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Snap-tackle-pop: Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik loves going downfield to hunt returners
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- Snap-tackle-pop: Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik loves going downfield to hunt returners
When Jacksonville Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik recovered his first career fumble in the NFL on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, he knew exactly what to do.
The fourth-year pro immediately sprinted to the end zone and celebrated with his teammates. After all, he had seen the Jaguars' defense do the same ritual time and time again this season and Matiscik wasn't going to pass up the chance to celebrate his biggest play as a professional with the players he goes to battle with each week.
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"We're a bunch of kids playing for a king's ransom," he said. "There's a lot of pressure but you want to have fun at the same time. It was fun to make that play and then enjoy with my teammates."
The play came early in the fourth quarter when the Jaguars were forced to punt with a 27-7 lead. Matiscik snapped the ball to punter Logan Cooke — a perfect snap, as usual — then peeled off and sprinted downfield.
Jacksonville Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik (46) strips the ball from Tennessee Titans punt returner Eric Garror (33) during the fourth quarter of Sunday's 34-14 Jags victory at EverBank Stadium.
Eric Garror of the Titans fielded the punt and eluded gunners, Daniel Thomas and Antonio Johnson, then K'Lavon Chaisson and Andrew Wingard.
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But Matiscik was there to meet Garror and pulled off a trifecta: the tackle, the strip and the recovery. It gave the Jaguars' offense the ball on the Titans' 36-yard line and quarterback Trevor Lawrence scored his second touchdown of the game nine plays later in the 34-14 victory.
Matiscik's emotion was matched by his teammates, who raced into the end zone with him and the rest of them, who were celebrating on the sideline.
"That was awesome to see," said linebacker Caleb Johnson. "He knew how to celebrate, too. Ross is a defensive player at heart and he made a play like a defensive player."
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Ross Matiscik vital part of punt coverage
Matiscik has been valuable to the Jaguars' punt coverage teams because of his ability to sprint downfield after making an on-target snap and somehow extricating himself from the pile in the middle of the line.
He is tied for the NFL lead with four solo tackles by long snappers and has eight solos and four assists in his NFL career, all with the Jaguars.
Jacksonville Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik (46) yells as seconds tick off the clock during the fourth quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Tennessee Titans 34-14. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
"He knows how to make those plays and it's so cool to watch," said linebacker Chad Muma . "It's fun to play with Ross. He brings the energy to every game."
Muma said Matiscik is also one of the most emotional players on the field and doesn't mind talking trash with opposing players.
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"Ross gets the guys fired up, for sure," Muma said.
Ross Matiscik has been on target with snaps
Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said Matiscik (who is 6 feet, 240 pounds) plays bigger because of his intensity.
"He's tough … it was good to see him get that play," Pederson said.
Matiscik played 52 games in four years at Baylor, serving as the team's primary long snapper and a backup linebacker. He was an all-state linebacker at Boyd High School in McKinney, Texas and has strong football bloodlines: his father Marty played football at Bowling Green and his brother Paine at Rice.
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Ideally, long snappers labor in anonymity, which is a good thing. No one notices unless they make a bad snap, which Matiscik hasn't for the Jags. In 60 NFL games, he's snapped the ball to Cooke on punts, field-goal attempts and conversion attempts a total of 435 times — 217 punts, 109 field-goal attempts and 109 conversion attempts.
But Matiscik does a lot more after he drills the ball back to Cooke: he wants a piece of the action on the punt coverage teams.
"We work really hard on it … I think we've got the best punt coverage team in the world," Matiscik said. "It's really cool to be able to get down there and make plays."
And was the tackle-strip-recovery the best play of his career?
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"That's tough," he said. "Making a good snap on the field goal Riley [Patterson] kicked to beat the Chargers in the playoffs last year was pretty huge. But having a moment like that was fun, and getting to enjoy it with my teammates made it better."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ross Matiscik brings energy, perfect snaps and big hits for Jaguars
