Q. Jack Driscoll played something like all but four snaps on Sunday. What does he do? I know obviously backups like him have to play in every phase but that's a lot of snaps, high percentage. What does he do that you like?
MICHAEL CLAY: You know, with Jack, we really like what he did in college in terms of his tape at Nebraska. What Jack does every day he comes in with his heart. He's a Colorado boy. He comes in, hard hat. He's ready to go.
Be alert for the throwback, something like that. It's preparing and getting ready for that. I thought the guys did a really good job in terms of understanding where we were on the field, the down and distance and playing that.
And if you look at it, Josh Sweat and Derek Barnett are doing a heck of a job rushing can out of that D state look, putting pressure on the punter, hey, I can't just sit here and throw it; I've actually got to punt if they do have a fake on or not.
Q. Been a couple of years, but Eric Wilson broke into the league as a special teams guy. What does he need to do to have a role on your special teams?
MICHAEL CLAY: Eric comes in every day. He's willing to work. We know when he was at Minnesota he was a very good special teams player. And he still is. One of those things we're trying to give everybody as much reps as possible. During the course of the week, how it as it unfolds, we only have so many people on the roster that can suit up and everything.
Eric has done a fantastic job. We'll keep giving him the reps that is going to make him eligible to play on Sundays.
Q. What's this week like for a coordinator? You have so much success on the field. You're so dominant. People talk about handling adversity versus success. How does the week change for you when you guys had so much overall success with this team?
MICHAEL CLAY: It doesn't change whatsoever. From a special teams standpoint, it wasn't our best week in terms of our coverage unit. We want to come back and get better as the season goes on.
As alluded last week, the weather is changing. The ball won't travel as far. We need to tighten up coverage units to help our defense with a longer field. It's not one of those things where we're feeling good -- there's always something to get better at.
In terms of that, we don't change what we do from week in, week out. After the Carolina blocked punt, it wasn't like we were sitting on a high horse with our feet up. We were trying to get better each week and we have to get better this week in terms of coverage units to help our defense.
I thought our punt return did a good job kind of flipping, saving a first down and a half by Greg when they did hit a good punt. So we just gotta keep playing disciplined ball. Gotta eliminate those penalties that do hurt our offense. Just getting better and better each week regardless of the outcome of the week previous.
Q. Is there a coach you've been around that's a good comp for Nick in terms of like a style of coaching or leadership?
MICHAEL CLAY: I think it's your style and leadership just changes. No one's going to be carbon copy of the same. So it's really interesting to see how many people I work under and just their different coaching styles. So with Nick, he's very up front. He's honest. Energetic, which is great.
I think everyone I've been around has been energetic and they all care about it. So it just comes in with who you're dealing with, because different personalities, different people, but no one is one in the same.
Q. What makes him unique?
MICHAEL CLAY: Obviously it's just how he approaches every game. He doesn't change, regardless.
MICHAEL CLAY: Obviously it's just how he approaches every game. He doesn't change regardless. He's going to be upbeat and let you know when things have to get better. He's up front for it.
So working for Nick has been outstanding in terms of just understanding. Obviously I didn't know him very well until the interview process but getting to know him since I took the job in late January, early February, he's always the same guy each week regardless of the outcome of the game, regardless what's happening in the offseason. He's always going to be the same guy. And it's always comforting to know I'm coming into a work environment with the same guy coming in day in, day out.
Q. You don't have Jalen Reagor this week. What determines who fills those roles?
MICHAEL CLAY: Just how practice goes and everything. Like I said, we always try to get people ready regardless of the situation. You saw Jalen go down in the first quarter. Greg Ward came in, didn't miss a beat, had a 12-yard return that helped save us there.
Injuries do happen. That's the beauty of special teams. You have to be prepared to get the people behind them ready to go. When Jack Driscoll went down, I had to shuffle the field goal team. Didn't miss a beat.
When J.J. went down, Richard Rodgers took his spot on some of the punt returns. Didn't miss a beat. It's our job as coaches, myself, Joe P. and Tyler, to have everybody ready who may be active on Sunday to fill in at any point.
When Jalen went down, Quez, you be the kick returner; Greg, you be the punt returner for this. Greg did a heck of a job fielding it, making one guy, getting vertical and making a big 12-yard return for us.
Q. (Indiscernible) the leverage penalty. How does -- how tough is it to see these guys with these vertical abilities jump over the lines versus potentially picking up a penalty (indiscernible)?
MICHAEL CLAY: It goes, for field goal, everything comes down to technique. It's only a two-second play. And it's physically demanding, those two seconds. You get a defense that trying to keep points off the board, and you've got to know, when you are blocking that, if you do have a guy that has the ability to jump over the pile or over the line, you want to rise with power. Maybe you clip him and he doesn't get his hands up right there.
It just goes to the technique, everyone just going back down to the technique we've been teaching since OTAs to help deter that. And obviously we were able to get the leverage.
Herbie and Landon did a great job. He couldn't get high enough, so he had to put his hands down on Rick right there. That's an extra 15 yards and an extra possession for our offense.
At that point in the game, the game was pretty much handled at that point. But you never know. When it's a close game they do so that we do get the leverage and it gives our offense the opportunity to turn 3 into 7 right there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports