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Danny Crossman – September 28, 2023 Download PDF version

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman

(The kick return touchdown that occurred, what happened on that?) – “Multiple things. It was late in the game and we’re trying to get some different people in and had some different people in some different spots. Besides that, we had two guys not where they’re supposed to be on a fit and a little poor backside pursuit. When you do that, bad things are going to happen.”

(Was that a deal where you guys wanted to have a kick return cover and put it inside the 10? Or was that a deal where it just didn’t go through the end zone?) – “Well, it wasn’t the ideal kick. I’ll put it that way. We had a couple of them that weren’t exactly what we’re trying to do. But again, positively we kicked off a lot. Negatively, you’re not going to get what you want on every single kickoff when you kick off that many times.”

(So there might be times where instead of kicking it through the end zone, you, for some strategic reason, will try to place it within the 10 or five?) – “Yeah, without question.”

(When you use P Jake Bailey, is that just to kind of give K Jason Sanders a break, because obviously he had at least 10 kickoffs, right?) – “That, again, is a combination of a couple things of being able to use our resources as best we can. (We have) two guys that we think are good kickoff guys that can do a lot of things.”

(On that touchdown return by Denver WR Marvin Mims Jr., LB Cam Goode missed a tackle. But beyond that, how has he played on special teams for your in the three games?) – “Playing well. He did a good job. You say, ‘missed tackle,’ but he wasn’t the breakdown of that play. We’re happy with where Cam is but like all these young guys, they still have a long way to go.”

(Is he a guy that you’ll need week to week on the roster?) – “Well, we’ll see. The roster and the management of the roster and game day stuff, it’s constantly changing. It’s an ebb and flow, but he’s a guy that we feel good about, if he’s got a uniform, of contributing for us.”

(On a different note, on that play in a close game, is that a fair catch by Denver and you get it at the 25, do you think?) – “I have no idea.”

(But overall, has that kind of been the trend, do you know? Or is there enough evidence to develop a trend?) – “There’s not enough. Every team is different. Every coach is different. Every player. Who you’re playing. There’s so many things that go into it. I think it’ll be a couple more, probably another month or so before you really have a good feel on what’s going on around the league.”

(Does making all 10 extra points do something good for K Jason Sanders? I know you say he’s always confident, but what do you think about him making all 10 extra points?) – “I think we’ve all done a lot of things in our lives and to be 10 out of 10 on anything is pretty good. Especially with the new rules, when you’re looking at 10 out of 10 33-yard field goals, that’s a good day. So again, one of the things that we like about Jason he’s very stay the course, things don’t rattle him. But like anything else, success is a great breeder for positive things going forward, I believe.”

(We’ve heard Head Coach Mike McDaniel mention coming off the bench in games and the challenges of going from cold to up and moving around right away. Obviously, a good problem to have, but is that kind of similar for punt team, where you never use the punt team until like once or twice a game and you kind of have to come off the bench cold in that regard?) – “A lot of it has to do with the different players and different spots of where they are. Obviously, anytime we get possession of the football, Jake’s up and starting to hit some footballs. So that’s a constant. You have some players that are contributing on offense and defense that are constantly working. You have other guys maybe not playing as much on offense and defense. You can get into those lulls where yeah, maybe they are sitting on the sideline for an extended period of time. But more than anything, it’s mental. You’ve got to keep yourself in the game mentally because that’s where the breakdowns happen.”

(On the kickoffs, because there are so few, what do you tell the guys about, in your own words – because I would say, ‘hey, guys, don’t assume there’s not going to be a return on this.’ Is it human nature to maybe kind of, ‘hey, we just had nine in a row go through the end zone?’ You know what I mean?) – “You cover every one like it’s going to be returned and that’s the only way you can do it. You can’t control what they do. They may want to bring it back from nine yards deep. You can’t control that, so you better assume everything is going to be played and then you deal with it. It’s why it’s so important to practice because if (there are) opportunities both in return and the kickoff game. You better be really good in practice because you don’t know when those opportunities are going to come. So practice becomes, to me, even more relevant.”

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