LIVE: The Houston Texans address the media

LIVE: The Houston Texans address the media

coach with um them adding Jacobe Meyers, do you kind of get ready in a way that just mostly look at what he’s done and kind of how that might look in this offense? Yeah, I mean obviously uh they acquired him for a reason and you know we’ve gone against some different iterations in the past. Um you know I think they’ll have a package for him to to to get the ball. Obviously whatever he can pick up by all accounts he’s a he’s a pretty smart player and and and can get up to speed pretty quickly. So I would assume they’re going to integrate him in the offense. Does a really good job uh you know just route running underneath area. Obviously they’ve mentioned you know his hands and his ability to catch the ball. So uh just another piece for them to to put in their offense for sure. How do you guys adjust for the absence of a player like Jaylen Petri if he can’t go? He does so much for you guys. Yeah, just uh you know obviously whatever happens as he’s in the protocol and going through that like we’re just trying to prep all our guys to get ready and uh have some you know replacing any good player is hard and and any player like that does a lot for us like a lot of our guys do uh he’s one of them. Um it’s going to take multiple people you know what I mean? So, we’re just going to uh have some different packages, move some guys around if we need to uh and and and go play ball. Point. So, yeah. To Jaylen, just like what he’s meant and how he’s adapted and moved positions and being willing to do like everything. Yeah, he’s awesome. I mean, I don’t know what else I can say. I mean, he’s just been uh you guys probably have some sense of him as a person and a human being and and what he is. Uh and that just filters out into everything he does for the team. And um like never uh hey go do this, go play here, go play safety, go play nickel, go play inside the box, go do that, like go play against the run like it, yes sir, yes sir, happy smile on his face and and and does it at an elite level. So uh just obviously just enjoyable player to be around and uh he’s working to get back on the field for us. But with that being said, um, if how much of a how big of a blow is it for you all if you don’t have him, but you’ve also lost rookie Jaylen Smith and that’s the NFL, right? I mean, that’s the NFL. I mean, I know their injury report looks just about the same as ours does. And uh, we got a lot of good guys in the room and in that room and on the field. And like I said, we’ve got to be it’s going to take multiple players for us to step up and uh, but whoever’s whoever steps on the field is going to be ready to play. We’re preparing everybody to get going and uh had a good couple days of practice so far. So, we’re excited for those guys to get their opportunity. When you go back and you look at the at the film, what could have been done better on that play that Bo Knicks got out on that scramble? Yeah, I mean it’s it’s multiple things. I mean, they move the pocket on us. Uh I think just obviously from a rush uh standpoint, the awareness level of uh it was it was not the first time they did that in the game in terms of trying to get him away get him away from the rush and move move the pocket. So, uh, whatever rush calls we’re in or those things, we got to get balanced back up and some some of those things when, you know, it’s just a different type of protection. So, you’re not rushing a normal protection when that happens. So, you have to have some awareness there. And then, uh, you know, in the back end when there’s, you know, when your coverage responsibility is where it is, like you can’t over pursue your coverage responsibility and overflow things. And hopefully you have guys in the second level with some eyes that that doesn’t break out. If he does get out that it’s not obviously a 25 yard gain. So, uh, just we’ve gone through some of those things, those guys in those situations. and uh you know if that comes up again in terms of how we want to prepare for that. Not sure if there was any real concern at all with Will uh and finish the game. But to have him back out there kind of put a smile on your face to have him practicing today. Sure did. What’s he mean to you guys? I mean obviously he’s having a great season. He’s a great player for us. Uh you know he’s he’s the engine, the heart of the team, the defense, I believe. And so obviously it’s uh it’s uplifting when he’s when he’s out of practice and when he’s playing for us. So we’re excited to to get him out there again this week. We’ve talked about u Trevor’s success in the past getting the ball out quick. Um throwing the ball short. Sure. Just kind of what are the things that are key in in taking those opportunities? Yeah. So sim same as always like either you know you got to be sticky at times in coverage. You know