SPECIAL TEAMS MICHAEL CLAY DEALS WITH ROLLER COASTER RAMS GAME

Eagles Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay had his ups and downs against the Rams last Sunday. Photo by Andy Lewis.

For Eagles Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay, Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams at the Linc must have been a roller coaster ride to say the least.

There were several misplayed kick returns in the first half by Tank Bigsby and John Metchie that cost the Birds field position several times.

The Eagles trailed 19-7 at the half and Special Teams were at the scene of the crime on several occasions.

Fortunately for the home team. The only score by the Rams in the second half was from a one-play, ten-yard drive after a Jalen Hurts fumble on the first rive of the second half.

Matthew Stafford and the Rams never found the end zone again.

But still, what was with all the MUFFS?

That had to be unsettling for Clay...but redemption came in the fourth quarter when Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis took turns blocking Joshua Karty field goal attempts from nearly gimme distances.

Davis' block came with Eagles clinging to a one-point lead with three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Davis not only blocked the 44-yard attempt, he picked up the ball and raced 61-yards (at 18.5 MPH) for a touchdown and a 33-26 win.

On Tuesday at his regularly scheduled press conference, Clay explained that the reason for the muffs was from a knuckle ball kick from Karty is difficult to field.

“Yeah, kudos to Karty,” Clay said. “We had a sense obviously in the first two games watching him against Tennessee and Houston that he had that knuckle ball and we were trying to replicate it as much as we possibly could throughout the week.

“Again, kudos to him because he is got that thing figured out. Yesterday, Braden (Mann) and Jake (Elliott), all of us, we were just watching film and we had a zoomed in look at what he was doing and it's one of those things like how do you replicate that?

“Because just like anything else in the NFL, until you prove you could stop it, you're going to see it again.

“From a coaching standpoint, you always look after the fact is 20/20, how do I keep getting these guys better in terms of dealing with those type of knuckle balls? It is just one of those things where you think you could prepare for as much as they possibly can.

Clay continued with his description of Karty's craft.

“Then when it comes into real life, you're still in awe of it,” Clay said. “That ball moved four times before it hit the ground. But for us after, okay, the ball hits the ground, let's get north and south, let's put the pressure on them.

“Can we run forward? Can we break a tackle and get some positive yards instead of running east and west? Just some growth from there. For both myself as a coach, how do I prepare these guys even better from fielding those type of balls to Tank and John and any other returner, okay, let's mitigate the problem. Let's get north and south and see what we get going right there.”

HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE REST OF CLAY'S PRESS CONFERNCE

What does it say about DT Jalen Carter and DT Jordan Davis that they're two of the best interior linemen in the league and they have such a passion for playing on special teams and field goal block?

“Yeah, I think it's just a credit to them and who they are as people, who they are as team players. Jalen Carter studies field goal protection very well. He understands it. Same with JD.

“We have our meetings on Fridays, talk about who we want to attack on their field goal team and everybody's interested in it. Who really gets a lot of this credit is Joe P (Pannunzio- Assistant Special Teams Coordinator) and (Senior Defensive Assistant/Defensive Line Coach) Clint (Hurtt) on Wednesday.

“They like to give them a little five minute spiel on field goal block before I get to them on Friday. Then another person who helped out a lot, we watch a lot of the film, but Terrence Braxton in scouting, he does the advance and he says, 'Hey, this side of the line gave up a little leakage right there.'

“So able to just confirm what our eyes are seeing. You watch so much film, sometimes the film lies to you, but to have somebody else fresh eyes helps us out and again, kudos to those guys and JB [CB] Jakorian [Bennett] did a heck of a job of actually going and hitting the punter [stopping] from him getting it and from all 61 yards later, JD's in there having a grand old time.”

Are there are other kickers who can replicate Harty's -type kicks?

To that level, I haven't seen. Now are people going to look at the film and try and replicate that? Yes, but again, everything's a case-by-case study on who your kicker is, what type of plant foot he has, what type of kick he does have.

"So again, like I said, until we prove we could stop, or we could handle a knuckle ball, I anticipate that coming forward. But again, everything's a case-by-case study on who that kicker is going into that week."

What's the difficulty replicating that in practice? How do you practice it?

"I think you just try to give them as many knuckle ball, dirty balls can that you can replicate maybe off of jug through Jake, maybe Braden, things of that nature. But I think the repetition of when a ball hits the ground, getting my body square, fielding it like a shortstop, when it gets to the side, that's when you start to fumble up the ball and that's where all the timing is all off.

