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Danny Crossman – December 1, 2020

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Special Teams Danny Crossman

(We all know that K Jason Sanders makes all of his field goals. I don’t know a ton about him other than that. Since you met this guy, is there something kind of interesting that you’ve learned about him other than he kicks the ball straight all the time?) – “I think Jason is an outstanding young man, first and foremost. Obviously he’s very, very talented. We feel very, very fortunate to have him. There are a million things I can talk about, just like with a lot of these players – a lot of them I’ll keep private. Just a great kid and a joy to work with on a day-to-day basis.”

(It seems like in a league where touchbacks are so often the outcome, that you guys are consistently forcing returns and getting stops inside the 25-yard line. Jason, like you’ve mentioned, can put it into the end zone anytime he wants to. So I’m wondering, is that just a confidence thing in your kickoff team’s ability to win some of the hidden yardage there?) – “I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. I think it’s something that we look at on a week-to-week, game-to-game basis based on our opponent, based on other situations once we truly get into the game. But we feel good about Jason. We feel good about the coverage guys. There are a lot of things that go into it, but to be able to have some of that ability – for lack of a better term – to dictate what’s going on is something that ‘Flo’ (Head Coach Brian Flores) talks about. I’m sure you guys have heard it from him time and time again. That’s an advantage we’re trying to take advantage of.”

(K Jason Sanders is so consistent and so dependable that it’s almost easy to assume he’s always going to make kicks. I’m wondering going back into your career, I’m not asking you to name any names but have there been times when you were a special teams coordinator and had a kicker that just made you nervous as hell when he went out there? What’s that like?) – “I’d tell you it’s not fun. I’ve been very fortunate in my almost 20 years in this league that I’ve got to work with a lot of very good kickers, a lot of very dependable kickers. But when there is not that feeling – and maybe not as much for me, but in my opinion, when you send that guy out on the field for the team, the organization, the guys on the sideline, they are the ones who have that great feeling of who that guy is when he runs out on the field, that we’re coming away with a positive result. That’s very important for the team”

(I think you guys rank No. 1 or No. 2 in kick and punt coverage. I believe you are No. 1 in punt return average. You’ve got K Jason Sanders. At what point in the spring or in the summer did you have a sense that you might have a really special group?) – “To me, it goes all the way back to last season when we started working towards our goal of building this team, of the type of players in the classroom, on the practice field, to games – the kind of players and people we were looking for. We have a long way to go to really build a vision of what we’re all trying to gain. But when you have a good nucleus of guys who work hard and take a lot of pride in what they are doing, we felt that we were going to have an opportunity to have a solid group. Like I said, we have a long way to go and there are a lot more things that we can be a lot better in a lot of situations.”

(WR Mack Hollins, what makes him so successful as a gunner? I don’t even know if you call it that position; but in terms of taking on two blockers and still getting where he needs to be?) – “I think No. 1, you have to have great desire to play that position and really any position on punt. When you look at anybody that plays on punt, I have a great amount of respect for players because of what you’re asking them to do. When you talk about the punt play, you’re taking really all the elements of football and putting it into on play. When that play starts, those inside guys are protection players like offensive linemen. Then you’re asking them to become defensive players to be able to shock and separate and get off. Then you’re asking them to sprint, 30, 40, 60 yards down the field, and then go make a play. It’s the same thing with outside guys, whether you’re dealing with single or vice or stack. In a lot of those situations, you try to defeat two players, and that is just the start of it. You’ve got to defeat those guys but now you have to go make a play. I think desire is No. 1 and then he puts the time and effort into the practice field in studying and taking notes. When you put all of those things together, you give yourself a chance to be successful, which is the least you can do.”

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