Darren Rizzi – November 30, 2017
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Thursday, November 30, 2017
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(What happened on the fake punt?) – “Really it was just a matter of them executing and us not executing. Not to oversimplify it, but really that’s what happened. They executed well. I know Michael Thomas spoke about it and gave you the details on it. I don’t want to go into too much detail because obviously we play those guys again here next week and all of that. You give them credit. They executed and we didn’t. Obviously, any time we get a play like that, it’s a game changer. We talk about going into every game, making game changers. Special teams is obviously an area where you can make game-changing plays. I thought we had two opportunities in the last game to do that. One, was to stop the fake punt on fourth-and-8. If we do that, that’s a game changer. Then we had, obviously, the ball on the ground on that punt, the fumbled punt. Those two plays, if they go the other way, are game changers. That’s what you’re always trying to do. Again, give them credit. They did a good job of executing, we did not.”
(What did you see on that fumbled punt, because it appeared from up high, that you had had a cup of coffee that morning after that play?) – “I’m not trying to criticize the officials here. I’m not criticizing the officials but I thought, in my personal opinion, that the ball was still alive. I thought that them ruling (Patriots) possession, I thought they did that a little bit too early. The official on the field made the call that he saw them with possession before it went into a pile. That was the way the call was. Whether I agree or disagree with him is irrelevant at this point; but that’s what happened. Walt (Aikens) made a great play, got the ball out, then the ball went into the pile. Just so you know, in terms of reviewing that, there has to be a clear recovery, so it (would have been) a wasted challenge. If a ball goes into a pile, it doesn’t matter if the person comes out of the pile with the ball, that’s not considered a clear recovery. A clear recovery is on film you clearly have the ball, possession of the ball and all of that, almost like a catch or no catch. In this situation, once the ball goes into a scrum if you will, it’s irrelevant to review that because they’re never going to give you that. There’s got to be a clear picture of you recovering the ball. If somebody had asked me why we didn’t challenge it, that’s the reason we didn’t challenge it.”
(Explain that to me again, I’m sorry.) – “In any play, if a ball goes into a pile and there’s not a clear person that you can see on video that recovered the ball … If all of the sudden a bunch of people go to the ball, if I come out of the pile with the ball, as far as challenge goes and video replay goes, they’re never going to give you that because that’s not considered a clear recovery – me coming out of the pile with the ball. Once the ball goes into a scrum like that, it’s not reviewable.”
(But live, if you come out with the ball, they give it to you then? Is that correct?) – “So if the official had not ruled that he saw their guy with possession on it, then we would have the ball, because Michael Thomas did come out of the pile with the ball. Then it would have been a different story. But a couple of our players asked me during the game, ‘Why not challenge that?’ It’s not a challengeable situation.”
(How do you feel about kickoff returns with no RB Damien Williams and no RB Senorise Perry? How big is familiarity at that position and with that unit?) – “It’s always big. I’ll start off by saying, I thought Jakeem (Grant) did a really nice job last week. The Patriots, going into that game, had been one of the better kick cover teams in the league. I thought we took a step in the right direction last week in terms of our blocking, our identification. We had the one miscommunication – which I wasn’t crazy about – on the back end; but I thought, overall, we did a pretty good job on kick return on the day. As far as the other guy goes, we’ll see what happens with Senorise in the concussion protocol and all of that stuff. We’ve got to rep some other guys back there in case he can’t get back there. If you noticed, once he went out, we used (Kenyan) Drake on one and we used (Leonte) Carroo on another. Carroo actually was in there for the last one, so we’ve got a couple of different options there. It’s one of those things where you’ve got to go back to your training camp and your OTAs. That’s why we train that many guys at that position. You’ve got to go back and rely on all of the fundamentals and techniques we’ve taught all the way through. All of those backups that haven’t gotten game reps, they’ve gotten a lot of reps here this week. We’ll see what happens and see the injury report at the end of the week and who we have up.”
(Obviously RB Kenyan Drake is going to have to be the feature back. Do you have to pull him off of kickoff returns if that’s the case?) – “It’s always a conversation. It’s no different than the Jarvis (Landry) thing with punts. It’s a very similar situation. Obviously it’s a constant communication between me and (Head Coach) Adam (Gase), during the game, as well as during the week. We know that he’s an option. If we feel like we need one in the game and it’s a big moment in the game, no different than we use Jarvis at times. So Kenyan’s always (an option), all of those guys. Again, that’s the great thing about Coach Gase. He knows and he understands the importance of what we’re doing here special teams-wise. He has no problem with us keeping those guys alive and active in the game plan, in case they need to go back there. That’s where we’re at; but obviously with the situation at running back being what it is, we’ve got to, like I said, really see at the end of the week where we are, who’s up, who’s down, how many backs we have. That will be a decision that’s made at the end of the week and during the game, as well; but (Kenyan) is always an option.”
(What’s it going to be like for you seeing Broncos Head Coach Vance Joseph on the other sideline on Sunday?) – “Vance is a great guy. I consider Vance a very good friend. I was very happy for him when he got the opportunity. (I was) not surprised. He’s a really good football coach. They had a lot of opportunities there at the end of last year. Our daughters, they became friends at St. Thomas. His daughter and my daughter are the same age and they became friends last year. His daughter played volleyball and my daughter was on the basketball team, and all of that. My other daughter had been a captain at St. Thomas in volleyball and kind of helped (Vance’s daughter) when she first got here. Our families, we’re definitely friendly, so I’m very happy for him that he’s in the position. I wish him the best of luck, except for one game a year. (laughter) Other than that, it will be great to see him. It will be great to see him face-to-face.”
