Hollins has been a standout when he's been healthy on special teams since the Eagles selected him in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He missed all of 2018 with a sports hernia, but came back this year and played gunner for the first four games. The Eagles went with newly signed cornerback Ryan Lewis last week against New York, primarily because Lewis ran a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash in his Pro Day at the University of Pittsburgh, and the gunner position requires speed, speed, and more speed.

Lewis helped Johnston average a net of 44.4 yards against the Jets, his third-best net performance of the season, recording one assisted tackle.

The Eagles have always placed a priority on special teams excellence, and they've got some depth at a position that nobody pays attention to, but that is critical – Gunner.

"All you really gotta do is want it more than the guy across from you. Obviously, in all of football, you've got to want it more, but that's one play where you can easily tell which player really didn't want it," Hollins said. "You go all out, run as fast as you can, and it's a track meet to see who gets to the returner first. I really enjoy that. It's one of my favorite plays on the field. It's all out, and you either win or you lose.

"It's like a 60-yard sprint while you get beat up. It's quite the experience. Unless you've done it, you don't understand it."

Ford wasn't drafted, but he played in 23 games over two seasons with Arizona, largely on special teams where he could utilize his speed. Ford was recorded as running the 40-yard dash at 4.34 seconds at Auburn's Pro Day prior to the 2017 NFL Draft.

"You need speed. You don't need to be the fastest guy, but you need to play fast," Hollins said. "That's kind of the way it is. There are some guys who are track fast and there are some guys who are football fast. You want a guy who is football fast. He can run a 4.8 on tape but he's going to go out there and be the first guy down every time."

Said Ford: "You're stressing yourself to the max on every play. It turns into a track meet. You have to max out speed every time. I face a lot of double teams. You have to be able to beat two guys and they can grab you, hold you. It's almost like a fistfight. You need lateral quickness, straight-line speed – everything that you know to be able to beat two people."

And then when the gunner gets to the return man, he has to have the energy to finish the play. You see defenders surrounding a return man calling for a fair catch and you wonder what is being said on the field, tricks of the trade, anything to distract a return man.

Hollins said he'll research the return man and, if he has energy left, say something to try to distract. Never anything dirty, says Hollins. Ford doesn't talk. He's done all of his film study during the week and he lets his play do the talking.

"I always anticipate. By the time the game starts, I've watched a lot of film so I'm prepared. I play both sides – a gunner when we're punting and a jammer when we're returning a punt – so I'm always thinking about what a guy would try to do to me and what I would do to him. I always have those things in my mind. You've got to use your technique and you have to stress yourself to the max," Ford said.