Special Teams Coordinator Brad Seely
Day Two of the Oakland Raiders Mandatory Mini-Camp is in the books, as Wednesday afternoon, the team was back on the field to progress in their offseason development. Following practice, special teams coordinator Brad Seely met with reporters to chat about his group, and what he's seen from them thus far.
Here are the quick hits from his media session:
**Seely discussed the addition of dynamic wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, specifically in the return game.
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"We're excited about him, we're really happy that he's on our roster. Obviously, in Minnesota he was an outstanding returner, and we feel like he can bring that to our table. He can also be a coverage guy for us on the punt team; it always comes down to how much offense is he going to play? I want to keep our guys as fresh as possible, and balance that with trying to get as many reps out of him as we can on the kicking team."
He talked about the amount of turnover in the NFL, and how it affects the special teams group.
"I think it's different for different years, it's always an allocation of your resources, who you've got to pay and who you can't pay,so sometimes it gets to be more, sometimes it's less. We do have a lot of turnover, which in one way we wish those guys were here because they were great fixtures for us on special teams, and really did a nice job for us. We'll miss them, but we also have some excitement here with some young guys. I think there's more of an attitude in our meetings that, 'hey there's more jobs open,' and more guys fighting for those jobs."
Even after 17 seasons in the NFL, kicker Sebastian Janikowski still wants to perfect his craft.
"He's very receptive to coaching, he's very coachable, and I think it's his work ethic. Guys don't stay in the league as long as he has without having a good work ethic. But until you actually coach him day-to-day, you see what this guy is all about, and there's a reason he's still playing at this level. He takes care of his body, he really works hard in practice, he wants to be good at his craft, and I can't say enough about him in that I've coached a lot of great kickers in my career, and you just put him in that list of guys."
Seely shared that for a lot of the rookies, specifically defensive back Shalom Luani, and special teams can be vital in them making the final roster.
"Those kind of guys, that really is their way in to the roster, it's what you do in the kicking game, and get noticed there. Hopefully you rise up, and you play for us in the kicking game for one to two years, and then you become a defensive starter. Somehow you just find a role for yourself and that's what he's trying to do right now. Again, he's one of those young guys that's hunger, very coachable, very happy that he's on our roster."
He acknowledged the talent punter Marquette King possesses, and shared how he can continue to improve.
"You know a guy like that, that has the talent he has, it comes down to consistency. Being consistent every day, being consistent every game, being consistent for all four quarters, making the plays that are going to affect us positively in the game. I think he's done a nice job of that since I've been here at getting better at that every year."
