- 3 months ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Patriots Friday, where each week we talk to one of the coordinators from the New England Patriots.
00:05Coordinators from the Patriots on WEI Afternoons are brought to you by McFarlane Energy,
00:09the region's most dependable provider of home heating oil delivery, as well as expert HVAC services,
00:15at McFarlaneEnergy.com, and brought to you by Cape Cod Lumber,
00:20your local TimberTech supplier number one in premium decking.
00:24This week, it's Patriot Special Teams Coordinator Jeremy Springer.
00:27Mr. Springer, how are we doing this week?
00:28I'm doing great, man.
00:31How about yourself?
00:32We're good.
00:33I mean, how could we not be good?
00:34You guys are on a win streak.
00:36You're in first place.
00:37Things are rolling.
00:39You know, the weather's not too bad.
00:40The rain went away.
00:41Like, we're celebrating life here in New England.
00:43So is there an energy, a vibe around the building?
00:46I know I heard Steph Diggs say, don't drink the Kool-Aid,
00:50and we're serving up some Kool-Aid when I tell you you're in first place
00:52and you're on a winning streak and all that.
00:54What's the vibe or the energy around the building these days?
00:56You know what?
00:59I think at the end of the day, everyone in this building knows how long the season is.
01:05I mean, it's literally, to me, it's the beginning of the season, to be honest with you.
01:08So, like, the noise outside is not really a factor.
01:11But I think the vibe inside the building is, you know, guys believing in the things that the head man is preaching,
01:18like our culture, our identity, and trying to really practice our identity on a daily basis.
01:23And that's kind of how we're worried about is, like, are we a reflection of what we're trying to be as a team day by day?
01:28And we're just taking it day by day because it literally is, like, the season doesn't end today, right?
01:34We've got so many more wins for football, and it's like we've got so much more we can be better at.
01:38And that's what we're trying to do is just take one day at a time.
01:41I thought we had a good Friday today.
01:42And I'm really – we can talk about it.
01:44I'm only worried about tomorrow right now and getting ready for tomorrow so that we can perform our best on Sunday.
01:49Okay, so you're telling me that you didn't wake up with a smile on your face Tuesday when you heard that you guys were in first place in the AFC East
01:58and that no one has whispered to you, hey, if we win Sunday and the Colts lose, we've got sole possession of the one seed in the AFC.
02:06Nah, I'll tell you what.
02:08I don't really – I don't listen to TV.
02:09I don't watch TV.
02:11It rots your brain anyway, Jeremy.
02:12Good call.
02:13Yeah.
02:14I'm literally on to trying to win and beat the Tennessee Titans.
02:17That's about it.
02:19So you mentioned the head man, Mike Vrabel.
02:21We all know this is – you're playing a Tennessee team that he coached for a bunch of years, and he lived down there,
02:27and he set the tone for that organization.
02:30How has he handled this week?
02:32I know he said to the media this is not some win-one-for-the-Gipper kind of week,
02:36but how has he handled this week and that potential distraction or storyline?
02:42Exactly like you would think Mike Vrabel would handle it.
02:44Man, we're focused on the opponent, and that's the opponent in Tennessee.
02:48And we know that in the NFL, man, this thing is a week-to-week basis.
02:52So, like, this team right now, in my opinion, like, I just look at special teams.
02:56They're a damn good special teams unit.
02:58They do a phenomenal job in all phases.
03:00And my goal is to, you know, get the possessions through our offensive defense, be the best that we can.
03:06And Vrabel's really stressed that amongst all three phases.
03:08Like, what can we do to win this game and focus on this game?
03:11And there's really been no talk about anything outside other than that.
03:14It's just focus on the game and focus on what we need to do to win it.
03:18Yeah, I mean, you even had Steph Diggs in the locker room earlier this week saying,
03:22don't drink the Kool-Aid, don't take the cheese as far as people trying to, you know,
03:25blow sunshine your way and buy into the hype.
03:28So, that makes a lot of sense, Jeremy.
03:30I would like to go back to last Sunday's game real quick.
03:33So, there's the 4th and 7, and offense decides to go for it.
03:39It would have been, I believe, a 58-yard field goal for Boragallis.
03:43Now, he banged through the 52-yarder against Buffalo.
03:47I say that would have been good from 72, and that's outdoors, no less.
03:51In a situation like that, do you go up to Vrabel and say,
03:55hey, coach, just so you know, he's good from 60 tonight.
