Raiders K Daniel Carlson's Entire Mini Camp Comments
HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders held a mandatory mini-camp today, and K Daniel Carlson spoke after practice.
Carlson is considered by many to be the best K in the National Football League, including this reporter.
We have all of his comments that you can watch, and read the transcript below:
Kicker Daniel Carlson
Q: Obviously, there was a pretty big rule change to kickoffs this year. What were your thoughts when you heard about all that?
Carlson: “Yeah, I mean, they definitely didn't ask me about it when they made that rule, but it's part of the league. They're ever evolving and if it does save injuries, that's great. Hopefully that is the case if we're going to stick with this rule. We'll just have to adjust along with all the other teams in the league and try and figure out ways to take advantage of the new rules, just like offense and defense do when rule changes happen with them. Player safety is huge, but obviously you want to be able to perform at the highest level and not be limited by rules. And so, we're trying to figure out how to do that now and roll with the punches.”
Q: Your kickoff coverage team was really good last year and there were ways schematically that you could take advantage. Is that disappointing then that something that you guys mastered pretty well gets taken away from you?
Carlson: “Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think not only for field position, but also for kind of the momentum after a score to go pin someone down inside the 20. I think that's a huge play for a team to set their defense up and to get guys fired up. And so, we'll see kind of how much that shifts. I hope there aren't too many fair catches and guys are willing to man up and play football back there, and hopefully we can kick it to them. So, we'll see different options of what we can do this season as we go forward. But yeah, it'll be a learning curve just like everybody else in the league, so hopefully we can just take advantage of that as Raiders.”
Q: Obviously, you had a great friendship and a working relationship with Trent Sieg. How is it coming with Jacob Bobenmoyer?
Carlson: “I mean, I think a specialist unit, it's a lot like a baseball and pitcher kind of relationship, where the three of us are out there together and we really have to trust each other, rely on each other. So, we've worked on building that. We started working kind of day one once he signed, once he got in town, we were out on a high school field practicing together just on our own and stuff. Just starting to try to build that trust and relationship that'll hopefully carry over onto the field on Sundays.”
Q: AJ Cole was talking about how you guys are still trying to adjust to having a new long snapper and about some things that he had to adjust to. What are some things you feel like you have to adjust to with Jacob?
Carlson: “I think it's a little easier for me. I'm not the one having to catch the ball or anything like that. AJ is kind of the mediator between me and Jacob anyways on field goals. But obviously Trent was a very close friend, played with him for five years almost. So, to have that kind of consistency and then move to something else, we’ve got learn to grow together in that. Like I said, just carrying over the off the field relationship to the on the field relationship and having that trust when we're out there for big moments, I think that's the biggest thing. And so, right now it's just about getting reps, continuing to get reps and get comfortable and get the timing with each other. I'm excited for what's ahead. I think we can continue to, hopefully, me and AJ do a great job, produce for the team and hopefully get some wins here.”
Q: Is there anything you feel like you've done throughout this offseason that could make you better going into this next year?
Carlson: “Yeah, there's always room for improvement. I missed kicks last year. There's room for improvement in a lot of different areas. Just like any other player, each day at practice, each day in the offseason, I'm trying to get better, and especially in the offseason I get the chance to kick more because I don't have to be so fresh for a game coming up or something. So, I think this is a great time for me to push myself, get a lot of reps, whether it be with Jacob or just by myself, figuring out my muscle memory and my technique, and hopefully just continuing to improve on something I hopefully have been doing well the last few years. But like I said, the goal is always perfection. I may not ever get there, but that's always going to be the goal each season.”
Q: Do you use this time to observe the new players? Any strong first impressions? Carlson: “Yeah, I do like to sit back, and I have the time obviously to watch some new players. But I have no idea what I'm doing out there, I would be a terrible football GM. I would be a terrible coach. I'm a former soccer player that just kind of fell into this. So, I'm still learning, just like a lot of NFL fans are, which is fun for me to kind of sit in awe of what some of these athletes are able to do out there.
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