JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the season winds down for the Jaguars, the camaraderie among the specialists — long snapper Ross Matiscik, punter Logan Cooke, and kicker Cam Little — has become a cornerstone of their team’s success.
Cooke shared insights into their relationship, explaining how Little’s arrival this year added a new dynamic.
“Me and Ross have been together five years now, and then Cam came into the picture this year,” Cooke said. “It took me awhile to figure out how young he actually is more or less how old I am. There is a lot of new age lingo that I don’t really enjoy and there is a lot of screen time. His screen time would blow your mind. I don’t want to throw him under the bus, but there’s a lot of that. Taking some getting used to, but he’s a good kid overall.”
Matiscik likens Little’s addition to a family welcoming a new sibling.
“We talk about life before him and how great it was. Now we have him, and at first, we were reluctant, but now we’re very thankful for him. He keeps us young,” he said.
Despite their positions not being the most glamorous, the trio has proven crucial when it counts. Matiscik leads long snappers in solo tackles over the last four seasons and made the NFL’s All-Pro First Team last season. Cooke boasts the highest career net punting average in NFL history (43.6 yards), leading the franchise in several punting categories. Meanwhile, Little’s 91.7 field goal percentage is the second highest overall and the best for a rookie in franchise history.
The specialists take pride in their reliability.
“Us three are kind of goofballs and we kind of have our own personalities, but we take pride in whenever you need us, we’re going to be there,” Matiscik said. “We all do it in our own way and we all go about the game in our own way, but at the end of the day we’re a pretty close group of friends and we can all count on each other, and we know we’re going to do our job when we need to.”
Cooke adds that he and Matiscik have endured tough years, but emphasized the importance of maintaining focus and not letting emotions affect their performance.
Their lighthearted approach is evident during practice, where they embody the “goofball” persona typical of specialists.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re in high school, college, NFL like you’re supposed to be the goofballs of the group,” Cooke said. “That’s kind of the MO [modus operandi] of the specialists so we try to embody that. Yeah, we do have a blast. I mean what else would you rather be doing than make a living for your family and you get to play a child’s game.”
“When it’s time to lock in, we lock in, but there’s a lot of downtime being a specialist so you got to have fun in some way and it’s usually us two now teaming up on Cam or messing with him so it’s been a lot of fun to have like a little brother in the room,” Matiscik said.
When asked if they consider themselves the most fun group, Matiscik confidently asserts they are, though he acknowledges the defensive backs also bring a lot of energy to the locker room.
Off the field, the trio is serious about giving back. They actively participate in Logan Cooke’s foundation and initiatives like ‘My Cause My Cleats’.
“I mean it says in Luke 12:48 ‘to whom much is given, much [will be] required’,” Cooke said. “For us the position we’re in, to not use our platform to make a difference whether it’s here in the United States or Logan Cooke Foundation partners with people over in Kenya. No matter where it’s at, as long as you’re doing something with what we’ve been given it’s kind of a discredit to all the blessings we get if we don’t try to give it back.”
“Any chance I get to pour into the community they’re right there with me,” Little said. “To have those guys lead me in that way is invaluable and it’s something that I’m forever indebted to them for.”