03:58Do you advocate for the kick, or do you just wait until they come to you and say,
04:03like, how's his range, how's he doing, what can we ask of him tonight?
04:06Yeah, that's all done in pregame for us.
04:09Like, everything from a yard line perspective and where we're going both ways,
04:12if we're outside or if we're indoor, we already have a plan in place.
04:16So, I know.
04:17And I think, you know, the flow of the game, the aggressiveness of Coach Vrabel
04:22and those situations when they're talking about offense, defense, and stretch,
04:24I think that's something that they decide on.
04:26And for me, I'm always ready because I'm on the headset,
04:29and if we want to kick it, we kick it, and that we want to be aggressive, let's do it.
04:32And I just love that about Raves.
04:33Like, if we're going to be aggressive, let's fucking do it,
04:35and excuse my language right there, let's do it, and let's go out there and be the –
04:39sorry about that.
04:41That's why – no, no, don't ever apologize.
04:43That's why we love you, dude.
04:44You're the real deal.
04:46No, I got in coach mode, but I just love the aggressiveness, man.
04:50Like, if we go out there on offense and get touchdowns, man, that's good for our team.
04:53It's good for Drake and those guys, and I'm all for what's best for the team,
04:56in that situation, and I'm all in on whatever we choose to do.
04:59Okay, so how often does what just happened happen?
05:03Because in the real world, do you get fired up, like,
05:05talking to your mom about something or family or friends and getting to coaching?
05:09I'll tell you what.
05:10I'll tell you what.
05:11When I come home, it's hard to turn it off.
05:13So my girlfriend, you know, she knows when I get home if I'm, you know,
05:16cussing a little bit more.
05:17She just knows I'm in coach mode.
05:19I've been around guys all day.
05:20Hey, you know, I'm talking with Travion Henderson about this.
05:23I'm just in coach mode, and it's just hard to kind of turn it off sometimes.
05:28Yeah, we have to turn it off, unfortunately, for our job,
05:30because the FCC gets really mad at us if we get in coaching mode.
05:34I did want to ask you, so speaking of Boragolis,
05:38he seems like he's settled in nicely in terms of putting the ball through the uprights.
05:42But there's been a couple little hiccups here on kickoffs,
05:46not hitting the landing zone.
05:48Yeah.
05:48What are the challenges to that?
05:50What are you asking him to do?
05:51How has he been sort of working through that?
05:53Because that's obviously kind of a relatively new thing in his career and in the league.
05:58So what's going on there?
05:59Yeah.
06:00That has nothing to do with Annie.
06:02I get kind of mad at myself.
06:04I get a little selfish sometimes because I've already expressed how much I love that dirty ball
06:09and how effective it is when you work around the league,
06:11when teams are able to do it consistently,
06:13your drives are starting inside the 20-yard line.
06:15So it's a major, major deal.
06:17So, you know, we hit it on the first two reps.
06:20They were good kicks, and I got a little greedy with it.
06:22And sometimes on those kicks, man, like it's hard to be consistent with them.
06:26And you see it around the league, you know,
06:27that third or fourth one could get a little hairy where it's in front of the 20.
06:29So that's all coaching.
06:31I just need to be better about putting him in the best situation.
06:34I know he can directionally kick the ball middle, right, left,
06:36and he can hit the dirty ball from time to time,
06:38but it doesn't need to be every rep.
06:39So, again, that's just me learning through it, being a little selfish,
06:42being a little greedy, and sometimes when you do that,
06:43it's a high-risk, high-reward type of deal
06:45because you don't want the ball at the 40-yard line.
06:47And ultimately, that's a coaching mistake on myself.
06:50So, Jeremy, obviously you've got, you know,
06:54we believe the best punt returner in the NFL right now with Marcus Jones,
06:58but who's the backup punt returner?
06:59I only ask because Marcus is having, I say, a career year both ways,
07:04but he plays so physically on defense and, you know,
07:08he's, what, a 5'9", a buck 85, but tries to hit everybody like he's Ronnie Lott.
07:13I'm just kind of concerned that he's going to get dinged up
07:15and then you're not going to have Marcus back there for, you know,
07:17a week or two or maybe a punt returner.
07:19You know what?
07:20Yeah, yeah.
07:21And you know what's funny is when you guys ask me about him playing kickoff return,
07:24that's why he doesn't.
07:25There's that right there.
07:26But, no, in all seriousness, we've got a number of guys that can back him up.
