Jason Sanders – December 31, 2024
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Tuesday, December 31, 2024
K Jason Sanders
(What was it like in Cleveland hitting that 54-yarder off the crossbar and were there any elements that made the kick nearly short or was it just a matter of how the kick ended up?) – “The grass wasn’t very strong, so it made the plant a little harder so I wasn’t able to get into it as much. But the suspense of hitting the crossbar, I hope never happens again. I stared at Jake Bailey the whole time and was like, ‘tell me it goes in.’ Like just give me the result. So I hope that suspense never comes ever again, but it was a good kick in a tough stadium.”
(What’s it been like for you to be on this run of so many consecutive field goals made and not only consecutive field goals but field goals of 50-plus as well?) – “It feels great, but it’s just one of those weird seasons where I feel like any other year might be a strong Pro Bowl candidate, but I think there’s a lot of guys around the league doing so well this year where a year like this might not even be good enough. But personally, it’s been great and I’ve been enjoying this year a lot.”
(I’m doing something on the grind and kind of the mental and physical grind that you guys all go through at this time of the year and can you tell me about what it’s like mentally? You’ve kicked this team into the playoffs twice – the Jets game and the Dallas game. You’ve made clutch kicks, but at this time of year, how are things different? What do you see out there? What do you feel?) – “Everybody’s going through their own thing right now. Week 17, 18 – everybody’s going to have some sort of injury whether it’s a hip, knee, arm. But just being able to show up on a Wednesday, be a professional and do your job that needs to be done; if everybody does their part, that’s a recipe for success. So as long as you show up, be a professional, weeks just keep stacking.”
(And what does it mean to you to be able to kick the team into the playoffs? I remember you counting off one, two, three, four five after the Dallas game with the five field goals and what is that like to be able to deliver that for your teammates?) – “For them to be able to lean on you and you come through like that is – that’s what team sports are about. It’s not just one person. It’s the whole team, but to have those memories and those accolades for this team, it’s something special to me.”
(LB Jordyn Brooks talked about making this the best week of practice that you guys have had so far. What will that look like? How does that feel? Kind of talk to me about – I know your practice is a little bit different than everyone else’s, but what does that look like? How does that feel?) – “It’s just back to what I said. If everybody just shows up and does whatever they need to do to win a football game, that is the recipe. So if you can just show up and crank out a Wednesday, crank out a Thursday at the highest level, Sunday should come pretty easy.”
(I know sometimes kickers compare their swings to a golfer and I’m wondering when you run out there, do you bring a different club depending on a 40-yarder versus, “okay, this is 52,” “this is 57” – do you consciously bring a different club onto the field?) – “It depends on the factors. If there’s wind involved, if there’s slippery surfaces, if it’s cold out. I think around the 56 range, you might need to do a little something different, but usually within 53-ish, you should have the same swing. But if you’re hitting into the wind, like for example, I had a kick in Seattle this year where it couldn’t be my normal swing. I had to put everything I had into it. It was a tough kick, but there’s kicks like that where you have to bring a different club for sure.”
(And you’ve obviously been very successful from 50-plus this season. Did you do anything differently in your strength and conditioning exercises in order to maximize your leg strength at this point in your career?) – “No, but I didn’t run from it. Like I knew last year or the year before that the 50-plus percentage probably wasn’t as good as I would like it, but as long as you’re not running from things and you can look at it in the face, just understand what you need to be better at.”
(In order for you guys to qualify for the postseason on Sunday, you need both your win and a Broncos loss, so will there be any scoreboard watching from you at MetLife Stadium?) – “I have a unique position where I’m in the game maybe five plays the whole game, so I might look around if they post it, but I think Calais (Campbell) said it best. We’re going to probably root for the Chiefs this week.”
(Now that we’re almost a year into it, I was curious about your thoughts on the new kickoff rule, the dynamic kickoff rule?) – “I don’t know what the statistics say, but I think the injuries have gone down. I think overall the play doesn’t look as cool. I think the original kickoff used to be a great way to start a football game, and now I picture the Super Bowl, just the kicker standing back there and guys facing each other just ready to go. I don’t know. I don’t really pay too much attention if it’s going to stay or go. I don’t really know much about it, but I would say I’m not hating it.”
(And then quick follow-up on a totally different topic. How satisfying is it for you to have gotten back to that level you were at, like in 2020, you were basically the best kicker in the NFL and while the level was pretty good the next few years wasn’t quite at that level – now you’re back to 2020 Jason Sanders, how satisfying is it to have been able to get back to that level?) – “Yeah, every year you go through some kind of up or down. You face a lot of adversity, but as long as you know who you are personally and you can treat every offseason as good as you want to treat it. It feels good to be doing my part on this team for sure.”