what I mean? if if if if there if we’re off too far or there’s space in whatever in zones or passing game that you whatever coverage you’re in like he’ll take it. He’s very good at seeing uh open space in the field and in zones and getting the ball out there. So when we are in zones, if we’re matching up or we got to be tight in what we’re doing um or if we’re we’re it’s a time to be sticky or get get man-on-man or body on, then we got to do that and try to take some of those throws away. So uh they’ve done a really good job. Again, the schematically they do a good job of trying to create that space and uh just whatever tricks we combat in terms of like them trying to get our guys off and motions and and formations that try to put us in those positions, we’ve got to be aware of that and uh really just get stickier in some of those things. If there’s if there’s open throws, uh it’s going to be a long day for us if we just let him get back there, hit his back foot, and get the ball out. That’s what they’re trying to do. We got to try to combat that for sure. Matt, you um how was your how do you balance like you guys have some really good defensive performances and you would say well it’s not great Kim because we didn’t win the game but you know the defense has played really really well and then there’s a play here or there that isn’t good enough. How do you keep how do you talk about that with the players so it’s a continue to not get down on themselves or Yeah. I mean I don’t honestly I think uh I think we are down on ourselves a little bit if I’m being honest with you. I mean, we’re three and five right now. I mean, that’s what it is. So, we we haven’t played good enough. I mean, we had every game that we’ve been in, we’ve we we’ve had opportunities to close games out or to to make plays and we haven’t. So, I think that’s the messaging and I think our guys embrace that. Uh you want to be great. Like, our guys embrace that challenge of, hey, it’s 15 to 15 and the game’s on the line and and they get the ball back with a minute, whatever it was left. Like, put us out there. Let’s go. Like, that’s that’s what we want to be and those are the positions we want to be in. So, we’ve we’ve got to find ways to close out those games. So, as a team, we’re three and five and and we are disappointed and we are we are down about that and and we’re fighting and working to get back to to better. Why do you think the uh and and not that it’s affected the defense much um because still having success, but why do you think the sack numbers aren’t as high as they were perhaps last year? Yeah, I mean again, we don’t we don’t chase sacks. I mean, I just think uh I I would hope that most teams that play us are aware of our players up front and our rushers and and uh are doing everything they can to combat that. Uh you know, I would say we see a higher number of chips, whether people are moving the pocket on us, like the ball’s getting out quick. A lot of quarterbacks we faced that have done that type of thing anyway. So, uh just the usual tricks again like we’re not trying to chase sacks. I mean, I think both Will and Denil are pretty high in terms of disruption numbers and pressure numbers. And so, uh, again, you start chasing sacks, then you get out of your lanes and and bigger plays happen. So, you know, we’re not really hung up on sack numbers. We’re trying to disrupt the quarterback and affect quarterbacks and, uh, there’s some things that we can’t control that that are handling that thing. I guess that was my question. Like, are teams doing things differently? Are y’all focusing on on different things and not putting Not that you all are chasing sacks, but that was my question. No, we like sacks still. I mean, make make sure clear about that. We do like sacks. So, uh, yeah. No, I just think again that’s how the game’s been being played. And, uh, again, if if if the ball’s being thrown quickly or there’s certain protections or certain things that are happening, then I mean, that’s out of control. You can’t you can’t again, we can’t just manufacture sacks. So, uh, we’re going to focus on making sure we’re continuing to rush direct and rush better and surge the pocket. So, I think I mentioned a few weeks ago like when there are those couple ops that are true drop back passes that that we are rushing. So, we can’t let we can’t let the the the tactics used to slow us down. We can’t let that slow us down. Is we got to keep again, that’s why we’re we preach attack, get off the ball, relentless, non-stop, swarm, swarm, swarm because you never know when the one plays where you’re going to get your one-on-one. And if you’re lax in that moment or you’re just thinking I’m going to get chipped and you don’t get chipped or I think this is going to happen and it doesn’t, then then you miss your ops. So, whatever ops we do get, we got to capitalize on, make sure that we’re