Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Bubba Ventrone (10.24.24)

So last week obviously wasn’t the game that you wanted to have on special teams. Can you start with the kickoff return?

“Sure, yeah. Got to execute better, got to start faster. That’s on me. We’ve got to do a better job, got to coach it up better and got to have a better result. That unit’s been a good unit for us this year and I think we’ll bounce back moving forward.”

 

With Dustin (Hopkins), after the game we talked about as he’s chasing the returner down there, he was thinking about Houston last year and letting up and just trying to change his course. I mean, is that just how you coach up when your kicker is in that situation?

“Yeah, you know, we’ve talked about that after we had that play last year.”

 

On that, when D’Onta (Foreman) kind of just muffs that one kickoff, is there any teaching point there besides just catch the ball or what does he have to do differently to not pin you guys inside the 10 there?

“Yeah, the ball came off the tee. They kind of hit like we called, just like a junk ball, like an alternative type of kick. He said he misjudged it a little bit. Once the ball contacts you in the field of play, if you don’t have possession of it and it rolls into the end zone, you’re able to down it and it goes to the 20. So, he’s just got to be more urgent to get the ball down in the end zone before it rolls back into the field of play.”

 

Are you worried about Dustin at all with these misses?

“No, I’m not. He’s done a good job for us since he’s been here. I think he does a good job of I would say self-diagnosing and making the corrections. He’s hit a lot of big kicks, including a game winner versus the team we’re about to play here this upcoming week.”

 

How have you seen Rex (Sunahara) get acclimated these first couple weeks? 

“He’s done a good job. He’s done a good job. He’s done a good job in coverage, good job in protection. He’s come along and it was good that we had to work with him in training camp to be able to put us in a spot. Just going to continue to get him as many reps as possible.”

 

Kevin said yesterday Nyheim’s (Hines) not going to be back this year. I know everyone was hoping that, especially on special teams, we’d get to see him. Just what type of a disappointment and loss is that for you?

“Yeah, he put in a lot of time and effort to try to get back. He did everything he could. We felt like he was trending in the right direction and just couldn’t get him to where he felt — and how we really, I would say, evaluated him in the practice setting to get back to where he needed to be, to be an impact. His number one thing for him is his speed and his explosive ability, and he just wasn’t at that spot where we felt comfortable to make the move. So disappointed for him. He would have been a great asset for us to have moving forward, but hopefully things work out in the future.”

 

The (Baltimore) Ravens always have some of the best special teams in the NFL. How are they doing this year? How’s Justin Tucker looking?

“Yeah, they have a good group. They’re coached well. Obviously, it stems down from the head coach. I think Chris (Horton) does a good job as well, Randy (Brown). They do a good job with their corps; they practice hard, they play hard, they’re fundamentally sound, they’re good in protection, they’ve covered well. It’ll be a big challenge for us. They get good contributions from all the position groups, their receivers, tight ends, obviously the defensive players factor in. So, we’re excited for a challenge with a really good special teams group. If you look at our division top to bottom, it’s good special teams throughout, physical football. All these guys have been with their respective teams for as long as I can remember. So, it’ll be a big challenge for us.”

 

Dustin on Sunday said he thought the missed field goal, he hit the ball pretty well. He said the extra point, he wasn’t happy with how he hit it. What was the difference with that?

“Yeah, he said the same thing to me. I talked to him the day after the game and said he felt like he had good contact on the first ball and did not have good contact on the second ball. So, we’ll look to get that addressed and fixed and moving forward, and we’ll get it in a practice setting today. So that’ll be good for us.”

 

Going back to the Ravens and Justin Tucker, how much difference do you notice, I mean, this guy doesn’t seem to age too much, have you noticed any difference in him in terms of distance and accuracy from distance this year compared to previous years?

“No, I mean, he had a couple misses early on, but he’s an elite kicker and he’s always played at an elite level. He’s at that level now. He’s a weapon for them. He has been for as long as he’s been in the league. He’s automatic. So, we’ll do our best to force a miss, hopefully, and do our best to do whatever we can.”

 

You talk so much about the need to play complimentary football. So, when your guys or your unit doesn’t, I guess, play up to its standard last week, how disappointing is that for you and what’s your message to the guys?

“Yeah, we didn’t execute at a level high enough for us to give our team an advantage and an edge in the game. We got to do a better job of controlling the field position. Obviously, you have a bad play to start. So, I think moving forward is just focusing on each play, each individual play and execution. It just comes down to execution. Every play is different so just got to do everything we can to focus in on that one rep and how you’re going to win the rep individually and collectively.”

 

Now that we’re sort of nearing the midway point of the season, what do you think early returns are of the new kickoff role? Do you think it’s accomplishing what the NFL was hoping to accomplish when they changed it?

“I think so. I think it’s brought some excitement to the game. I think there’s more action. The kickoff play, it’s an exciting play, and I think that you’re getting — the return rate is definitely higher. I can’t exactly remember what the percentages are right now, but they’re significantly up from a year ago, and the injury rate is down significantly. So, I think that it’s obviously a safe play. I think the players have embraced it and liked the play and enjoyed preparing for it and having to execute it. I think it’ll be a play that will stick around, and obviously, they’ll have some tweaks to it moving forward in the future, I would think. But I think it’s been a good positive thing for the league. Just another opportunity to see action. Another way to make the game a little bit more fun to watch.”

 

Kevin said yesterday he’s going to have Ken (Dorsey) call the plays. What do you think it says about Kevin? He’s been doing it for so long but decides to make that change right now.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing for him. I think that he feels like our team probably just needed a change at this point, and we support him, and he’s been really good, Kevin. He’s done a good job of just managing the staff and obviously relaying the players a message to treat each week, especially right now, we can’t walk into the building thinking we’re 1-6, right? We have 10 games to play. It’s got to be 0-0. And I think he’s done a good job of giving us that message and having our players and coaches attacking it that way.”

 

You kind of just answered this, but you’ve seen it all in this league as a player and coach. So, what is your message to the guys with 10 games left? 

“I mean, it really is like you have more than half a season to play and you put in so much time and effort all year to get to this point and have these opportunities. You get seven guaranteed opportunities. So, you may as well make the most of it at this point. So, we’re 1-6, treat it like you’re 0-0 and go out and do everything you can to be 1-0 each week. I said it last week, obviously we didn’t execute as well as we wanted to win that football game, and we’re just going to continue to do that. You know, division opponent, no one expects us to even compete in this game, we know our guys are going to play at a high level and give it everything they have. So excited about this opportunity being an underdog and having your backs against the wall.”

 

You’re 1-6 and things aren’t going your way. As you bring up there’s still 10 games to go, but that can almost feel a bit daunting as well, especially on the outside looking in. But how do you guys prevent, as coaches, not letting things unravel inside the locker room and keeping those guys kind of together?

“Yeah, I can speak for how we have been in the kicking game and really on both sides of the ball. I haven’t changed one thing on how I approach each week. Literally, I game plan the same way, I prep the same way, I’m trying to motivate and educate my players the same exact way. Every week is a new week and a new start. And I feel like we’re starting a new season right now. We’re just trying to go 1-0, honestly, like in a division game where our guys are going to be hyped up and ready to go.”