Consistency is the Goal for Arryn Siposs Despite No Competition Pushing Him
PHILADELPHIA – Competition is everywhere here at Eagles training camp, except for three positions - long snapper, kicker, and punter.
It’s understandable at two of those spots. Rick Lovato has been consistent as the long snapper and Jake Elliott is coming off a season in which he converted 90 percent of his field goals and was a perfect 44-for-44 on PATs.
Then there’s punter Arryn Siposs.
He was good early in the season, not so good late.
The expectation among some fans and media was that he would be replaced in the offseason. Or, at the very least, another punter would be brought in to push for the starting job. Mock drafts were filled with the Eagles taking a punter on day 3. It never happened.
It’s Siposs’ job, for better or worse.
Asked following Saturday’s practice if he was surprised the Eagles didn’t at least bring in another punter to push him, he said: “Maybe a little bit, but that’s not my decision in the end. That’s up to them how they want to do it. Maybe that’s a sign from them that they fully back me to get the job done, and I appreciate that.”
Siposs pointed out his role as the holder for Elliott’s kicks and that Elliott had a Pro Bowl-caliber season.
“I like to believe that I had some part in that,” he said. “I think the organization sees that, too.”
Through the first 12 weeks of his first NFL season, Siposs was dynamite. He had two games where he averaged more than 50 yards and four games between 45 and 50 yards. Also in that span, he had 13 punts downed inside the 20.
Over the final five weeks of the regular season, his best average was 42.5 yards, and he threw in a 27.5 clunker against Washington on Dec. 21. He had four punts pinned inside the 20.
“I think the consistency is no different than a wide receiver or a running back every day,” said special teams coordinator Michael Clay prior to Saturday’s practice. “You build up a good day. You don't want to go back and say, hey, I missed a couple punts here and there."
The perception was that Siposs wore down, and he agreed that may have been part of it. He also pointed out that the birth of a daughter at the end of November may have played a part, too.
“You kind of focus on that a little bit more and maybe it takes a toll a little bit on the body,” he said. “That’s all part of it. I adjusted to that. I’m better for it. I go into this year fully confident with the whole group that we’ve got.”
Siposs went into the offseason with a plan devised by the Eagles’ special teams operation and Clay.
“We gave him some stuff to work on and I thought he's done an absolutely great job of doing those things we asked him to do,” said Clay. "...It's just stringing these good days for him to get his confidence up and work to better himself in basically his second year as an NFL player.”
Siposs stayed in Philadelphia for a good portion of the offseason and put the plan into place with help from special teams quality control coach Tyler Brown.
He also went back to his native Australia and, as that continent transitioned into winter, he found the windiest park he could find near water and practiced his punts.
Really, though, Siposs believes that his drops, particularly the angle of the drop, were what needed most of the work.
“I think just being able to cut it through the air a little more,” he said when asked how much a little difference in the angle changes things, “and getting that spot consistently all the way through is pretty key to it all.”
Time will tell if the offseason work helped, and it starts as soon as Friday night when the preseason schedule gets underway at Lincoln Financial Field against the New York Jets.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