throwing heat every time. You talked about the some of the disappointment of three and five and understanding all that. Are there tone setters in preparation, tone setters in practice that you kind of turn to at this time and say, “Hey man, let’s No, I mean I think you know the messaging’s always been the same. I mean can’t oh now we’re going to play harder and do this stuff.” You know what I mean? So like I mean our messaging has been on the details of focusing that like making sure we’re hitting these plays or making sure your eyes are in the right spot or making sure you’re getting off on your line on the rush or putting your hands in the right place, whatever those things are. like we just keep going back to those details. I mean again every game we’ve been in has been a one-sore game, right? It’s been a tight game. Like coming down to the fourth quarter like all those plays matter. So I mean that’s that’s the messaging. It’s not like we got to do something more. We got to go outside your lane. It’s hey every game we’ve been is going to be close and this one’s probably going to be close too if we’re being honest, right? Like let’s let’s make sure like when the plays are are there to be made, we’re making those plays and so the focus is on the details and doing your job and and being right. Having said that, how do you guys end up closing those games? There’s you guys have three of the six games in which quarterbacks have had the lowest completion percentage and yet still won against you guys. Bo Nicks, Trevor Lawrence, and Sam Darnold. Three of the six lowest completion percentage and still end up putting out the win. You guys are playing well defensively, but how do you end up closing that gap in the I mean, we’re obviously not playing well enough, you know what I mean? So, it’s finding that next play. I mean, I don’t know what I don’t really look at completion percentages from that point of view relation to there, but um I think we’ve just got to make sure that uh sometimes sometimes to me that play is in in the fourth quarter, you know, that we all see the big play or big scramble. Sometime there’s an opportunity earlier to make a play. I mean, we missed two picks in that game last week and we dropped it, we had in our hands, you know what I mean? If we cash in one of those, is that a different game? You know what I mean? So all those opportunities, um, I mean, I think that’s just the messaging has been like when the opportunity comes, like every play, play in, play out, it’s 60 plays, it’s 80 plays, whatever it is, like we’ve got to make all those plays. And and you don’t know which one’s going to be the one that flips the game for you. So, uh, when we talk about attention to detail and focusing on your job, man, it’s that’s hard. Like that’s a hard play in, play out, man. What am I doing this job? Where are my eyes? What’s my responsibility? like maintaining that focus throughout the course of the entire game is going to be what what gets us back on track. Last one. The best you can at the podium. Can you break down the Henry play and like how the difficult position he’s in when he’s sitting on that route and there’s like options for the receiver that touchdown that he gave up to his play? Oh, uh yeah. I mean just in man coverage. Uh you’re saying last week? Yeah, the touchdown that he gave up. But like he’s won one-on-one coverage. Yeah. I mean he’s got a good stick, you know. just we got to teach our guys to get stickier on that in terms of like not stopping your feet just in general anytime when you’re on the football field. Um you know we we you stop your feet it’s hard to to recover from that. Uh and I think our rush has to help them there too. You know what I mean? Same thing. Nothing it’s never one person. Um you know there’s a little bit of time the quarterback was able to kind of hitch through and come climb the pocket a little bit. So there’s a combination of things that we talk about and know in those situations but um just keeping our feet live and trying to get a little bit on the hip a little bit closer. Thanks. Thanks. passing it. When you guys are in those situations and you can’t really budge them and they’re getting penetration, what can you do in the future to combat that and be a better red zone team? Right now, I think, you know, it’s 31st. Yeah. Yeah. Not not good enough obviously. Um, you know, be able to every week depending on what teams do, we’re trying to find the best thing to do. We’re inside the one last week. We didn’t punch it in. Disappointing, you know. I think everybody ask everybody to a man like we get we got to get a yard, you know, and we we didn’t do that. We didn’t execute. We hurt ourselves with penalties. So, we got to be better starting with me, starting with our staff, starting with our all of us players and we got to do a better job of that. Um, you know, those those are points at