Eagles notebook: The art behind the wacky world of punting originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Cooper DeJean started moving his hands wildly as he methodically went through all the different ways a punted ball can spin.
“It can spin this way. It can spin that way. It can go end over end, it can do the opposite… ”
There are a ton of different ways the ball can spin and NFL punters are really good at making it difficult to field punts. So it’s imperative that the Eagles’ punt returners get a chance to practice with all those weird spins.
That’s where Braden Mann comes in.
“When we get our punts in, he’s able to hit some of these weird balls from around the league, and they’re just getting more acclimated to it,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said. “Kind of hones everybody in that we have to be on our Ps and Qs when it comes to fielding the ball.”
Mann said there are bout seven different punts the Eagles use. Some of those punts he’ll use in games and others he uses just to get the Eagles’ returners ready for the opponent. During a week of practice, some days are geared toward the punting operation and others are for the returners. But Mann is always happy to fire off a bunch of consecutive punts without the whole operation.
Those returners will have another tough test on Sunday when they face the Panthers and veteran punter Johnny Hekker, who is known for what’s called the “banana ball,” which features a wild helicopter spin.
Mann said he learned the “banana” punt by simply watching film of Hekker doing it. There’s plenty of risk involved with the punt so the Eagles use it sparingly. Mann said they used it against the Cowboys this year but his first time ever using it in a game was last season.
The Eagles’ punter, coming off an NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award, is appreciative that Clay allows him to try all these different punts in practice. And if he gets good enough at them, they get the green light for use in games.
During the season, the Eagles spend time scouting each upcoming punter to make sure that their returners are ready. That paid off in Baltimore last week when Britain Covey was able to cleanly field all of his punts to steal some valuable yards in a game where field position really mattered.
“To scout it out and give these guys different looks so they’re able to feel comfortable going forward, whether that is Britain, Ainias (Smith), Jahan (Dotson), Coop,” Clay said. “The more reps they get, the more comfortable they’re going to get seeing these different ball flights. When we come back out tomorrow, they will get a few of those to feel comfortable going forward. Then Thursday, they’ll get some more.”
The only thing Mann can’t do? Punt with his left foot. So when the Eagles are about to face a lefty, they bring in a free agent punter for a “tryout” to give their guys a chance to prepare better.
Hold on
Jalen Carter has become an absolute force in the middle of the Eagles’ defensive line and opposing teams have taken notice. Not only are teams doubling Carter a ton but they’ve also been holding him on a bunch of plays.
There were several holds in the Ravens game that weren’t called.
“It’s football,” Carter said. “I don’t know if it’s in the game plan. But it’s football so sometimes there might be a hold and it might prevent me from making a play. But, you know, if the ref don’t see it, you just got to move on to the next play.”
The most egregious hold came when Carter was thrown to the ground. He got up with his hands in the air. Carter said he asked the ref, “You ain’t see that?”
Xxx
“Yeah, I might say a little something,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s on their call. They call it, it goes with the game. They don’t, on to the next play.”
The ‘It’ factor
After the Eagles’ win over the Ravens on Sunday in Baltimore, head coach Nick Sirianni made sure to mention that he thinks Jalen Hurts should be in MVP contention right next to Saquon Barkley.
And Barkley agrees.
“I know I’m getting MVP chants but you could make an argument [Hurts is] in the same boat, especially with how much it’s really a quarterback award,” Barkley said on Wednesday. “The guys who are being mentioned, I think he should be right up there with them. One of the best teams and his stats match it too. I don’t know why. I don’t know why people have that idea of him but, at the end of the day, the most important thing is winning football games.”
While Barkley has been incredible, it is worth noting that Hurts has played clean football since the bye week and has eliminated his turnover problem. Through four games, Hurts had turned the ball over seven times. In the eight games since the bye week, Hurts has just two turnovers.
Barkley tried to explain what makes Hurts special.
“He’s a very smart player,” Barkley said. “I don’t think we give him a lot of credit for that. I think we do but from the outside perspective. He’s a really smart player and he’s doing a really good job taking care of the ball, putting us in positions to win football games. I was talking about it the other day with my family. I don’t really know how to explain it but he has ‘it.’ The ‘it factor’ to win, to win football games. He has that. And they’re like, ‘How do you explain that?’ I don’t really know how you explain that. You just know it and you see it.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of people who are going to have a fumbled snap on the 1-yard line and still find a way to score a touchdown. Like ‘it.’ He has that to him. And throughout his whole career here and you go back to when he was at Alabama and the success he had at Oklahoma, he got that. You can’t coach that. It’s hard to find. I’m happy that I’m part of this team.”
Stepping into a role
Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore on Tuesday made sure to give some credit to a couple of unsung heroes from the Eagles’ Week 13 win over the Ravens.
Both Tyler Steen and Grant Calcaterra filled in at new roles in that game.
After Dallas Goedert injured his knee on Sunday, the Eagles put Tyler Steen in the game as a blocking tight end. He got nine snaps against the Ravens, all as an in-line tight end — 5 on the left side and 4 on the right. With the Eagles’ sticking with the run, they didn’t want to lose their big personnel packages so the Eagles called Steen’s number.
“We just went down in a goofy situation cause we lost Dallas,” Moore said. “We only had two other tight ends. Felt like we needed to get heavier with bigger bodies. Traditionally that would be with three tight ends and that’s how it’s been the last few weeks. There’s a couple offensive linemen that we have that always know there’s a potential that if we needed them, they can pop in there. Fred (Johnson) has done it as well earlier in the year.
“Tyler did an excellent job. To be honest, other than walking through maybe a couple of those plays, he’s never ran any of those at full speed. For him to hop out there, handle that, create the movement. His first one was an excellent combination block with Lane [Johnson]. It was big-time to see.”
And then Calcaterra filled in briefly as a fullback. The Eagles had been using linebacker Ben VanSumeren in that role but VanSumeren suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice on Friday. So there wasn’t even any time for Calcaterra to get practice reps there.
“So for Grant to be able to hop in there again with very limited to almost no reps as far as full-speed reps out there, his ability to go in there and handle those situations,” Moore said. “We have a number of guys that can play those different roles. That’s the fun part of this week. We’re going to let this thing progress with a few different options, see how it progresses.”
Vic Fangio’s honesty
We’re in Week 14 and Vic Fangio’s candor is still very much appreciated.
Some coaches in the NFL are so afraid to say anything negative about a player in a public setting but not Fangio. It’s not like he’s taking shots at his players but if there’s something they need to get better at, he’s not afraid to say it. And you can bet he’s told them these things long before he gets in front of a microphone.
There were two such instances on Tuesday.
One about Isaiah Rodgers: “I think he has good cover ability when he does it right. On occasion, he can get sloppy with his technique, and he pays for it. But I do think he has good talent and good cover ability. For a guy that’s on the small side weight-wise, he tackles pretty good.”
One about Jordan Davis: “Jordan is a better run defender than he is a pass-rusher at this moment in time. I do think he’s getting better. But we just try and rotate those guys.”
Nothing wrong with any of that and it’s just refreshing to hear.
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