Darren Rizzi – December 27, 2018
Download PDF version
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(Last week, P Matt Haack set a team record for most punts inside the 20 in a season. Besides field position giving him the chance to do that, what skill do you see in him that’s allowed him to do that?) – “There’s two different ways that Matt punts. We have the regular-style punt that people are used to and then some people call it an Aussie kick or a flip-flop ball or end over end, whatever you want to call it. There’s different names for it, but that’s something I think in the last couple years, he’s really done a good job of kind of mastering that technique. He spent a lot of time in the offseason working on that end of the field. I think I might have mentioned this earlier in the season – when you look at teams and where a lot of the punts are happening, a lot of punts are happening from the minus-40 to the plus-40. That’s an opportunity obviously to pin your opponent back. We know Matt has a strong leg and I think on the other end of the field, he’s obviously done a great job of flipping the field. Having the opportunity to pin your opponent down inside the 20-yard line and the ball not go in the end zone or come up short or whatever, I think really gives us the ability to keep a team down there, pin them down, flip the field position. It was something we worked on a lot during OTAs, something we worked on a lot during training camp. To Matt’s credit, he’s done a heck of a job in that area of the field. Give our gunners credit too, getting down the field, forcing fair catches, keeping the ball out of the end zone, things like that. It’s kind of been a combination of things, but Matt’s done a really good job of kind of mastering that technique – that flip-flop ball or the Aussie ball or whatever. He’s really improved in that area. Kudos to him. He’s had a couple of really big games for us in terms of flipping the field position, keeping the guys down there. (It was) a major improvement for him, so I’m really happy with that.”
(Obviously, you’ve been through this situation before with a lot of teams at the end of the year when you’re not playing for something. How do you ensure that players haven’t checked out?) – “The one thing I can say about this team this year – and I think I’ve mentioned this a few times – there hasn’t been any problem at all with effort and I don’t see that being an issue this week at all either. I can speak on my special teams specifically because it’s obviously stuff that I’m charged with. The first thing I look for when I grade the film is effort. I said it to our guys in the meeting on Wednesday. The one thing this year is we’ve done a great job of – we made our mistakes like everybody else – but effort has not been an issue. Never. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. I don’t see that being an issue whatsoever. We had a great practice today inside. Guys were flying around. The energy was there, the effort was there. The enthusiasm, which you would think at this time of the year might kind of slough off naturally, was (there). I think we had a really enthusiastic practice. I think we have some mature individual leaders in the group, in my group. A guy like Walt (Aikens), a guy like (Brandon) Bolden, a guy like Senorise (Perry) doing it for a couple years now, a guy like Mike Hull, John Denney – guys that really take a professional approach, and I really haven’t seen anything different out of those (guys). I would expect nothing different. As I said to them on Wednesday, this is professional football. You’re going to have to act professional at meetings, professional at practice and professional on Sunday. It doesn’t matter when it is. We’re looking to be at our best regardless of the situation. That’s a quote that we like to use a lot. It’s a quote that I put up in the beginning of the season, before the first preseason game with our group – being at your best. Mental toughness – you hear a lot of people talk about mental toughness, you hear a lot of definitions of mental toughness, but the best one I ever heard was that one – being at your best regardless of the situation. No matter what’s going on around you, the environment, the situation, the outside things going on. Having the ability to kind of block those things out and be at your best and kind of tune everything else out. I kind of feel like that’s what we’ll do this Sunday. I see no reason why we won’t.”
(Who has been your best player in punt coverage and kickoff coverage this year?) – “We’ve actually had a couple. I don’t think it’s one guy that’s singled out. There’s a couple guys I think, both in kick and punt coverage. You have to kind of start with Walt (Aikens). Walt kind of sets the tempo. You look the other day at the return that the Jaguars had, they actually put three bodies on him, put three people to block him on one particular play. Any time you’re getting three guys on one, a guy has obviously made a lot of noise during the season. The other coach is planning against him. Walt kind of sets the tempo for that punt coverage group. He’s obviously the first guy down there a lot of times. Our second-level coverage, Senorise Perry has done a really good job. I’m just kind of thinking through the positions in my head. Obviously, Brandon Bolden has had a really good year as well. Mike Hull has only been there for half the year. Stephone Anthony has had a solid year. Those are the guys that kind of stick out. You look at our kick coverage – Senorise, Bolden, Walt are usually the first guys down the field. It was real nice to see ‘Mo’ (Maurice) Smith last week had a really good game. (Kalen) Ballage had a couple of good coverage reps. (Cornell) Armstrong has been a guy that’s been hot and cold a little bit, but he’s made really flashy plays as a gunner. Ballage makes that great play in the open field last week. Unfortunately he got the horse collar, but really a tremendous individual effort. ‘Mo’ Smith last week, he won our belt for the week. He had a couple of really good plays, individual plays. It was good to see him. I kind of singled him out yesterday in the meeting, just for a guy that’s on and off the practice squad. I mentioned (Leonte) Carroo last week. Really, kudos to ‘Mo’ as well for a guy that can easily have kind of checked out because he’s been on and off (the active roster) and back and forth. He really stayed locked in and really gave a great individual effort last week. I’ve been pleased with a lot of different guys. I don’t think there’s one guy that I’d kind of say ‘He’s been the bell cow’ in coverage; but when you look at punt, it’s definitely Walt. When I look at our kickoff, I really think more Senorise and Brandon Bolden.”