stake there and talk about trading field goals for touchdowns and cumulatively it adds up and you know want to be better than that. So, it’s pretty pretty straightforward there. What is we hear the word a lot with not just you but football coaches in general the best you can. What does execute mean? Execute means doing your job, okay, the way you’re supposed to do it with technique, with precision, and with great effort and and the way it’s supposed to be done. Um and so penalties, poor technique, um you know, mental errors fall into those things. That’s what it means. Is there like because it feels like what what if the process up to setting them up to execute is not in check because a lot of times it feels like it’s almost like excluding the the whole practice process to where they got to do what we say we got they got to do instead. You know, I I take accountability for if that’s what you’re implying. I take accountability starting with me on this. Um it’s the entire operation. So, we’ve got to do a better job. Uh, we got to, you know, find better ways to ultimately get the ball across the goal line. Understand the intent of what you’re asking, but you’re asking me about execution physically. That’s what it means. We also have to put ourselves in position to be able to find different ways to score. And so, you know, hasn’t been good enough. I I definitely agree with that. No doubt about it. And, you know, that’s that’s the quest is to do that for sure for the Monday to Sunday. It’s a whole thing. Yeah. It’s it’s how you practice. It’s how you it’s how you approach everything. And then ultimately when you get an opportunity for 60 minutes on Sunday, you got to go you got to go do it. and um haven’t done a good enough job of that. Tell them I just ask you coach. You all have, you know, over multiple weeks been rotating the offensive lineman and Lake Thompson, Juice Scrugs out the left guard position and what is the difficulty in doing that same exact thing like when you have a player like Christian Kirk and Jaylen Null and you know one week of course with Christian being out he got all of these touches and then uh the next week you know his his routes you and targets they drop. How do you try to I think you know you try to find balance. That’s the question. You know was it you know is it perfect? No. Do some games dictate in situations in different groupings that you might go a different way. Sometimes it happens like that. We you know we have a lot of confidence. We talked about the depth of the receiver position but a lot of confidence in all those guys. So um we try to create balance so we’re not wearing anybody else out. We feel good about the depth of the outside to inside and the flex guys and just trying to you know obviously get whoever we can out there that’s going to help us from week to week and and you know sometimes it gets a little more lopsided than you want and sometimes you you get it closer to how you envision it going into the game but nothing’s perfect and you know we’re always striving to get our guys involved. We got everybody at the game. We’re going to try to use as many people as we can to help us. So, what does it take to get Jaylen Null more routes and more offensive snaps and kind of do you hope to this game or more games going forward uh use him more? Yeah. No, I mean we we we love Jaylen Null. Like we plan we plan for him. He’s got a role in our offense and I mean he’ll continue to do that and and he’s done a really good job for us and he’ll continue to do a good job for us. So again, it’s uh you know sometimes it gets a little uh lopsided but it’s not due to the fact that we have less faith in him versus somebody else or anybody else. We have a lot of faith in those guys, especially Jaylen, too. Going into the Broncos game, Sean Peyton was praising the defense, you guys’ defense. Yep. Saying it’s week nine, so the DNA is the DNA. Yeah. What is the DNA on the flip side of this offense? And what about Sunday’s offense that we saw, would you say to make your argument that that’s not the DNA of this of this off? Yeah. Yeah. What I would say is, you know, a physical outfit that wants to run the ball downhill. Okay. Starting with that with change ups. Okay. We did not we did not run the ball well enough. Okay. I would say that’s starting off and then we’ve been we’ve shown the ability to drive the football. Okay. We haven’t been able to finish well enough which has been disappointing. So we’ve got to do a better job of that again starting with me standing here. Okay. And and uh you know we own that. Most of the most of the good things that you guys were able to do on Sunday would happen on the earlier downs. You had a lot of success on first and second downs. Of course you know what the numbers are for on third down and specifically in the red zone. What’s working for y’all on those early downs and then what’s not