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Joint Practices with Falcons Will Be Huge

Joint Practices with Falcons Will Be Huge


One guy Boyer has been able to count on is Justin Hardee, who is listed as a cornerback, but who has made his biggest impact playing on kickoff and punt teams, first with New Orleans and now with the Jets. In the 2021 NFL season, Hardee, signed in free agency, took a single snap on defense, but took 368 (84%) of the snaps on special teams. Hardee is a specialist on special teams.

“From my perspective, he has one kickoff, he makes one tackle,” Boyer said. “He has one punt, he’s in front or standing in front of the returner to force a fair catch, so for me a guy like that I think he’s top five in this league, I do. I think he’s a Pro Bowler in my opinion, he does a really good job for us. He takes a leadership role in the room, so he has done a heck of a job and done everything we asked him to do.”

Being a “star” on special teams is a curious distinction in the NFL, where the “specials” are usually manned, as Boyer said, by rookies and reserve players who hurtle down the field at high speed on what can safely be called search-and-destroy missions. Hardee has perfected that craft and Boyer is clearly enamored of the 28-year-old “gunner” from Cleveland. What makes Hardee an impact player?

“Want to, want to,” Boyer said. “That’s what it all comes down to. Are you going to say that, that guy when I have a 40-yard head start, can I get singled by that guy? I tell my guys all the time, there’s absolutely no way in hell a guy should be able to block you, when you have a 40-yard head start all the time.

“It’s all that mindset that they have to have in that room. I continuously try to preach on that, teach that because that’s what I believe in. If they’re not doubling you, then something is wrong. You need to beat any single that you got and that’s how we coach them and Hardee’s one of those guys that has that right mindset, and he plays 150 miles an hour on every snap and never stops and things like that. Does he have some things to improve? Absolutely, just like we all do,…

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