MICHAEL CLAY: What's going on? What's going on?
Q. I guess we'll start with kickoff returns. Quez Watkins had some issues. You went to Jalen. What was your thought process behind that?
MICHAEL CLAY: You know, the thought process was just how the game was going. You saw Quez kind of went down in the first half. And it was actually a cool experience between those two receivers.
Jalen -- I mean, like I've been telling you guys, we keep all the returners for whatever happens. He got banged up and he said, Quez is kind of banged up, just take a load off his plate.
And, you know, when you have guys like that that want to help each other out for the betterment of the team, it's awesome, man. Jalen saw his moment and 40 yards later, he took it.
And it was a cool moment to see two young guys, not a veteran like that, two young guys having the back for the betterment of the team. And it helped us get closer in that game.
We set up a nice little scoring drive. Easy for an offense that's kind of going to go 56 yards with a big return like that. Hopefully we can keep that thing going for the rest of the year.
And, now, opposing teams have to wonder who's back there, which is great for us. But they both have been doing phenomenal jobs for us. And once again, it takes -- in that instance, it took all 10 for Jalen to get that big return.
There was great blocks on the front side by two young guys, Patrick and Zack. The backside with veteran guys. They communicated, Hey, I'm going to take this guy, you take that guy with TJ and Alex and Andre. It was just a lane that hit and he hit it, and 45 yards later, it was really good for us.
Q. Any consideration in getting Jalen involved more in the kick returns at some point?
MICHAEL CLAY: You know, just as the game went, obviously, we didn't get any punt returns where he gets his touches. So it wasn't, like, going into the game plan, Hey, we're going to get 1-8 in there. It just happened organically like that.
Once again it goes back to getting these guys ready through training camp. They get the reps in the regular season, during walk-through, ones, and twos and stuff like that.
Whoever number's called, we're going to be ready for it at the drop of a hat. We know injuries are part of the game. And Quez got banged up a little bit at the end of the first half. Jalen stepped up and he had a really good return for us.
Q. Have you ever been a part of a game where there was never a punt?
MICHAEL CLAY: No. I think there's only been five in the history of the game. So I guess it's nice to be part of that history. But it's -- Arryn is very sore for doing absolutely nothing besides holding.
Q. Not on any level?
MICHAEL CLAY: No, not on any level. Maybe high school. But definitely not college. Definitely not the NFL.
So it's one of those things that, you know, as you get through the motion of the game, you're, like, Wow, we really haven't punted. Which is kind of weird. But I'll take it.
Q. What does Arryn do, I guess, today during film review?
MICHAEL CLAY: We ask Arryn all the questions. No, Arryn -- I mean, for a specialist, they're always in every meeting. They're into what we're doing, whether it's kickoff return, punt, kickoff, you know. He does have to watch his holes, which is a big game for him. Getting those down.
And we got 12 points from our field goal unit, so it's huge to keep us in the game. Arryn, he's -- we didn't give him a pillow or a blanket for him to take a nap during that session. But he's always into what we're talking about.
Q. With Quez and Jalen, when you put them in their roles as kick returner/punt returner before the season, why did you like each of them in those roles?
MICHAEL CLAY: Just going back to what their college tape. They didn't have a lot of opportunities last year with different situations.
But Quez, at Souther Miss, was a very good kick returner. And you see that speed he has. It's a 4.3 speed and for a guy to hit a lane at 4.3, it's tough for a guy to make a play.
And Jalen at TCU, he was dynamic. You give him some lanes to get downhill -- you guys saw it. When he catches a screen, he can make people miss and get downhill. That's what a punt return really is.
But Jalen also is a dual threat returner. But kudos for him, he's ready for that. So they both, you know, have their own upside in each phase.
But they both -- more so Jalen can do both compared to Quez. Punt returning is a little bit different than kickoff returning compared to the ball coming off the foot.
And it takes some guts and skills to be a kick returner and a punt returner. Obviously, we've had some success back in the past with Sproles being a dual threat returner.
But for Jalen, it's just another confidence booster for him. He's done a heck of a job for us getting some big returns. So we're really excited about the rest of the season going forward having those two options, really.
Q. Rodney has had a pretty big role in special teams, especially as a starter in the past. I know you guys are kind of easing him back in. Will he have a role moving forward?
