Transcripts

Search Transcripts
Danny Crossman – November 16, 2023 Download PDF version

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman

(With WR Braxton Berrios, he didn’t practice yesterday. How many options do you have at kick returner? I mean to me, RB De’Von Achane, WR Cedrick Wilson Jr. are the two that come to mind. Are there more than that?) – “We have the traditional guys that we’ve been repping and working and you guys have seen them out there. We feel good about where Braxton is. He had an extra day yesterday, but we feel good about where he is for this weekend. Fortunately, we have some other guys that have history, which is the most important thing, that you feel comfortable putting guys back there.”

(Would you feel comfortable putting WR Tyreek Hill back there?) – “I would.”

(When he initially came here, WR Tyreek Hill said that’s something that he wanted to do. Obviously, you guys were like, ah, we’ve got other responsibilities for you. But would you put him back there in like critical game situations?) – “There is not a guy on this team that, regardless of the situation, if the opportunity presents itself, we will put him back there.

(DT Christian Wilkins?) – “Christian would volunteer. He’d be happy to do it. He asks me every week. (laughter) I don’t know if we’ll go that way, but it’s an option.”

(Who is the best big man catcher? Do you ever have like a big man skills competition?) – “No, we don’t. But we have guys, several guys, that are much more athletic in catching the football than you would presume. We also have some guys that fit the mold exactly like you would expect them to.”

(OL Robert Hunt?) – “Not saying anything. Not mentioning any names. (laughter)”

(Well what about on the good side? Who is someone who’s skills would surprise us?) – “I’m not mentioning names because if I forget somebody, I’ll hear about it. (laughter) If I mention somebody bad, I’ll hear about that. We’ll keep that to the practice field.”

(Is S Jevon Holland still handling punts?) – “Yeah. He works every week. Like I said, we have a lot of guys that we try and get back there every week to catch balls, because you never know what’s going to happen in the game.”

(Watching college and NFL this weekend, I saw a few onside kicks. I was wondering – without giving away strategy – how many different onside kicks do you guys have, like the ones that bounce or skip? Then how much does using it depend on the look that you get from the other team?) – “It’s both. We’re very fortunate with both Jason (Sanders) – Jason has a lot of tools in the onside game – and then adding Jake (Bailey). Last year, Jake handled a lot of that stuff in New England. So we have two guys that have a great history of onside kicks. But like anything, more importantly, it’s trying to get the matchups of what we are able to do, and then tie that into what the opposition’s looks are. We try and put those things together and then you’re at the mercy of the bounce. That’s the wonderful thing about the football. It’s not round. It’s going to take weird hops. So you can do everything right, and you’re not going to get the bounce you want. Fortunately, and hopefully, we don’t have to be in a lot of those situations.”

(Did you do anything for K Jason Sanders on his birthday?) – “I did not.”

(It’s K Jason Sanders birthday today.) – “Yeah, I know that, but I did not. It’s still early.” (laughter)

(You’re coaching K Jason Sanders up.) – “Well, we’ll see how he does today.” (laughter)

(So the Dolphins are near or at the bottom of the league in field goal attempts, for various reasons. You score a lot of touchdowns, successful in the red zone, go for it on fourth because you guys are good at that. What is your message, if any, to K Jason Sanders relative to, at some point, you’re going to have to like kick us into the playoffs or something?) – “I’m fortunate that I’ve been with Jason for a long time. His mindset doesn’t change. His work doesn’t change. He’s constantly ready on the sideline. We’ve had many situations where it’s gone, the discussion of all of sudden it’s third-and-seven and we’re thinking field goal and it goes to fourth-and-two and we like the look and we’ve liked what we’ve looked at during the week and we go for it offensively. So I think the biggest thing you’ve said, we’ve been – knock on wood – we’ve been very good in the red zone. If you’re able to do that and you’re changing and turning sevens instead of taking threes, we’ll take that every time. But we feel very confident about Jason. Anytime we run him out there we expect to get points.”

(Is K Jason Sanders’ range similar to where it was when he was an All-Pro just three years ago?) – “It is. He’s the same guy. We feel very comfortable. It’s just, we’re playing the game a little bit differently now than we played it back then and it’s a great thing based on where our offense is right now.”

Search Transcripts

Weekly Archives