Jeremy Springer 11/5: “You want to cover kicks now, the last thing you want is touchbacks”

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Ask away.

Jeremy Springer (0:01)

I'd just love to get your thoughts on Cam Acord and what you know about him.

SPEAKER_3 (0:07)

He was here, obviously, and then just his units.

Jeremy Springer (0:09)

Well, I know Cam from just crossing paths quite a bit, whether we're on working guys out at the same time, when I was with the Rams and whatnot. He had Joe Houston here, was a really close friend of mine, so I've known Cam for a while, he does a great job. He did a great job last year with the Giants when he was there with the Giants, and he's got those guys playing hard. It's a big physical unit. I mean, really, the NFC North is a big physical group of teams right there, so we're going to have to match that. And he's got the right guys in the right places. He's got some good players.

They're playing really hard for him, and they got them rolling right now.

SPEAKER_4 (0:40)

Andy missed a kick last week. I think he's below 80% right now. What are you seeing from him in terms of consistency, and what does he have to do to sort of just get a little bit more consistent?

Jeremy Springer (0:48)

Yeah, I think just the biggest thing when Andy is just taking practice to the games, and I think we've had a lot of good practices. Just being able to, hey, when you get in those moments, man, when you're judged on one kick, you've got to be able to make it. You know, if the protection is fine, the hold's fine.

And just being concentrated and locked in, and knowing that, man, I mean, every kick matters. It really does. I don't care if it's a 14-point lead or we're down three points or whatever, maybe in this league, but we've got to make those, we've got to be a little more consistent, and I'm going to challenge him and challenge myself to coach him better, and we always feel that way in our room, whether it's a punter kicker, long snapper, or it's the L5 on kickoff. Like we all got to play consistent, and we're all held to a standard, and everyone's expecting us to do our job when our jobs, when our names called.

SPEAKER_3 (1:29)

Over your career, what have you found is the best way to get that consistency from a player like Andy?

Jeremy Springer (1:34)

I think it just depends on the kid. Like I think every kid's coached differently, and they react differently how you coach them. I think with Andy, it's just like sitting down with him and showing the things that when he does it right, how it looks, and when he doesn't wrong, how it looks, and just making sure he's honing on those little fine details. As a kicker, there's not a bunch of things that you need to really think about out there, like a middle linebacker or quarterback would have to. There are details, our details as a kicker are a lot less than there would be for a quarterback. So just hone in on those three or four things that he needs to be locked in on, and when your name is called, like it's the most important kicker of the year, no matter what kick it is, whether it's a PAT, or it's a field goal, it's a short field goal, or it's the game-winning field goal.

SPEAKER_1 (2:09)

Based on the way he kind of rebounded a little bit last year, is there a level of confidence, optimism about him?

Jeremy Springer (2:15)

I'm never wavering on his confidence at all. Like he's a guy, I've always said this, he's very level-headed, never too high, never too low.

But we all, like I said, we're all held to a standard, we all got to go do our job when our job's called. And in the NFL, man, you're held to a very fine line of failure because it's just a very competitive league, so you just got to be on it when your name's called. And that's one of the challenges to him and to all of us, right? We've always got to up our standards, especially as we get later in the season. And these kicks are going to matter more and more each game, so we got to make sure we make them.

SPEAKER_5 (2:45)

Big picture you mentioned going over the details and how it's focusing on those details. So can it be with the kicker in general, like a more mental issue or more physical issue, or are they kind of one and the same?

Jeremy Springer (2:57)

They're kind of one and the same just because that position is not, I would say, physical. All the kickers in the NFL got big legs, and they're all good enough to do it. I think it's just being locked in and understanding where you're at in the field, understanding the wind, the weather, and then trusting your holder, your kicker, I mean, you're holding your snapper as well. And all those things play a part into it. But at the end of the day, I think it is a lot more important than it is anything else.