working for y’all in the later downs? I had a four fourth down conversion, but later downs and specifically the reason. Sure. Uh, well, I mean, I think we’ve shown the ability to be able to hit our double teams and be able to move the ball throughout the year and have good moments where we have run the ball efficiently. Um, I think what has hurt and hindered at times we get into longer yardage situations and that could be not necessarily due to the run game. That could be, you know, swinging and missing on incompletions and being backed up in in early downs, which gets you to second and 10 pluses and then you get into long yardage situations in third down and that’s that’s a tough way to live, you know. So, trying to be able to to get us into third and manageable or skip third downs is always what we’re trying to obviously do. So, it makes it a heck of a lot harder when you when you’re when you’re, you know, not able to be as efficient on first and second down to answer your question. What does what does Davis do well at the quarterback spot and where do you have confidence in his game? He Well, he’s a pros pro. He’s really smart. Um he approaches every single day with the right attitude. Uh he’s locked in and he he handles everything operation. He’s into the game. He’s into the game plan. He studies football. Have a lot of faith in him and he’s been awesome to be around. Took a lot of reps obviously in the spring. Um so this week will be a great opportunity for him to obviously get the bulk of the reps. Um but I have a lot of faith in him. I mean he’s he’s sharp. Uh the mechanics of of playing the quarterback position. He does extremely well. Um he’s a competitor. He takes a lot of pride in it. Has great rapport. He’s a good communicator. Uh, and he’s got good good talent. He can throw the ball. He’s played the game. He’s played plenty of football before. So, and we’re lucky to have him and I’m excited to just continue to work through the week. He’s done a really nice job. What has changed? Anything about you and your approach to calling games from beginning of the year to now? Where has there been growth or change? Have you said I had to do this differently? Yeah, I think I think really just trying to find, you know, different ways to be able to try to get us over the hump. I mean, every week we’re lifting up the hood and trying to look and see what what can we do differently. What can we do to help our guys out and that’ll continue. I mean, that’s going to continue whether you’re having success or you’re not having the success that you would like. So, I would say, you know, trying to get out and get back on track situations and staying in fewer of those. And then when you’re in those, you know, how are you going to combat those? How are teams approaching those different situations? Some teams treat second and call it 10 plus differently than other teams. So, just trying to be able to have opportunities to be able to move the ball through those zones. And I think just working through that process with our staff and with our players to be able to, you know, continue to be more efficient just in general terms, honestly. How much of that process that you just described is altered by the health situation with the offensive line? Obviously, y’all had to trying to change things on the fly with the tight end down. Now you got a whole week to prepare with the possibility of him being out. How much of that exact process is is changed or altered kind of given the situation? Yeah. Well, I’m not going to ever make excuses like we it’s our it’s our job. it’s a National Football League. Like we’ve got to find a way to move the ball and we got to be able to find a way to score. So, you’re always mindful of where you are at personnel-wise, you know, who’s playing in what positions just in general terms. Um, does it affect protection? Does it affect run? I mean, it could affect those things. Um, you know, from week to week, whatever. But we’ve got a a group of guys that have worked, you know, quite a while and have a lot of time on task through the spring, through training camp. And our job is to adjust. and our that’s that’s what we get paid to do is to adjust and be able to find a way to play our best football when we kick it off on on Sunday. So, um we’re we’re you know spear spearheading straight ahead and trying to get that done. Two different fronts. U one playing through an injury or a couple of injuries, but also getting some u down the field in terms of Dalton Schultz and what he did for you this past Sunday. What did you think of what he’s been doing? Yeah, what was your I didn’t understand your first question. I’m sorry. Played through played through some pain. uh you know had had a couple of injuries he was on the report for then wound up playing well. What did you think of what Dalton did for you? What he’s done all year? Yeah, he’s a pro