Darren Rizzi – October 24, 2017
Download PDF version
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(Knowing the field conditions were what they were against the Jets, what were you thinking when K Cody Parkey went out to kick that field goal the other day?) – “At that point, I really wasn’t thinking about the field conditions because we had kicked in it all day. I was really probably a little bit more concerned just when we first went out there in pregame. I obviously had watched the (Syracuse-Miami) game the night before a little bit. I saw the Syracuse kicker slipped one time and the Miami kicker slipped on a kickoff. All of that stuff we handled in pregame, made sure we had the right shoes on and all of that stuff. On the last kick, I really wasn’t concerned about that portion of it because we already had a decent amount of reps. I was concerned more about getting everybody blocked and a good operation, so that didn’t really creep into my mind on that particular rep.”
(Of the three kicks that K Cody Parkey’s made, the game winners, late game ones – Chargers, Falcons, Jets – which was the tougher because of field conditions or game conditions, tougher for him, do you think?) – “I think mentally, for a kicker, the first one is always the one. He had just gotten here, the (week of the L.A. Chargers game). I think the Chargers one only because he had just gotten here, we spent the week out in California, it was a new environment, new teammates, some people didn’t even know his name. Let’s just call it what it is. I don’t even know if he had introduced himself to everybody in the locker room at that point. Some of the coaches didn’t know who he was. So that first one probably was (the toughest). None of them are easy, but I think from a mental standpoint, that one was probably (the toughest). Get that one and then go from there. Hey listen, those are pressure kicks. I think someone said it best to me this past week, a 39-yarder at the end of the game to win the game, those are, forget about the yardage, that 39-yarder might as well be a 59-yarder. Those are big kicks. To his credit, he’s done a great job.”
(Am I wrong that K Cody Parkey’s made all of his field goals pretty comfortably, too? There hasn’t been a close call with any of them.) – “I don’t know if any of them are comfortable. (laughter) Obviously, he’s missed a couple of PATs. I think, you guys have heard me talk before, I group all of them together, all of the kicks in together. We obviously missed the PAT against the Jets and then you had the chunk ball, the one at home (against the Titans); but the field goals themselves, he’s done a really good job. He’s been pretty consistent with those so far.”
(When you have a kicker such as Baltimore K Justin Tucker, how do you play the game differently if you’re Baltimore or any team like that? Shorter fields? Do you play for more field goals, if that makes sense?) – “Justin Tucker is a phenomenal kicker. He’s got a tremendous leg. He’s got a lot of confidence. He does a great job kicking the ball off, as well. The thing the Ravens aren’t afraid to do, probably unlike most teams, is they’re not afraid to try for maybe some longer field goals in uncommon situations, if you will. I think last week they tried a 57-yarder and he made it in the middle of a quarter, where some teams may go for it or punt in those situations because they’re afraid to give the opponent the ball at midfield. (The Ravens are) not afraid to try those long field goals. That definitely changes the game a little bit. It can swing the field position, certainly, in their favor. To their credit, (Ravens Head) Coach (John) Harbaugh, (Ravens Special Teams Coordinator) Jerry Rosburg and those guys do a great job on special teams. They’re, year in and year out, one of the best special teams units in the league and Justin Tucker is certainly a big part of that.”
(How would you evaluate RB Kenyan Drake’s work on special teams this season?) – “Well, he just had a great game. He really was involved in a lot this past game. I think one of the things we talked about at the beginning of the year was, the thing that he had to get better at, was the coverage aspect. We really worked on that in the offseason. That’s something that he really put a lot of time into as far as punt coverage and kick coverage, because that’s something he had not done a ton of. He did a little bit of it at Alabama, but here’s an offensive player that’s doing a really good job of covering kicks. Last week I think he was involved in three tackles. For that part, I think he’s really grown in that role. Again, I’ve said this before, Kenyan with the ball in his hands I think is a dynamic player and we all know what he can do when he has the ball in his hands. To be able to do what he’s doing now in the coverage part of it, he’s really added on to his game and that’s a huge asset for us – his speed. Some offensive players are really good at getting down the field, but then getting the guy on the ground is a different story. Tackling in live action is a whole different world for some of these offensive players. They haven’t done it before. That’s something we worked on, and he worked on personally, in the offseason. To have that as part of his game now has really been big for us.”
(You guys have won 12 in a row now, games decided by 7 or less, extending a team record. Special teams is obviously part of that. How would you explain your guys’ ability to lock in late in games in this crazy run you’ve made?) – “I think we’ve done a really good job. Our guys do a heck of a job of locking in at the end of the game. I think you can probably argue we need to do a little bit better of a job at the beginning of some games. We know, as a team, we’ve got to do a little bit better maybe coming out of the gate; but I think, to our team’s credit and to the players and coaches, our team has really locked in in the fourth quarter. I mentioned this before – you mention the streak of however many games it is – we’ve won in a variety of different ways. It’s not like we’ve driven down the field in a 2-minute drive to win every one of these games. We’ve won in a variety of different ways. I think if you look at this past week’s game against the Jets, we’re down by 14 in the fourth quarter, the defense has a couple of great stops, we have a really good couple of special teams plays to shorten the field for the offense, and it all ties together. I just think our guys … And to me I see it at practice every day. It’s not a surprise to me that we play well in the fourth quarter because I watch our guys practice all the way to the end every day, obviously, down here in these conditions at times, and training camp and those types of things. We’ve been finishing very well and so it doesn’t really surprise me. To me, as a coach, I’m proud of the variety of ways that we’ve done it. It hasn’t been all offense, it hasn’t been all defense, it hasn’t been all special teams. It’s been a full team effort.”
