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Rams Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel – Post-Practice – August 14, 2013
(On what specials team LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar would be on)
“I probably shouldn’t comment. I can’t comment on that until (Head) Coach (Jeff Fisher) has more to say.”
(On if they went back to basics after giving up a punt return for a touchdown in last week’s preseason game against the Browns)
“Yeah, that’s what we did today. We really focused on covering punts, protecting it and then covering it. It was obviously a huge bust in coverage. I mean, get the edge that easy, there’s a problem. So, that’s what we’ve been focusing on fixing. Young guys have just got to get to their spots and leverage the football, and that’s what we didn’t do. That’s what we just keep talking about.”
(On if he would have liked more hang time on P Johnny Hekker’s punt that was returned for a touchdown)
“Oh yeah. Part of it too is we wanted to keep the ball in play so we could practice covering punts. Unfortunately it was a real game, and it bit us because I think he hit a 65-yard punt, and it was probably about a four or five (second) hang (time). In reality, that’s not the punt that we’re looking for.”
(On if he didn’t want the punt that much in play on the return for a touchdown)
“Kind of, actually we did. I knew we have guys that haven’t covered punts that need practice covering punts. We don’t want to punt it out of bounds and we don’t want to throw a hang time where they’re going to fair catch it because then you run down, you don’t really get to evaluate and see what’s actually going to happen. Sure enough, we saw what can really happen if we don’t do the right thing, and sure enough, we didn’t.”
(On it looking like there was no one on that side of the field to cover the punt)
“There was two guys – lanes is hard to say on punt, but as far as leveraging the field and leveraging the football. There was just two guys. It was good to see on film, in a bad way. I guess that sounds weird to say as a good thing. It was good for us to see and know that it can’t happen. It was poor.”
(On if the punt return for a touchdown was better to use as a lesson, rather than not happening)
“Yeah. It also lets me know what I need to focus on more in practice, and that’s what we did – some unique things today to work on covering punts when you’re the field guy. Simple things that I’m sure a lot of people do, but it’s a good lesson for me that I need to coach some of those things better because obviously it was poor.”
(On what he’s seen so far in LB Daren Bates as a special teams player)
“A lot of god stuff from him. Every time he goes you hear a crash. He uses his pads, he’s a – you can call it an undersized linebacker – but he’s feisty. He’s fast-twitch, he is confident in his collisions, and I think from what I see is that he’s a real passionate guy about (special) teams which, is prerequisite to being good on it as a young guy.”
(On what he thinks of RB Benny Cunningham as a kick returner)
“I see a lot of a guy I coach a couple years ago, his name was Rock Cartwright. I see a lot of Benny in him as a kick returner and also as a core guy. Benny is really explosive and he’s a real stocky, strong guy. He can in my opinion – he didn’t do it a lot in college – can return kickoffs if you need him to. Then, he can also cover some kicks.”
(On RB Isaiah Pead’s confidence level as a kick returner)
“I think it’s good. He hasn’t had a ton of chances. What did he have? About 10-15 on the season, so I think his confidence is there. But really, his confidence will grow once we get better blocking and we worked on that a lot, too. Blocking with our front line guys on kickoff return, which is probably the hardest thing to do, in my opinion, on all special teams is a single block as a front line guy on K.O.R. So, we’ve been practicing a ton on covering punts and blocking front line on K.O.R.”
(On if he is OK with guys returning kickoffs from deep in the end zone just to get the look in the preseason)
“Yeah, exactly. We wouldn’t take a ball out 8 (yards) deep probably unless the situation called for it, but we want to practice. We want to see guys block on kickoff return, so if you just do touchbacks, it’s just the same thing like if we kicked it out of bounds on a punt. You don’t get to see any covering and you don’t get to see any blocking. So, we’re not exactly what we’d do in the regular season as far as our game plan because we want to see action so we can evaluate. And it’s not always pretty, unfortunately, but we get work.”
(On if LB Ray Ray Armstrong has potential as a special teams guy)
“Yeah, I believe so. He didn’t play at all last season, so there’s a little bit of rust, but as far as a long guy, a good athlete, he’s learning. I believe he’s passionate. I think he’s a guy that we’re going to probably need to contribute on teams – all those (line)backers.”
