COURTESY OF CLEVELAND BROWNS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
On kicking at FirstEnergy Stadium toward the Dawg Pound and if that has been a point of emphasis:
“Going down there, just getting the reps and picking out target points towards the Dawg Pound end and towards the other end are very key and vital to my success. Other than that, you just have to go down there and hit a good ball. Odds are if it is windy and you do not hit a solid ball, it is going to be harder to make that kick, but my goal is to hit in A ball every single time. If I do that towards Dawg Pound, there will not be any issues. That has been my goal is to go down there, keep the same technique, hit a solid ball and just have no worries or no issues at all and just be confident myself.”
On if he has come up with his own system for charting his kicks at FirstEnergy Stadium the best ways of kicking the perfect ball:
“Yeah, going down there last year, along with this year, you check the winds before the game and where they are coming from so you will know that advantage point of how it is going to hit and where it is going to hit but still just getting used to it. You can’t rely on that stuff all the time because winds change, things change and weather changes. When we are down there, it is important that I warm up towards the Dawg Pound end to get a feel for it, and then as I start warming up, I hit more down in that end because odds are likely or not the other way, it is going to be at my back or it will not be as heavy in the face. When we kick towards the Dawg Pound, I just have to find my lines before the game, warm up, get used to that wind, know the kind of ball I want, the hold I want and then we just roll from there.”
On if the team has discussed the possibility of him punting if P Jamie Gillan is not available in an emergency situation, including COVID-19:
“Yeah, absolutely. I have been working on my punting. Punted with Jamie in the offseason a little bit. Just knowing that if something were to happen to him, I am up to punt and I feel completely comfortable doing that just with what I did in college. We even had a punt last year on our fake field goal. I feel confident my abilities to do that so yes.”
On sending special teams coordinator Mike Priefer videos in the offseason with his wife recording the sessions:
“It was different. In the neighborhood we live in down in Texas, there is a middle school field, a turf field, and it was like the only one open through corona and all that. I would go out there anytime I could, and she would come out, as well, and film me and whatnot. It was not all the time [she would film], more so on the weekends. During the week, I would go kick on my own or I would kick with a buddy of mine who lives down there who played for Baylor in college. Oher than that, I would reach out to local high school kids, I would kick myself and then I helped them with lessons and things like that. That is kind of what I did through corona, and I think we got good work in and I helped others out.”
On if he feels stronger:
“I stuck to our strength coaches’ protocol in the weight room and cut some fat. I feel good. When it comes to strength and everything, yeah, you can always strive to get a stronger leg, but my goal is to improve the accuracy and keep the same leg strength I had last year. Even though I think it has improved. I just want the accuracy to go up and I want to continue making kicks for this team.”
On if he has considered what it will be like kicking without fans in stadiums:
“I have not really thought about it too much. It is going to be different obviously kicking in an empty stadium during a game, but we are all a part of history and we are all a part of this journey so you have to adapt and overcome everything that is thrown your way. I think it will be interesting. It will be weird at first, but we are going to have the crowd noise pumped in there, and it is still going to be a game so there are still going to be those pressure scenarios where you are locked in and you are ready to roll because we are trying to win games here and we are trying to change the culture and just continue doing what we do.”
On working with Gillan in the offseason and what he expects from Gillan this season:
“Jamie and I are pretty close. We talk all the time. We hung out throughout the offseason, and when we came up here, we came up about a month or month and a half earlier before camp started. We would kick and punt together. I try and push them a little bit. Punt-wise, we would play a little directional game. He has a bigger punt leg than me, obviously, but when it came to consistency and things like that, I would try my best to push him so he got some competition out of it. We enjoyed ourselves doing that. It was fun. For the season, I think Jamie is going to have another great year. He is stronger. He is bigger. He is hitting really consistently and hitting really well. We really want to just perform on special teams the way we can.”
On missing more PATs than field goals in his rookie season and if he finds PATs to be more challenging:
“No, I would not say that at all. Coming in, that is one of the major changes from college to the NFL is the PAT distance. If you look at the other rookies who came in last year, I believe we had similar stats. For me, it is just a mental thing I have to overcome, and I have been doing that and I have been hitting pretty well. We are just going to continue to remember the techniques, stay confident in myself and put the ball through the posts.”
On if the FG team is identical on PATs and FGs:
“Yeah, it should be exactly the same.”
On his new hairstyle:
“That is the mullet right there.”
On deciding to grow a mullet:
“Me and Jamie were just chatting on FaceTime in April or May, and it just kind of came about. We are both growing one right now, seeing who can grow the better one. I will let other people decide who has the better mullet.”
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