MICHAEL CLAY: When that time comes that Rodney does have to be, he'll be ready. We have enough depth at least at safety right there Josiah Scott was able to come back. We have Marcus who is a really good player.
So still having him ease his way back. But when the time comes, Rodney has to come out there and we know he'll be ready for it.
Q. (Question concerning Davlon Taylor.)
MICHAEL CLAY: You know what, for Davlon, once again, he's coming back from an injury. He was out there on kickoff coverage.
And the first one, he made a tackle inside the 25-yard line. And it's one of those things, you know, going into the game plan, we're trying to put the guys in their best possible position right there.
So we're trying to spread the wealth. But for Davlon, he's getting back into it. He came up this morning, we were getting into the game plan for Carolina, so it was really just easing him back in.
Davlon wants to help in any capacity, whether it's defense or special teams. So getting those guys out there and putting them in the best spot for them is what I'm trying to do with me, Joe P. and Tyler are trying to do.
Q. (Question concerning Andre Chachere.)
MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah, I think he's done an absolutely great job. He's got some versatility when we can do some game plan stuff, you know, moving him around. He's been nailing it as a gunner.
He made a huge tackle on Pringle on that kickoff. I mean, a one-on-one tackle against Pringle, who is a pretty good returner, strong returner. He made a heck of a play.
So Andre has done a great job and they keep getting better. Him and Zack, they're up in the office before the game plan's out there, trying to learn, trying to get ahead.
And that's just professionals be professionals and getting better and getting more familiar with our coaching style and our game plan. And they want to be ahead of the curve and they're doing a great job with it.
Q. You guys have had a lot of penalties as a team. But on special teams, only one or two. What's been the feedback from Nick about your work as far as discipline on that?
MICHAEL CLAY: I mean, that's one of -- when I first took this job, I really wanted to have a mantra of no penalties. I mean, that hurts the team. Especially if you only get so many plays.
And a penalty really hits the hitting yards, which Nick talked about a lot. So we're really conscious of that. Not just myself and the coaches, I mean, the players, they hear us, you know, harping on it.
As long as it comes down to the fundamentals and technique, that's all we do in training camp. Regardless who you're going against, when you're able to do that and help the team out not hurting us with those penalties, we're going to take pride in that.
And that's what we took pride at when I was in San Francisco. I think we had maybe three or four the entire year. So we're going to keep harping that.
It's only going to help the team more than anything else, is to keep the penalties off us and help the team.
You know, a penalty on that 44-yard return really could deflate us, but guys had their hands inside, running their feet, doing what they're taught to do. And it helps us.
So we're going to keep trying to do that, not just on special teams, like, offense and defense, we're going to become a better team with the penalties.
Q. Last year, Jake struggled especially on the shorter field goals. And he's been pretty automatic with that this year. I know you weren't here last year, but what are you seeing from him as far as that's concerned?
MICHAEL CLAY: I think just him getting back to the basics. I know during the offseason, he went back to going to what he did prior to last year.
You know, just staying fluid with everything, not rushing anything. Just staying within himself. And I think he's done an absolutely great job. But, also, it starts with Rick, with the snap, Arryn with the hold.
So the more familiar they had -- and they've been awesome working with each other and working with them. And so just, you know, keeping Jake in that mindset that he is. And he's in a great spot.
He works his tail off. From Wednesday to Sunday, he's ready to go. And it's starting to pay off for him. And, again, like I said, those 12 points really helped our team stay in that game against a very high-powered offense.
Q. What stands out about Carolina's special teams for you to you?
MICHAEL CLAY: They're a physical bunch. They got some guys -- they got Darrell Johnson from Buffalo, who I remember playing against last year. He's a big 6'6 that can run. Julian Stanford, Frankie Luvu, there's some skilled players that can run and they're physical.
And I think they kind of take after Chase. I mean, Chase was a very good special teams player in his career with the Giants and everything.
And so they've been doing a really good job of creating mismatches with their physicality and their speed. So it's a test. I mean, every week in and week out is going to be a test. Because all these special teams are good.
They provide different things to work on. But I think these guys -- our guys are going to be, you know, willing to go down there, stand up to the test and, you know, hopefully help our team out with the field position and bring a spark for this team.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports