Inside D'Marco Jackson's Onside Recovery Against the Panthers

Recovering an onside kick probably seems fairly routine, but when it's a linebacker? A closer look at the Saints preparation to help be able to execute.

D'Marco Jackson's onside recovery late in the Panthers game might not seem like a big deal, but in the grand scheme of things, it most certainly was. Carolina was rallying late after the Saints defense allowed their first touchdown of the season, and with the score at 20-17, the Panthers certainly had an opportunity to at least tie things up.

However, Jackson made a really good read on the ball and secured the onside kick attempt to help New Orleans be able to earn their second victory of the season and start 2-0 for the first time since 2013. The play itself might go under appreciated, but it honestly shouldn't.

"Those are game-winning plays," special teams coach Darren Rizzi said on Thursday. "When the hands teams goes out there, that's usually to seal the game in most times."

"When you're looking at hands team players, the general fan would be like, 'Well, just put all your receivers and running backs and tight ends.' There's an element of blocking involved as well, so you have to really have those combination guys. So, a guy like D'Marco, Zack Baun, guys that are on that unit who have played some offense somewhere in their life and fielded some balls."

Rizzi said that they actually test out players in the preseason for this. He added that it was a huge play in the game and made sure that Jackson and everyone else knew it. However, it also was something that he worked on a lot leading up to the game.

"He's out there on Saturday, in the indoor, and for about five minutes he just had guys just kicking him onside kicks, two days before the game."

"There is a little bit of an art to it. You never know how the ball's going to come to you, and there's a tempo and things like that."

"We just practice it so many times," Jackson said on Thursday. "We do reps and reps of onside kicks, and really it just came down to practice. I knew my job, had to go block and then I'd seen it and said 'Nah, I can get that,' and went and got it. Didn't think too much on it."

Jackson attributes it to staying ready is key and knowing his role while being prepared. He said he got a great bounce and that it was a slow roller and he went and got it.

Rizzi said that testing players involves himself and assistant special teams coach Phil Galiano during training camp. When they're doing offensive and defensive drills, they'll walk around watching players doing ball drills. Galiano works closely with the defensive backs when they're in individual drills.

"We actually have a pretty good group of linebackers, pretty good hands in our group of linebackers, all those guys. Depending on where the ball gets kicked, you may have to block, so you can't really have smaller type bodies out there, especially those front line guys where D'Marco is. They have to be combo players. They have to be able to block or field the ball."

The Saints had to be strategic with it and have a good idea of everyone's skill set. For instance, Baun played quarterback in high school and Jackson was a running back. It's actually not a coincidence, as Rizzi said before the draft this year that he and Galiano have probably watched more film on players than anyone at all positions. He said that he gets excited to know players were converted from other positions that could help on special teams.

Special teams absolutely matter, and Jackson's play along with the rest of what the unit does can obviously mean the difference between a win or loss.