Tynes frustrated with Dodge, but wants to work through holding issues

On the blog yesterday we speculated that Lawrence Tynes is losing patience with Matt Dodge as a holder on his field goal attempts. So today we asked Tynes about that.

“People are asking me if I’ve been frustrated,” Tynes said. “A little bit, yes, but I understand what Matt is going through too. He’s got a lot on his plate with the punting and the holding. He’s never done it, so it’s an adjustment.”

Tynes said he has spoken to Dodge about what he is going through.

“He’s a pretty positive kid,” Tynes said. “He’s had a rough go these last eight games you could say, but he’s handled it very well. I like his demeanor. He just doesn’t let much bother him. It’s got to be tough with some of the fans doing what they’re doing, but they’ll be the first ones to jump on his back whenever he’s doing well. That’s what I tell him, these fans are going to embrace you when you’re doing well and they’re going to let you know when you’re not. That’s the bonus of playing in this city. They’ll bronze you, and then sometimes they’ll tar and feather you. He’ll be fine.

“Physically you don’t have to look at what he can do,” Tynes added. “We’ve all seen him hit 70-yard punts with five second hang times. It’s mental. It’s mental for everyone in this business. That’s the thing that separates people. You have to be able to go out there and know you’re going to do well. That’s positive thinking. You take negative thoughts out there and that’s what’s going to happen.”

Jeff Feagles suggested last week that Dodge might benefit from seeing a sports psychologist. Tynes said he’s never used one – other than his wife – but said he knows plenty of NFL specialists who do.

“A lot of guys have,” he said. “Jeff did it. Jason Baker in Carolina. Morten Anderson did I think for a long time. It’s not like you’re admitting a fault just by going to a sports psychologist. I think it can be a good thing.”

That might held Dodge’s punting, but the holding? Well, that’s just going to take work, Tynes said. Tynes worked with backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels today, but said that’s a usual routine on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

“I’ve handled misses before so I don’t think he has to say too much to me,” Tynes said. “He’s fine. I’m the veteran of that group so I’ve got to find a way to make those. He’s got a tough job, a lot of parts. The holding is new to him, punting. He’s doing a good job. He’s a hard worker, which I like. That’s the only thing you can do is work and he does that very well. We just have to keep refining what we’re doing.

“We just have to keep working. I’ll fix it. At the end of the day I’ll just work harder at what I’m doing and we’ll make those.”