"But if you can at least catch it on the first hop and get it cleanly like a shortstop, you could get up on the field right there and get to the north and south as much as you possibly can.

"So just the fundamentals of staying square and a lot of times when the balls on the ground you get overamped or overexcited and you start looking at the coverage and you don't look at the ball, field at first, then make your move once you're get north and south."

What can WR Xavier Gipson add to the return game?

“I think Howie does a great job of always scouring players that either get cut or are on the street of that nature. Xavier coming out of Stephen F. Austin we really liked in terms of his explosiveness in both kickoff return and punt return and he has breakaway speed right there and he showed that early on in his rookie year.

"Obviously he had that walk off against Buffalo, I believe it was that Monday night game. So, he has that added ability to stretch the coverage unit and he had a big return against Pittsburgh to start the season and for myself, every guy has a clean slate.

"We all know what, there's some deficiencies with, with not deficiencies, but for myself as a clean slate to get him acclimated how we do things around here with the fundamentals of ball carry, security, things of that nature. That's where I get to come in and try to help him out in that case.

"But I've always admired Xavier in his first two years in the NFL. Then his tape at SFA to his explosion of is really good."

Eagles DT Jordan Davis heads to the end zone after blocking the would-be winning field goal against the LA Rams. Photo by Andy Lewis.

On the Jalen Carter block. I mean both of the blocks, he had a really good jump at the Snap. But the one that he blocked in particular, is that something obviously they had kicked, I think it was six either PATs or Field Goals before that block to kick.

Did he pick up on something over the course of those half dozen first kicks that he saw and allowed him to get that big jump and if you could share what that was?

“Yeah, kind of what I allude to like JC is such a cerebral player when it comes field goal block, like he does things that some people don't have a knack for, but he does in terms of figuring things out, whether it's the film that we watch on Friday or during the game.

"I think he caught something, and I don't want to spill any of his secrets out there in the world, but I think he caught something where he could get that jump.

"Then his technique with JD to get, we call it a V-technique to try and uproot those guards right there was outstanding. We always say you could get three yards of penetration, get your hands up.

"That ball trajectory probably hasn't hit its apex. You could possibly get a block. One of the field goal blocks, I think it was right before the half we kind of had him loop around and he was still able to get some penetration in his hand up and I think when he feels the wind kind of go past his hand, it kind of confirms what he sees out there and he knows all I could go and get one.

"It happened similarly I believe two years ago against Buffalo. He almost got one, then he got the one where he jumped and was able to get it. So, I think JC is such a smart player that he's able to use that as an advantage.

Are you talking about he's like getting into the defender with his shoulder and kind of lifting him up and then throws his left hand up?

“Yeah, that's what we call the V-technique. When you look those two guys with the two shoulders, it almost creates a V from the point of view that we're looking at it.

"V-technique, run your feet then get your hands up. Being able to uproot a guy like that then get to the trajectory of the ball before it gets its apex."

As a follow up to that, what makes someone good is in field goal block, is it height? Is it timing? Is it wingspan? What's the key that you look for those players?

"Yeah, obviously if you have height, weight, speed it's going to give you an advantage. I know Calais Campbell (AZ Cardinals), I think he's on his 18th year right now, he's had a plethora of kicks, Shelby Harris (Browns) as well, Denico Autry (TX), sometimes just have a knack for it before my time here, [Houston Texans Derek Barnett did a great job in the swim.

"Guys just have a knack for it and I think JC and JD have a knack for it in terms of that. But when stuff is on film, other teams are going to try and prepare you to get you off your game.

"So that's my job to let them know, hey, they may try to go on a double call, a double set right here. They may try to take your legs out before in terms of the guard kind of just bearing his head in the sand right there.

"So that's where we try to find counters to all that. But I think it does come with a knack on how you can get field goal blocks.

How much carryover is there from playing D-line versus playing on field goal block?

“I think the great thing about field goal block, it's not a moving target. In D-line, they run outside zone, inside zone, a trap scheme, you got to use your hands a little bit more.

"You know where the guy's going to be on field goal. So being able to have that get off and that get ready knowing it's a stationary target I think helps out a lot in terms of the field goal block.

"But again, you get guys, Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter working in tandem like that, it's going to be tough to stop with that middle penetration, especially as the weather starts to get a little bit colder, the ball trajectory gets a little bit lower, it's an advantage we have, but again it's just for these guys to keep it up in terms of Wednesday, Thursday you see us on field goal, field goal block, they're still working their technique right?

