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Danny Crossman – September 28, 2021 Download PDF version

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman

(We saw a moment in the Raiders game when it looked like the Raiders were downing the ball at the 1-yard line and CB Byron Jones grabbed the player. It looked like maybe he was trying to bring him into the endzone for a touchback. What were you seeing from that play and did you get any explanation from Byron on what he was trying to do there?) – “That’s exactly what he was trying to do. He was trying to get the player and the ball into the end zone to get the touchback. If that player is not working towards that, you can’t help him get in the end zone like that. That’s why the penalty was called. It was a good call.”

(Is that something that is a teaching point? Did CB Byron Jones know that they weren’t going to call that?) – “Yes, it’s a teaching point. It’s something that you try and do but there is a line of when that player is no longer working his momentum in certain directions that you cannot force them in certain directions.”

(Yourself, Head Coach Brian Flores and the entire staff basically have praised the way K Jason Sanders has goes about his craft. Last year he didn’t really have many misses to experience this so I was curious, when he comes off the field after a miss like he had on Sunday, what is his mindset to get himself back to where he was last year making every single kick?) – “I think any time you miss, you just take yourself back through the process. Most importantly, it was a good ball. He struck the ball well. Obviously he hit the upright and it didn’t work out in our favor. As long as you are striking the ball well, I don’t think that’s something when you consistently put in good work during the week, in pregame and you’re not having any issues, you don’t delve too far into it. You just get ready for the next opportunity.”

(How would you assess P Michael Palardy any the punting game?) – “I think any time you look at it, it’s not just numbers. A lot of our opportunities in this past game were in that plus territory. People want to look at numbers and talk about numbers. My big thing there is what’s the drive start after we get done? If we are downing them inside the five or inside the 10, I think in those situations those balls are good balls. We ended up with three inside the 20. We want more than that and I think there are some possibilities of getting more than that. Like any other phase that we are working through right now, and every other player, there’s things that we can do better and we are going to keep striving to get better.”

(I wondered if you ever say anything to K Jason Sanders before he kicks with as much pressure as he had on Sunday in overtime, or do you just leave him alone and go through his routine?) – “Usually not right before kicks. The talking we do is separate from when it’s an inevitable opportunity, for lack of a better analogy. When it’s going to come and present itself, by that point he’s in his mind getting his focus, taking himself through his progressions that he would go on before he gets on to the field and that’s not a time where I ever want to get in that space.”

(After his rare misses like the one earlier on Sunday, do you talk to him immediately after or do you save that for during the week?) – “No, we talk about it after of what he felt. Obviously, the visual, you’re not getting visuals on game day. But a lot of it is how he felt, whether it be how it was off his foot, where his plant foot was or how he felt about his operation. There’s a lot of things to be gained that way. When you do something as often and as well as a lot of these guys do in their profession and their specific position, they get a great feel on the muscle memory of what it should feel like. There’s always the ability to have some discissions about something.”

(I wanted to ask you about WR Jaylen Waddle. I know he had the muffed punt experience a game ago previously. When you have those kind of moments, how to you get a player to get that stuff out of their brain to cleanse it?) – “I think a lot of it is individual. A lot of the guys at this level, a lot of the reason they are at this level is because they are very quick to push those negative things out of their mind and move forward for the next opportunity. Jaylen is one of those players. He’ll get plenty more opportunities and we expect big things from him when he is out there.”

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