By Don Coble, Florida Sports Wire
JACKSONVILLE (www.jaxsportsnews.com) – Instead of thinking about distance – and nobody’s kicked a longer field goal in NFL history – the only thing on Cam Little’s mind during practice is starting small and concentrating on control.
Once he’s happy with the football’s flight and the end-over-end rotation, he backs up five yards and starts the process over.
Little kicked a 70-yard field goal against the Steelers in a preseason game last year and a record 68-yarder in the regular season against the Raiders last November, followed by a 67-yarder against Tennessee in Week 18.
Now in his third year with the Jaguars, the 6-foot-1, 172-pounder from Arkansas is more comfortable at preseason camp, especially with Ross Matiscik signing a $3.8 million, two-year contract extension and holder/punter Logan Cooke.
A position that is every bit mental as physical, Little said familiarity is important because it’s one fewer thing he must think about.
“Just going into Year 3 with the same group that I have, Logan and Ross, especially with Ross getting paid. That’s really cool,” Little said after Jacksonville wrapped up its second training camp workout Thursday. “I’m excited for year three.”
What used to take Little at least two weeks of camp to find his groove now takes hours. After just two practice sessions, he said he’s already in a good place – on the field and in his head.
“I try to gauge that by how, I guess, well I’m hitting, like a golfer,” he said. “A golfer can hit the ball further, maybe one season to the next, but I just want to know that I have control over the ball. Kind of seeing my rotation and making sure it’s pretty end-over-end is important to me.
“When I really start feeling that end-over-end, and I don’t have to think about, okay, I need to do this on this kick. I’m progressing in that department. I’m getting there quicker. It usually takes me about, I’d say, these first two weeks of camp to really kind of hone-in and feel I don’t have to think at all when I go out there on what I need to do. That’s how I gauge how well I’m kicking the ball season to season.”
A year ago, he was good on 50 of 51 extra point attempts and an eye-popping 30 of 34 field goals, including eight of 10 from beyond 50 yards.
His approach to long field goals is simple.
“I feel like you have to be a little bit crazy,” he said with a smile. “You kind of just have to play tricks on yourself to tell yourself, ‘Look, I can go out there and do anything, I set my mind to it. It’s crazy because once that insanity actually occurs, it’s not really insanity, it’s reality.”
He also admitted he uses a team of sports psychologists to stay sharp.
“I like to talk to different specialists around the league because everyone handles their business differently,” he said.
Little celebrated by adding a new hobby in the offseason. Already an avid soccer player and golfer, he now spends time collecting sports cards.
“Well, obviously golf, soccer. I got to go kick it around a little bit,” he said. “Now, sports cards. I’ve gotten into the hobby of football, basketball, baseball. I’m trying to get into Pokemon. Pokemon’s confusing, but I’ve started an Instagram channel, too.”
His most prized card is a PSA 10 2017 Purple Chrome Messi, and that card is numbered out of 250. It’s not autoed, and it’s worth probably about $5,200 or $5,300. It’s nuts. It’s a 2017, just purple refractor. That’s it, and it’s not got an auto on it, but it’s worth about $5,200 or $5,300.”
Quotable:
Ten-year veteran safety Eric Murray is an expresso connoisseur who went to Costa Rica during the offseason to see how local growers handpick their beans. “A lot of other people, they do machine picking,” he said. “So, Costa Rica really puts care into the craft. I appreciate them for giving me that knowledge.”
Short yardage:
• Thursday’s practice was moved inside the Miller Electric Center by a threat of lightning. The last two of 12 periods were back outdoors, and the team worked 11-on-11 and live field goal kicking.
• The only player missing from Day 2 of training camp was linebacker Jack Kiser, who went down with a left knee injury during an 11-on-11 session on opening day.
• As on opening day, running back Chris Rodriguez and cornerback Christian Braswell were kept out of team periods. Rodriguez, who had surgery on his left foot, and Braswell, lower body injury, participated in individual drills.
• The Jaguars have held true to their decision to have two-way start Travis Hunter focus more on being a cornerback. He played six offensive plays during the team session on Tuesday and 12 on defense. In two days, he’s played defense on 20 plays and only 10 as a wide receiver.
Up next:
The Jaguars will be back on the field at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. The public can attend, but they must claim a free pass in advance from Ticketmaster through jaguars.com/trainingcamp/.
(Photo by Don Coble)
