Patriots adjust to kickoffs
New rules mean yet another strategy change
SUDBURY — As the NFL has tinkered with the rules of the kickoff through the years, the Patriots have adapted and flourished.
Their kickoff coverage unit has ranked in the top five in yards allowed per return in four straight seasons. When the rules stopped rewarding touchbacks — the ball was placed at the 25yard line rather than the 20 starting in 2016 — the Patriots all but perfected a new optimal strategy. Stephen Gostkowski mastered the ability to land the ball inside the 5, booting it high enough to allow his coverage unit to get into position. By the end of the 2017 season, the Pats were the only NFL team holding opponents to an average starting field position short of the 25.
“It was a welcome change,” Gostkowski said yesterday at the Julian Edelman ProCamp at Lincoln-Sudbury High. “It was nice to do something different. When you kick, you do the same thing over and over and over again. To have something different, it was a treat for me.”
The rules are changing again in 2018, and teams must adjust.
The strategy that made the Patriots so successful under the previous rules might not be ideal this season. Now, kickoff coverage units will not be allowed to get a running start before the kick, which means they won’t get downfield as quickly. Meanwhile, return units must have eight players within 15 yards of the ball at the beginning of the play. Only three players are back deep. The play could end up looking like a punt.
“The spacing is going to be very different,” Pats special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “There’s going to be a lot of space. We’ll see how that plays itself out. (It) could be advantageous for the return team, could be advantageous for the coverage units.”
As Gostkowski said, it will be “impossible” to tell how kickoffs will look until the preseason.
“The speed of the kickoff and the kickoff return in practice is nothing like it is (in a game),” Gostkowski said. “It’ll be interesting. We just have to see how other teams do it, and if they’re going to want to bring (the returner) out or keep him in for more touchbacks. We had the same approach with the last kickoff change, and I’m sure we’re going to have plenty of different options that we’re going to try.”
It’s too early to know what tweaks the Pats will make. Gostkowski said the team worked on the play “for like two days” during the spring. One thing that stood out: The Pats had many coaches involved during those drills, including special teams coach Joe Judge, assistant special teams coach Cam Achord, and former University of Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema (whose role with the team remains unclear). Longtime director of football research Ernie Adams also watched closely as the Pats practiced kickoffs under the new rules.
According to Slater, there has been “a lot of dialogue” regarding the changes to the kickoff. Players and coaches are still bouncing around ideas.
Slater, who has been a special teams star for most of his 10-year career, is ready to embrace a shift in strategy.
“The way that the play is designed, the way it’s coached, the way it’s executed now, you wouldn’t even recognize it from what it was 10 years ago,” Slater said. “It’s been fun to evolve with the play and experience those changes. I’m thankful (the NFL) has made an effort to save this play, and I hope it’s something we can keep around for a long while.”
Countdown to camp
Still one of the league’s most accurate kickers, Gostkowski is getting ready to embark on his 13th Patriots training camp.
“I’ve got a lot of white hairs on my beard now, and I’m maybe a little thin up top,” Gostkowski joked. “But it’s a blessing to think that I would have played professional sports for over a decade . ... I’ve got nothing but gratitude and thankfulness to be in the position I’m in.”
Gostkowski, who is entering the final year of his contract, said he’s hasn’t given thought to how much longer he’ll play.
“You kind of reassess things every year,” Gostkowski said. “It’s easy, after a certain year, to say, ‘I might do this, or I might do that,’ but as long as I’m happy and healthy and feeling good, I’m going to try to (play).”
Gostkowski’s special teams counterpart, Slater, is gearing up for his 11th training camp.
“It’s an exciting time, but you know the work that lies ahead,” Slater said. “You know that we’re going to have to take things one day at a time and try to get ourselves better. These last few days, I’m going to try to enjoy as much time with my family as I can, change as many diapers as I can, and help my wife out because I’ll be gone for a while.”
Slater and Gostkowski led campers through various drills yesterday. Edelman was not present because of a scheduling conflict.
Rookies report
The Pats hold their first public training camp practice Thursday. Veterans report Wednesday.
The team’s rookie class will have a few extra days to get acclimated, as first-year players are scheduled to report today.
This group of rookies is highlighted by first-round picks and former University of Georgia teammates Isaiah Wynn and Sony Michel. Wynn, an offensive lineman, and Michel, a running back, both made appearances at Edelman’s camp . . . .
Michel, who was selected 31st overall, remains unsigned. He’s the only member of the team’s nine-man draft class who has not inked a contract.