Cardinals retain special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers
Jan 11, 2019, 12:10 PM | Updated: 12:12 pm
This is a 2018 photo of Jeff Rodgers of the Arizona Cardinals NFL football team. (AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
New Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury will retain special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers, the team announced Friday.
Rodgers was hired before the 2018 season by then-head coach Steve Wilks, who was fired after leading Arizona to a 3-13 record.
Rodgers previously held the same job description with the Chicago Bears from 2015-17.
Prior to that, he spent time as special teams coach with the Carolina Panthers from 2009-10 and Denver Broncos from 2011-14.
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Special teams were one of the Cardinals’ brighter spots amid fielding the NFL’s worst record this past season.
Punter Andy Lee most notably led the NFL by averaging 48.6 yards per punt, 4.0 yards better than the next-best mark.
The Cardinals had the fourth-best net average at 44.1 yards per punt.
#AZCardinals Special Teams Grades under Jeff Rodgers:
Weeks 10-17: 71.5 overall ST grade (7th best)
Weeks 1-9: 66.9 (16th)— PFF ARZ Cardinals (@PFF_Cardinals) January 10, 2019
The Cardinals face losing 43-year-old free agent kicker Phil Dawson, who went 5-of-8 on field goals this past season. Rodgers could be tasked with developing his replacement, third-year pro Zane Gonzalez, who hit 7 of 9 field goals with Arizona, missing two of greater than 50 yards.
In the return game, Rodgers will have return man Pharoh Cooper to work with after the Cardinals picked him up off waivers in the final quarter of the season.
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