Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn
May 12, 2017
Q: Where would you envision using Engram on special teams?
A: We’ll use him in all different spots. He’s got good speed. Obviously, this is the first time we have our hands on him. I think he’ll be very willing. He has a good height, weight, speed. He’s a little bit faster than your normal tight end, linebacker type. I think he’ll be a positive addition to us.
Q: What can you tell us about the only kicker on the roster, Rosas?
A: He’s got nice size, a nice strong leg and he’s been highly accurate since he’s been here. He’s very coachable, so he’s been very good to work with. We’ve only had a couple of weeks that we’ve been able to get him out here with a snap and hold.
Q: Were you surprised that a kicker was not addressed in the draft?
A: Not necessarily. We had a couple of guys that we thought were good enough to kick in this league, but a couple of those guys got drafted. You don’t want to reach for a guy just to have another kicker on your roster.
Q: Engram is not a typical tight end. Do you see him in return roles or is he more like a gunner?
A: Probably wouldn’t be a gunner. Probably be like an interior type player, a speed player. We’ll see where he fits once we can get our hands on him. All these guys coming in, we don’t expect them to have played that much special teams. It all varies on their college coach’s decisions. We take it as a blank slate and we go from there.
Q: You don’t foresee him with the ball in his hands?
A: Not at this point, no.
Q: What do you think about the Canadian punter Felix Menard-Briere?
A: It’ll be interesting to work with him. I’ve seen just a little bit of tape on him. It’ll be nice to work with him both as a punter and a kicker. Up in the CFL, they do both. He was drafted by Ottawa.
Q: Do you like his physical abilities?
A: Yes, it’ll be interesting to get him out on the field with a snapper and some people around him.
Q: Do you have to bring a second kicker in to compete with the guy that really doesn’t have much experience?
A: I think that’s a choice that’s made up above my head. I don’t know if you necessarily have to. The problem nowadays is there’s a lot less kicks than there used to be. With no more two a days and limited practice, you have to give the guys everything you can. If you start bringing in two or three kickers, it really waters it down.
Q: Does it matter to you if it’s a veteran or a young guy?
A: No. It’s very simple. You have to be accurate. We’ve done a good job around here and we have to continue that trend. We have a guy that’s a good snapper and a good holder. Now, we just have to find a kicker. We like working with Aldrick so far.
Q: How do you know if Aldrick is ready? Obviously, you can’t put him in the situations that he’s going to be put in.
A: We will try and simulate him and then you have the preseason to go with that. We’ve had a couple of nice young kickers in here with Boswell and Brandon McManus. They’ve gone on to do well. It’s not always perfect with the young guys. Sometimes there’s going to be a little bit of hiccups. We’ll see where we go with that.
Q: Does that take on added importance? This was a team that was in the playoffs last year and is expected to contend again. Is it important to have that situated?
A: I think it’s always important that when you send a kicker out there, you get points. When you send him out there, you’re expecting him to make it. You’re not hoping that it’s in the range, you expect him to make it. Whoever lines up there will be accurate and be the guy that we can trust.
Q: Do you see Wayne Gallman as a guy that can contribute in the punt return, kick return game?
A: Possibly. He hasn’t done much of that. He could be like Paul Perkins was. I thought Paul Perkins has done an excellent job. He came in here with very little special teams experience and midway through the season, he was probably one of our best coverage guys. Running backs have a good skillset for special teams. They have the speed and the size. We like these running backs on special teams.
Q: Last year was an up and down year in the return game. Do you view Dwayne Harris as your primary returner?
A: Yes. We’ve always needed two or three guys since I’ve been here to be able to handle those roles. You have Dwayne, you have Odell. Kickoff returns, he was fine. On punt returns, he took a step back, which we don’t like. We’ve talked about it and addressed the things we want to improve on.
Q: How much of it was a result of his injuries and him thinking that maybe he was faster than his physical state allowed him to be?
A: I don’t think it’s that so much. When you get beaten down so much like he does because he plays some tough positions and throws his body around and is relentless, every time you return it, you’re going to take hits. He got hurt early and never really rebounded from it. It was a tough year, but he had a heck of a year as a coverage man. First year, we saw what we wanted returner wise. Second year, we saw coverage, so hopefully this year we can throw it all together.
