Jets head coach Aaron Glenn has said you can't be afraid to play young players, and one of the prime examples of that philosophy paying off is at the punter spot, where the energetic Austin McNamara now resides.
"I'm not used to being the only guy on the roster — last year we had three at one time," McNamara said, recalling his first summer as a pro with Cincinnati last year after his record-setting college career at Texas Tech. "So it's a big change for me, but I've been working hard, just trying to take it day by day, punt by punt."
That approach has paid off so far. McNamara, 24, was signed as a free agent in March and rookie Kai Kroeger, 23, arrived as an undrafted rookie in May. Then the Jets released reliable veteran Thomas Morstead, 39, and turned the competition over to the twentysomethings. When Kroeger was waived after a week of training camp, McNamara was alone.
All he did was notch inside-the-20s on his first six punts of the preseason schedule, four of them going for I-10s and a fifth starting the Packers at their 10. One of the inside-the-10s was a hopping punt that the Pack muffed and the Jets recovered at the Green Bay 9-yard-line.
"I definitely think I'm peaking at the right time, which is great," McNamara said. "Even before I got here, I thought I was at my best. When I left Cincinnati, I learned a lot, got myself better and tried to reestablish myself. And now I'm just trying to do that on a consistent basis, so I'm good."
First-year Jets special teams coordinator Chris Banjo agreed with that assessment.
"The big thing with Austin is just chasing that consistency," Banjo said, "and we're starting to feel like he's becoming obsessive with that, in a good way."
McNamara didn't match his summer start with his finish, dropping just one of his last eight punts inside the 20. But in the limited sample size of the NFL's three-game preseason, he came in hot, among the NFL leaders in several categories — yards/punt (49.2, 16th), net yards/punt (46.2, 4th), I-20 punts (7, tied-4th), I-10 punts (4, 3rd). With help from his cover team, 10 of his 14 punts weren't returned.
"Definitely hangtime and direction are the biggest things for me," he said of his game. "I've always been more of a hangtime guy than driving the ball 60-plus yards. I mostly hang it up for our guys to go cover it. That's kind of been my M.O."
Also of his strengths is, well, his strength. He said he spent the offseason concentrating on adding weight (going from 205 last year to 215 now) as he worked in the weight room on his agility and explosiveness — "putting more mass behind the ball always helps," he said.
A further mark in the plus column is McNamara's ability and desire to continue learning the game from anyone he can, teammates, coaches, and even fellow kickers. In fact, Nick Folk is attempting to buck the Glenn trend of getting his team younger by being signed in late July, at the age of 40 and entering his 18th season, to compete with Harrison Mevis.
McNamara, who has also held for all placements in the Jets' three preseason games, has known Folk for a surprisingly long time.
"I met him back in 2017. I was 16 years old and I was at a kicking camp and he was working the camp," he recalled. "Now that we're teammates, it's kind of crazy. Nick's been awesome. I've learned a lot from him. He's got a lot of experience, so I'm raising my level of play and my maturity, I feel like, to kind of meet his level."
Something like teaching a new dawg old tricks, and so far that plan is working. As Banjo noted: "Austin is just putting that foot forward every day."
