FOXBORO — It was an all-hands-on-deck game for Patriots special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer in last week’s win over the Bengals.
Springer has to find a fill-in for first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl special-teamer Brenden Schooler after the captain went down with an ankle injury. He also had to pull guys off the bench to block in the field goal unit after two starting offensive linemen went down with injuries.
Springer praised starting safety Jaylinn Hawkins for helping to fill in for Schooler.
“Anytime you have a guy that’s your core, best overall special teams player, All-Pro, it’s never easy to do,” Springer said. “He’s on everything, right? So you never truly — you plan on it, but you never really think about it, kind of. Then when it happens, you gotta adjust on the fly and kind of put guys in places where you think they can play, or where they played before in the past, and roll from right there. And I thought our guys did that game.
“We had to move guys around, couple guys that come in and play, like Jaylinn Hawkins, who started on defense, right? He had to play special teams and didn’t bat an eye. So I think it shows you the kind of guys that we have in the room. Like, ‘hey man, next guy in, next guy up, no matter who it is, go in there, perform and get the job done.”
The Patriots could have to plan to play without Schooler again Monday against the Giants.