Michael Clay

Q. What’s the teaching point for TE Cameron Latu on that? (Reuben Frank)

Michael Clay: Yeah, in that situation we want to be as calm as possible in that scenario, [we were] so close and at that point if the ball looks like it’s coming to rest, allow it to come to rest. The ref will probably blow it. In that case, it’s just one of those things where in the heat of the battles just kind of sinking to our fundamentals and our teaching in that case. But for him and just everybody else from a teaching perspective, just let it come to rest right there and come to bounce. If the guy does pick it up, it’s the first touch, run away, get it down. I believe [CB] Kelee [Ringo] may have got a fingernail on it and it would’ve just stopped at the one yard line right there.

Q. What’d you think about P Braden Mann’s performance in those conditions? (Jeff McLane)

Michael Clay: Braden’s been punting great all year and he’s shown being in the northeast. When he started his career with the Jets, obviously he [had] to be able to go to Buffalo and [punt in] some bad scenarios. For him to go out there and punt like that is not really a shock because I see it every day, how hard he works, trying to perfect his craft throughout the entirety of it, whether it’s windy, whether it’s snowy, whether it’s rain, Braden’s out there and he just gives it his all. It’s really cool to see all of his work come to fruition in a big stage like that to help out the team with the flip of the field, that last punt, 55 yards at 5.0 really helped out [and] gave them a long feel for our defensive to defend.

Q. What’s the plan for long snapper this week? (Zach Berman)

Michael Clay: Yeah, [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] does a great job in terms of the roster and all the moves. We always have a plan in place so it all fall into it and I don’t want to get too much into it. We’ve got a plan in place.

Q. How important was it for K Jake Elliott to make both kicks, especially the deep 40? (John McMullen)

Michael Clay: Yeah, I mean it is no different than anything else. When you see the ball go in the hoop for basketball reference, it’s always great to see it. For him, he had a great week of work. That 47-yarder was really well struck right down the middle right there. Then to come in that 28 yarder, it kind of changes the angle. It is not as easy as people perceive it to be, but to go out there even with the extra point, he just had a really good week of work. You’re not a NFL kicker for nine years if you don’t sink to your fundamentals and how good you could possibly be. Jake obviously has hit many important field goals here for the franchise. [Him] getting over that thousand point mark is something not to frown upon and he’s just a diligent worker. Similar to [NFL Long Snapper] Charley [Hughlett], similar to Braden is as a specialist.

Q. What kind of behind the scenes work went into the DT Jalen Carter blocked extra point? (Tim McManus)

Michael Clay: Kind of similar to what happened with the Rams and with the Lions and everything, it’s just all the work we go through the scouting that we do. Then I always get all the guys in here on Friday morning, we like to say ‘find the fish’ or ‘find the weak link’ in the protection and we were able to identify that and just them believing in the work. I always tell them, ‘I’d rather talk fly to you than lie to you.’ And we found a chink in the armor for Buffalo right there and [DT Jalen Carter] JC’s get off is — I’ve never seen a get off like that from an interior alignment. The only person I could probably see that’s blocked that many kicks in such a short period is a [Arizona Cardinals DT] Calais Campbell, but [for] him to get past the long snapper then get his hands up with his athletic ability is really awesome to see him right there.

Q. How much of the timing could be taught and how much is just innate? (Reuben Frank)

Michael Clay: I think it’s a little bit of both. Some guys just have a great feel for it and I think [DT Jalen Carter] JC has a great feel for it, but again, you could see him how his mind works, him getting set, getting ready, kind of indicative of what the holder and the kicker are doing. Obviously we can’t leave until that ball snaps so guys may try to go on a double set or things of that nature, try to get us off balance, but you can see he’s keying that ball. Once that ball is snapped, he’s out of there and he does a great job of really kind of bypassing the long snapper so we one, don’t get the penalty, but also when you get past the long snapper, it’s less of a guy pushing at your legs where I can get my legs up and go block it.

Q. It looked like he really got pretty high, I mean vertical. Were you surprised at that? Did you know he could kind of have that kind of ups? (Ed Kracz)

Michael Clay: Shoot, we’ve all seen that high school video where [DT Jalen Carter] he does the 360. I am not worried about JC’s athletic ability. He’s a freak of nature out there.

Q. What does it mean to you to have these starter caliber players not just be willing to be on special teams, but to put as much work as they do into it? (Dave Zangaro)

Michael Clay: I think it’s all kudos to the players in this building that we have. They’re trying to do anything they can to help win a game for this team. Regardless if it’s a field goal block or a defense stay on punt return. They’re all bought in to help this team in any way possible and it’s just really cool to see coming to fruition in an important junction of the game, which it was, [it] kind of put the added pressure back on Buffalo that they had to score a touchdown and an extra point, [so] they had to go back out there for the extra point. Obviously they chose for the two point, but it’s really cool to see and it just kind of lays the groundwork for all the young guys knowing a perennial superstar in [DT] Jalen Carter or [DT] Jordan Davis going out there and changing the game on special teams just makes it more eager for everyone else.

Q. You’re now a season through this new kickoff format. What are your general takeaways? (Jeff Neiburg)

Michael Clay: It’s a lot more plays obviously for the special team production. We’ve got guys close up there towards the 20-tackle mark, [TE] Kylen Granson and [LB] Jeremiah Trotter [Jr.]. I think it keeps the ball in play a little bit more. It changes field position. We’d like to be improved still. We have games to improve from kickoff return, but I think our kickoff coverage has really helped out the defense. We went against [Buffalo Bills RB] Ray Davis, probably one of the better kickoff return guys in Buffalo and we were able to have their starting field position off [of] kickoff returns at the 24, which is fantastic. So just everybody buying in knowing that the field position could help out from a kickoff coverage and a kickoff return standpoint.

