Todd Bowles: Jake Camarda’s Punt Was Not Rehearsed
January 3rd, 2023
Punter Jake Camarda.
When Joe played in high school, practicing what to do on bad snaps on place kicks was worked on each Friday. Joe cannot remember practicing a bad snap on a punt, though. Fakes yes, not bad snaps.
Yesterday in his day-after presser, Bucs coach Todd Bowles was asked if Jake Camarda’s wild scramble and punt to the Carolina-3 that likely saved the Bucs season was rehearsed.
Nope, Bowles said. It was all Camarda.
“That was all instinct on his part,” Bowles said. “We don’t practice botching a punt. It happens, but you don’t practice botching a punt, especially running to the sideline and making a kick like he did.
“Very instinctive of him to do that. It was a heck of a play.”
What’s wild is one of the worst things for a right-footed punter to do is to run left and try to punt it. A punter doing that is far more likely to miss the kick or hook a punt than boom it straight.
The fact Camarda had enough smarts to square up on the fly before trying to pull a Neil O’Donoghue is a miracle in itself.
For Camarda to drop that inside the Carolina-5, it was like the hand of God was on his shoulder.
Even though it didn’t count,
Jake Camarda’s punt is one of the most impressive plays I have ever seen, Ever lol.— Will Blackmon (@WillBlackmon) January 2, 2023
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:01 am
let him kick FG’s!!!!!!!!!!
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:11 am
Can he play DB?
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:13 am
Kid was worth the 4th round pick.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:15 am
I’m sure he has considered what he would do in various situations. Seems like a pretty bright guy. But to actually pull it off at NFL speed, in the heat of a big game? Amazing. More power to you guy.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:16 am
So our most creative run play of the season was a mad scramble by Camarda on a botched snap?
Good thing he is not peeking at Lefty’s playbook or he would have taken that snap and run up the gut for a 1 yd gainer.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:17 am
why does it have to be the punter to save the BUCS ? it is against a lowly panthers team and we could not even decisively beat them. How much more if it’s against the Cowboys or Eagles team… are we saying we are a 1 and done team.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:18 am
NE fan. When a guy can kick like he can, probably will be able to for the next 10 to 15 years, and has a head on his shoulders like he seems too, putting him at safety wouldn’t be wise. Even if he could play the position. LOL.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:20 am
darengibo… glad to see everyone is in fine spirits today. A division championship seems to do that.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:23 am
lol 😂 that’s funny
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:25 am
Robert: Seriously, at least bring him in to attempt the longer field goals that Succop can’t make.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:28 am
Fire Succup now. Jake can kick field goals.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:39 am
matter of time he will be the best punter in the league just like justin tucker is best kicker–this guy is going to be best at punting and he is a Buc–this was a good draft pick for special teams well done Jason Licht
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:43 am
“Camarda also had a special-teams tackle in Sunday’s win and has six such tackles this season, the most for any NFL punter in 10 years.”
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:49 am
Put him on the next US mens world cup soccer team. That kind of touch and accuracy with a pointy oblong spheroid, while running right but kicking right footed, is beyond ridiculous. The soccer boys could use someone who can kick wiyh that kind of accuracy while running.
Truly truly amazing.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:51 am
Who even asks that question how do you rehearse a fluke play lmao Jake is a absolute stud for not crumbling under pressure what a play don’t know if bucs make the playoffs if he doesn’t make that play total heads up play by him.
January 3rd, 2023 at 8:51 am
This pick by Jason Licht more than compensates for Aguayo’s blunder. Got to have balls to draft another kicker after that and Licht was spot on.
January 3rd, 2023 at 9:02 am
Oops. Conference. I can hope division.
January 3rd, 2023 at 9:13 am
An “all rookie” play….
Camarda with the scramble & punt
Zion with the stop at the 3 yard line
Ko Kieft with the penalty
The one thing Camarda hasn’t attempted is punting it out of bounds inside the 20…..perhaps his directional punting needs work. But his distance and hang time are excellent.
The fact that he has 6 tackles speaks more about our poor punt coverage than it does for his athleticism.
January 3rd, 2023 at 9:17 am
Fire Succop?? That man has saved us in a few games this year. Please stop. He had no business kicking a 53 yarder when his max is about 52.
January 3rd, 2023 at 9:20 am
LOL Pretty much.
January 3rd, 2023 at 9:21 am
maybe they can let him drop kick field goals over 50 yards then?
January 3rd, 2023 at 9:29 am
Always kick the ball (if you can)…usually ends with an illegal man down field penalty and re-kick…I was screaming for him to kick…but to be able to run left and kick off his right foot…plus place it inside the 10…WOW!
