Eagles Special Teams Coordinator Bobby April Out To Improve Kickoff Returns

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The Eagles’ kickoff-return average of 20.9 yards ranked 31st in the 32-team NFL. Their 7.07-yard punt-return average ranked 28th. "We were terrible," the Eagles special-teams coordinator Bobby April told Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News. "We had terrible results … It’s hard to put a finger on [exactly why], we were just really inept. I can only say the ineptitude comes from me, because what we were asking guys to do, they were unable to perform it. Either they couldn’t or they wouldn’t. In either case, that’s a mistake by me … We were really poor, the poorest I can remember in a long time. Just nothing. We made nothing happen." "We’ve got to play with a lot more tenacity by the blockers, a lot more preparation – solid preparation – during the week, particularly the kickoff return," he said. "The kickoff return demands a tremendous amount of cooperation from the rest of the team. That has to come innately from the player, or I have to force it out of them … you’re talking about a play that covers a lot of space. That means you need a lot of guys involved in the play … If [that week’s opponent] runs a twist between the 3 and the 4, and we get a sloppy 3-4 look from the scout team, we’re not really preparing ourselves properly."

Source: The Redzone