Michael Clay

Q. Mike, how did you like the operation on the field goal that hit the upright? (Jeff McLane)

Michael Clay: The operation was fine. We just missed it. He just got too whippy on it, missed it. Obviously, he hit the one. Prior to that, can’t have the penalty. With [T] Jordan [Mailata], he just lined up a little bit too deep off of it. It’s one of those things that is unfortunate. Usually, a redo on a kickoff or any type of kicking play is never really good. But Jordan, he’s been our end for the six years I’ve been here, and he’s probably the best end in the NFL. He just lined up a half foot too deep, and they banged him on it. Can’t have any of those little mental errors that take points off the board.

Q. Is that one that’s sometimes called and sometimes not? It’s like how they’re looking at it? (Jeff Neiburg)

Michael Clay: Correct. It’s just one where we don’t want to give the referees the opportunity to throw that. We’ve just got to be up on the ball, have our helmet cross the belt of the snapper.

Q. Coverage teams on kickoff and punt gave them two long returns there. What are the issues with some of the things there? (Ed Kracz)

Michael Clay: It all goes hand in hand. First of all, it starts with me. I’ve got to coach it better. I’ve got to get these guys, especially on kickoff coverage, [and get] our play makers to the ball a little bit better in terms of that. Some things that we can always handle ourselves from the kicker-punter standpoint: depth, hang time, things of that nature. But I’ve got to do a better job of being creative on the kickoff team to get these guys in the spots they need to be. We’ve got to get better at getting off blocks even more to not put our defense in a short field.

The first opening kickoff, they bailed us out, and they got the missed field goal from 55 yards, things of that nature. Then we kind of hurt ourselves on that punt where he gashed us down the middle and they got the three points before the half instead of — [P] Braden [Mann]’s been doing a great job all year. It’s just one of those punts he didn’t connect on it correctly, and it was just a slow hang down. We missed a couple tackles where we can make those plays. Again, just starts me getting these guys in the better spot in the coverage phases.

Q. What went into having DB Cooper DeJean as the punt return? (Tim McManus)

Michael Clay: Obviously [WR] Makai [Lemon]’s doing a good job in practice for us, and [DB Cooper DeJean] Coop obviously has shown that he can do it. I think Coop relishes the idea of being a punt returner and getting his hands on the ball right there. Obviously, he makes really good decisions. We had that whole year in ’24 with him as our returner after [WR Britain] Covey got hurt in that New Orleans game. You saw his explosiveness to make two gunners miss, [Washington Commanders S] Tyler Owens and [Washington Commanders S] Percy Butler, and get 12 to 13 yards off that. He’s reliable, and he’s always in tune to the game. I think that gives us the best opportunity to help out the offense in that case.

Q. Kind of same thing with RB Jaydon Blue as the kickoff returner with WR Darius Cooper. What did you like about that duo? (John McMullen)

Michael Clay: I thought Jaydon did a really good job with his catch mechanics. I thought he was patient, trying to allow the running lanes kind of unfold for him. Obviously, the one, I think it was the second-to-last-one, we got that ball out to the 43, which was kind of big in that scenario. I think it was 3:43 left. He was able to split through, and I thought [C/G] Willie Lampkin did a really good job making that cut for him on the block, and the double team between [TE] Eli Stowers and [DT] Ty Robinson did a good job. I think the more confidence he gets with it, and he was very in tune during the game, asking questions, seeing the tablet and everything. So we’re going to try and keep building off that, get some better returns, and build off that return [he] got to the 43.

Q. Back to the illegal formation, T Jordan Mailata, was he lined up any differently than he had been before? Was he deeper? (Brooks Kubena)

Michael Clay: No. At that point in the game, he just happened to be a foot deeper than it was legally available, and they threw the flag right there.

Q. What exactly is the rule there? (Reuben Frank)

Michael Clay: The helmet has to cross the snapper’s belt line, and obviously, [he was] a little bit too deep [and] crossed [LS] Rocco [Underwood]’s belt line, and they banged him on that one.

Q. OLB Mason Reiger got elevated, I assume for special teams mainly. What did you like about him that made you guys want to elevate him? (John McMullen)

Michael Clay: I think that a lot goes into how the roster — Some guys being hurt in the linebacker room, you don’t want to go in with that. Then Mason, he’s shown some stuff on the practice squad to help us out, and I thought he did a good job. Obviously, [being] able to wear that patch, that says debut on his jersey, and he was a four-core player for us. I thought he did a good job in terms of being physical on punt pro against a very good rush team. I thought punt pro did a really good job of giving Braden ample amount of time to get some punts. He had, what, three inside the 20, three inside of the 12 right there to help flip the field. [On] kickoff return, he was very physical against a very good kickoff coverage unit that washed in the hands and punt return.

We only had about two possible returns that weren’t D-stay, and I thought he did a good job rushing and holding up some of their guys. The more — I think I say it all the time, anybody that’s in this room that has the opportunity to help us, we’re going to try and coach them up and get them to be played at a high level on Sunday.

