Darren Rizzi – October 19, 2017
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Thursday, October 19, 2017
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(Your take on the punt that wasn’t a punt by Atlanta at the end. What did you see on that play?) – “It’s kind of like we’ve talked about before with our field goal block, I think our punt block/return team has also done a good job of pressuring opposing punters. Not only have we put that on film, I think once we got into the game, we had a couple of earlier really good rushes up the middle there, in the A gaps on the long snapper. Terrence Fede, to give him credit, has really, on both of those units – both the punt rush and the field goal rush units – has done a really good job and has put some really good stuff out there on film. So I know when our opponents are preparing for us, they’re, no doubt, they’re finding where he is. I think what happened on that particular play is we lined Terrence up in the A gap and I think their long snapper, earlier on, had a little trouble blocking Chase Allen on another A-gap rush. I think he kind of noticed where Terrence was and then I really think he tried to get out of there too early. He didn’t really extend and follow through with the snap and he just tried to short arm it and it slipped a little bit. Obviously, the result was not a good snap. I think you can see clearly on film, that he’s trying to get out to Terrence quickly, and I certainly think that affected the play. No doubt.”
(So you don’t think it hit anybody? The stat sheet said it hit the up-back, for example.) – “No, it did not. Initially, from the sideline … What happens sometimes with the long snappers, when they try to get out super early, they hit themselves with the ball. I’ve seen that happen before where a guy hits his own leg or his butt with the ball. I thought that’s what happened. I thought he tried to get out super early, he tried to jump back and nicked his leg or his butt on the way back. After reviewing it on film from the back angle, he didn’t hit anybody. It didn’t hit the up-back; it didn’t hit anybody. It was fourth-and-19, so I really don’t think they were running a fake there. A couple people have asked me that. Clearly on film, to me, he’s just trying to get out. Terrence is a presence there and he just tried to get out early, and obviously it was a huge play in the game.”
(How’s the kickoff and punt return game going for you guys?) – “We’re close. Last week we had one assignment bust on our first return of the game. Then the second one, looking at it really, really close, we’re really one guy off to having a really big play there. The return game is funny. You can have five or six games in a row where it’s going great, five or six games in a row where it takes a little bit of a dip. I’m not overly concerned. I think we’re really, really close. I told our guys watching the film, we’d all love our stats to be a little bit better right now in that department, but we’re really, really close. The guys are working hard. I’ll give our (opposing) punters credit. In the games against New Orleans and Tennessee, in particular, those punters had unbelievable days, our opposing punters. They painted the sideline, so sometimes punt return (has) a tough day there when the punters are punting that well; but I think we’re close. I think we’re really, really on the verge of having a big play there, so we’ve just got to keep working at it.”
(In years past, a big stumbling block for this team to make the playoffs have been games in the division. Buffalo for a while seemed like the one team that would keep you out. What is it about these division games and even if you look on paper and you wonder, ‘Hey, are these teams equal?’ The games area always seemingly close or they don’t go your way?) – “I think with any division games, it’s a really common opponent. Just like in any sport and any level, if you have a common opponent, the teams know each other a little bit better, the personnel’s a little bit better. It’s like last week we, played an NFC team. We played the Falcons. I’m harping on our guys (to) learn the personnel, know the matchups, because these are guys you don’t play very often. You get in division games, we’re playing these guys – when you include all of them – we’re playing six of our 16 games. It’s a common opponent, there’s a lot of carryover. I think the teams know each other very well in the division, so I think that’s why, not just in our division but in most divisions, you find out these division games end up being a lot closer and end up being really good games. I think that’s a big part of it. Obviously the rivalry and all of that stuff goes into it. These division games are obviously very, very important when you stack them up at the end of the year in terms of postseason and things like that, so there’s a little bit more, certainly, in these division games, no question about it.”
