One of the unknowns about the 2007 Eagles will be their special teams under new coordinator Rory Seagrest. He spoke to the media on Friday, here's what he had to say.
On the competition between P Dirk Johnson and P Sav Rocca:
“Well, right now we’ve got a great competition out there. Guys have kind of picked up where they left off in the spring, and it’s a great battle. We’ve got two punters hitting some great balls right now, so it’s definitely a great competition there.”
On what is different with the special teams unit since minicamp:
“Now that we have pads on, it allows us to become more physical with our techniques, and iron some things out, picking up where we left off in minicamps. We’re getting to throw away the hand shields, throw away the bags, and actually get a realistic feel on things. So, it’s been good.”
On the progress of WR/KR Jeremy Bloom:
“We didn’t get to see Jeremy a lot last year, obviously. We got to see him early in the season, and he was coming in after skiing for awhile, so he’s obviously had a little more time to work on things here and he’s looking real solid right now.”
On whether it’s nice to have a lot of guys on the roster that can return punts:
“Well, not guys with game experience per say, in the NFL, but we’ve got some guys that are doing a nice job. We’ve got [CB] Rashad Barksdale back there who’s been catching some balls for us; [WR] J.J. Outlaw’s doing a good job of things. Of course [WR] Bill Sampy’s been out the last couple of days, but he’s looking solid back there, as well. We’ve always got [RB] Brian Westbrook in our back pocket. Obviously, he and [CB] Lito Sheppard are spending their time working on their offensive and defensive reps for now, but we do have some guys quite capable of getting the job done here.”
On how good the kick return game is looking:
“Kick returns, we’ve got Bloom working with the first unit now. We’ve also got [RB Correll] Buckhalter back there. He looks real good. He’s a big, strong runner for us back there; [RB] Ryan Moats, same thing. They can get back there and do a great job, and again, Barksdale and J.J. Outlaw, as well.”
On whether Bloom is just as capable returning kicks as he is punts:
“You know, he is. Obviously, it’s a little bit different style involved. He’s not your power runner, but he’s a guy that can stretch the field and create some seems there.”
On whether Bloom returned kicks while at the University of Colorado:
“Yeah, he sure did. He was a punt returner and kick returner while over there.”
On what differences he looks for in a punt and kick returner:
“You’re number one component is, that you have to have a guy that can catch the football. That’s more specific to punt returns; it’s more difficult to gauge the flight of the ball there; setup; position. There’s a little more technique involved there, as opposed to kickoff return. Obviously, it’s a little bit easier to catch the ball, but as a punt returner and kick returner, both, it just depends on the type of schemes you’re going to setup behind those guys. Jeremy is a more elusive-type guy, so as far as punt returns, kick returns, we’re going to try and keep things similar there, just stretch the field a little bit. As opposed to someone like Buckhalter, you get him back there on kick returns, and maybe [use] more of a power-type game.”
On whether anyone else can return punts:
“We’re hoping Jeremy gets the job done and we’re hoping he can be our guy, but we’ve got guys capable of getting the job done, and we definitely have guys on the roster in place.”
On the effect Bears’ KR/PR Devin Hester had on the progression of the return game:
“Well, it’s always said, special teams is a third of the game. We’re hoping with our special teams, we can have a major contribution to the outcome, being a positive difference for wins. We’re just trying to create some explosive plays, especially in our return game. I think seeing Devin create some opportunities, score some points; it’s just showing a lot of the world there, that it can be done with special teams.”
On whether this unit has potential to be more explosive this year:
“Well, we’re still early in camp. The thing is, right now we’ve got some guys working real hard. They’re getting out there. They’re competing. We want to be as solid as we can at special teams, and we have a great opportunity to be as good as our effort allows.”
On whether it’s hard to evaluate special teams play in practice:
“A lot of special teams has to do with effort, especially something like punt return, covering down the field- that’s a big component of things. Once you get guys in a game-type situation, things will definitely stand out. We’re excited about getting into a game situation and seeing how things unfold.”
On whether it will be difficult managing each player’s playing time during the preseason:
“You know, that is going to be one of the tougher jobs there- just making sure we get 11 [players] on the field. We’ve got a lot of substitutions both on offense and defense, and this guy’s up, and that guy’s up at this time. We’re going to stay on top of things, and just make sure we try to get each guy evaluated; get them out there as many times as we need to.”
