WATFORD, England — Combining his 114 games as a player and 10-plus years as an assistant coach, Heath Farwell is nearing 300 games of NFL experience.
But none can match what happened from a start-to-finish special teams perspective in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 19-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 11.
“Never,” Farwell laughed during our phone interview. “I’ve been telling people that, ‘I’ve been around this league for a long time and I’ve never been a part of a game like that.’”
And what a game it was for Farwell, the Jaguars’ special teams coordinator and assistant head coach.
- On the opening kickoff, receiver Josh Cameron’s 91-yard touchdown was called back because of a holding penalty on tight end Quintin Morris and, after the play, defensive end Bryan Thomas Jr. was ejected for fighting Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter.
- Long snapper Ross Matiscik sustained a left shoulder injury on the Jaguars’ first punt, requiring defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton to handle the snaps.
- Trailing 17-16, running back Ameer Abdullah’s 53-yard kick return to the Eagles’ 47 ended with one second remaining.
- And as time expired, kicker Cam Little made a 57-yard field goal.
Get all that?
Exit Ross Matiscik, enter DaVon Hamilton
Matiscik was done in the first quarter. Three-plus quarters of punting snaps, field goal snaps and point-after snaps remained.
Enter Hamilton, whose
experience long snapping in high school combined with his willingness to do it made him the emergency option like last year against the Tennessee Titans.
So, how often did Hamilton truly practice long snaps?
“About once a month, I say, ‘OK, DaVon, it’s about that time. Let’s get you some snaps,’” Farwell said. “The reality is that it’s hard enough to not give up a blocked punt with your regular snapper. The emphasis we put on it, you have to get your normal snapper (plays) with your normal punt (protection unit) and your rookie personal protector (Cameron).”
Once Matiscik was ruled out, it wasn’t as easy as simply telling Hamilton he was in and wish him luck.
“You have to change the protection because he can’t block like a regular snapper does so you have to do a normal zone protection you knew (the Eagles) were going to get a big rush to test him,” Farwell said. “It’s a different thing.”
I asked Farwell about Hamilton’s high snaps. Was he overhyped, inexperienced or both?
“It’s easy to snap in practice and it’s easy to do them on the sideline, but when you get the heart rate up in an NFL game and are doing something that isn’t natural …” Farwell said.
Farwell didn’t have to finish the sentence. Stuff happens.
“DaVon did the best he could and he did great because most of the time you have an emergency snapper, those can be a disaster and kicks can be blocked and snaps can go over the head of the punter,” Farwell said.
And holder Logan Cooke corralling the snaps?
“How great is Logan?” Farwell said. “The athlete he is to be able to catch the ball standing up, get the ball down and get his foot out of the way and spin the laces and for Cam to trust it and believe it and saying, ‘Get it down and I’ll make it,’ this group believes in each other.”
Ameer Abdullah’s kickoff return
A high snap by Hamilton contributed to Little missing a point-after attempt with 3:20 remaining. Philadelphia went ahead 17-16 with eight seconds remaining.
This is when things really got nutty.
Farwell called “Right Double Four” for the return. Running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., and tight end Tanner Koziol would double-team one Eagles player and the other eight players would have single blocks.
The play developed well from the start.
Abdullah was able to get a running start on the kickoff. On the front side (Abdullah’s right) of the return, he received kick-out blocks from Cameron, Morris and linebacker Jahlani Tavai. On the back-side, linebackers Branson Combs, Dennis Gardeck and Jalen McLeod and tight end Nate Boerkircher executed single blocks. Downfield, defensive end Danny Striggow blocked his man.
Abdullah broke a tackle at the Jaguars’ 45-yard line and then dodged kicker Jake Elliott before he was tackled with one second remaining.
“It’s one of those things, you work on it so much in practice and you’re hoping it shows up in a game,” Farwell said. “I told (coach) Liam (Coen) on (Oct. 11), ‘That was the best practice we had,’ and it was a walk-through because we just got off the plane. But in terms of pad level and moving our feet, which has been an emphasis the last couple weeks, guys took (the coaching) and ran with it and it showed up.”
Cam Little’s field goal
Two weeks earlier against New England, Little’s 70-yard field goal attempt had enough distance but was just wide as the first half expired, so he had plenty of leg strength to make a go at the 57-yard attempt following Abdullah’s kick return.
Farwell’s view from the sideline is useless for determining a kick’s accuracy. But as soon as Little struck the football …
“I knew it was long enough,” Farwell said. “I know his swing and I feel like I’ve watched his swing about 10,000 times so I could hear it.”
The next positive sign was Little’s reaction.
“I just knew because I don’t know if he took one step before he knew it was going in,” Farwell said. “It just showed how much he knows his swing and the confidence he has in himself.”
Little celebrated with his teammates in the end zone. Farwell had the kind of emotions that make all of the hours working on game plans and contingency scenarios worth it.
“It was one of the coolest experiences,” Farwell said. “That feeling you get … that’s why I love this game and that’s why I’ve never gotten away from it in the last 20 years. That’s why you can never get away from that adrenaline rush and that thrill. To have an opportunity to win a game and help your team win and come through with a big kickoff return to set it up, these are the types of games and types of wins that loom large come January.”
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays ("First Coast Football Friday" 4-7 p.m.).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars asst. Heath Farwell on win over Eagles: 'Why I love this game'