Q. On K Jake Elliott’s one kickoff that bounced in the landing zone and rolled into the end zone, was that by design or is that weather influenced or? (Jeff McLane)

Michael Clay: No, it is more just the feel. Sometimes you get a lucky bounce, but I don’t think that was a lucky bounce. We had talked about this on Thursday. We had kind of a windy day here on Thursday and just talking about when the wind comes over a certain shoulder I could hit this different ball where it dives a little bit earlier than usual. It also helps out having that ball at the 20 instead of the 30 is fantastic against a dangerous returner like Ray Davis is. So Jake’s been able to show that he can do that. It’s just an added weapon he could use in his repertoire.

Q. How small of a margin is it between worrying about having that fielded and giving them the benefit of doubt versus landing it so that you can maybe get that roll into the end zone as you said, I mean 10 yards is a big deal? (Jeff McLane)

Michael Clay: [When] That ball hits the ground first it kind of messes up the timing of the kickoff return. It allows your kickoff team — obviously it’s going to add you maybe a second or so to get that ball fielded so when that ball does hit the ground, it’s more advantageous for the kickoff coverage team. Now again — kind of human nature, when that ball does hit the ground, people get super excited and they could get out of a lane and that’s when the kickoff return could hit you through that lane. But it’s also staying disciplined, staying onsides and we always talk about, hey, we’re not leaving until that ball’s caught or hit the ground right there and still stay disciplined to keep it on our inside shoulder and our technique wise. So it does benefit the kickoff coverage team, but you can’t get out of your own way [and] allow a running lane for the opposing team. I think that happened last year with [Dallas Cowboys WR KaVontae] Turpin against Washington. It hit the ground, they swarmed and he just kind of belied out of there and there was a huge return for them.

Q. After the blocked kicks, we heard the players talk about the opposing kicker having a low trajectory. In K Jake Elliott’s case. Other than the make and miss component of it, how much attention is paid to his trajectory on his kicks to keep them from being blocked? (Zach Berman)

Michael Clay: Yeah, I think it’s almost a case-by-case study on who your kicker is. Jake has always been a high elevation kicker and that’s just kind of how it played out. Being in the northeast, you kind of have to have that high elevation quick get-off right there. Some guys that were more accustomed to the south, the weather’s been great, the west coast or being in a dome, they really don’t take into that factor that a low ball here in the northeast is not going to rise as quick as possible. We obviously tell our guys like, hey, the ball’s not going to get up as quick right here with this kicker. Again, it’s a case-by-case study, but getting our hands up in good three to four yards of penetration is always going to help out.

Q. You mentioned K Jake Elliott had a good week of practice. What does a good week of work look like for a kicker? Does he take more practice or kicks after practice, before practice, during practice, anything like that? (Ed Kracz)

Michael Clay: You could talk to Jake about this. I don’t want to step on his toes, but from my point of view you just hear. It’s not like Jake has had a terrible week of practice all through the season. It’s just one of those things. I know we were inside on Wednesday, but you could just hear that ball pop a little bit more and he just trusted his line more than anything else. But again, it just goes into the work he puts in, they’re going in there just like a golfer does. He’s trying to work his swing, make sure it’s correct. No different than when probably a golfer goes out there and you could hear the ball come off the face of the club right there. It’s the same, [with] the ball coming off the foot right there. You could definitely hear the pop and just positive feedback and [Special Teams Assistant] Tyler [Brown] does a great job. He videotapes every kick for Jake and he sends it to him at night and Jake will say, ‘Hey, I like this. Didn’t like this right here. What was the lean on that?’ So it’s a whole collaborative effort from Charley to Braden, to Jake to Tyler, all just working in unison.

Q. How about with P Braden Mann? How does, this might sound like an obvious question, but how does a punter improve? (Dave Zangaro)

Michael Clay: He could improve in many facets. You could always grow. Whether you want to improve on your hang time, do you want to improve on your location, your get-off time to allow for the punt pro so they don’t have to worry too much for that for a slower get off time. But I think for Braden, he always has had a booming of a leg right there. But what he is really done is he’s added stuff to the bag. It is tough to get a gauge on where he’s kicking the ball regardless of it’s going right or going left right there with his offset. I think he’s really improved over the last year and a half that I’ve been with him going left and going right in that case and having different kicks to keep returners on their toes right there. Maybe they don’t want to catch it and we get a fortuitous bounce, which happened a couple times. So I think he’s just grown from a punting perspective, just having different tools in his toolbox to use.

Q. P Braden Mann is really comfortable back there even when opposing units are trying to block his punts. What do you think goes into just that kind of calmness when he’s out there? (Olivia Reiner)

Michael Clay: I think he just stays so locked on in his process from the cap to the drop to his finish right there. Then to the guys up front, having blind faith that they’re going to get their jobs done and protecting in that case. And there was a little leakage in there which we’re going to fortify going forward, but I think it’s just the blind trust that he does have with the punt pro and I try to make it for the punt pro on Wednesdays and Thursdays as hard as it possibly can be. So [that] on Sunday they’re like, oh, this is a lot easier than it was on Wednesday and Thursday. So again, it’s just for him, his blind faith of it and he’s a fearless cat going out there and obviously it’s proven huge dividends for us and him flipping the field.