Avoiding a DeSean Jackson punt return by booting the ball out of bounds every time is unrealistic, so Mike Westhoff will just coach up his punt coverage team the best he can.
Westhoff, the New York Jets' special teams coordinator, said the Philadelphia Eagles do a good job creating a pocket when rushing the punter, which doesn't allow the punter time or space to aim the kick left or right. Because of that, Jackson will have a chance to return almost every punt that comes his direction.
"We've gotta be able to get the ball up in the air, get our flyers down under it and try to squeeze the field and limit this guy to his touches," Westhoff told the media Thursday. "That's the goal. But it's not as though you can just turn and punt it out of bounds always. It's much more difficult than it appears."
Jackson is one of the best players in the NFL at moving sideline-to-sideline, making a play out of nothing by moving around until a lane becomes available.
"What you have to do is as you come down, you stay in fits... and squeeze him and then just continue to him," Westhoff said. "Always try to set an edge, force him to a side, not just let him bounce. But the big thing is, make it as difficult as you can for him to catch the ball and just go. And you do that mainly with the punter. You get a good ball up into the air, make him fair catch it, get the right hang time, squeeze the field, and then get down and play off blocks."
Westhoff has another interesting matchup on kick return, as the Jets' top-ranked return team will be up against the Eagles' No. 1-ranked kick coverage unit. The Eagles are well-aware of the special teams task that lies ahead of them, as well.
"On the returns, you know I've been in the league since 1991, I don't think anyone, I'm almost positive no one's had the consistency as a coach, whether he was at Miami or with the Jets as (special teams coordinator) Mike Westhoff has had in the kickoff returns," Eagles special teams coordinator Bobby April told the media Thursday. "He's, I mean year-in, year-out, not only one of the best in all phases but in particular the kickoff return. So they're always formidable.
"Now, you couple that with a guy like Joe McKnight who's really gifted – you know, I'm from New Orleans and Knight's from New Orleans, he played high school ball for one of my friends, he was the number one player in the country coming out of high school so he's talented, you have to have talent to have that."
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