past weekend including a 51-yarder.

Punter, James Burnip was also outstanding for Nick Saban’s squad as he was a massive weapon for the Crimson Tide in the field position game. Burnip punted five times for an average of 52.6 yards with three being pinned inside the Longhorns 20.

For Burnip’s outstanding performance, he was named the Ray Guy punter of the week and will certainly be in contention for the award at the end of the year. Burnip also unleashed a 61-yard bomb and will be a key piece in the Tide’s attempt to turn their season around.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.