Assistant Head Coach/ Special Teams Coordinator Bubba Ventrone (11.20.25)

Bubba, what did you think of the play by Grant (Delpit) to recover that football last week? 

“That was an awesome play. He did a nice job getting a release into coverage and fortunately came up with the ball, gave us a good spot.”

 

Did you like the way you guys bounced back from – we spent all the last week talking about the issues against the (New York) Jets, did you like how you guys bounced back as a unit? 

“Yeah, I think they responded how I thought they would. We’re still not even remotely close to where we should be, though. Just too many mistakes – like the down ball at the goal line, we made the correction against Minnesota and we go out and have a repeat error. Different player, but we just got to be smarter.”

 

Did you get a good – I mean, I know Kevin (Stefanski) challenged it. When you look at it, did you think that he was able to avoid the goal line or what did you see? 

“I mean, I thought so. I mean, that’s why we challenged it. I don’t know what the – we didn’t really get an explanation. What did you guys think?”

 

I was surprised they didn’t overturn. Kevin said whatever they called was gonna stand.

“Yeah, I didn’t understand it.”

 

So, what was the mistake there? Was he just coming in too fast or…

“Yeah. And I think at that point, you don’t even have to, like, really get on the ball. I think if you’re gonna do anything, you could, like, bat the ball back. Like, just bat it back. You don’t have to physically go to the ground at that point and be under control when you’re doing it, if you’re gonna do that. But I don’t think at that point the ball’s rolling, like, parallel to the goal line. It’s not really going towards the line. And if it is, just bat the ball back. I don’t think you have to get to the ground.”

 

What about these (Las Vegas) Raiders’ special teams? What are you guys emphasizing this week?

“Yeah, they have good specialists, both the punter and the kicker, (AJ) Cole and (Daniel) Carlson are good. Cole does a nice job with his directional punting, big leg. And the returners are talented, and they got a good core group. They do, top to bottom. They’re pretty good. (Tre) Tucker, (Alex) Bachmann, (Raheem) Mostert, all those guys have done a good job. (Dylan) Laube has done a good job as a returner. So priority on coverage, definitely this week, we’re going against fast returners.”

 

What about that punt that was muffed, obviously, you just talked about it, but wind seemed to be whirling, and Corey (Bojorquez) put it deep in the air. Was that kind of like the game plan going up against a rookie returner to get that thing as high as possible? 

“Yeah, yeah, there was definitely some weather there in the game. Obviously we won’t have that this week, but the wind going toward the Dawg Pound was challenging for a number of reasons. But yeah, was a good, nice job by him to elevate the ball. I think the ball is from what I remember was over 5’3, which is a really good hang. And then obviously with that win, you’re going to get movement on the ball too. So gave us an opportunity to get on the ball.”

 

How about just Andre (Szymt) and how well he’s been doing for you?
“Yeah, he’s been consistent. The practice reps have carried over to the game. The preparation has been good. So, we like where he’s at, hopefully we stay on that same path.”

 

With Corey, you know, he’s in the top, whatever inside the 10 and inside the 20. But how would you describe his overall year? Because you’ve mentioned a couple times on some of the long returns, the kicks not turning out like you wanted it to. 

“Yeah, I think that I would say he’s just been a little inconsistent for him. Just being able to get the necessary hang times with the distances that we’re hitting. Did a better job this past week for sure. I thought he played well this past week. The early half of the season, he was not playing to his, I would say, ability. So gonna just continue to stay on that trend of being able to match the distance with the hang time.”

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