Take a look at top quotes from Special Teams Coordinator Ryan Ficken, G Matt Feiler and LB Troy Reeder after Tuesday's practice:
Special Teams Coordinator Ryan Ficken
On today's practice:
"It was great being out here, another great day of work. These specialists have been doing a great job in terms of being consistent, putting a good day's work each and every day, continuing to get better. I'm really impressed with the core guys and how they've been working, how they've bought in. [They've] really worked with the technique, fundamentals, things we're trying to lay the foundation [for] and get off the ground but I think it's been a good camp so far. We're trying to continue to build on each day and move forward."
On what the team is emphasizing on special teams aside from consistency:
"The urgency, playing technique, fundamentals, we're trying to lay the foundation that will allow us to be successful in all these situations as we continue to move forward in camp. We're going to make sure we get in these situational parts of the game. Full operations, punt, kickoff and all of that as we continue to move forward. But right now I think we have a good foundation before we can go ahead and get to the second level."
On how he's gotten buy-in from the players:
"I think a lot of it is on the players and the head coach, how he approaches them. These guys are some good players. [General Manager Tom] Telesco and his staff have done a great job building this roster. And obviously Head Coach [Brandon] Staley has done a great job targeting the guys that they want. But we got great guys on this roster and they want to be great. They work hard, they're professionals and they want more and more each day. We have to make sure we continue to work with them on that and get them better."
On DeAndre Carter:
"I hadn't been around him as much honestly, just seen him around, watching him and studying him around the league, but I've been really impressed with the way he is in terms of being a professional, how he approaches the game, the way he goes on the field and means business every time. His acceleration and his burst is better than what you see on tape. I'm pleased with where he's at. I'm pleased with the other returners; they're working hard out there to try and win those spots too because we're not solidified but we know what we got. We have to make sure we continue to improve in those situations at that position."
Guard Matt Feiler
On keeping the left side of the offensive line intact:
"It's always good if you can keep consistency along the line. There's always going to be moving parts and stuff with injuries and what not but just to keep that consistency on the left side is going to be good for our young group."
On what's jumped out to him about Guard Jamaree Salyer:
"He's a big, big guy. He's strong, uses his size well. He's another one of those guys who has a hard work ethic and he's going to be good too."
On how the intensity has picked up in recent days:
"I think it's just getting the pads on for the first time in a while [and] finally being able to hit and get contact against each other. Plus, with the fans coming out yesterday, you kind of have that excitement in the air. The intensity turned up yesterday and a little bit more today knowing that we're getting that much closer to games."
Linebacker Troy Reeder
On first few practices in pads:
"It's been cool. Getting used to playing with the new group. There's a lot of us that are new so it's been kind of cool to see everybody coming together pretty quickly. I got to admire the offense from a distance last year so it's been really cool to be able to compete with them, compete with these backs. Right now, it's all about coming together, seeing what we're made of, becoming a tough and competitive football team. That's hard to do until you put the pads on."
On leaders of special teams:
"Right now, there's a lot of guys that are showing up. Overall, our specialists have been really good. It's been cool for me, I play punt guard, I've done that every year of my career no matter if I've been the number one guy at linebacker or the number three guy and not playing much on defense. I've been always settled in to that guard position and it's been really fun to work with [Long snapper] Josh Harris. He's a Pro Bowl guy that's been doing it for 10 years. He attacks in the weight room, he's a leader no matter offense, defense or special teams, he's a guy you kind of look to and admire. JK [Scott] came in and hit some insane balls yesterday and Dustin [Hopkins] has been doing it a lot time is as good as anybody so I think those three are leading the way. I'm trying to one of the guys in that group to bring everything together…just trying to get everyone on the same page and doing all the right stuff."
On impressions of Ficken:
"He's awesome. It's cool because we got to gameplan them when he was in Minnesota last year and I thought they had one of the best units in the NFL and he was really tough to prepare for. They're super multiple, he had a great returner, some good specialists and just the way they attacked, you can tell their guys were bought in. That's generally a good way of telling how good a special teams coach is, is if they can get guys to buy in. They had a lot of guys that were starting-caliber guys on their special teams units that were contributing. When you have that and guys are bought in, you can tell he's a guy people love to play for and enjoyed it and I certainly have so far. I've played for a different special teams coach every year and I'm still learning a lot and he's been great for me, him and Coach Beep [Assistant Special Teams Coach Chris Gould] as well."
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