Les Bowen: Eagles special teams coordinator on damage control after loss to Saints

THE WEEKLY NEWS conference was over; an Eagles spokesman had just cut off the questions. Ted Daisher asked if he could say something else.

This is an uncommon occurrence in the NovaCare auditorium, a coach insisting on saying something extra to reporters. Perhaps today, Andy Reid will tap-dance across the stage, hoist the microphone and serenade the assembled media with a medley of show tunes.

Yesterday, the Eagles' special-teams coordinator seemed to just want to make sure we all understood that he got it.

"Any time you have a game like that and you're a coordinator - offense, defense, or special teams - you have a responsibility to the team," Daisher said in his finishing statement. "We're going to make sure we get the things corrected that we need to get corrected, to play better [Sunday against the Chiefs]."

It's hard to remember an Eagles loss that was more about special teams than the Saints' 48-22 victory last Sunday. Maybe the 2007 opener at Green Bay, the day of the punt-return follies. That was then-special-teams coordinator Rory Segrest's first regular-season game in charge of the unit; Sunday was Daisher's second since taking over when Segrest moved to coach the defensive line, and Daisher's face wore a similar stricken look, the coach trying to rally his troops as the mistakes mounted.

It's a helpless feeling, he said yesterday.

"If I have to coach something on Sunday, it's too late," Daisher said. "Sunday is to try to give them a little bit of information on the sidelines, make sure everybody's doing the things they should be doing . . . If you're coaching on Sunday a lot, you're in trouble."

The problems encompassed five penalties, erratic punting, a decision to field a punt inside the 5 that led to the go-ahead touchdown, and one killer fumble of the second-half kickoff. In Kevin Kolb's first career start, against a maestro like New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, the Eagles had a slim margin for error, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say their special-teams play put them on the wrong side of that margin. As fullback and special-teams veteran Leonard Weaver noted yesterday, "special teams is about field position." Subsequent mistakes by Kolb and the defense sealed the Birds' fate.

Yes, this week, Sean McDermott's defense needs to limit Larry Johnson's running and not let 6-2, 221-pound wideout Dwayne Bowe get his Marques Colston on. And Kolb, assuming he starts again in place of Donovan McNabb (rib), will have to take better care of the ball. It'll be nice if Brian Westbrook (ankle) and DeSean Jackson (groin) aren't hobbled by their injuries.

But success in those areas becomes an uphill fight again if special teams can't do a better job of setting the table.

Daisher is putting an emphasis on getting rid of the penalties. He told his players this week that if they are ready to make a hit and there's any doubt whether it's going to be flagged (say, they could end up hitting the opponent from behind), err on the side of caution.

"I think when you're talking about penalties and those types of things, I think guys are trying to make plays. They get in positions where they lose a block and they're still going to try and get a block, when they should just let things go. That's where decision-making comes in," Daisher said. "You're not going to get every block, you're not going to make every play, you've just got to accept that and understand that, and go on."

Linebacker Tracy White, who plays mostly on special teams, said the stage for last week's flagfest was set when the Eagles reviewed film of their season-opening win at Carolina. White said coaches told players they had gotten away with a few things, notably a suspect block or two on Jackson's 85-yard punt return for a touchdown. The implication was that the league knew this, and that the refs would be watching them more closely against New Orleans.

From the way the Birds played, they didn't seem to have absorbed the message.

"We made a lot of mental errors, as far as penalties," said defensive end Chris Clemons, who was whistled twice for special-teams penalties against the Saints.

Clemons said things like blocking from behind aren't always clearcut on the field; a player tends to think he can get to a spot where he's hitting the opponent from the side, but obviously, the opponent is moving, too, and the call tends to be more art than science.

"You feel like you're always there, and you're not. The referee's going to throw the flag, sometimes whether you make the [legal] block or the wrong block," Clemons said. "Special teams is a fine line, regardless. You only get one opportunity to make a special-teams play," unlike an offensive or defensive player, who is on the field for a series. "That [special-teams] penalty's going to be looked at bigger than it is jumping offside on offense or defense."

This week, it's unclear whether Jackson will be able to play with a groin strain (or if he plays, whether the Eagles would risk him on special teams). Daisher said rookie Jeremy Maclin will return punts if Jackson cannot.

Maclin auditioned for the punt- and kick-return roles early in the preseason but muffed a couple and saw those jobs awarded to Jackson and Ellis Hobbs, respectively. Hobbs, the NFL's No. 2-ranked kick returner last season for New England, was the guy who lost that crucial second-half kickoff last Sunday, but Daisher said Hobbs will retain that job this week, backed up by Quintin Demps.

Demps will sub for Dimitri Patterson, who underwent hand surgery this week, as a "gunner" on coverage teams. It will be his first action since the opener, when Demps suffered a hamstring strain - and took a 15-yard penalty for running into a returner who had signaled for a fair catch.

"Gunner's a challenge," Demps said. "When you've got two guys on you, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Anything goes - pulling your face mask, holding your jersey, it's a fight out there, man."

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