The Bucs are not going to make it easy this year…sit back and enjoy the very frustrating ride.
Go Bucs!
Prayers out for Bills safety Damar Hamlin
January 3rd, 2023 at 9:39 am
Remember when we all scratched our heads when Keith Armstrong waxed poetic about his athleticism, and were like ‘Uhh, okay… He’s a punter, I’m not sure how athletic he needs to be, but I guess it’s useful…” I guess we now now..
January 3rd, 2023 at 9:51 am
Probably the most amazing play for a kicker I’ve ever seen live!!!!
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:02 am
It was amazing that he had the wherewithal to position the ball correctly on the drop for that kick.
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:32 am
If he is not the Special Teams player of the week, then people who decide are not in the know.
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:33 am
I still don’t totally understand…
Can someone explain to me how punting it to the 5 yard line made the Panthers accept the penalty vs if he had punted the ball to… say the 20 yard line?
He clearly did something amazing but I still don’t understand it.
Thanks in advance friends.
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:36 am
Don’t understand why you don’t understand. If you are the Panthers do you want to start a do-or-die drive with your season on the line at the 3 or the 8? Surely you don’t think it is better to start at the 3 with your QB standing on the goal line.
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:50 am
Handling the botched snap: Impressive. Running out of harm’s way: Impressive, for a punter. Kicking the ball behind LOS: VERY IMPRESSIVE. Kicking it inside the 5 while running, while avoiding tackles, not going over LOS: MOST IMPRESSIVE.
The kid has the “clutch” gene, and like speed, it cannot be taught.
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:55 am
In case no one noticed, Camarda ran a 4.56 40 yard time in college and is faster than some of the running backs and wide receivers in the NFL.
If the Bucs had some good special teams coaching they would figure out a way in certain situations to allow Jake to run. He has the speed to get to the edge and if teams aren’t paying attention to the edges he should get the green light to run the ball.
On this play there was a Panther special team player that had an angle on Jake and he completely blew by him on the sidelines. That is what I dislike about the Bucs coaching staff, they don’t take advantage of some of the special talents on the roster.
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:58 am
Ed Says:
January 3rd, 2023 at 10:55 am
In case no one noticed, Camarda ran a 4.56 40 yard time in college and is faster than some of the running backs and wide receivers in the NFL.
—————————-
Not sure if you noticed but exposing your punter to getting hit is not a good way to keep your punter healthy. He is faster than some WRs and RBs… some… why not get the ball to those players instead of getting Camarda killed?
January 3rd, 2023 at 11:50 am
Camarda ran a 4.5 at the combine
January 3rd, 2023 at 12:15 pm
Bowles admits he is a bad coach by not practicing situational football.
January 3rd, 2023 at 12:31 pm
What a great strategy to run down the clock too. The play started with 42-seconds left and was downed with 31-seconds to go. Thought they might do it again on the next play too, why not?
Haha, practice that up Bucs, because it may help take time off the clock against your playoff opponents to win a tight game!
January 3rd, 2023 at 1:07 pm
It was an absolutely incredible play by the rookie.
Most likely saved the game / season.
And I agree with others who said to try him for long FGs. Succop literally can not make a FG past 48 yards. It’s moronic of Bowles to even attempt it at this point.
But I would absolutely let Camarda try some from over 50 in practice and see… because the reality is we could easily get into a situation where we need a 50+ yarder to win or tie a game, and Succop can not be counted on. He just doesn’t have the leg.
January 3rd, 2023 at 1:32 pm
Camarda is one hell of an athlete. He’s made plenty of tackles too. Of course it wasn’t rehearsed it was a great play by a great player. If bowles and lefty only thought ahead like Jake does!
January 3rd, 2023 at 1:52 pm
Camarda seemed to get hit after he kicked the punt. Just out of interest, could that have been flagged as running into or possibly roughing the kicker? I’m not sure if running around before hand negates this protection as he ultimately still punted from a legal position (granted other players were not in a legal position).
January 3rd, 2023 at 2:12 pm
No. Just like when a quarterback takes off running, a punter is fair game if he escapes with the ball.
January 3rd, 2023 at 2:16 pm
what if:
camarda is ray guy’s nephew ?
#ItWouldExplainEverything
#HesNoGaroYepremian
January 3rd, 2023 at 4:06 pm
“Joe Says:
January 3rd, 2023 at 2:12 pm
Just out of interest, could that have been flagged as running into or possibly roughing the kicker?
No. Just like when a quarterback takes off running, a punter is fair game if he escapes with the ball.”
And THIS is why I’m so impressed he got the punt off behind the LOS. A punter cannot punt past the LOS, kinda like a forward pass, is that correct, Joe??