Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer (12.1.22)
Opening statement:
“Good afternoon. Obviously, coming off of a big win where we played probably one of our best games on special teams. Felt really good about it. Want to build on that as we go down the stretch here. We have a big opportunity going down to Houston. They are very, very good on special teams. They have good specialists. They have good core guys, some of which we have had here in Cleveland. They have done a nice job with that so far.”
On if K Cade York’s plant leg is what led to the missed FG last week:
“Anytime you hit a ball like that, you are constantly adjusting. It may not be the plant foot. It may be his follow through or what we call his chin discipline and make sure that his eyes stay down. There are a number of factors that could come into that. He just did not hit the ball well on that one. The thing about Cade is obviously I was extremely proud of the way he hit that 51-yarder – that was a big kick – made an early PAT, missed the 39-yarder and then quite frankly, he stepped up and really drilled the PAT to tie the game at the end. I was extremely proud of the way he reacted. That is hard for a young kicker. It is hard for any kicker, especially a young kicker after missing a field goal he knows he should have made. We went into overtime because of that kick, and ended up winning the game. He kicked off well. He hit three kicks well. He has to obviously eliminate those mistakes going forward, especially a 39-yarder, but he knows that and he is continually working on that.”
On if there is a concern that most of York’s missed FGs that were not blocked occurred at home:
“No, I don’t think so. I think really the ones he has had blocked have all been low kicks. Our protection has been really good. The snap and hold has been good. We had one bad snap in Baltimore that (P) Corey (Bojorquez) handled perfectly. We made that PAT, if you guys recall. Cade had a really good day yesterday. He is going to continue working his craft. We expect him to make really every kick because he is talented enough to do that. He just has to keep working and keep getting better.”
On if holding is often underappreciated:
“It is absolutely underappreciated, yeah.”
On how difficult it is to have solid snaps and holds for FGs and PATs:
“I think (LS) Charley (Hughlett) is a really good snapper, and he makes it, I don’t want to say easier, but he makes it less difficult to be a holder. Corey has really worked extremely hard since he got here. I know that was one of the criticisms he had leaving Green Bay was he wasn’t a great holder. He has developed into I think a very, very good holder, and he is only going to get better. He works hard at it. He has got a great mentality and great temperament to be a holder. He does not panic. Even if one might be a little bit off, he will get it down. For us, it is the snap, the spot, the tilt and laces in that order. He has worked really hard being quick and smooth.”
On WR Donovan Peoples-Jones being more successful at punt return last week:
“We have been trying to get him to run downhill since he has been here. He is not a quick twitch guy that is going to make people miss right at the point of attack, but he is very athletic, and once he gets going, he has some pretty good speed. Our defense forced nine punts the other day, and anytime you have that many opportunities and the way that we blocked on punt return and a lot of those were fourth-and-long when you can go double vice, and that really helped us, as well. Their young punter, he is a good young punter, but he hit us a few line drives that really helped, as well. I think it was a combination of a lot of different things. I thought we did a good job blocking their extremely good gunners. I thought we did a really nice job blocking inside, finishing with clean hands and really good technique at the point of attack. Donovan did a great job of hitting those seams and had a really nice day for us. The field position on Sunday was huge, as you guys know, punt and punt return especially.”
On WR Anthony Schwartz’s contributions as a gunner on punt team:
“He gained a lot of confidence the last few weeks. We have been able to use him a little bit more at gunner. Anthony is a guy who probably never tackled anybody until he got to the NFL. Now he has a couple of tackles and should have three on punt. He really did a nice job on Sunday on punt return as a corner in a holdup role. On kickoff return, he had a real nice block on that long kickoff return we had. He did a nice job as a gunner, as you guys saw. He is only going to get better the more confidence he gets. He is the fastest guy on the field so we got to utilize that speed somehow. Proud of him, too. He has done a nice job.”
On overall feelings regarding York:
“I think Cade is extremely talented. I believe in Cade. I told him that. I won’t get into our entire conversations – that is between Cade and I – but I really believe in him. I believe we made the right decision to draft him. I believe we are going to make the right decision in sticking with him. I think he is a very talented young man who is only going to get better, and the sky is the limit for him.”
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