Detroit Lions punter Jack Fox is ‘kicking the crap out of the ball’

Detroit Free Press

Punter Jack Fox has been one of the bright spots on the team so far, thanks to his booming leg that’s helped the Detroit Lions flip the field.

Fox’s 51.3-yard net average leads the NFL. He’s also tied for first with no touchbacks and tied for sixth with four punts inside the 20-yard line. Of course, all of that is a team effort that relies heavily on the Lions’ entire punt-coverage unit.

“Jack is kicking the crap out of the ball,” special teams coordinator Brayden Coombs said. “He’s doing a great job in that phase, but we also have Dee (Virgin) and Tony (McRae) playing gunner, doing a great job. We have guys like Jahlani (Tavai) and Cheese (Christian Jones) who are playing 50 reps a game on defense — and Cheese goes down and drops a boom on the return on the last punt there — so it really is a team thing.

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“Everybody’s doing a good job in that phase right now. Listen, we’re two weeks in and we just have to stick with it every single week and make sure that there’s no let up. League rankings and stuff aren’t something we worry a whole lot about, but those are numbers that can all be ruined with one single play. We just really have to stick with it and keep going. But yeah, Jack really punted well the other day.”

Prater frustrated with himself

Lions kicker Matt Prater, who usually thrives on long kicks and holds the NFL record for the longest field goal at 64 yards, has missed both of his attempts this season from at least 50 yards. Against Chicago, he hit the right goalpost from 55 yards. At Green Bay, he missed wide right from 57 yards.

Don Muhlbach’s snaps on both attempts were high and it looked like Fox didn’t get the hold perfect on the 57-yarder. Coombs said it was incumbent on all three players to execute the kick, but noted that Prater is frustrated with himself on any miss from any distance.

“He’s a competitor,” Coombs said. “He’s no different than any of the rest of these guys. He’s frustrated with himself. I don’t think he’s discouraged. I think he knows that his numbers are going to continue to be called. I don’t feel any differently about him than I did two weeks ago.

“So those are two tough kicks, especially this past week. The conditions weren’t great and everything else wasn’t perfect. But Matt will be the first one to tell you he expects to make it, and he’s frustrated that he didn’t. I think he’s probably just antsy to get to Sunday and hopeful that he gets an opportunity to go hit the next one and go bang it through.”

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