San Francisco 49ers special teams coordinator Brant Boyer spoke with reporters after Monday's training camp practice. Here's everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Were you an advocate for the DL Titus Leo pickup? What's he considered to be as a special teamer?
"I saw that he got picked up yesterday. Certainly, any guy, especially at the D-line position, that can play, you see those big guys all over the league. I think it would be really useful if we had a big guy that could play a bunch of special teams because those guys are damn hard to block and they're tough to cover. I think that any time you can add a guy that's played before on teams like that, and there's numerous other guys that are doing a nice job, I think it's really beneficial to us for sure."
President of football operations/general manager John Lynch said that WR Deebo Samuel Sr. is fully committed to returning. What does that mean to you? Is he now the kickoff return guy?
"Well, certainly when they told me that he was coming I was like, 'Hell yeah. Let's go.' Because he is a difference maker. He's obviously proven and he's done it at a very, very high level. I'm really anxious, we were all talking about it, to get him in our scheme. I've watched him and really liked what he's done throughout his career, liked him coming out of college. He's a hell of a player and he's really tough to tackle. He's got speed to take it to the house all the time. Again, any time you can add a guy like that to the roster, you're jumping up for joy as a special teams coach."
It's obviously early, but what's your process for evaluating two punters and what you want to see and ultimately making a decision?
"Like you said, it's really early, but you want to put them in the pressure situations and see how they handle it. We're rotating days and we're kicking a little. Trying to get more reps, so we get more on tape and trying to do the best job we can at evaluating. Then we'll choose one from there. They're both doing a nice job. Both have strong legs. It's just the consistency that you look for, so that's going to be the key is how do they perform in the preseason games and things like that. Just like any other position, it's all how they perform in the preseason."
Is there any difference with a left-handed holder versus a right-handed holder for the kicker?
"No, because it's all based off the kicker. They've got to line up the one way. I think that they're both doing a really good job. Both are smooth holders. Both have had extensive work at holding. That's why we brought them here. They've done a nice job so far, and [K] Eddy [Piñeiro]'s comfortable with both of them."
I don't know how many rookie punters you've had in your career, but I'm going to guess that none of them were 27 years old like P Jack Bouwmeester is. Do you see a typical rookie with him or can you tell that he's had experience?
"Well, I think obviously he's a very mature guy. He's doing a super good job. Both of them are, like I said. I think that you go out, you try to find the best guy that you can, no matter what their age is, to compete because they're going to be relied on to help us win games. I think that Jack is doing a nice job of competing in this competition. I think that the longer we can see him, the better. Now, can the roster handle both of them for that long depending on injuries and stuff like that? Obviously, you want to keep them for as long as you can to see them in more games and things like that. Hopefully we can do that."
The rookie WR Will Pauling seems to catch punts pretty naturally. How do you see that competition back there?
"There's a handful of guys and, to be honest with you, hopefully somebody emerges. I think [WR Jacob] Cowling, Pauling, [WR Jordan] Watkins, all those guys are back there. [WR] Junior Bergen. There's a big handful of guys, and hopefully they can make great decisions and catch the ball first and foremost. That's what's most important. Pauling's got a really good skill set. There's a lot of guys that have good skill sets. It's a matter of, can they make the right decisions? Can they block a gunner when they're supposed to? Can they let a ball hit the ground when they're supposed to? Can they go up and catch a fair catch when they're supposed to? There's a lot more that goes into it than just returning the ball. We're trying to find the guy that has the whole package, that we can count on every week, that can catch the ball and make great decisions."
How different is this training camp for you compared to last year when you were not sure what the kicker situation was going to be, and now you have Eddy who's entrenched in the position?
"There's a lot of things that are different this year, obviously, but specifically Eddy. I think that there was so much going back and forth on what was going to happen and things like that that it's good to have a guy that has done it for me before and for quite a while. He did a great job last year. Couldn't have done a better job. He's worked on some things this offseason. I think he's come pretty far in quite a few things. He's worked on his kickoffs. You can tell he's worked in the offseason despite getting his contract. I was happy as hell to see him get paid for his work. He's worked a long time and stuff like that. I'm really happy for the guy and I think that everybody knows that they can count on him, so it's in a good situation. As far as me coming last year and being in the second year of the system, everything, all the schemes, what [assistant special teams coach] Colt [Anderson] and [special teams quality control coach] Ronnie [Ronald Blair III] do a great job of helping me with, all the schemes, all the stuff, they've been in that for a year. Where we are on punt team and our return schemes and everything are way ahead of where we were last year. They have experience of all the situational stuff that I'm giving them, so it's a welcome relief, that's for sure."
You mentioned Eddy getting paid. Did you have any moments of worry that that might not get done? What was it like when you found out?
"I've lost too many in the past to not worry about it. You always worry. As a coach, my whole deal is I want to see these guys succeed, and I want to see them get paid. That's what they're in the business for. I've had guys, I mean [Seattle Seahawks place kicker] Jason Myers and you could go down through the list, that I've lost, but as bad as it hurts you, you're happy to see that they succeed and have great careers. Was I happy to have Eddy back? Hell yeah. Because you know what you're going to get all the time. Plus, he's such a good guy and good guy for the room and stuff like that, so I was happy to get him back. But any time one of your main guys is up for a new contract, you hope they get paid, but you hope that you can retain him as well."
Eddy talked about how up until last year he didn't attempt many 50+ yard field goals. Did he surprise you with his leg strength?
"No, just because I've seen him for so long having him at the Jets and stuff like that. I had no worry about his leg strength. Evaluating him coming out of college, too. His leg strength is not an issue for me at all."
What is difficult about judging punters in practice? You talked about putting them in pressure situations. How much can you really simulate that at practice?
"You're right. It's really hard to simulate. It's the game situations. It's easy to do out here on the field, but how are they going to react when there's 75,000 people watching you in a national TV game, or something like that. You try to put them in situations like the two-minute situations and things like that. How good a holder are they? Whatever it is. You're trying to put them in situations that they'll be facing in these preseason games, and then you try to evaluate them from there. When they do get to the preseason games, how do they function? Are they super nervous in pregame? Are they super nervous when you ask them, 'Hey, man, the games on the line here. We got to do this.' Do they execute it when you ask them to? It's really hard to simulate that in practice."
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