07:31You know, you've got Pop Douglas, you've got Chiz if he's active,
07:34and then you've got Kyle Willems as well.
07:36So those three guys can all do it,
07:38and those are all three guys that work at it all week long.
07:41So, you know, we have all those guys backing up ready to go in case, you know,
07:44God forbid, 25 goes down.
07:46So you had, and we're speaking with Patriots special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer
07:50here on WEI Afternoons on a Patriots Friday.
07:53You mentioned Chizum there.
07:54He was active.
07:55You had him in the kickoff return role.
07:58I'm wondering, what do you like about that?
08:00He's probably not as fast as Gibson, I'm going to guess.
08:03But what do you like about him in that role?
08:06Is that something you see him developing in?
08:09Yeah, I think, you know, when you're the fourth or fifth receiver,
08:14or, again, the third or fourth running back right now,
08:17all those guys got to be able to return the football in this new dynamic kickoff
08:21because it's such a valuable play now
08:22because you're running six to eight kickoffs a game or returns a game.
08:26So all those guys are always working.
08:28And someone like Chiz, I thought last week, made great decisions.
08:31He knew where the ball was going.
08:32He caught him on the run.
08:34He didn't run out of returns where it forced him to do penalties.
08:37It was more on, like, if we had a penalty, it was more on technique versus him.
08:40So he's just a great decision maker.
08:41So he's a guy that will continue to work and develop, and I love his attitude.
08:45I love the way he works.
08:45And he's a guy that I'm always going to, like, trust because I know he's going to work
08:49throughout the week and he's going to be prepared, especially when you're playing a team
08:52that's maybe putting the ball on the ground a lot.
08:54That's where that valuable preparation comes into play
08:57because if you can't handle those balls on the ground, like, you're going to be starting
09:01a lot of drive side to 20 or making really poor decisions that's going to really hurt
09:03the football team.
09:04And I just think he makes great decisions because of the way he works.
09:06So I hope he continues to develop and continue to ride with him if that situation comes up.
09:12And if it doesn't, then just get him working and be ready to go.
09:15Earlier you said, as you were preparing this week to take on the Titans,
09:21they had some really good special teams.
09:23What kind of problems could they potentially present you with on Sunday
09:26in a game where, you know, the coaching staff has now just been shaken up
09:30all of five days ago?
09:33Yeah, and that's the thing, like, in the NFL or really in college, too,
09:36like, because a head coach gets fired doesn't mean, like, the organization is in shambles.
09:41Like, these guys are all professionals.
09:43They're all getting paid to do what they do.
09:44So they're going to work, and they're working even harder.
09:46I always say that sometimes you get your best coaching done whenever you're losing
09:49or you're in those situations because you're doing everything you can
09:51to expand all resources to win a football game.
09:55And I know the guy they have over there in Jim Fossil.
09:58I mean, he's one of the OGs and one of the best in the game.
10:02And he's got those guys playing really hard.
10:04They've got a returner in DK, a rookie that's the NFL leader in all-purpose yards
10:08right now in the return game.
10:10They've got dynamic guys in the rush game.
10:12I mean, this is a really good football team on special teams,
10:15and that's all I look at because I'm a special teams coordinator,
10:17so that's what I focus on.
10:18And I've been telling our guys all week, man, this is a real game.
10:22I mean, it's going to test our special teams unit from the first quarter
10:25to the fourth quarter.
10:26And we've got to be on our screws, and we've got to help our defense and offense out.
10:29We've got to create momentum on the road in the NFL.
10:32It is never, ever, ever, I can't stress enough, like an easy win.
10:35It's just never going to be that way.
10:37And so we've got to come out and play four quarters of a clean football for our team.
10:41And it's a big challenge.
10:43I mean, fake city, rush game, return game.
10:46I mean, every phase, these guys do a great job.
10:47So it's a big challenge, and I'm looking forward to it.
10:50Jeremy, we're now six-plus weeks into the NFL season with last night's game,
10:55and the only kickoff return for a touchdown is your guy, Antonio Gibson.
10:59Are you surprised by that?
11:01Did you expect more big play returns?
11:03Why aren't there more?
11:04How do you see this coming together?
11:07Yeah, I'm kind of, you know, it is what it is because it's such a hard play
11:13for those guys on kickoff return.
11:15You think about it, you're five yards away from somebody that's running full speed at you,
11:19and you're trying to keep your body in front of them.