(If you look back on the two missed field goals this year, were both on K Jason Sanders or was there anything else that contributed to his only two misses to date?) – “He’s had the one missed PAT and then the two missed field goals. All three kicks are kicks that certainly didn’t miss by much. I don’t want to get too specific but this week he kind of toed the ball. That’s what happens when you toe the ball a little bit. He didn’t get a good part of his foot on it and he kind of pushed it to the right. Jason has been very consistent. That’s really the reason we picked him coming out of the draft, coming out of training camp. It’s really what he shows week after week, just consistency. He had a great practice yesterday. Really, what he does on a day in, day out basis is just really what you see on the film as well, what you’re seeing in the games and seeing in practice. (He is) just a consistent player, a really strong leg. He has one of the highest touchback percentages in the NFL right now. I think that’s something that sometimes goes unnoticed, but that’s been a big part of our field position thing as well. His ability to kick the ball off this year has been really good as well. The kicks that he missed, you’re going to talk to him about it and he’ll tell you it’s all him for sure; but again, he certainly didn’t miss by much. It’s one of those fine line things and I’m not overly concerned about it at all.”
(How did you know K Jason Sanders was going to be consistent because he wasn’t consistent in college?) – “That’s something that’s really been talked about a lot. I kind of took his game film from college and kind of threw it out to be honest with you. There was so much inconsistency in their operation that they had between the snapper, holder and him. No two kicks were the same. I kind of used my individual workout with him as more of a barometer on what I think he can do moving forward with the different hashes, the NFL ball and all of that. I was very impressed with the workout he put together when I went out there and worked him out.”
(LS John Denney just celebrated his 40th birthday this month. How did he play this year and do you want him back for another year?) – “He did. Happy birthday to John. I think we mentioned that at some point in here. First of all, it’s really impressive. The day it was his birthday, I was kind of busting his chops in a meeting. I think I looked up the number of players that were right now actively playing at 40 years old. If I’m not mistaken, it was a couple quarterbacks, three kickers and him. I think there was six total guys. First of all, an amazing feat by John to be still playing at this point in his life. I think one thing that people overlook with John sometimes is the unbelievable physical condition that he keeps himself. He keeps himself in tremendous shape. He probably has a body a lot of 25-year olds would like to have in terms of his condition. John Denney has proven that he can continue to play at a high level. When you take the 32 snappers in the league, I think John in my opinion is still in the top 10 of the 32 snappers. You can rank them wherever you want, but bottom line, he’s in the top third of the league at his position. John Denney is a guy that you don’t hear his name a lot of times, which is a good thing. He had the one game this year that I know he wishes he had back – the one game against the Patriots, a couple reps there. John is still snapping at a high level, still blocking at a high level, still covering at a high level and so there’s no reason for me to believe he can’t continue to do that. John got started a little bit later in the NFL because of his Mormon mission and things that he was doing. For a 40-year old, he got started a little bit late; but again, I think the way John trains, takes care of his body, the way he lives his lifestyle – all of those things are going to tell you that you’re not looking at the usual 40-year old. I do think John can continue to do this at a high level.”
(It seemed like when WR Jakeem Grant got hurt, you may have lost some dynamism. Is that fair and is that simply a matter of one of the fastest guys on the team goes out, it’s going to take a hit?) – “I think Jakeem is one of the most dynamic returners in the league when it comes to it. I think when you look at the numbers he was putting together, prior to him going out, he was really putting together a Pro Bowl season. It would’ve been really interesting to see had he continued throughout the year. He would have my vote as a Pro Bowl returner, for sure. I think both at kick and punt, he was having a really good year. There’s no doubt in my mind that with his ability, it certainly changes our opponents’ game plan, for sure, when you lose him. That’s not taking anything away from anybody else on the team, but Jakeem was really playing at a high level. It changes our dynamic for sure. It changes our game plan, it changes how we approach both the punt and the kick return deal. I think Danny (Amendola) has done a really good job back there fielding the football and making good decisions and getting north and south with the ball. They’re different players in the open field, and that’s the bottom line. Jakeem certainly can create a little bit more in the open field. When you look throughout the NFL, he’s one of the best at doing it, so we certainly took a hit there when we lost him.”
(What difference do you see, if any, now with LS John Denney at 40 from the time you first saw him?) – “He’s lost a lot of hair in the 10 years I’ve been here, that’s for sure. (laughter) He grows it long so he tries to masquerade. He’s not fooling me. He’s thinning out up top there. (laughter) Every guy – all of us – as we get older, we lose a step certainly. When I got here, I think he was an elite cover player. Of the 32 snappers in the league 10 years ago, he was probably one of the, if not the, best cover guy or certainly one of the top couple. He’s certainly taken a dip there a little bit. His strength and conditioning has certainly not taken any hit. He might’ve lost a step and might’ve lost a little bit of coverage skill, but John’s still one of the best blocking long snappers in the league. I can talk about this for a while. That’s one of the reasons it’s really hard for the younger snappers to break into the league. Younger snappers who break into the league, a majority of them don’t block in college because of the difference in the rules. The majority of them snap and run, and don’t have to block and protect. That’s why you see the average age of long snappers in the NFL is a little bit higher than most positions. You see a lot of guys that are 30 years-plus that are still playing in the league, because the majority of them have been playing for a long time and that blocking skill is something that you develop over time. It’s really hard for those younger rookie snappers to break into the league because a lot of them haven’t developed that skill yet. Sometimes, it takes a snapper two, three, maybe even four years to crack a roster and really that’s the number one reason. It’s not the snap velocity. It’s certainly not the cover ability. It’s the blocking and because of the rules. In the NFL, you can only release the outside man on each side. In college, you can release everybody. I would say about 80 percent, maybe even more, of college punt teams are snapping the ball and releasing right now and those guys don’t have to block. It’s a skill that those guys haven’t done in college and it’s hard for those younger guys to break into the league. That’s really why you see that average age is up there. John isn’t the only one. I think there’s a bunch of guys that are 34, 35-plus in the league.”
