Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn
January 5, 2017
Q: What do you remember about the 07’ game while Lawrence Tynes was running out there for the field goal?
A: I remember him making the field goal, that’s one good thing. It’s tough to kick in those conditions, so you’ve got to be ready for it and battle. The mental toughness will come into play for all the specialists.
Q: Does Robbie Gould’s experience in the cold weather all those years in Chicago help?
A: Not only that it’s been that cold, but as a veteran kicker, he’s been through that experience before, probably not as cold as it’s going to be but close to it. Once it gets cold, it’s cold.
Q: What is your biggest concern? Is it the kicking or the ball handling?
A: It’s ball handling when it gets cold. We had a fumble with R.W. McQuarters in the fourth quarter when the score was tied that Michael Johnson recovered, which was a huge play that nobody talks about. We returned the ball to the plus 42-43 with two minutes to go to win the game right there. He fumbled it, went back around the 50 and Michael Johnson did a heck of a job getting on it (before Domenik Hixon recovered). So we want to make sure that anyone who handles the ball secures it.
Q: Are you doing anything like freezing the balls this week for the kickers and punters or things like that?
A: No, because you can bruise your feet. We will kick normal balls and kick cold balls when we have to.
Q: What do you see from their return game?
A: They have Micah Hyde and Randall Cobb. If Randall plays, you could probably expect him back there.
Q: He’s only had a handful of returns, though, right?
A: A little bit, but he’s got it on faith. Micah’s really hard and he’s elusive and he’s kind of a jump cutter. I told the punt team he’s probably the kid that was never ‘it’ in tag because you can never get your hands on him. He’s really elusive and does a really good job of getting north and south. Once he sees it, he puts his foot in the ground and he’s all around a really good football player.
Q: In the past, Mike McCarthy has done some of the onside kick stuff and things like that…
A: Yeah, he’s done one against us in ’11, I think to start the third quarter, I think.
Q: Have they done that much this year?
A: They did one, it was from the 50, but Mason (Crosby’s) really good at those, so you always have to be aware.
Q: Have they done anything else like fake field goals or fake punts or anything else like that this season?
A: No, not so much. They have some on tape from the past. We will study all of those.
You know, the important stuff.