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Darren Rizzi – August 15, 2016 Download PDF version

Monday, August 15, 2016

Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi

(On what WR Jakeem Grant showed in his first preseason game) – “It was a good start. I think for a guy catching a punt (in) his first game ever – probably since high school – it was nice to see him (returning punts). When the bad weather happened, I was actually hoping it would rain a little bit more (to) see him in some bad weather situations, too, but it was nice to see him. There were some things he still has to work on. The first punt that kind of landed on the ground and bounced a little bit, I’d like to see him maybe get that ball – field (the ball) – and see what we can do with the ball in his hands. Right now, it comes down to him making the right decisions, being at the right depth, fielding the ball cleanly. Once he has it in his hands and takes care of the ball, he obviously is a dangerous weapon, for sure.”

(On what level of comfort he has to have for WR Jakeem Grant to be the returner Week 1) – “I still want him to get a lot more reps here. It’s one of those deals where – in my opinion – you can never really get enough. As much as we simulate here in practice, there’s nothing like that live action with people in the stands and you got to make the play. Obviously, when the opposing punter is out there… It’s a little thing, but our first punter – our first opponent punter – was a lefty. That’s actually a different dynamic catching a lefty punt. We’re going to see another one this week. They (Dallas) have a lefty and a righty, so that work is great. I’m really happy that we’re getting that preseason work. I think our defense did a good job of giving us opportunities. You never know going into the game how many punt return opportunities you’re going to get, so kudos to the defense for letting him get out there and getting those opportunities. My comfort level is going to be really dependent on how these next three weeks go, and then we’ll go from there.”

(On what LB Mike Hull does well on special teams) – “Mike has got a really high football IQ. It’s funny, my daughter just started up at Penn State, and I was there last summer speaking to their coaches, (and) they couldn’t say enough superlatives about this guy. They really loved him as a leader; he was their captain. Really, they spoke a lot about his football IQ. Last year when we had him in camp, I started to notice that. Some of the plays he made is really (about) having a feel for the game. He’s a guy that’s a hustler. He’s going to give you every bit of his soul on every play. You see him hustling down the field. He showed some athleticism. He showed some real instincts. On a couple of the tackles, he really had a great feel for coverage and being in the proper spot. It maybe sound like a really elementary, fundamental thing, but it really takes a feel for it. Over the course of this last year, he has become a guy that’s starting to understand that aspect of the game – the coverage aspect. I can’t remember a guy that had four tackles and a forced fumble in one game in a recent past year. Kudos to him. Great effort. (It) doesn’t surprise me, because of his work ethic and his football IQ. Hopefully, he can continue to do that.”

(On whether LB Mike Hull is someone he would lobby to make the 53-man roster) – “If he keeps doing that every week, he’s going to be a hard guy to get rid of, seriously. I can’t really speak on that yet, but I can tell you that if he keeps having that kind of production, those guys are hard to kick out of the building – the guys that we’re looking to play core special teams. He does a lot of things. He was actually a long snapper in college – which most people don’t know – so he can be a backup. There’s a lot of things he can do. He’s one of those, ‘More you can do,’ guys. There’s really no phase that he can’t play, so again, he’s an asset that way.”

 

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