On how good of a job Bloom has done catching punts:
“Well, like I said, he’s doing a great job for us. He’s solid catching the football; he’s put a lot of hard work into it during the offseason. Right now, he’s just very solid, and capable of making some big plays if we can get him some room to run.”
On how he evaluates the punters at this stage:
“Right now, it’s great competition with that position. Sav came out, [and] the first couple of days he was a little shaky. You could tell he’d been away from it for a little bit; getting him back into a team-type situation. But he’s had a couple of really good practices he’s put together. As far as Dirk goes, he’s worked very hard this summer. I think the competition has made both of those guys better. They’ve both been working extremely hard, and we’ve got two extremely good punters right now.”
On whether it would be difficult to cover for a 68-yard punt like Rocca hit yesterday:
“Well, Dirk’s been hitting some there, as well. Obviously, we want to put a combination of the distance and the hang time on it. Those guys have been doing a great job at this point. We’re getting the distance; we’re getting the hang. It’s about our technique inside, just punch and shed and getting out. We’ve got a little room to run out there to cover the punts.”
On whether he has seen anything from Rocca in terms of hang-time and kicking with a rush coming at him:
“I think the biggest thing, when he first came in, was his operation time—he was a little slow getting the ball off. That was back in minicamps. He’s done a great job of speeding up his time. It’s going to be interesting to see how he handles the pressure when he gets a rush on him, understanding that there are going to be times where he has to get it off even faster.”
On how hard it is to figure out who his players are going to be, without knowing the offensive or defensive depth chart:
“That’s a great question. That’s obviously very difficult. You try to get guys reps who you think are going to be once we get started on things. At this point, it’s just too early to make the call at certain positions. You try to rotate them in as much as you can, to get each guy ironed out as far as his techniques go, and go from there.”
On whether any of the linebackers have stood out as players that could help out on special teams:
“Especially at our SAM linebacker position, you’ve got Chris Gocong, Stewart Bradley, Tank Daniels, all three of those guys are really battling for that position and those guys are really going to help us out. [LB] Omar [Gaither] is helping us out a lot in there. Of course, [LB Dedrick] Roper has been out the last couple of days, but he’s a guy who could contribute as well in special teams.”
On whether there is a player on special teams who compares to former Eagles LBs Ike Reese or Keith Adams:
“I’m hoping we get ten of them out on the field. We want to be the best we can and that’s just something we’re trying to create right now, is the mindset. We want everybody to have that mentality—just get out there and be a dominant coverage team.”
On S Quintin Mikell:
“Quintin made a lot of plays for us last year. He’s picked up where he left off, so he’s doing a great job for us.”
On how effective Rocca and Johnson have been as holders:
They’re both looking extremely good right now. They’re putting a lot of work into it. With Sav going back to Australia over the summer, that’s one of the concerns I had, was him having the opportunity to work on that back home. He came in and he’s looking great on that as well. He and Dirk have both been doing a good job for us.”
On whether the ability to be a good holder is part of the equation when deciding which punter to keep on the team:
“Not necessarily right now. Whoever the guy is going to be, we want him to be able to hold. At this point, they’re both very similar in their holds, they’re both doing a great job, so I think right now we’re going to look at the punting situation and see how that unfolds.”
On whether he is considering any of the QBs as a holder:
“Not right now. [TE] Matt Schobel has done that before. Obviously, we’ve got to have a backup in that position. We’re hoping that whoever our starting punter is going to be, that he can be our holder. We’ve got a couple of guys who can get it done. Right now, we’re just going to have to iron out our punting situation and find out who the starter is going to be at that spot.”
On whether there is a reason why Rocca has been holding for the longer kicks during practice:
“Not necessarily. We’re trying to create situations where they’re holding on different hashes and different distances. Each day is going to be different as far as where they’re holding on their spot. We’re just trying to rotate them and get them as many reps in as many different situations as possible.”
On the longsnapper position:
“We’ve got a couple of guys who have been working in that position. [FB] Jeremy Cain has been doing a good job for us there. We put [TE] Lee Vickers back there as well. Both of those guys have done a great job. Right now [LS] Jon [Dorenbos] is our guy. He’s very solid, he’s a great performer for us. Right now, that’s where we are.”
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