Danny Crossman – December 29, 2022
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Thursday, December 29, 2022
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(Can you go over the fake punt that you guys stopped last week? What happened? What led to your success on that play?) – “It’s tendencies, coach’s histories and then the magnitude of the game a little bit. They were trying to make a play, and between the special teams coordinator and the head coach, a little bit of history in that situation of trying to make something happen. The guys did a good job, fortunately we were able to make the play and set ourselves up in good field position offensively. A big play in that situation.”
(Conversely, what would you say really led to the issues on the 93-yard kickoff return?) – “That’s a combination of that’s a very good returner who has had a lot of success getting back to the field and was able to make a great cut and get some guys out of their gap or trying to do too much, for lack of a better term, and then making a great cut. But there’s an illustration of a great returner. He did a really good job selling it, stuck his foot in the ground, got a guy out of the gap. It’s the same thing we talk about, or you guys talk about, when you talk to the defensive coaches. Covering kicks is like run defense and guys get – if you have gap integrity, you’re going to have a chance – a chance. If you don’t have gap integrity, something bad could happen.”
(Sometimes it’s hard for me to tell what’s a good block and a not good block, if it’s a clean block or an illegal block. Was that a cleanly blocked play?) – “There’s always some gray. Not to get too much into it, but any penalty, anything that I see, I always look at would I want that called if it was us. So that sometimes cleans things up, at least in my mind. There are some things that are egregious and it’s blatant. But I always just look at it in reverse, like if that was us, would I expect that to be called. To me, it was a very good cut by the returner.”
(I suspect you wouldn’t want anything called on your team.) – “(laughter) I’m a realist. There are things that need to be called. We had one called on us that I thought was a poor call, but at the same time, you see why the official would call it, even though it was a poor call. (It’s) some of the things that they look for and that’s what happens.”
(You mentioned tendencies at the start. Where do the Patriots fall in terms of likelihood to try to do something to catch you guys off guard?) – Well, I’m not going to get into a lot of that, but again, the head coach, who is a former special teams coach, they’re always outstanding in the kicking game. They do a good job of mixing things up. They have very good players. But everybody’s got some things that you look for that, not necessarily that you anticipate, but you’re aware of the possibility.”
(It looked like you guys attempted a squib kick at one point. Could you explain what the strategy was and how the execution…?) – “That was just a miss hit. Just a miss hit.”
(Is there any person who’s been lost on returns, do you think has been hurtful this year whether it’s TE Cethan Carter, whether it’s someone else? I know S Brandon Jones played only 27 special teams snaps before he went down. Whose absence has been hurtful?) – “Obviously losing a guy like Cethan (Carter) and then with some of the other injuries – offensively, defensively, with some of the transition of players, we had a little bit of a yo-yo there earlier in the year. It’s settled down a little bit the last four or five weeks. Anytime there’s injuries – that’s the thing, even on offense and defense, there’s a trickle-down effect. You lose a defensive back, then a defensive back who’s maybe playing five plays on defense, now he’s playing 35 plays on defense. You have a guy that’s playing five plays on offense and now he’s playing 30 plays on offense. So that has a trickle down, obviously in the kicking game. But losing Cethan, especially early in the year, because No. 1 he was a leader and a good player, so that was a loss. The rest that we had, that’s the game. There’s years that you are clean and you don’t have a lot of injuries, and then there are years that you have to go through stuff. Obviously, we all wish we could roll the same group of guys out there with that continuity and playing together. You’re always going to be more successful when you have that (than) when you’re moving people and changing people, but that’s part of the game. That’s what everybody goes through.”
(Obviously, DB Keion Crossen was the marquee special teams signing of the offseason. Has his snaps on special teams at all been impacted since he’s essentially become the third corner?) – “Without question. You look at the numbers, yes.”
(And more so on punt return? Kickoff return?) – “A combination. A lot of plays and a lot of phases, which good for him. But that’s what it takes – again, anything we’re always doing, we’re trying to win the game. Whatever it takes, whoever they need, let’s find a way to win the game. If he’s the best option, that’s the nature of this beast. Go play and we’ll figure it out.”
(At this time of the year, we know guys want to win and you guys are looking at a playoff berth. Do you have to talk to guys about just do your 1/11th, don’t try to do too much?) – “Without question, and that is a little bit of the nature of the beast. Go play good football, know what to do, know how to do it, do it to the best of your ability and that will give you a chance. As we all know, we’re playing good teams, too. So that’s the best way to give yourself an opportunity to be successful. Don’t make these games any more important in your mind than the ones you’ve already played. Do what you’re supposed to do, do it how you’re supposed to do it and give yourself a chance and then let the pieces fall where they may.”
(What’s been the most disappointing thing?) – “The fact that we’ve given up some big plays. Fortunately, like in this game, we give one up but we’re able to make one so it ends up being a wash. But the consistency – the next couple kickoffs they start drives on the 10 (-yard line), they start drives on the 12 (-yard line), they start drives on the 20 (-yard line). Three out of four, you’re good, but you can’t give up those chunks. It makes it hard. It puts the defense in a bad position. Again, fortunately we were able to make a play to put the offense in good field position, but you don’t want to play for a wash.”