(On how he communicates to players that their way to make a team is through special teams after they were stars on their college teams)
“That’s a good question because the guys I’ve coached sometimes it’s a couple years in the league before they say, ‘Coach, my first year or two in the league, honestly it just wasn’t as important because I thought offense of defense was my thing.’ No matter how you impress upon them the importance of it, I think it takes a while for them to understand that this is their path to establishing themselves in the NFL. And the guys that get it earlier establish themselves and have a 10 or 12-year career. And the guys that don’t either get lucky and make it or else they find themselves looking for work after a year or two. So, that’s a huge part of my job to convince them in an unbiased way – they think ‘Oh you’re the special teams coach, of course you want us to be good’ – that this the path for you if you really want to make it. Some guys get it and some guys don’t.”
(On LB Josh Hull’s role on special teams)
“He is a core guy. He’s all big four, which is punt, punt return, kickoff, kickoff return. He’s a crucial part of the positions that he plays – important positions on the teams – and we can count on him. He’s reliable, he’s a tough guy and he is a guy that knew that his path to the NFL is on teams. Now he’s in year four and he’s a good teams guy.”
(On if Hull is a good example for younger guys on special teams)
“Yeah. He’s the guy that everybody else is trying to become, and it takes three years of learning some tricks and being good in punt pro and all those things. It takes some time and Josh, he’s got that, and he’s still getting better.”
(On statistics about returning kicks from deep in the end zone)
“Yeah, the ones you take them out – except for the Super Bowl where he took it out 9 (yards) deep and he scored. You take it out 7, 8, 9 deep, to get it past the 15 is tough. Because if you take it out 8 deep, to get to the 15, that’s a 23 yard return, which is about the league average. So, you like to say put your heels 5 deep, if you’ve got to to back up, stay. Because it also gives those kickoff guys a lot of room to beat those front line blocks before they get to the football. So, you’re thinking if it is halfway in the end zone or closer to the goal line, you take it out. If you’ve got to back up, think about keeping it in.”
(On what specials team LB Jo-Lonn Dunbar would be on)
“I probably shouldn’t comment. I can’t comment on that until (Head) Coach (Jeff Fisher) has more to say.”
(On if they went back to basics after giving up a punt return for a touchdown in last week’s preseason game against the Browns)
“Yeah, that’s what we did today. We really focused on covering punts, protecting it and then covering it. It was obviously a huge bust in coverage. I mean, get the edge that easy, there’s a problem. So, that’s what we’ve been focusing on fixing. Young guys have just got to get to their spots and leverage the football, and that’s what we didn’t do. That’s what we just keep talking about.”
(On if he would have liked more hang time on P Johnny Hekker’s punt that was returned for a touchdown)
“Oh yeah. Part of it too is we wanted to keep the ball in play so we could practice covering punts. Unfortunately it was a real game, and it bit us because I think he hit a 65-yard punt, and it was probably about a four or five (second) hang (time). In reality, that’s not the punt that we’re looking for.”
(On if he didn’t want the punt that much in play on the return for a touchdown)
“Kind of, actually we did. I knew we have guys that haven’t covered punts that need practice covering punts. We don’t want to punt it out of bounds and we don’t want to throw a hang time where they’re going to fair catch it because then you run down, you don’t really get to evaluate and see what’s actually going to happen. Sure enough, we saw what can really happen if we don’t do the right thing, and sure enough, we didn’t.”
(On it looking like there was no one on that side of the field to cover the punt)
“There was two guys – lanes is hard to say on punt, but as far as leveraging the field and leveraging the football. There was just two guys. It was good to see on film, in a bad way. I guess that sounds weird to say as a good thing. It was good for us to see and know that it can’t happen. It was poor.”
(On if the punt return for a touchdown was better to use as a lesson, rather than not happening)
“Yeah. It also lets me know what I need to focus on more in practice, and that’s what we did – some unique things today to work on covering punts when you’re the field guy. Simple things that I’m sure a lot of people do, but it’s a good lesson for me that I need to coach some of those things better because obviously it was poor.”