and I have a lot of respect for Dalton Schultz. I mean, he gives you everything he has every single day. He’s in here from sun up to sun down. He cares. He he treat you know takes gets treatment for his body. Like it’s it’s National Football League. Everybody’s no one’s feeling 100% or even close to 100% at this point. Um but he handles everything the right way. He studies the game. He plays he plays his ass off. I have nothing but respect for him. uh and how he approaches the game. The thought process of going for it on your last possession. Kind of take me through that if you don’t mind. And then do you regret kind of the way it obviously unfolded, but the way you Yeah, trying to obviously get uh you know a quick completion to get the drive started and basically get into our two-minute situation. That’s what we were trying to do. Didn’t execute it um well enough and and stalled out. And that’s not what you want to do. But trying to get quick completion to get us going, get in rhythm, be able to get on the ball and get into our offense where we can get our cleats in the ground and be able to run core plays. That’s what we were trying to do. And um uh you know when you see like CJ, a guy you obviously have relationship have the injury that he had, you know, I just wonder does that not that the play had anything to do with it, but does that perhaps maybe change your approach to how you might use him? Does it make you think about it at all? Yeah, I mean, you know, again, I I have a lot of trust in in in CJ. It’s unfortunate um it’s unfortunate you know with him uh what happened and I think from my standpoint I think we’re always trying to talk about being mindful for player safety and stuff like that we always talk about that so being smart when you are scrambling and stuff and doing the best you can and and obviously he didn’t see that coming. Um so we just try to educate those situations and you know the same way you’re coaching on the other side of the ball to be able to protect guys too. Um but yeah we always we’ll always talk about being smart. We’ll always talk about when you need to slide and all those things and he’s done a really good job of that. like he’s very mindful of that and he’s a competitor and um he’s utilized his legs and done a good job and been smart with with the decisions that he’s made. As you’re as an offensive coach, what are your thoughts on the league’s rule that the defenders having to protect the his prey if you will and the prey is kind of going down with like just the rule itself? What are your thoughts on it and how can you fix it and help it? Yeah, I’m I’m not going to comment on any league officiating or get into that whole world. I have my I have I I think player safety is big. I think that it’s important and I think that um you know I’ll leave it at that. Some late turnovers decided the game the last time you guys played the Jaguars. Just kind of what needs to happen to avoid those against an opportunity defense like that? Don’t turn the ball over, man. Like uh simple as that. They do a really good job. Um mix a lot of zone coverages in. They have a lot of sets of eyes on the ball. So, you know, if you’re not, you know, if you’re not precise, if you’re not, you know, if there’s tips and there’s overthrows and things like that and loose balls, then they capitalize. Um they pursue the ball. They’re very well coached. Um, so being able to take care of the ball, um, you know, we’ve made progress in that area. Um, we got to keep making progress in that area and be mindful of that. But they’re that’s they thrive on those things and, um, got to be smart with the football for sure. Thank you guys. Have a great day. Thank you. football team. Great to see you. It’s all good. Hi everybody. Um uh um for the uh uh divisional game here versus Jacksonville, we have to um control field position. Um go ahead and address the uh their kicker. He’s a freak and he kicked a 68 yard field goal. So field position is at an all-time premium. now that we know he kicks from the 50 yard line. So, um that’s going to be, you know, the the the distinct mission for our special teams unit is to when we’re covering, how much can we back them up and give our defense what we consider a long field to midfield, you know, and then, you know, can we uh um shorten it for us? So, um and then, you know, for our kicker, uh Kimi being down this week, um we were able to bring in Matt Wright. So, got some great familiarity with him. You guys actually have seen him. he was um on Carolina’s um 90man when they were at the joint practice here. Um and then you know have played against him multiple times last preseason and in other games as well. So um he’s done an outstanding job and really um everywhere um a kicker who hasn’t landed a full-time job has been you’re looking for familiarity. So my first resource was Tommy Townsen who’s held for him when he was in Kansas City. So brought Tommy up to the office. What do you know about Matt? and then makes ourselves uh uh more familiar to get up and running and off the ground with a an operation on um a short notice. So excited to have Matt here and um we’ll find out uh if we can control field position against Jaguars when we need it most. So I’ll take you guys questions. What’s impacted the most when they do have a kicker like that from your perspective? What you do versus what you don’t do? Yeah. And you know, every time we give the defense, hey, this is the line to defend at the end of a half or for a game-winning attempt, like that becomes a nuance when you’re talking about your offensive possession leading into that. So, how are you going to handle the midfield decision- making in the situational football areas of the field? They totally change. Um, and then for us, you know, we’ve got to find a way to to knock one down. We have to we have to find a way because you know the the their shots on goal ability just went up. You know um Steph Curry changed basketball. You know Brandon Aubry is changing football now. It’s it’s obviously permeating amongst you know to the rest of the league. So um you know for for um Cam Little that’s changing the Jacksonville’s midfield offense if you will. So for us got to find a way to knock one down and um help our team out. Kind of to that point since you mentioned knocking one down. What how does Deno Autry sort of change all makeup and identity when he’s out there and and who is the guy to step up if he’s not if he’s for some reason down. Yeah, I taught Deno Autry everything he knows on how blocking kicks. man, there’s a knack. There’s a knack to certain things and he’s um he’s an impressive individual, but just like anything else, like owning your role, the whole football team, like it’s the greatest sport in the world because there’s six, eight guys, there’s 5’8 guys, like it’s there’s so many different styles and types of human beings that can play our game, but they got to come together in one. But if you can find a niche and a role on every specific thing, and that’s what I do on special teams, like he owns his role of I know how to really crease an A gap or a B gap last week um and get my hand in the ball flight at the right time. So, he’s big, explosive, powerful, and um yeah, there’s there’s all kinds of guys in there that are the the reason he was able to get through a week ago. And each time, each week, each umh field goal front that you’re going to get, you want to attack it in different ways. Um, but of course it’s always about putting your playmakers at the point of attack. He’s done a good job of that for us. What’s the uh mechanics of if they near midfield, of having your punt return ready, of having your kick block ready and kind of do you wait, I’m sure, for them to declare to somebody help you with that, hey, they’re they’re sending out for sure. Yep. That’s it. That is the fire drill exchange of not a hurry up field goal fire drill, but that’s the that’s the exchange that you need to be organized, precise. We have um that’s where our headsets come in, flipping over to offense, defense, letting those guys know if it’s a defensive safe look. Um my, you know, having our assistant special teams coach down with the return man and then as many eyes and ears as you can. So, those three-way alerts happen on offense, whether you’re going for it on fourth down when you’re punting it or you do get into striking range to kick a field goal because you want to operate cleanly. And then we’re also we have potentially three units ready as we look across the field and we’re waiting for their substitution and ID what units going onto the field. So, that happens a lot and um communications at a premium. You know, we’ve we’ve had those mistakes before. We try to be as clean as we can with it of getting those exchanges right. It’s a It’s not intense, but it’s it’s a focus that the whole team needs to be bought into. I know you’ve done it before, including two times this year, but is it difficult to come off the street and be the kicker for a team just immediately? Yeah, I I mean, me personally, I think, yeah, heck, that’s, you know, a lot of pressure, but kudos to him. I think having and that’s part part of the the the charm and the the draw about Matt was he’s stepped in as a pinch hitter. like that’s what he has made his mark to this point in his career and for him like what another opportunity come out here and hopefully kick us through a um a divisional win. So um him coming in here and just having that calm and that consistency that’s led him to being able to when he comes in there not to to wig out and just being used to hey I do my job consistently daily whether I’m on the team or off the team and when it’s the lights are on it doesn’t change for him. I’m excited to see if he can do that for us. Along