DENVER BRONCOS QUOTES (11/10/17)
SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR BROCK OLIVO
On Patriots K Stephen Gostkowski
“Gostkowski is pretty good at everything he does. They’re the type of kickoff team that if they want to challenge you, he has enough control of the ball and he can keep it in and make you return. Really on every front they’re really well coached and a highly talented football team, we know that.”
On what makes WR Matthew Slater so good on special teams
“Effort and a burning desire to make plays. That guy, his entire career that’s been his M.O. I mean his desire—he’ll be blocked early in the down and 30 yards later he’s making the play downfield or up field, whatever happens. If you watch him on film, it is awesome. It’s impressive.”
On what needs to be done to improve on special teams
“A culture. it’s culture and that’s where I’ve come up short with the guys so far. I haven’t created that culture here yet, and that’s what I need to do. I mentioned it last week and I have to keep mentioning it. I’m trying to drive that home to the guys every day. We have to have that culture and we have to have guys with that attitude like Matthew Slater, that leadership attitude, and guys who take pride in special teams. We have a couple, but it needs to be contagious. It needs to spread throughout that meeting room and be translated onto the practice field. That’s on me. I have to create that and that’s why I’m here, I’ve realized that. I’ve come up short up to this point. I owe it to the franchise, this staff and this team to get that thing rolling.”
On which players are leaders on special teams
“There are so many of them, I don’t want to miss anybody. [WR] Bennie [Fowler] and [WR] Cody Latimer, ‘Jano’ (FB Andy Janovich) –there’s so many of them. ‘Virg’ (TE Virgil Green) on the offensive side of the ball just to name a couple. On the defensive side of the ball, you have your [S] Will Parks, even [S] Justin Simmons who is that starting safety. He comes up to me every week and says, ‘Hey Coach, if you need me I got you. I’ll play as many phases as you want.’ Obviously we don’t ask him to do that, but that’s the type of stuff we need right there. Then you have your [OLB] Kasim Edebali’s and [ILB] Zaire Anderson’s—there’s a long list. I don’t like to name names because I’m always afraid I’m going to miss somebody. The guys know who they are. They know who they are the guys who are bought in and the guys who are passionate about special teams. We have some rookies that have stepped up too, like [S] Jamal Carter and [CB] Brendan Langley, he’s getting better. Those type of guys.”
On ILB Joseph Jones
“He’s an inside linebacker who can run. He was a 110-meter hurdle state champion in the state of Illinois. I think he finished sixth in the 100-meter dash, so he can roll. He’s a very sharp kid too. We’ve been meeting with him during the week and I’m excited to see him on the field as well.”
On whether there was an ‘infectious’ attitude towards special teams when he played in the NFL
“It was infectious and that’s what it is. It starts within the core, it needs to spread and it need to be driven home every day to those guys. What happens is once you have a little bit of success, then that’s when it takes off. Like in New England, they’ve had success for many, many years and it’s just a culture now. When you come in there you’re expected to perform at a certain level on special teams, whether you’re a starter or not on offense or defense, it’s awesome how they roll guys through there. You see starters running down on kickoff, you see starters playing on punt and you see starter playing on really ever phase. That’s the attitude, that’s the approach that we want. Yes, we had that in Detroit. We had good special teams units there because of that.”
On K Brandon McManus
“I think ‘Mac’s’ back in his groove. Kickers are like that. They’re going to go through phases. You can see he’s got confidence now and that’s good to see.”
On WR Isaiah McKenzie’s 44-yard punt return against the Eagles
“I think it was very important, but we can’t stop there. We can’t be happy with that 44-yard return because when we turned on the film on Monday, if Isaiah stays outside, hits the sideline and just trusts his speed, it’s a house call, it’s a touchdown. We’re right there, but it’s not good enough. We have to get over the hump and once we do that then the hope is that that will be contagious and that will spark the cultural change. We have to believe every time we take the field that we’re going to score and we have that opportunity. If we do that, then that will lead to that.”
On McKenzie trusting himself more on returns
“It’s a confidence thing. Over time he has to outrun a couple to say, ‘Oh OK, that guy had the angle on me, but I dropped the hammer, rolled and he didn’t catch me.’ That’s exactly what it is, it comes with time and gaining confidence.”
On using RB Devontae Booker as a kick returner
“Kudos to ‘Book’. He’s another guy who’s stepped in who I wanted to mention as an offensive special teams guys. He’s a guy who’s never played teams really in his life. He’s stepped in and he’s become a four-phaser for us. Plus, he plays snaps on offense. He’s tough, he doesn’t complain and he asks the right questions. He hasn’t had any missed assignments, he’s running down as the fast-five on kickoff, which you guys know there’s a lot of movement there. It takes a tough guy to step in and do that who’s never done it, so I commend ‘Book’ for that big time.”
On whether his job is a balance between building confidence and criticizing what went wrong
“It is and that’s on me to get that confidence in those guys and get them to believe in the scheme, get them to believe in their ability. That is why we keep it simple and we let them play fast because that builds confidence. We show them on tape, look this so how it’s done correctly and this is how it’s not done correctly. Make them understand better what’s right and wrong. Again, that’s on me and I’ve been all talk up to this point. We have to perform.”
On whether it’s been different for him running the special teams unit
“Absolutely, but it’s great. That’s what everybody wants, they want a chance to put their stamp on it.”
On playing fast while avoiding penalties
“I think that if you look across the league, special teams wise anyways, the highest penalized teams are the more aggressive and more physical teams who are at the top in the rankings. That kind of risk-reward approach. I want our guys to be physical, I want our guys to go take shots and I want our guys to be on the forefront pushing. Not reacting all the time. We have to be on the forefront, that’s the thing, in attack mode. That’s the word I’m trying to find, I apologize. In attack mode.”
On how McManus has made changes to his game
“To Brandon’s credit, to B-Mac’s credit, he self-corrected as well. Hefigured out what the issue was and he addressed it and he self-corrected. That’s him being a good pro. That’s what that comes down to.”
On P Riley Dixon
“He had a really good game this past week. I mean, 46.7 net yards against a really good return team in Philadelphia. I was really proud of the guys and how they played in the punt game last week, no question.”
On how he decides who the kickoff returner is
“If Book (RB Devontae Booker) is up and he’s rolling, he’s going to be the guy. We can trust him. Mechanically, he’s good. He’s tough. That way, we can free up great athletes like [WR] Cody [Latimer] and B-Langley (Langley) to play other places and to fill in some gaps on the front line that we need. It’s good. They all complement each other. We’re really happy to have Book back.”
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