Assistant head coach/ special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone (11.2.23)
Bubba, you guys are number one right now in special teams efficiency, what do you make of that? And where are some ways that you can get better as good as you’ve been so far?
“I think we need to improve in the return game. We’re missing a few opportunities and we’re definitely close. Last year, whenever I was with my old team, we started out a little slow too, and then we ramped it up the second half of the season, ended up leading the league in kick returns. So, I’m excited about our group moving forward and we’re definitely close on those units.”
How do you improve that? Is it something technical?
“I think it honestly comes down to just having time on task repetition, in-game repetition. We didn’t see a lot of those opportunities with the same group in the preseason. So, I think that once you have that unit built and there’s continuity within the group, you have more reps with each other, you’re double teaming with the same player here and there, or over and over again, I should say. I think that the repetition is what helps you get better and then obviously the practice reps have definitely improved, so I think that’s a good thing for us.”
DPJ (Donovan Peoples-Jones), who are your top candidates with DPJ gone?
“Yeah, I mean, Elijah (Moore) did it last week, so I thought he did a solid job and then we have some young guys on the practice squad that you know we’ll continue to look at. But I thought Elijah did a solid job last week.”
What ultimately led to that decision? I know you’ve been thinking about it, to put Elijah out there in that game.
“Well, he did it in college and I evaluated him when he was coming out of college. He’s a natural catcher, he has good judgment, and he obviously has the ability to make you miss. So just I felt like we just needed a little bit of a spark back there.”
Yeah, a couple of guys on the practice squad. I think they have the two new guys, (James Proche) and (Kenyan) Drake, they have some return history. Are those the guys you’re considering for those couple of spots.
“Yeah. And then Jaelon Darden also did it for us against San Francisco. So those guys, we’re going to continue to get all those guys reps and make an evaluation, I guess you would say, or a decision at the end of the week. And it really plays off of other positions on the team, the health of our roster and things like that.”
Is that one of the tough parts about being a special teams coordinator, Bubba, when injuries affect each unit, but they could really affect you indirectly? What I’m saying here, when a player is injured from another unit, then you have to make an adjustment.
“Yeah. So, if we sustain an injury to any position group and that guy plays offense or defense, the next guy up is really the guy that I’ve been using. So, then we now need to find someone else to be able to play in those roles. So yeah, at times it can be challenging, but that’s the name of the game. That’s the job description. So got to figure it out. Find a way. Do your best to use your personnel as best you can to match up against the opponent and give your guys the best chance to make plays. So, you always have to be able to adapt, especially in the game. You sustain injuries within a game. We had some guys get nicked up in this past game and we had some moving parts that we had to address and were able to get those adjusted.”
What’s your kick return average?
“Honestly, the average doesn’t matter to me. It’s more about the drive start, especially in game. Over the course of a season, everybody ends up having a very similar drive start. It’s small in regard to like, is it 25.1, 25.2. The average is always because of touchbacks, it always just comes back to that number. But ideally, you’d like to have the drive start rather than the average because not a lot of people are bringing the ball out from deep in the end zone. So, if you have a 25-yard return, you bring it out from five deep, the ball is at the 20.”
What’s a good start, 27, 28?
“Yeah, I would say each time we return the ball, the goal is to get it past the 25. I think we have been super close on a number of returns this year, and even in the Seattle game, if we make a block, we’re probably out to the 50, so we’re damn close.”
You’ve probably worked with Pierre (Strong Jr.) as much as anybody in this building. Seen him make some tackles for you. What is it about him that you like? I mean, he was so explosive when we saw him play offense on Sunday.
“Yeah. So, he was drafted to the Patriots. In Indy, we liked him a lot. He can run for me. That’s one of the traits you obviously covet as a special teams coordinator, is the ability to run. Speed. Speed is great and position flexibility. He can do a lot of different things. He can play a lot of different positions. He even played some interior punt in New England in the preseason. He’s played gunner for us. Obviously can handle the ball as a kick returner, plays on our kickoff coverage units at times. So, he’s got a great ability to do a lot of different things for us. So, he’s been a great addition to the roster. That was a great move we made at the end of camp by AB (Andrew Berry).”
Did you notice Seattle’s field goal team’s heads up after what happened Indy?
“Say that again?”
I mean the awareness will be there the rest of the way. Will that be a problem?
“We’ll see how it goes.”
In terms of goes in terms of scouting Arizona, Joey Blount, a couple of weeks in a row has made a big play, forcing the fumble and recovering it for them. When you look at his specific skill set, the way he’s impacted plays, what stands out to you?
“Yeah, he runs pretty well. He’s impacted those plays really from the gunner position. He punches at the ball, [with] emphasis on securing the ball, especially on that unit. With our returners, we’re always number one priority is get the ball back to the offense. So, catch it, secure it, make good decisions, get the ball back to the offense. So, obviously, we’re always preaching ball security to our entire team, offense, defense, and special teams.”
The Cardinals had that onside kick last week. I’m just curious, when you coach that, do you tell your guys to try to catch it before bounces? Because obviously, is that one of the coaching points?
“Yeah. So, there are a number of different ways that you can coach that unit up. There are a number of different schemes as far as the recovery aspect of it goes. Some teams will play one recovery player to where they think the ball is going, which gives you a little bit more security inside. Now you’re light opposite of that recovery player. Some teams will play two recovery players. Now, you’re lighter in some areas inside. There are rules based on the types of kicks you’re getting that we’re trying to educate our guys every week on, okay, if we get this kick, this is how we’re treating. If we get this kick, this is how we want to handle it. And that’s obviously with the kick, with the recovery, and then obviously with the blocking portion of it as well.”
That punt that you guys had from the 40 early in the fourth quarter. What’s the goal there for Corey (Bojorquez)? Obviously, I know you want to avoid the touchback, so yeah, 11, is that what you’re looking for?
“I think anything inside the ten, right at the ten, I’m content with that. You obviously want to be aggressive in that situation to get the ball to the ten at least, but then there is that you don’t want to be too aggressive and get too much on it. That’s not an easy ball to hit. I thought that he played it pretty well. Honestly, I thought he did. I thought he played it pretty well.”
Sometimes you see the ball hit on the four or whatever, and they’re waiting for it to bounce at the one, then it goes to the endzone.
“Yeah. No, I would never want my guy to let the ball hit at the four. How we coach our players is you don’t want to be at the mercy of the bounce in a plus-50 situation. So ideally, if you’re the gunner and the ball is about to hit, I would say unless you’re truly in position with your butt parallel and you’re facing the opposite end zone. You don’t want to let that thing hit inside the eight-yard line. If you can make a play on the ball at the eight, then we’d like to catch it in the air if we can. But, yeah, we don’t want to be at the mercy of the bounce. We want to be able to field the ball in the air if we can. I would say, inside the ten, you just don’t know which way the ball is going to bounce, even if you’re in position.”
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