Q. On the collision between Boston and Olamide, Olamide got pushed, but what's the technique that needs to get corrected there or the teaching point there?
MICHAEL CLAY: Really just to start off, it's never -- the guy that fumbles it always gets the brunt of it obviously because he's the one with the ball.
For us we have to sprint back and get to our drop point and kickoff return and at least get to square and we actually have some power to at least strike where we're not getting thrown back to the returner. It starts from seeing the ball kicked and sprinting back, really, to get yourself in position really to kind of mitigate you getting pushed all the way back.
Unfortunate situation. Obviously we don't want the ball on the ground at any point when we have a return phase up there. But like I kind of told the guys, it's football. Things happen in football, which it's fluke-ish or not, we can't put our defense in a bad situation, especially how we ended the half with the offense doing a really good job in a two-minute situation getting a field goal. We just have to keep that momentum going and not put the team at risk to losing the momentum we have.
Q. What are the factors that determine whether or not the kick returner brings it out and how much autonomy do they have?
MICHAEL CLAY: A lot goes into the game planning in terms of what the personnel is that we are going against and a lot of the times, there may be times in games where we had a set plan but guys go down with injuries and you're throwing a guy in there that didn't get as many reps, coming off the field kind of tired.
We don't want to put the players in a bad situation where they could get hurt or stuff of that nature with a mental error. So a lot of it is just fluid in terms of when we want to return and when we don't and things change as the game rolls on.
Q. What went into the decision after that play to fair catch every kick after that?
MICHAEL CLAY: It was one of those things where you want to steady the ship after that. We have that, they score really quick, then we went with a three-and-out, had a punt back to them. It was one of those things, trying to calm everyone to get everyone back on the right track.
I think you hear offensive guys getting back-on-track plays. That's what we're trying -- we are not trying to keep that, you know, ebb and flow of the roller coaster of the game. But I thought the special teams units they did a good job after that on the punt play of flipping the field for our defense, and actually knocking the ball off gunner, and unfortunately we didn't get the bounce.
But just like anything else, you don't want to dwell on one play and I thought the guys did a good job of at least trying to correct it, getting ready to get back on the field and moving on and trying to help out the team.
Q. You had that good return from Britain Covey to start the game, was that a design return that you put on or just Covey making a play on a line drive kick?
MICHAEL CLAY: We drop, what we are trying to do, more of a toolbox like, hey, we want to do this to this coverage unit to let Covey find his seam. Covey does an outstanding job. He has great instincts of finding the lane. You saw he made a couple people miss, Dane Belton, made him miss, Cam Brown two really good special teams players.
But it's really cool seeing the hustle out of the entire purpose team after getting their initial blocks. Eli had a nice little hit by -- got a guy running sideways that allowed Covey to cut back and you saw OZ, Grant, Tristin, hustling trying to get an extra block to get them in the end zone and so it was really cool to see the hustle after he bloke the initial wave of coverage.
Q. The punt return seems tailored to a specific play --
MICHAEL CLAY: I always ask the returners, what do they see. They obviously watch the opponent, kickoff coverage team, punt coverage team. Last week Covey ran up to the office before our punt return install and I really just want to get his input on it because he's a little bit more well-versed into that new rugby style college, because that's what they did. And Tyler Brown as well when he was at Michigan, they did a lot of that, how do you attack it in this way.
So just picking everybody's brains that had, you know, some either success or familiarity with it, I thought, so I'm always there to get the input from the players because I can't -- I'm not the one in between the white lines on Monday, Thursday, Sunday but they gave me enough input, I could at least try to manufacture a game where they feel confident, detailed, teach the guys that are blocking for him and you know, it's been pretty successful, at least this year in terms of our purpose team, flipping the field, getting chunk yards.
But literally all the credit goes to those players out there buying into the game plan and trying to execute.
Q. All your young defensive backs were playing well on defense started out on special teams. What did you see from them on special teams, I guess as they were starting out, or did you see things, qualities, traits, that made you think they could excel in defense as well?
MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah, I think it's almost the nature of the NFL. You know, you get young guys coming off college, they are the best players on their team. They try to, you know, make their way through special teams.
I always tell these guys when they first get in here for rookie mini-camp, I want you guys to succeed on offense and defense. I feel the most joy and pride when I see a guy that played a lot of special teams start on defense, whether that's your first or second year. Shoot, took Raheem six years when we were in San Francisco to now, and he's, what, tied for the league lead in touchdowns.
It's awesome seeing these young cats go out there, Kelee, Josh, Joe, Reed going out there from a special teams starting point to now being productive on defense.
And same on offense. I think it's really cool to see those guys grow. But it's, they understand that they may have to play one or two units still if they are starting and they take it with so much pride to get their job done. I mean, you see Kelee the last few weeks starting off at corner but he's still out there on purpose and he's doing a fantastic job. You see Reid, he's captain of our unit and he takes pride in that, coming up, hey, what do you see on this, what can I do better on that. It's really cool to see guys that do play a lot of offense and defense take pride in special teams.
Q. What was the experience like --
MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah, it's been, you know, any coach that I've had encounters with or coached with, they have always been positive with. Nothing that has changed between myself and JG. I think JG is a wonderful coach and better human being. You know, you see a lot of the guys in the building all the time but being able to be outside the building, his family, both of us enjoy playing some golf and getting around, getting away from football.
But JG is doing an unbelievable job down in Arizona first time in there. It's going to be nice to see him face-to-face, him and Rallis, but I can't speak nothing but good words of JG.
Q. Now that you've got a body of work, why do you feel like the transition has been efficient?
MICHAEL CLAY: Yeah, I think a lot of it has to do with just him being familiar with us, the specialists, myself, Tyler, Joe P. I think the big thing for us or myself is I'm not going to try to make him be someone who he's not. I want him to be as comfortable as I possibly can, and communication throughout the day, throughout the week, it's been fantastic.
I'm glad the transition was pretty seamless and he's been going a really good job punting at a high clip. 14 weeks, we still have two more weeks to flip the field for our defense. We are going to keep striving to did that but I think Braden has done an unbelievable job. All these guys, I can't speak high enough of these guys. They come in, they are willing to work but they also fun which is awesome. Football is a child's sport. You have to have fun to be able to do this at a high clip.
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