those same lines, when you when you look at a player that’s coming in like that, what’s it difficulty for you to get the the the special teams ready for a player that they’re not used to? Um, you know, you can do special certain things with Kayami. A lot of people have played with Ky for a very long time. So, you know, not not field goals and extra points, but as far as kicks, kickoffs are concern. Yeah, it’s a great question. And for me, you know, I’ve got to tail like I can’t come in and square peg the round hole just because this is the way we do things. Not everybody’s tailored for that and vice versa. Um, so I believe, um, I’ve mentioned this in different situations or circumstances that putting those guys in the best place to be successful is is that’s our assignment as a coach. So, uh, we will tailor it to whether it’s a a return game player, a blocker, putting him on the right matchup, whether it’s a coverage player and getting him in the right slotted lane so that way he can play and accentuate his abilities, or if it’s a kicker or a specialist playing the call he wants. You know, we’ve had Ty Zentner here to fill in as a punter on short notice before. Hey, what kind of punt do you feel best with in each area of the field? Um, we try to call the game accordingly and um, give those guys some autonomy to really speak openly to me, man. Like, hey, you’re on the grass with your cleats, not me. I’m just a spectator. So, you tell me how you want to do this and we can try and blend our philosophies together and make sure it’s clean and crisp. Uh, uh, so you can go out there and play free of mind on Sunday. I did a chance to talk to Jaylen Smith after the game and I asked him about recovering that that muffed punt. Um I know that that’s not as easy as it looks on television. What are some of the processes that you go through in order to teach them to because that ball could bounce out and the trajectory of the ball can take it either way. Yeah. Um for for me, you know, can first to address Jaylen like drafted Jaylen knowing that he solves a lot of roster manipulation problems. He is a dynamic young special teams asset that also has a bright future playing defensive football and you know he’s being used already in packages. So, you know, for JRock losing him, you know, um for a bit here and just hoping for, you know, his healthy return as fast as possible, um yeah, he’s got a unique asset, a unique skill set. So, for me, when we talk about the first thing to be to making a great play is you got to be in the right spot. like um if you’re not down there fronting up the returner and we see this all the time. You guys see it fly by gunner punter far catches the ball and he muffs it and the gunner’s behind him because he I don’t want to say took the rep off but he eased up got casual. So you need to hum you need to be down there and in position in case something were to happen and that pressure you know that warrants that returner to to think about you being right there on his toes. So did just that. Um, way to come to balance. Great job. And then, you know, we teach all those situations like that is not a returnable ball. Do not scoop that. Jump on it because it’s a muff jump on the ball. You can’t pick that up and run. So, trying to pick that up causes you to maybe not clasp it as quickly. So, he did a great job of knowing the coaching points right there and jumping on that thing, covering it up tight. So, big play for us. Ended it um ended up giving us points before half. You talked about the fire drill aspect of midfield when it happens and having everybody ready. Is there anything that you can shine a light on that the other team does to kind of confuse you about who they’re going to send out? And I was kind of referencing that. Uh I’ll talk about that later, another team, but you know, there are certain things you are and aren’t allowed to do of giving some fake substitutions and try to to trick them a little bit. And um for us, you know, we’ve had, you know, quarterbacks jog off and then sprint back on with the field goal unit. And then you’re which unit do you want to put on the field? So, the first thing is the NFL allows for the refs. They will hold the substitution giving if we’re on the defense or the return side giving you a loted amount of time so you don’t get, you know, kind of screwed over there. Um, and for us, we have to be razor sharp. I mean, you have to know what personnel are going on so you can match yours. So for us, it’s when they truly declare and the ref is holding it, you could send your team out and then you got to get out and get set so you get your cleats on the ground and play ball. But for us, it’s just readiness. Readiness to play football at all points in time. So hope that answer your question. Okay. All right, guys. See you. Thanks. Go a minute, guys.

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