Danny Crossman – September 10, 2024
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Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I didn’t understand something I saw on the internet. There was a kick that looked like it was windy and it landed. What happened there? I thought it landed inside of the 20-yard line?) – “Two of them landed inside the 20 (-yard line), one landed way early. Buffalo got one that landed inside the 20, they had a hard time fielding it, they ended up tackling the guy at the 4-yard line. So you get that, then they give up the big return, so you get both ends of the spectrum. They end up kicking one out of bounds trying to put it in play, so lot of different things as opposed to the same old.”
(Quite the roller coaster Sunday for K Jason Sanders?) – “I don’t know if I’d call it a roller coaster. Obviously anytime we go out there, we’re looking to make every kick. It’s like any highly trained professional, one hiccup you don’t blink. Obviously in the summer you get to watch some golf and you watch guys like Scottie Scheffler who’s going to make three birdies in a row, he gets a double bogie, not even a blip on his radar. Not comparing player to player, athlete to athlete, but you’re going to have some hiccups. You can’t think about it; you go back to your techniques, your fundamentals, get your head space correct and go back to work.”
(What happened on that miss?) – “He missed it. There is a couple of things that go into it. We can’t miss those. 100 percent, we need to have that kick, but you get off a little bit on timing and rhythm and don’t hit the ball properly, that’s what’s going to happen.”
(With K Jason Sanders’ mental toughness as you’ve observed being around him for a few years, do you ever have to lift his spirits and move on to the next one? Or do you assume he does that himself without you offering him any encouragement after a miss?) – “There is usually – maybe it’s just a look or a head nod that I’m not blinking, don’t you blink. We got complete confidence, just go back to work on the next one. As I said, the fact that I see every single kick in practice and warmups. If there is something that I see, it’s a one-word thing, whether it’s tempo, rhythm, whatever it may be. He has a very good ability to self-correct.”
(As it relates to the touchback, are you telling Head Coach Mike McDaniel before every single kickoff, ‘We’re going to do a touchback on this one,’ is it like a conversation every time or no?) – “It’s an ongoing thing. It’s not every time. We’ve sort of gone into the season with some things that we’ve talked about, scenario, times, scores. There’s several things that we’ve already discussed before we get into those situations and into the game, but usually if he’s close or if there’s time, there still will be some communication. We had several incidents on Sunday where there was no TV timeout and it was a quick turnaround, and there wasn’t time for those communications. But he is always aware either right before or even going into the game of what we’re thinking.”
(Do you think you can loll the opponent to sleep by going touchback, touchback, touchback, now we’re going to trick you on this one? Does that happen?) – “That’s going to be an ongoing thing. I think that as the season goes, you’ll see similar looks that end up being different things. You got to change things up. We saw that a little bit from what we saw from Jacksonville and how they did some things with the kicker that going into the game was telling us one thing and it ended up being something different. I think that is going to be an ongoing process.”
(What was working well for P Jake Bailey to punt the way he did?) – “Jake (Bailey) has had a very good camp, first of all. That wasn’t surprising, he’s done a really good job leading into it. He’s had a good preseason. I think especially in what we refer to as gray areas, plus-50 balls, he’s got a lot of confidence in the gunners first and foremost. So that idea of being aggressive, not that they had to make the play because he hit such good balls that they were able to go on their own, but having the confidence in those guys to make the play to be very aggressive.”
(How good is it to have CB Siran Neal on your side for this game? When you and GM Chris Grier talked in February and March, did you guys identify him as one of the better special teams players in the league?) – “Yeah, when he became available, it sort of changed the roster of available players and the rankings of the guys you like, you love and really like to have. When he became available obviously, he went very high on that list.”
(It looked like WR Tyreek Hill was back to return a punt at one point, but it was mostly WR Braxton Berrios. Is there going to be a rotation back there, or is it a specific circumstance that led you to put WR Tyreek Hill back there?) – “It’ll be a constant ongoing, lot of different scenarios. It could be the game, the situation, the scenario, what’s going on offensively, how the game is progressing – there’s a lot of factors that go into it. We feel like we have several guys that are quality return guys. I can’t sit here and tell you exactly what’s going to happen because it’s ever evolving. Anybody that we put back there, just like we talked about with Malik Washington, we talk about Braxton (Berrios), guys that can make good decisions, good ball security, and obviously good players with the ball in their hands.”
(What’s your personal perspective on the WR Tyreek Hill incident that occurred before the game and what you may or may not have seen relative to the video and the police interaction?) – “I haven’t seen the video. No. 1, I’m glad that everybody came out unharmed. Both our players first and foremost, but also law enforcement. They have a hard job to do. I haven’t seen the video. I just know that for the last several years the National Football League, we’re all in this together. Stop hate, all of these things we are putting on the jerseys, the hats, in the end zone – again, I think it’s just another reminder of we still have such a long way to go.”
(I wanted to ask you about the punt return last year against the Bills. Did that eat at you at all in the offseason? Did it kind of motivate you? What did you learn from that experience?) – “It doesn’t eat at me. Any time there is a negative play, it’s always going to stay with you. You’re going to remember the negative ones more than you remember the positive ones. It didn’t fuel anything. We had a situation where their guy made a good play. We had a couple of guys run into one another and sadly, the biggest thing that bothered me is we lost players. We got a guy that’s still unable to play because of an injury that occurred on that particular play. I give them credit. It was a good play by the returner, did something that we hadn’t seen a lot of him returning a ball from that deep. He made a heck of a play, good for them. They get paid too. It’s not a motivating thing, it’s another game. They’re the next game on the schedule, we got to find a way to win the game.”
(WR Deonte Harty is no longer there. What do you think of their new returner. Are there still some systems in place that you have to watch out for on how they return punts?) – “He’s a different guy, but he’s a talented player. He did a good job for the Jets in the preseason. He did a good job in the first game making decisions and good ball security. He’s a talented guy with the ball in his hands. You go back and look at a lot of his college tape. They’re going to play the game – without getting too far deep into the season, they’re going to play the game a certain way. That’s how Buffalo has played the game, it’s been very success for them. They are a well-coached, very talented football team, and we got to be ready in all three phases to battle because they are coming in here with a purpose.”
