Darren Rizzi – September 15, 2016
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Thursday, September 15, 2016
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(On the thought process of having WR Jarvis Landry handling punt returns closer to the goal line) – “It’s really going to be situational by game. I know I’ve actually been asked that question before or just after the game, and I think some people thought I was bluffing all preseason when I said that Jarvis Landry was going to be part of our return game. He is. The bottom line is he’s one of the best returners in the NFL. He has proven that over the last couple of years. We have him on the team in the 46 (game day available players). He can help us win football games, and that’s really just going to depend on game by game. I think this week he was back for three (punts). Some weeks it could be three. Some weeks it could five. Some weeks it could be one. I think it really depends on how the game plays out, where the ball is on the field, the situation – all those different things. Again, you guys know me pretty well, and I’ve said for years, I like to have as many options as we can. Jarvis (Landry) is one of those options. Fortunately for us, now we have a few: Jarvis (Landry), Jakeem (Grant), Kenyan (Drake), Kenny (Stills). Those guys are back there and, they’re all options. Damien Williams. It’s good to have guys that you can rely on to go back there and be a part of it. (With) Jarvis (Landry), again – I think we did the calculations in the offseason – I think if it wasn’t for one return that was called back, he would have led the NFL in punt returns last year. I think people lose sight of that. I always compare him to a guy like Antonio Brown, who’s a punt returner for the Steelers. I don’t know if he’s always back there every single one, but again to have those … I mentioned last week we have a package in where you can put both guys back there at the same time as well. So all of those different options we have. I think the more that we can do, the more we can give our opponent to work on, the better. We’ll be moving forward.”
(On how he thought WR Jakeem Grant did in such a tough environment last week) – “I thought he did great. I thought he really did well. I heard a couple of people say, ‘Wow, he got hit hard a couple of times.’ As a coach, I say, ‘Well, he held onto the football.’ You’re going to get hit hard in the NFL. There’s a lot of big people running around at high speeds. He’s a guy that – again, I’ve said this a bunch of times – he’s working at this thing. He’s still a work in progress, but I think everybody kind of saw what he did. His numbers are a little bit skewed, because two of his returns got called back for penalties, so he had a productive day. He fielded the ball well. Again, (it was) no different than he was out there yesterday after practice, fielding another extra 30 or 40 of them. This guy is really working at it, and there’s a lot to be said for that. It’s a guy that really wants to be out there. Again, I think what you saw him do on that kickoff return, there was one guy that was kind of free, and he made him miss (and) bounced to the outside. He has got that speed. He has got that elusiveness that will cause problems for other people, for sure. I’m really happy with his progress right now, and we got to continue to take care of the football. That’s (the) No. 1 priority.”
(On CBS analyst Dan Fouts attributing the missed field goal to G/T Laremy Tunsil not lining up correctly) – “I did not hear that Dan Fouts blamed Laremy Tunsil. Let me just say this: the field goal was probably in multiple spots off. Our protection needs to be better there. The ball came out a little bit low. I think if you ask Andrew (Franks), he would tell you same the thing. The unique thing about the first week in the NFL – and this happens and we made this a big emphasis going in – is in the special teams area, you see a lot of – I don’t know what you want to call it – strange plays or blocks or whatever it is in the first couple of weeks of the season. There was, I don’t know if you guys were aware of this, there were 17 missed field goals and PATs in Week 1 of the season. Seventeen. I think four of those were blocked. Two in our game. One by us. One by them. But that’s one per game. The reason for that is because it’s very hard in the preseason to simulate what you’re going to get in live action. A lot of people don’t show what they’re going to show in the preseason games. It’s not a play that you want to practice live – no one does – for player safety. Because of that, you see a lot of blocks and missed opportunities early in the season. I think – again, you guys can go back and do the research on this – but I think six games came down to either a field goal to win the game or a field goal that could have won the game. Ours was one of them. I think three or four guys lined up for game winners and missed them. And there are other field goals that got missed in other games. I’m not going to have you sit here and list every single one. So, every one of those things is important. My point is it’s an emphasis we place strongly every week in the protection, in our film study, in our game planning, and we got to get better upfront. With that said, that ball … If you look at Andrew’s (Franks) other two kicks, they came out with much better elevation. He knows that, and we got to get that cleaned up on both sides – the protection part and the kick part, for sure.”
(On how important it is for a player on punt returns to be able to make that first guy miss) – “You know what it is? It’s a lot of fun for the guys blocking for him. You can never get a hat on every single guy on the field. That’s just the way it is. You can block as many as you can, and it’s great to know that if I’m busting my tail down the field – and I’m running 40 yards and blocking somebody – I know that guy with the ball in his hand can make people miss and make the guys that you can’t get a hat on, make those guys miss in the open field. It’s a great thing. We’ve had some great returners here in the past. That’s really always the first thing that I look at is, ‘Can we make the first guy miss and then have the blocking scheme do the rest?’ And that’s a huge thing. Jarvis (Landry) has done that in past. We’ve got other guys here in the past (that have) been able to do that. The thing about Jakeem (Grant) that’s really impressive is a lot of times you see smaller guys that are quick, but not fast. I think Jakeem (Grant) – if I’m not mistaken ran – a 10.3 (second) 100 meters in high school. He’s got both the elusiveness and the home run speed, if you will. He really could be the whole package. Again, he’s a work in progress. We got to get him better with decisions with the ball and things like that. For a little guy, those things are impressive for sure.”