Q. In following up on Tim’s question, after the ’24 season, even when WR Britain Covey wasn’t out there, you went away from CB Cooper DeJean as the returner. What made this the week that you wanted to do that? (Zach Berman)

Michael Clay: I think there was just a lot more options in ’25 to have that availability. Obviously, Covey getting hurt and on a shorter week, you really don’t have the amount of time to find something else out. Covey wasn’t here during training camp [in ‘25], so we had plenty of time to find out which returner we want. Again, we’re always just trying to find ways to help this team win. When [DB Cooper DeJean] was a primary returner in ’24, he was a pretty dynamic returner, and obviously, we’re not going to try and put him in harm’s way. He’s super smart. I talked to him: ‘Hey, if you don’t feel comfortable, fair catch it. We’ll love to see another one. If you feel comfortable, get what you can.’ Obviously, he got out of bounds, didn’t take the unnecessary hit, but brought a little bit of juice, and the fans do a great job here in Philadelphia. When he does something good, you hear the ‘Cooooop,’ and that gets everything kind of riled up. We’re going to just keep taking it day by day in terms of who that returner will be come Sunday afternoon. But I thought he did a really good job stepping in on a short week.

Q. When the offense is struggling a little bit like it has been, do you guys do anything different on teams to try to give some juice or to break a return that you might normally not try if the offense is performing better? (Dave Zangaro)

Michael Clay: We try to do anything we can to help regardless of what the offense and defense is flowing in terms of trying to bring some energy, whether that’s a big return or maybe you force a ill-advised kick from the punter on the punter return, maybe that’s rushing or things of that nature. From the punt aspect, trying to flip the field, obviously, when we get that ball inside the five-yard line, I think it helps out the defense more than anything else, knowing they’ve got 96 yards they could play with. When it comes to, and I talk about a lot, if we could flip the field position, net positive for the offense, then net positive for the defense, that’s the energy we want to try and bring for the team.

Q. I imagine there’s a range between playing within the rules and finding advantages that’s conservative or risky just after this week when it seems like detail is stressed by Head Coach Nick Sirianni. Are you kind of tightening up other things, reviewing kind of things or is that part of the conversation right now? (Brooks Kubena)

Michael Clay: I’m a little bit confused by that question in terms of the legitimacy of the rules or details?

Q. Details. I mean, it seems like just spacing on field goals and stuff like that in terms of trying to create advantage within rules. I mean, are there — (Brooks Kubena)

Michael Clay: I don’t think, when it comes to the field, [T] Jordan [Mailata] was trying to create an advantage by being a half a step further than he usually is. I think it’s more just being all within the moment of the game. He just had a long drive, just kind of taking a deep breath, getting back into, ‘All right, I’m legally on the line of scrimmage,’ in terms of that. Then our details, I don’t think Nick stresses that, and from a special team standpoint, that’s evident because we don’t have the privilege of playing 60 to 70 snaps. We played 29 snaps, and you could see how much it’s magnified. Within three plays, could change the whole dynamic of a game. One play could change the whole dynamic from special teams compared to offense and defense, so the detail has to be there regardless of what week it is, what your record is, and it has to be almost perfect for us to succeed and help this team out.

Q. New York Giants Coach John Harbaugh’s background in special teams, do you see that influence on the Giants special teams? (Reuben Frank)

Michael Clay: I think [New York Giants Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator] Chris Horton does an unbelievable job. I have a lot of respect for Chris. When I was a young coach, he was still in Baltimore with [Baltimore Ravens Senior Special Teams Coach] Randy [Brown] and John Harbaugh. Being able to be a coordinator for that long, having so much success in Baltimore and now taking it over to New York, I think they do a fantastic job under Hort’s leadership, especially their kickoff coverage. They’re physical, they play fast, they do a really good job. They’ve dealt with injuries, but they’ve been able to mitigate it as well from the returner standpoint, with [New York Giants WR] Charlie Jones being brought up. I’ve got tons of respect for Chris Horton, he’s almost up there with [Chicago Bears Special Teams Coordinator] Richard Hightower and how I feel about how their special teams play. The NFC East is not a faint of heart when it comes to special teams. We’ve got to be able to buckle down and prove over the last three weeks weren’t good enough in any facet, regardless of the unit to come out Sunday afternoon and help this team out any way we can.

Q. A random nerdy question here. Before you face left-footed punters, you always work out a left-footed punter. What’s the reason for that? What’s the benefit of that? (Zach Berman)

Michael Clay: You get to see there’s so many different spins, trajectories. The ball’s going to fall over differently than it does a right-footer. You could try to mimic it with jugs, but sometimes the jugs don’t allow the ball to turn over. Colton Spangler, we’ve had the last couple weeks when we did have a left-footed punter, and kudos to him. It helps us out a lot. It helps a rookie in [WR] Makai Lemon. Not a lot of lefty punters in college football that are hit traditional balls. To be able to see that and be able to see the trajectory of the spin with some wind, how’s it going to fall? The end-over-end comes a little bit differently than a right-footed punter. It’s more for the returners to feel comfortable going into that game day on Sunday or Monday, whenever day it is to feel comfortable against a left-footed punter.