Michael Clay

Q. Kickoffs. We’ve been talking about that for a couple weeks, P Braden Mann back in, what goes into going back-and-forth there? (John McMullen)

MICHAEL CLAY: A lot of it has to do with the game plan. Some of it has to do with the weather. At times, the weather favors one or the other, but when you have the opportunity to use two kickers, obviously it kind of puts the other team a little bit in a bind.

Like they may have one returner because one guy goes one way and then you trot somebody else out there, it kind of messes with their game plan.

So again, when we have the luxury of having two guys to do it, it only benefits us, I think. But again, I know going out there — I think the next question will be who will be out there on Sunday. We’ll make that decision as the week goes on and whoever is going to give us the best ability to advance in these playoffs.

Q. Where do you feel like K Jake Elliott is going into the postseason? (Reuben Frank)

MICHAEL CLAY: I think Jake, being around him so much and personally just talking with him, I think his confidence is still very, very high in what he’s doing. Obviously, he missed that 39-yarder off the left hash right there, and he thought the wind was going to play a little bit more of a factor on the ball. But he struck the ball well in terms of that, and you know, he goes back and he’s always going to be his hardest critic going forward. But nice for him to come back and hit those two. They were shorter field goals, but it’s also nice to see the ball go through the net right there.

So, he’s been striking the ball well. It’s not like the ball has been fluttering or barely getting there. It’s one of those things where we have to keep the confidence that he has and that we have in him, because going forward, we know it’s no longer the regular season. All the points matter for us to advance in this situation in the postseason.

Q. The consistency has not been at the same high level that we’ve become accustomed to over the course of the regular season. What do you make of that? What’s your analysis? (Tim McManus)

MICHAEL CLAY: You almost fall victim to, you know, he had such a high percentage the last three seasons. You’re like, ‘Okay, he’s going out there, it’s automatic.’ But just like in everyday life, nothing is always given to you. It’s just for us to go back to our training, and for him, just keeping that confidence and hitting the right line of sight when he comes in the stadium. When he goes out there, he still goes through his same process.

For us from a coaching standpoint, making sure the offensive linemen are braced down. Green Bay, obviously we know, blocked a couple kicks this year against Chicago and against L.A. So, for us to make sure there’s a clean pocket and make sure operation has been up to our standard with [LS] Rick [Lovato] and Braden [Mann] holding. Again, just doubling down on our fundamentals and technique, knowing that this is a very good team rolling in on Sunday, and making sure Jake has a clean pocket so that he’s able to perform at his highest ability.

Q. What could have been done, if anything, to stop that fake punt? (Jeff McLane)

MICHAEL CLAY: We got just a lot of leverage right there. It was identified by [S] Tristin [McCollum] and [TE] E.J. [Jenkins], but just like a defensive game plan, when you lose the edge and they get around the corner, you never want to lose that edge. You want to make sure you can box it back in to everybody else right there.

So, for us, just identifying. The identification was there. They quick-breaked us right there to our left, their right. We just lost the edge a little bit with Tristin and E.J., so for us, just to keep that edge.

And I can do a better job as a coach in terms of the game plan going forward and helping these guys out, widening them out a little bit or loosening the edge to deter any fake of that nature.

Again, for them, they did a great job trying to react to it but it’s on me as a coach to have them identify, ‘Alright, gets out a little bit wider to ensure there’s nothing going forward whether it’s double cadence and them jumping offsides and us holding our edge,’ just like a defense. When the defense gets collapsed and gets around the edge, it is usually never good. It’s the same thing for punt return.

Q. What about Packers CB/KR/PR Keisean Nixon makes him so good? (Jimmy Kempski)

MICHAEL CLAY: Elite speed. Great vision. It’s a little bit similar to [Cowboys WR/KR/PR KaVontae] Turpin. If you look at his kickoff returns, he kind of lulls you to sleep in that first 10 to 12 yards. It looks like he’s kind of jogging and then he hits that burst.

So, for us, we have to really minimize the space he has in the running lanes, get off blocks. Great block destruction and come to the party right there, like we did on the one with Turpin that he got tackled at the 26. You know, being able to eliminate those big spaces right there.

But he is a fantastic kickoff return guy. I think he’s a two-time All-Pro kickoff returner. But he lulls you to sleep and he has that burst, and if you get out-leveraged, we tell the guys, ‘If you’re head up, you’re pretty much out of position.’ So, we don’t want to get head up. We want to keep this leveraged out and get off blocks and make a secure tackle with him.

Q. At what point in the week do you have confidence in the weather report, or are you always just consistently preparing for anything that happens? (Brooks Kubena)

MICHAEL CLAY: We all prepare for the worst and hope for the best. We always have kind of an idea what it’s going to be, but Mother Nature is undefeated. She could change on you just like that. I think, what was it, 2013, it looked like a clear day against Detroit and then it was the biggest snow game of all time.

We have to prepare for all elements out there. That’s the great thing about being in the northeast, you get to prepare in had some heavy winds like we did last week. Thursday was a pretty heavy wind day, and the next couple days are going to be pretty heavy winds. Get those guys mentally prepared that you’re always hoping for a clear light wind day, but we’re also prepared for a heavy wind day going forward.

