Thursday Media Transcript: ST Coordinator Tom Quinn

Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn

December 1, 2016

Q: When you go into a game, do you want one punt returner who warms up before the game or do you feel like that is a position where you can just plug someone in?

A: Well, it is injuries. Injuries lead you to that, so they all catch punts before the game, they are out there, they are working on it, so you have two, three, four guys out there catching. You want to keep some guys available because they are all playing a lot of plays.

Q: How did the decision making process go during the game?

A: Obviously Dwayne has been hurt and so we wanted to take some hits off of him, so that is why Bobby (Rainey) returned kickoffs as well, so that was the number one thing. Bobby had that one issue, gave it up and so we went and talked about it and came out and had Odell do it.

Q: Seeing what he was able to do, does that factor into the decision making process now?

A: I think you look at what is best for the team and what do we need to do for the team to win the game, that game and that is how we approach it.

Q: The concern people would have is him being more exposed to injury back there. You would know better than most people.

A: Well, anytime you are on the field you are exposed to injury. It is something he likes doing. There are a lot of people around the league that do it. We are going to face a team that has a receiver that does it and is pretty damn good at it, #84 (Antonio Brown).

Q: In your experience, is a punt returner more susceptible?

A: No, I think that any position you are on the field you are susceptible to injury. It is not like one has more risk than the other, so I wouldn’t say that is true.

Q: Is there any data or anything that you have looked into with that?

A: No, it is whatever you need to do to win that game and then you figure it out the next week.

Q: Seeing what Odell did with punt returns…

A: Well, he is an explosive player. Anytime he gets his hands on the ball – he has returned for us in the past, he is a punt returner, so he did that as a regular job when he first came in the league, he did it in college as a kickoff returner, punt returner and a receiver, so that was one thing that attracted us to him when we were evaluating him in the draft.

Q: And that has not been a spot that you have been incredibly pleased with?

A: No, we need better production from our punt return game. We have to make better decisions. We had two big returns last week called back due to penalties, so we have to be smarter there.

Q: Is it safe to say that if he gets the green light to return punts, you are not going to say, ‘Well, we should think about this.’ You will have him return punts as often as they would let you, right?

A: It is based on Dwayne. He is our punt returner, so it is based on his health and the other guys that we have available. Again, I give my input and we talk about it as a staff and what is best for the team that game.

Q: Cleveland didn’t expect him to return. Is there an element of surprise?

A: I don’t think so. As a coach you know who is on the roster and you know who is available and you try and study each of the guys, try and show guys tape of each of the guys because all returners are different. They all have different skill sets and all play a little bit differently.

Q: What makes (Antonio) Brown so dangerous?

A: Just his speed and elusiveness. He is similar to Odell. He can take it anywhere on the field, real good catch mechanics and gets started and he is dangerous. Everyone has to be in their spot, if you are not then he will expose you.

Q: How concerned are you about the kicker?

A: He hit the ball well. He is getting his timing down. He pushed that one, so he has just got to make the kick. That is black and white business with that. It is very simple, so we are doing everything to help him and it kind of surprised me that he did miss it, but he was striking the ball better than he did earlier, so we are getting him going. Hopefully he can get on a hot streak like a lot of guys in the league need to.

Q: Did the snap throw him off at all?

A: No.

Q: With the weather getting colder, how is the kicking unit adjusting to this? I heard that they were doing reps in the stadium. How has that helped?

A: They have always been doing that. It is something that we have always done. We are used to it. We have been here with the weather. It gets cold and the ball doesn’t fly as much as it flies high, so you just adjust and cover it and you have to be ready for everything.

Q: What can you say about Brad Wing’s performance on Sunday?

A: He did well. I thought they covered well, so it was a good combination. Some of the punts weren’t ideal, but they covered them well and then he had some awesome punts that went out of bounds and real good location and hang time, so he is improving and trying to get better each and every day.

Q: Is there a hesitation? When he does that Australian kick it kind of hangs on the sideline and bounces, but it can be kind of a really short kick if it doesn’t work.

A: I don’t think so because you are always trying to hit that thing to at least the 10-yard line. If it checks up, then it checks up. Half the time it does, half the time it doesn’t, so we would rather take the ball at the 12-yard line then get a touchback.