"There may be one, two steps but they're still working their technique and their get off."

DT Jordan Davis Said that some guys will just go in on a field goal block and just put a hand up, check a box maybe across the league, to what do you credit the player especially of the starters when it comes to special teams?

“I think a lot of it just has to do with pride. From a defensive side, you always want to pitch a shutout, so you want to make them pay for points is what we kind of talk about right there.

"I learned this my time in San Francisco with John Lynch, you're pissed off that you gave up a field goal or a touchdown, make them pay for points. Maybe you get a point off the board right there. Last year it was a little bit of solace.

"We blocked one against Tampa Bay, it got us to a two-score game. Regardless if it's field goal, field goal block, all the points matter in the NFL.

"You can see everything comes down to a field goal, a one score game. So for us from a field goal standpoint, we know we can't sleep right there. It's a physically challenging job but if you're able to make other teams pay for points and you're able to get points on the board more often than not when it comes down to those last seconds, you're going to be on the happier end than not."

Earlier you mentioned that there's still a lot uncertain left. What kickers can do, what's available right now in Tampa Bay Buccaneers K Chase McLaughlin's repertoire and how much more time do you spend scouting out kickers on the schedule and whether they could do dive balls and knuckle balls or whatever. How much more work does that produce?

"I wouldn't say it produces more work. You just are a lot more cognizant. You try to give the players all the answers you possibly can to them before game time right there obviously case by case Chase hasn't shown it, but that doesn't mean he can't do it, similar to us.

"There's still stuff that we haven't shown that possibly we can do when the weather starts to change right there. So, you always try to prepare anything for anything that can happen, that goes to practice where I could throw in, say a guy only kicks the ball up in the air or he tries to pop it at the tent. I can control on Wednesday and Thursday.

"I could throw in a knuckle ball in there or squib just so it's never leaving the mind of the returners that they could still do this and keep them prepared. Just case they want to use that to their advantage right there against us on kickoff and kickoff return."

When they lined up for that last one, what's your confidence level that you are going to get a block from one of those two guys and at what point during the operation are you thinking, yeah, we got this?

Michael Clay: Yeah, I have such faith in those guys in that field goal block team. They take so much pride in it and for me I kind of stand right there and about the first three steps, if I see some good penetration, maybe two and a half yards, I'm like, alright, we got a real chance at it because JD is 6-7, JC is a freak athlete, they get their hands up.

"So when I could see that kind of field goal protect kind of get pushed back a couple yards, I'm like, all right, we got an actual chance. JC and JD get all the credit, but [DT Byron Young] BY and Moro (Ojomo) did a heck of a job against (Rob) Havenstein and their end to push them back as well to give JD that opportunity to get both hands up, block it right there, so it all goes hand in hand.

Those four guys, they sit in that back right corner as I view it right now. I know they're viewing it like, all right, we've got an opportunity to change the game, change the momentum of the game on a field goal block."

When you talks about fielding a kick, like a shortstop, would you ever take it as far to watch infielders to see how they square up?

“Yeah, for myself, I guess for me, [Los Angeles Angels Manager] Ron Washington was with the A's for so long and I know he is a heck of a fielding coach, third base coach right there. But in terms of just trying to take those aspects, some of these guys never played baseball, so they may not even get that reference who Ron Washington is right here.

"But to allow them to, I could get them a 10-yard walkthrough just to have them shuffle, get their feet in line where they can, at least if it does take a big hop, it hits your shoulders and it's going to fall straight down.

"I can now pick it up instead of when it's to the side. If it does take a skid right, there now we're really in a danger zone. So just trying to keep them as square as possible and keep their feet hot where they're able to field the bouncing ball."

As a follow up to what you said about Pro Scout Terrence Braxton, the advance scouts, you don't hear them discussed often. What value do they provide to you guys?

"They provide a lot of value. They come in Monday morning going into the next opponent, 'Hey do you want to meet?'

"Whenever the time works for them, I'm ready to meet with them because they give you little tidbits from the game. [Director of Football Operations/Pro Scout] Ameena Soliman went out there to go scout them in Tampa Bay and she gives us all the injuries. What happened, practice squad guys and Terrence [Braxton does a deep dive onto their roster, and he gives us little tidbits on their personnel.

"You're watching the film, but there may be something else that you miss in terms of all the film you watch. So I value all those guys. They do such a good job and they're in here just as long as we are trying to give us the best advantage for the next week and the next opponent." *

Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com