Q. How much of a factor or advantage is it that K Jake Elliott has played in these winds before, for the past seven years, he knows how it works at the Linc and everything, how much does that help him going into playoffs and everything like that? (Martin Frank)

MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah, it just leads back into the confidence and kind of understanding the setting of it. There’s a big difference when it’s a day game compared to a night game. That 4:30, usually the wind starts to die down a little bit at night.

So, having that opportunity to understand that and understand where the wind is coming from just off the configuration of the stadium. And not just him, but also for Braden in punt situations, when I can let it loose or when I have to kind of play with the wind a little bit to minimize any bad kicks.

So again, having that home-field advantage and understanding what the wind is going to do.

Q. In the past four years, you have had the perspective of seeing Head Coach Nick Sirianni enter the postseason four different times under unique circumstances each time. What’s either distinctive or unique about his messaging going into the postseason this year? (Zach Berman)

MICHAEL CLAY: You know what? We still haven’t had that team meeting with the guys yet, but I think his message is always going to be the same. The stuff that got us here; our fundamentals, our togetherness, being tough and detailed. You don’t just throw that away because you got through the regular season with it. You’re going to double-down on that. He stays consistent no matter the day, whether it’s to us coaches or to the players, which you have to respect.

You want to go out there and put the best foot forward from a special teams standpoint, knowing the coach never changed things up on you. He’s always going to make sure that you’re tough, detailed and we’re all together in this because these are only going to make us go further.

Very fortunate to be with him these four years with four playoff appearances. Again, once you get into the playoffs, it’s a little bit higher heightened sense, but you never want to give up your fundamentals of what got you here. Stay down and stay true to that to get us forward.

Q. You’re familiar with what the line of questioning was going into the year about recovering from last year. You’re sitting here with 14 wins, No. 2 seed. How has Head Coach Nick Sirianni done it and navigated that? (Zach Berman)

MICHAEL CLAY: I think, one, believes in himself and what he preaches, and obviously it shows. Like you said, two 14-win seasons. The guys in here believe it, and when those guys believe it and understand what the message is, it’s only going to take us further.

We’ve got great talent on this team, and they don’t just let their talent slide. They are out here working. We’ve got some of the hardest-working people in this business. I mean, shoot, you can start from [T] Lane [Johnson] to [WR] A.J. [Brown] to Rick [Lovato] to Braden [Mann] to all those guys around here.

So just having the togetherness and seeing those — those young guys help by seeing those older guys put in the time and see what the result is. So, it’s always great to see that and Nick does a great job with the messaging of it.

Q. What did you learn about DB/PR Cooper DeJean as a punt returner this year? (Jimmy Kempski)

MICHAEL CLAY: I think he’s just gotten better and better. Obviously, his first one was a rough start in Tampa Bay. Obviously, some of it is not his fault whatsoever. But you could just see the confidence.

You can understand why he was a good returner at Iowa. He’s tough and catches the ball really well. He tracks the ball. He just keeps getting better. He always works at it in practice, and it helps having [WR/PR Britain] Covey out there. A-Mo [Wide Receivers Coach Aaron Moorehead] does a great job with the returners, trying to set the line, telling them they are good and telling them what to expect here. And [Special Teams Assistant] Tyler [Brown] does a great job with telling him about the wind in pregame and what’s happening.

But Coop has done a really good job for us and he kind sneaks up on you with a 23-yarder or a 31-yarder, those 15-yard returns or chunk plays, a first-down and a half which helps out against the opponent’s net.

Coop is just going to keep getting better and better and the guys are going to get better. They have been getting better at blocking on the interior. We’ve seen [CB] Kelee [Ringo] do what he does on the outside. To have that confidence in the ten guys ahead of him that they are going to block just gives him confidence to catch and get what he can.

Q. He never got an opportunity, but WR/PR Jahan Dotson looked pretty comfortable back there. What do you think of him and also CB/KR Isaiah Rodgers? (John McMullen)

MICHAEL CLAY: Start off with [WR/PR] Jahan [Dotson]. He’s just I smooth catcher of the ball. It literally looked like he was out there jogging and catching. He does a great job of practice on Wednesday, Thursday, catching the ball. He’s just very calm, cool and collected in there as the punt returner. He didn’t have any opportunities, but he saved — some of those balls were dying early on him, to come up, catch it, net 35, we’ll take that all day then.

[CB/KR] Isaiah [Rodgers], we know that from his time in Indianapolis and it just happened to happen where our game plan worked out knowing what the wind was going to do, kind of threw in a little different wrinkle out there. He set up great, then you saw the speed he has to burn.

But outside of that, there were I would say probably five guys on there that made huge blocks. You see [WR] Johnny Wilson and [S] Sydney [Brown] on the double team did a great job driving their guy 25 yards. And [LB] Dallas Gant, [DB] Avonte Maddox and Tristin on a single block to really cut off that back side to give that lane.

So, Isaiah, able to set it up, and those five guys really kind of let him get that 51-yarder and it was a good thing to have going forward and keep that momentum for us going into the playoffs.