Assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone (11.30.23)
Obviously you know Lucas (Havrisik) well. What did you like about him when he was here?
“He’s got a strong leg, good elevation on his kicks. He’s got good tempo to the ball. I really like the kid. I think he’s a really good kid and really hard worker. I had him in Indy for a little bit and then brought him here and I thought he did a nice job.”
Hey, Bubba, I know obviously we ask you about Dustin (Hopkins) all the time, but I’m just curious since he’s been here and you’ve gotten to know him, is there anything you’ve learned about him that you didn’t expect or something that stands out about his personality? He seems pretty even keeled.
“Yeah, he’s an interesting character, man. He’s fun to work with. He’s a great guy to have in the room, not just for the specialists, but for the position players as well. He’s kind of beats to his own drum and there’s times where he’ll frustrate me a little bit because he has a tendency to be late at times. But he’s been great, he’s been great.”
When you say the thing about position players, I know kickers, sometimes position players don’t always gravitate to them. So is that sort of unique?
“Sometimes I think our group, all three of those guys, I think they gel well with our core players, I really do. There’s really not a separation between the specialists and the core group. So our guys have done a good job of they all get along well and interact well together.”
Again, like Dan (Labbe) said, I know we always ask you about Dustin, but Corey (Bojorquez), too, just the year that he’s had so far, the way he’s been punting the ball, just what you’ve seen from him and getting to know him and how he sort of goes about things week to week.
“Corey’s done a nice job, I think, especially as of late of understanding how we want to play the game and the returners we’re going against. We have specific plans for each one. So he’s done a good job throughout the week in his preparation and then the results have shown up in the game. Last week he did a nice job versus the leading returner in the league in (Marvin) Mims and I thought it elevated the ball well, hit good direction and gave our defense a good, I guess you’d say, drive start.”
Yeah, Bubba, just wondering, has your group done anything together, just as a unit on this trip and what do you feel like you and your guys are kind of getting out of being here?
“I know that they have had some meetings amongst themselves with just players only as far as the special teams group. I think they’ll have another one of those today or tomorrow. As far as them going out, I think they’ve gone out. I think they went out the first night with their position groups. As far as offense, defense, from what I have gathered from a few of the guys.”
I was just wondering, what do you feel like, what do you sense that you guys are kind of getting already out of being here? I know you guys heard from Jerry West yesterday, but what do you sense in terms of bonding for the final push?
“Yeah, I think that this is a really good opportunity for us to get away from Cleveland, to come together. I mean, the weather’s nice, too. I heard it’s snowing back home. But be able to just get together, it kind of has that Greenbrier feel to it where you’re still working. You’re working toward a goal. Obviously, we’re preparing for a big game against the Rams, but it has brought everybody closer. The players are almost forced to be together even more now and I think you’ll see more of that as the week goes along. You know, I think that going into this week, especially coming off last week, it’s probably good to remove ourselves from being back in Cleveland. It’s good to be able to bring everyone together to focus on working toward this next game. So I’m actually glad that we’re out here. I think it’s been a positive for us. They did a great job setting everything up for us, too.”
And I have a quick follow up, if you don’t mind. What about the presence we saw that Deshaun Watson was over there on the sidelines yesterday, and then you guys have Nick Chubb here with you. What about the presence of guys like that? Maybe as a reminder, know how grateful everybody needs to be able to actually be out there playing.
“Yeah, you never know when it’s going to be, when it could be your last rep. That’s why everything is so important. You got to take advantage of every opportunity that you’re given. It was unfortunate we’ve sustained some injuries, but I think guys have done a good job of rising to the occasion, taking on the challenge of stepping up in their roles, obviously we lose Nick, Jerome Ford and Kareem (Hunt) step up, we lose, you know, Deshaun. All the quarterbacks have stepped up in their way, shape or form. And then you have – even guys like, we lose Rodney McLeod to the elbow. Rodney is a tremendous communicator leader on that side of the ball. So it’s like, who’s going to step up next? Grant Delpit’s done a nice job. Anthony Walker is a big communicator on that side of the ball. So that’s been important for us to be able to get those contributions and that leadership whenever we’ve had some key injuries on our roster. I think those guys have responded well, and it’s a testament to, honestly the players that AB (Andrew Berry) and Kevin (Stefanski) brought in here and how we gel as a team and the communication.”
What have you seen from James Proche in the return game and just kind of how he’s adjusted to you guys throughout the season?
“Yeah, James, I think from the start, from when he got here, he showed us that he can be a guy that can be trusted back there. I think that he’s had a handful of plays where he may want back. I think last week, we lost the ball a little bit. The ball was a little funky off the foot, so he kind of stayed away. We only gave up a couple of yards on the roll there. But for the most part, he’s done a nice job of fielding it and getting what we can get and getting a little bit more. He had a big return against Pittsburgh that gave us good field position. He had a nice return at the end of that Pittsburgh game that set us up to have a shorter field for the offense. He does a good job in his preparation, and he studies the opponent pretty well and has a plan even before we come into the meetings and we’re installing our opponent know, were really excited to work with him.”
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