(On what he’s seen so far in LB Daren Bates as a special teams player)
“A lot of god stuff from him. Every time he goes you hear a crash. He uses his pads, he’s a – you can call it an undersized linebacker – but he’s feisty. He’s fast-twitch, he is confident in his collisions, and I think from what I see is that he’s a real passionate guy about (special) teams which, is prerequisite to being good on it as a young guy.”
(On what he thinks of RB Benny Cunningham as a kick returner)
“I see a lot of a guy I coach a couple years ago, his name was Rock Cartwright. I see a lot of Benny in him as a kick returner and also as a core guy. Benny is really explosive and he’s a real stocky, strong guy. He can in my opinion – he didn’t do it a lot in college – can return kickoffs if you need him to. Then, he can also cover some kicks.”
(On RB Isaiah Pead’s confidence level as a kick returner)
“I think it’s good. He hasn’t had a ton of chances. What did he have? About 10-15 on the season, so I think his confidence is there. But really, his confidence will grow once we get better blocking and we worked on that a lot, too. Blocking with our front line guys on kickoff return, which is probably the hardest thing to do, in my opinion, on all special teams is a single block as a front line guy on K.O.R. So, we’ve been practicing a ton on covering punts and blocking front line on K.O.R.”
(On if he is OK with guys returning kickoffs from deep in the end zone just to get the look in the preseason)
“Yeah, exactly. We wouldn’t take a ball out 8 (yards) deep probably unless the situation called for it, but we want to practice. We want to see guys block on kickoff return, so if you just do touchbacks, it’s just the same thing like if we kicked it out of bounds on a punt. You don’t get to see any covering and you don’t get to see any blocking. So, we’re not exactly what we’d do in the regular season as far as our game plan because we want to see action so we can evaluate. And it’s not always pretty, unfortunately, but we get work.”
(On if LB Ray Ray Armstrong has potential as a special teams guy)
“Yeah, I believe so. He didn’t play at all last season, so there’s a little bit of rust, but as far as a long guy, a good athlete, he’s learning. I believe he’s passionate. I think he’s a guy that we’re going to probably need to contribute on teams – all those (line)backers.”
(On how he communicates to players that their way to make a team is through special teams after they were stars on their college teams)
“That’s a good question because the guys I’ve coached sometimes it’s a couple years in the league before they say, ‘Coach, my first year or two in the league, honestly it just wasn’t as important because I thought offense of defense was my thing.’ No matter how you impress upon them the importance of it, I think it takes a while for them to understand that this is their path to establishing themselves in the NFL. And the guys that get it earlier establish themselves and have a 10 or 12-year career. And the guys that don’t either get lucky and make it or else they find themselves looking for work after a year or two. So, that’s a huge part of my job to convince them in an unbiased way – they think ‘Oh you’re the special teams coach, of course you want us to be good’ – that this the path for you if you really want to make it. Some guys get it and some guys don’t.”
(On LB Josh Hull’s role on special teams)
“He is a core guy. He’s all big four, which is punt, punt return, kickoff, kickoff return. He’s a crucial part of the positions that he plays – important positions on the teams – and we can count on him. He’s reliable, he’s a tough guy and he is a guy that knew that his path to the NFL is on teams. Now he’s in year four and he’s a good teams guy.”
(On if Hull is a good example for younger guys on special teams)
“Yeah. He’s the guy that everybody else is trying to become, and it takes three years of learning some tricks and being good in punt pro and all those things. It takes some time and Josh, he’s got that, and he’s still getting better.”
(On statistics about returning kicks from deep in the end zone)
“Yeah, the ones you take them out – except for the Super Bowl where he took it out 9 (yards) deep and he scored. You take it out 7, 8, 9 deep, to get it past the 15 is tough. Because if you take it out 8 deep, to get to the 15, that’s a 23 yard return, which is about the league average. So, you like to say put your heels 5 deep, if you’ve got to to back up, stay. Because it also gives those kickoff guys a lot of room to beat those front line blocks before they get to the football. So, you’re thinking if it is halfway in the end zone or closer to the goal line, you take it out. If you’ve got to back up, think about keeping it in.”