(What did you learn about that yourselves in that first Jets game?) – “It was our second game of the year. I think we’re a completely different team. I think you’ve got to take each game on an individual basis. That’s why in the NFL, the worst thing you can do is score comparisons in any games with any teams. I think we’ve grown a lot since then. We’ve had a lot of young players that have played a lot of plays. We obviously didn’t execute that game. That was the bottom line. We didn’t execute very well doing certain things. We’ve learned a lot from the tape and from these last few games that we’ve played, so I think we’re a different team from that. Even though it doesn’t seem like it was that long ago, I think we’ve grown a lot as a team.”
(You said the worst thing you can do is score comparisons?) – “Yes, I think the worst thing you can do…”
(Just because you don’t know? Teams change so much from one month to the next?) – “Yes. The general fan would say, ‘That team beat that team 27-20 so you should.’ That’s the worst thing you could do. Every game is an individual event. I think the worst thing you can do is start looking at scores like ‘that game was that score and that game was that score, so this game’s probably going to be that score.’ There’s a million examples you can give of how that doesn’t work out, so I just think it’s a bad way to look at it in terms of score comparisons.”
(How often do you notice a Buffalo, for example, in September, turns out to be a different Buffalo team in November? Like the Jets for example a month later could be…) – “Very common. A lot of things happen. You grow as a team or you go the other way as a team. Injuries obviously factor in, the bottom of your roster changes. All of those things are going to change. A team that’s Team A in the beginning of the year in September, as far as November, December goes, it could be completely different.”
(WR Rashawn Scott is back practicing. What is his special teams participation? And really among the backup three receivers, we know
WR Jakeem Grant has a role, but really WR Leonte Carroo and Scott, what is there special teams participation?) – “So obviously Rashawn just got back yesterday and so we threw him right back into the mix with everything that he was doing. Hopefully, he’ll pick up where he left off, but based on what he did last year, he gave us some good special teams plays and obviously was active for the playoff game. We felt like last year he was a core contributor. Like I said, yesterday was his first practice back. As far as his skill set and what he’s done in the past, we’re hoping here through the next – I think he’s allowed to practice for three weeks or whatever the rule is – hopefully we can get him back and caught up to speed. Those reserve receivers, special teams is obviously a very important role for those guys. Carroo obviously played a lot more offense last week because DeVante (Parker) was inactive, so that obviously plays into it. That’s obviously a week-to-week thing, but Carroo, Rashawn Scott, anybody that’s going to be in that fourth, fifth receiver spot, their special teams value is going to be very important. Rashawn obviously proved last year that he can do it.”
(You mentioned DE Terrence Fede earlier. How would you describe his evolution as a special teamer and how valuable is he to that unit?) – “His evolution has been – I don’t know what the right word to use is but it’s been huge because here’s a guy that played 1-AA football and had never really played special teams before, and as a defensive lineman, he’s matured in a lot of ways. He’s matured mentally, matured physically. He’s certainly improved in the special teams area big time. I thought he really did a nice job this offseason between OTAs, training camp, the preseason games, and now he’s carrying it over to the regular season. I was a big fan of his and a big supporter of him making the team and all of that because of the way he’d been playing. Now, he’s carrying that over into these games. He’s been a factor for us. I think he’s played close to 100 plays in five games in the special teams area, and so there’s a lot of different things he can do. He’s a valuable guy. His size, his speed, his strength, all of those things. When he first got here, he was more of a raw athlete that hadn’t really done it. I think he’s fine-tuned his game in a lot of different ways. I mentioned the rush game before. He’s part of our punt protection. We’ve run him down on kickoffs before. He’s on the back end on kickoff return. There’s a lot of different things, a lot of different jobs that he’s been able to grow into.”
(CB Alterraun Verner, what does he do on special teams? I’ve only noticed him on kickoff cover.) – “AV’s been a kickoff cover guy. He’s actually been out there as well on punt return as a jammer working on their gunners. Not every time, but he’s been out there certain times. He’s a reserve gunner. Right now Walt (Aikens) and (Kenyan) Drake are our starting gunners, but he works into that role at practice. He’s also a backup on our field goal block as an edge guy. He’s Bobby (McCain’s) backup as an edge guy. So he’s done all of that and it is stuff he’s done in his career as well.”
