00:00It feels like from an untrained eye, you're having a really, really good camp.
00:03Do you agree with that assessment?
00:05Yeah, I feel like I'm hitting the ball particularly well.
00:09I feel like this camp, I think our operation is pretty solid.
00:12So I don't really have to do a lot of thinking.
00:13All I got to do is kick the ball.
00:15And I feel like where I'm at right now, I feel like I'm in a good spot.
00:19I feel like I did a good job this offseason just simplifying things
00:23and just not overthinking everything.
00:26Is it different when none of the three specialists have another person in camp
00:31or there's even a cursory competition?
00:33Is that a different feel?
00:35Yeah, I mean, certainly a different feel, I feel like, from the first five years.
00:39Every year we've had somebody in here.
00:41And so just to have us three, it's been great.
00:44You just get to build that much more kind of camaraderie
00:48and just connection between us three on the field, off the field.
00:52We're doing pretty much everything together.
00:54So it's always good to just have your core group
00:57and just getting that work in together
00:59and not having to worry about if somebody's going to be here, if somebody's not.
01:02Does it feel different staring down the arena post from 51?
01:07Well, it's funny because you almost feel like you have a little bit of a cushion
01:11because if you missed right outside of it, you could say,
01:14oh, it may have been good, you know.
01:16But no, I mean, we warm up on that thing,
01:19and I kick most of my field goals every day on those uprights.
01:25So I feel like if I'm hitting it down the middle of those every time,
01:29then you get to the big ones and you just kind of flow.
01:32And so I enjoy kicking on the skinnies.
01:34I've never kicked on the skinny uprights before until I got here,
01:38and I've enjoyed it, honestly, warming up and stuff.
01:40Is it nine-foot arena?
01:42Yeah, it's like traditional arena nine-foot uprights.
01:45The officials said it was good, but we've only seen from the side of it.
01:49How center was it?
01:51It was like right center of the arena post.
01:54So I guess kind of like it's pretty center.
01:57Like there was no question, I feel like, for everybody that it went in.
02:01When you're kicking from 51 on an arena post, are you drawing?
02:06Are you thinking?
02:07Yeah, well, it's funny.
02:10With the wind that we had, it was more so like in two off the left.
02:13And so I was playing it more like on the left side.
02:18So whenever I hit on the arena post, I usually aim for the right or left post.
02:22And so that one I was kind of aiming for the left post, banking on it,
02:26kind of fading back with the wind.
02:28Did exactly what you did.
02:29Yeah, it honestly stayed pretty straight, but the wind took it just a little bit.
02:34Is there anything different you did this offseason, Evan,
02:36just to visualize or kind of get your mind right for this season?
02:40No, I spent a lot of time at the beach.
02:41No, I just feel like just consistent ball striking has been, I feel like,
02:50my goal since I've came into the NFL.
02:52And I feel like as I've gotten older,
02:54I feel like I've noticed the importance of ball striking.
02:57And so that's literally all I work on in the offseason, during the season.
03:03Every day it's just how I'm striking the ball.
03:05If I'm striking it clean, then the wind's not going to affect it as much as it should.
03:09So it's kind of a cliche question in camp, but do you feel like this is the best you've felt?
03:14You seem to be pretty confident where you are right now.
03:16Yeah, I feel like I'm in a good headspace.
03:18I've been open about talking to Dr. Ganshert about mindset on the field.
03:24And that was going into last year, and he's helped me out tremendously on how to change my mindset on
03:30the field
03:30rather than having that self-doubt that creeps in, just fill in my head with positive thoughts.
03:35And it's made a crazy change, I feel like, in my career for sure.
03:40Can a camp performance foretell the season, or does everything reset?
03:44You know, if you ask Darren Simmons that, he says that the camp stats will show you your season stats.
03:50Now, you know, things can go south, and we know that.
03:53But he's a big believer on how you do in camp is going to be a great reflection on how
03:58you do in the season.
03:59And so I think it just kind of gives you confidence in kind of showing yourself that you are capable,
04:04you can do all this stuff.
04:05So I think that's kind of where he gets the stats kind of correlate.
04:09I know you feel about that you would...
04:14I know Darren thought that you had a missed a kick earlier in camp, and that was kind of disputed.
04:19Have you missed one yet?
04:21Yeah, no, I missed one the last practice.
04:25That was a true, true miss.
04:29But, yeah, it was funny.
04:30Just we deliberated on that one, and now I got my two.
04:34So, but, you know, all in all, I feel like it's been a pretty good camp, just ball striking-wise.
04:41It's been fun.
04:42How important was last year in terms of bouncing back?
04:46You had a really good year.
04:48Yeah.
04:48Yeah.
04:49I mean, last year I feel like it was probably really important for me and my career and confidence-wise.
04:54I feel like I needed it.
04:57And just this ability of having Ryan and Will and no change there is huge.
05:03I tell Will all the time, like, I'm real thankful for him because you watch film of teams around the
05:09league,
05:10and they're getting laces back.
05:11You never know where they're going to be.
05:13Somebody may not have the best holder.
05:14And so, you know, I've got the best of both worlds.
05:16Like, I haven't seen laces back, and I can't tell you how long.
05:19So, I don't have to worry about that.
05:20But I know Ryan's going to put it down, and like today, we had a left-to-right win,
05:25so we're putting the ball straight up and down rather than lean towards him.
05:29And so, if I don't communicate that to him, he understands.
05:32He feels the win and kind of knows me and what I like.
05:35And so, it's been huge just to kind of get that work with them and no change coming in.
05:41Has your mindset on the whole changed at all over the last several years?
05:46Yeah.
05:46You know, I was never, I guess, a believer in changing the tilt of the ball.
05:52But last year was the first year I tried messing with it.
05:55Like, if I had a left-to-right win, I'd straighten the ball up to kind of counteract that.
06:01And it's helped a lot.
06:03Like, you notice, if we have a strong left-to-right win and we put it straight up and down
06:08and forward,
06:09that ball stays straight more than tailing off to the right.
06:13And so, I feel like we found, like, a sweet spot in what we want to do, I feel like,
06:20when we're on the field.
06:22How wide is the area?
06:23Is it 10?
06:24I think it's 9 feet.
06:259?
06:25Yeah.
06:25Okay.
06:26Since you entered the league in 2021, you have more 50-yard field goals in the preseason than anybody else.
06:31How significant are those opportunities in the preseason?
06:34I didn't know that.
06:35That's a good stat.
06:36Passed Daniel Carlson in the last game.
06:38I was like, the 50, I feel like, long field goals in the preseason are a lot of fun, honestly.
06:45Like I said, they're kind of almost like a trial run, even though I'm going out there to make every
06:50kick.
06:51You almost feel a sense of ease just kind of going out there knowing that if you make it great,
06:58if not, you kind of learn from it and it's not going to kill you.
07:01So, that's kind of how I feel about it.
07:03It's like the preseason games, I'm just kind of going out there.
07:07It's kind of a learning experience, kind of like heading into the regular season.
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