11:21Because as soon as they get outside your framework, you can't grab them.
11:25You can't because if you do, it's a holding call.
11:27So it's just a really hard play to do, and you've got rules and regulations
11:30in terms of formations that you can do in any way,
11:32and then all these kicks that you're getting, right?
11:34Like you're getting kicks right, middle, left, on the ground.
11:37I mean, it's a hard play on kickoff return to coach.
11:39It's a hard play for the guys to understand.
11:42And, like, it's just hard for those guys to block guys for that long.
11:45It just is.
11:45So you're not going to see as many big returns as you wanted to,
11:49and that's just a plain fact.
11:50And you've just got to make sure you get guys back there to understand the returns,
11:53and you've got to continue to just coach the little things on it
11:55because it really comes down to the details of your blocking technique.
11:58But it's a hard play, man.
12:00I can't stress it enough on these guys that play defense
12:03and not used to blocking, like, tight ends.
12:05You don't have 15 tight ends on the roster, so you can't play everybody.
12:10And your top two tight ends are going to play all offense,
12:12so you're not going to use those guys.
12:13So it's a challenging play, but it's fun.
12:16It's fun to be on the side of trying to be creative with it
12:19and trying to get better at it.
12:20And every day, every week, I feel like I'm just, like,
12:23I'm learning something new on how to coach it better
12:25when I'm watching around the league.
12:27And it's an ongoing growth mindset type of play
12:30in terms of how I'm trying to coach it.
12:32Jeremy, last one for me.
12:33Earlier today I had a chance to speak to a news anchor from Nashville
12:36who is also a radio host and has been covering the team for years.
12:39And he said personnel-wise they're pretty banged up
12:43and there's a reason why they're only averaging 14 points a game.
12:46However, he said he would not be surprised in any way, shape, or form
12:50if the team, because of the fact that Mike Vrabel's coming back to town,
12:54because it's the first game coached by an interim head coach,
12:58not only tries an increase in tempo,
13:00but also reaches into the bag for every trick possible
13:03in all three phases of the game.
13:05Are you guys getting prepared for that?
13:08And also, you know, don't forget,
13:10not that it's the same team by any stretch,
13:12but, like, this is the home of the Music City Miracle.
13:14So have you guys been going over any potential –
13:17I mean, it's one of the greatest special teams plays of all time.
13:20Going over any potential trick plays and whatnot this week?
13:25Yeah, I think when you play in a coordinator that you know
13:28has a history of fakes like Jim Fossil does
13:30and a history of just being a great, you know, creator of fakes
13:33and Jim Fossil, that's what he is.
13:35And on top of that, you know, with the interim head coach.
13:38And he was once an interim head coach when Fisher got fired at the L.A. Rams.
13:42So you just know the history of what he's done and what they're doing,
13:46and we just got to be prepared.
13:48Every four down is a huge play for us.
13:50And that's why I said it earlier about this team.
13:52They're a really good team on special teams.
13:54I don't take that for granted.
13:55You don't take these games on the road in the NFL for granted.
13:57It's going to be a tight football game.
13:58It's going to be a very good football game.
14:00And we're doing everything we can to be prepared for that.
14:02And my goal is to, you know, not lose the possession of the game,
14:05get it back to our offensive defense with great positive momentum
14:08and good field position.
14:09If we do that, I'll be happy at the end of the game if we get a win with that.
14:13All right, Jeremy, we can make a deal then.
14:15You guys keep winning.
14:16We'll keep serving up Kool-Aid.
14:17And you guys will keep refusing to drink it.
14:19Is that all fair?
14:21That's all fair, man.
14:22We've got 11 games, man.
14:23A lot of football left, dog.
14:25All right, man.
14:25All right, thank you.
14:27Good luck this week.
14:27We'll talk to you in a couple weeks.
14:29All right, you guys have a good one.
14:31Thanks, you too, Jeremy.
14:32That was Patriots Special Teams Coordinator Jeremy Springer,
14:34brought to you by Cape Cod Lumber, your local timber tech supplier,
14:38number one in premium decking.
14:40And that was our first, I think, Fitzy?
14:43That was our first Coach Got Too Comfortable
14:45and Gotten Coach Speak interview we've had this year.
14:49And as you would say, Fitzy, I'm here for it.
14:51I love when they let their guard down and you get a little insight
14:54into when it's rolling, baby.
14:56It's rolling, baby.
Be the first to comment