Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay discussed placekicker Jake Elliott and the approach with Elliott when practice resumes on Wednesday at the NovaCare Complex.
Clearly, there is an unwavering belief in Elliott, as Clay discussed during Tuesday's press conferences at the NovaCare Complex featuring all three coordinators.
"It's one of those things where you have supreme confidence in him because he's done it for so long and he's hit so many big kicks," Clay said. "Again, I always want to make sure our guys are positively reinforced, and they know we have their back regardless of the situation. We're going to go down swinging for them.
"When he comes into tomorrow, he's going to get his kicks in. We're going to make sure he gets those kicks in those elements because we're in the Northeast. There's going to be a lot of games that will come down to wind, cold, rain, and just going back to our process and not losing the joy of football. That's the big thing. I told the guys yesterday on Monday, 'Don't lose the joy of football. Once you lose the joy of football in this league, it's going to chew you up and spit you out quick.'
"We get to play a child's game, but it's often at a higher clip. Don't lose the joy of this game."
Clay's special teams, which have been so good this season winning the hidden yardage category, play against an aggressive and chaos-making Pittsburgh special teams unit coached by Danny Smith, who started his NFL career in the 1990s on Ray Rhodes' Eagles coaching staff and is still at it with the Steelers.
"You see they play hard for him," Clay said. "They rush extremely hard. You've got (Steelers safety Miles) Killebrew, who's been doing it for a long time, (Steelers linebacker Nick) Herbig.
"They rush really hard and they play hard for Danny. They do a great job in terms of their scheme and their rushing, and believing they can change the course of a game. This is going to be a very, very good test for us going forward. I always respected Danny. Danny had (49ers Special Teams Coordinator Richard) Hightower when he was at Washington, and I was under Hightower at San Francisco. So just that kind of connection. Danny is one of those legends in the special teams community that gets all these guys to play hard, play relentless, play fast.
"They've got great players. (Steelers wide receiver) Calvin Austin is a great punt returner. They've got (Steelers running back) Cordarrelle (Patterson), Killebrew. The list could go on. They've always done a great job. It's going to test us this week to be prepared and be on our P's and Q's.
"It's going to be a physical game, and it's going to be one of those very similar to Baltimore where it's going to be coming down to maybe special teams having a huge impact on the game."
Defense prepares for another mobile quarterback
Running after the mobile Bryce Young on Sunday gave the Eagles a preview of what's in store this week with another on-the-move quarterback coming to town: Russell Wilson has rejuvenated his career and sparked Pittsburgh's offense and he will be a test for the NFL's No. 1-ranked defense, which has already played the likes of Young and, one week earlier, Baltimore's Lamar Jackson.
"It's always a delicate balance," Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio said. "Ideally. you want to get good pass rush with the four and be able to play the coverages you like. Sometimes with these mobile quarterbacks, that's not always possible. You may have to add a guy or two. And play.
"Yeah, he's mobile still. Really playing good. It will be a challenge. It will be very similar to what we just had a couple days ago.
How good has Wilson been this season since he stepped in over Justin Fields as the starting quarterback? Wilson is 6-1 as a starter, with 12 touchdown passes and only 3 interceptions, completing 64.8 percent of his passes.
Kellen Moore: Jalen Hurts is doing an "excellent job"
The passing game was the subject of the Kellen Moore portion of Tuesday's press conference, and in his time, Moore praised quarterback Jalen Hurts for all the things he has done in this 11-2 season.
"I think Jalen has done an excellent job, first and foremost, of protecting the football. Having one turnover since the bye week, he's done such an incredible job of that. You still see aggressive throws. You still see him throwing downfield," Moore said. "This game (Carolina) from a production standpoint in the passing game, we didn't hit the explosives and all those things. Sometimes, unfortunately, those types of games happen, and this is the challenge in the NFL. You have slugfest games like this, and you find a way to win, and that's ultimately the number one objective.
"I think first and second down probably can find ways to improve there, but I think situationally credit to our guys of hanging in there, two-minute drive, four-minute, first downs and passing situations, red zone, two touchdowns. There's plenty of smaller, little details I thought we performed at a high level.
"A lot of times as the season progresses, it comes down to details. For us, I think we've got great opportunities to grow through this. I don't think anyone's overreacting necessarily. I think it's just a bunch of competitive guys who want to give themselves the best chance to help the team win and perform at their highest level.
"We've got a bunch of really good dudes. They all work really, really well together. I think that's the beauty of it is we get to spend each and every day together doing this thing. I think we got the best of the best."
