Jamie Gillan, dubbed ‘The Scottish Hammer’ by his high school football coach, was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month the NFL announced Thursday morning.
“I am honored,” Gillan said.
“I think about the team more than anything. Just trying to get fair catches, flip the field, inside the 20 and help the defense out.”
Gillan ranks second in the AFC with 11 punts inside the 20-yard line and he helped limit opponents to just 19 punt return yards in the month.
Gillan credits a change special teams coordinator Mike Priefer made in his fundamentals prior to the Jets game in Week 2 for his success. Priefer had Gillan switch from a three-step technique to a two-step technique.
“I trust Coach Priefer with everything that we think is going to work,” Gillan said.
Priefer wanted to speed up Gillan’s operation of getting the ball away faster, and so far it has worked seamlessly.
“We are hoping and what we think is going to happen is eliminating that jab step will eliminate inconsistencies so catching the ball, flipping it, one-two and it is out of there,” Gillan said. “It should speed up our ops times as a whole because Charley [Hughlett] has a really fast snap and is accurate. Catch, flip the ball and it is gone.
“It should eliminate people wanting to block it because they realize they are not going to get to the ball and all of that stuff. It should be nothing but positive for us.”
After that change, Gillan was named Special Teams Player of the Week following a 23-3 win over the Jets on Sept. 16 that saw him drop five punts inside the 20.
Gillan is the first player of the month award winner for the Browns since linebacker D’Qwell Jackson was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month in September 2011 and he’s the first Special Teams Player of the Month since Joshua Cribbs in December 2009.
“I do not think he got frustrated from that,” head coach Freddie Kitchens said. “I think Odell Beckham likes to win football games. I did not sense that he was frustrated from that.”
How Beckham is being manhandled by cornerbacks and safeties is a different story, and that is bothering Kitchens.
“Here is what I think is difficult: for Odell not to be able to run a route without getting grabbed,” Kitchens said. “I think that is what frustrates him. We are working on him just staying to course, and he does a good job of staying of course. I will just say that.”
Despite the Ravens paying so much attention to Beckham, Baker Mayfield still threw for
“That is the frustrating part, but that is what teams are going to do to him – try to take him out of the game, frustrate him,” Mayfield said. “If people are worried about that, they are worried about the wrong things. That is why guys like Jarvis and Chubb had a great day. They can focus on what they want. That is why I continue to say it is a mismatch game and a matchup game for us. We need to pick our poison.”
Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey was physical with Beckham all afternoon which resulted in Beckham eventually getting into a scuffle with Humphrey late in the third quarter that saw the Ravens cornerback try to choke Beckham on the ground.
“Odell is a physical guy, too,” Kitchens said. “I am not scared of a corner being physical with Odell. That is not what I am scared of. I do not want people grabbing him down the field, though.”
Chubb racked up 165 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, including an 88-yard score, to lead the Browns to a 40-25 win over the Ravens, the first at Baltimore for the team since 2015.
“Kirko is a major part of our team, not just our defense,” Kitchens said. “He is an emotional guy, a ‘bring your lunch pail to work’ guy every day. It is always tough when you lose guys like that. I think he made the best decision for him and his career. I hate anytime someone has to have surgery, but that is going to get him back to us faster.”
Limited: S Morgan Burnett (quadriceps), WR Rashard Higgins (knee), S Sheldrick Redwine (hamstring), RT Chris Hubbard (foot).
Full: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (hip), K Austin Seibert (hip).