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Ryan Bounces Back After Tough Opener
by Tom Fanning, Packers.com
posted 08/19/2008
For the first time during his three seasons in Green Bay, Jon Ryan is the team's lone punter in training camp. After getting off to a slow start in the preseason opener vs. Cincinnati, Ryan followed that up with a strong performance on Saturday night in San Francisco.
On a night where there weren't many bright spots for the Packers, Ryan finished with a 50.3-yard average on seven punts after averaging 37.3 yards on seven kicks in the preseason opener vs. the Bengals.
"I was happy with the way I punted on Saturday night," Ryan said. "I feel like I have been punting well all the way through training camp. I felt like that first game against Cincinnati I just got in a couple of bad situations and couldn't hit the ball the way I wanted it to."
One of those situations against Cincinnati came as Ryan punted from the Bengals' 44-yard line as he looked to angle the ball out of bounds deep in Bengals territory, but his punt went off the side of his foot for a 15-yarder. Despite the tough night, which also included a 14-yard punt under heavy pressure late in the game, Ryan said his approach during the week remained the same.
"I don't change anything," Ryan said. "I have my routines with the days that I punt on and how many balls I hit. I don't change it up. I just stick to my game plan."
Ryan posted four punts of 50-plus yards against the 49ers, with four of his kicks landing inside the 20-yard line. After having a solid night of coverage on Ryan's kicks for most of the night, the Packers did give up a 68-yard return for a touchdown by Allen Rossum late in the game.
"You always want to play well after you have a bit of an off week, but at the same time you've got to trust your skills and trust everything you have been doing and just go out and do what you have always done," Ryan said.
One of Ryan's off weeks came last season at Chicago, when he dropped a snap, had two punts blocked, and averaged 31.7 yards on three kicks in blustery conditions at Soldier Field.
But Ryan recovered from that performance in a big way the next week in the season finale vs. the Lions, posting a 49.0-yard average on four kicks, including a career-best 49.0-yard net average and a career-long 72-yarder that was downed at Detroit's one-yard line.
Ryan improved his net average to 37.6 yards in 2007, up almost two full yards from his mark of 35.7 as a rookie in '06, in part due to his change to a two-step approach from a three-step technique he had used since he was a seven-year-old. This offseason he worked on building his strength and cut back on how much he punted.
"In terms of workouts I kept that pretty much the same," Ryan said. "I stuck with Rock Gullickson's plan and spent the offseason here. In terms of punting, I scaled it back a little bit and didn't hit quite as many balls as I have during prior offseasons. I just kind of worked on quality over quantity and I think it is paying off. I think my leg is a lot fresher now than it has been in past years at this point of training camp.
"I'm just looking to continue to improve on everything because you can always get better. I just want to improve my consistency and keep my technique sound."
After competing with incumbent B.J. Sander for the punting job in 2006 and having rookie Ryan Dougherty on the roster to take some of the reps in last year's training camp, Ryan is the team's only punter this season. The team released non-drafted rookie Ken DeBauche the week before training camp began, but Ryan said his workload during this year's camp has stayed consistent with the past two years.
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"Coach (Mike) Stock has been really good with letting me kind of decide how many balls I want to kick and making sure that my leg is fresh," Ryan said. "I'm probably not kicking any more balls than I did last year or in '06."
One adjustment Ryan has had to make as punter and as the team's holder is working with a new long-snapper, as veteran Rob Davis retired after an 11-year career with the Packers. Rookie J.J. Jansen and first-year player Thomas Gafford were expected to compete for the job throughout the preseason, but Gafford was released earlier this month.
"It took a little bit to get used to J.J, but all of the kinks got out in May and June during the OTAs," Ryan said. "Now it is completely normal and we're comfortable. The operation times are good, and Mason (Crosby) is comfortable with him, so we're fine.
"We're kind of getting a chemistry between the three of us, and the more comfortable I get with him, the more comfortable Mason is as well, so I think that is important."
One area on special teams that will have some stability from last year is on the coverage units, where the team returns core players such as defensive end Jason Hunter, linebackers Tracy White and Desmond Bishop, fullback Korey Hall, cornerback Jarrett Bush and safety Charlie Peprah. The Packers went from last in 2006 in the Dallas Morning News' annual special teams rankings to seventh in 2007.
"I think you definitely saw improvement last year, and I think we are going to continue to improve," Ryan said. "I have a lot of confidence in the 10 guys in front of me out there. They work hard every practice and that always shows up in games." |
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