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Thursday Media Transcript: ST Coordinator Thomas McGaughey

Eric from BBI : Admin : 9/20/2018 1:22 pm
Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey
September 20, 2018
 
Q: Is (Stacy Coley) a returner?
A: He’s had experience with it, a little bit in college, early in his college career (inaudible). 
 
Q: What did you think of having (Odell Beckham) back there?  
A: It was good to have him back there. Like I said before, any time you get a chance to get his hands on the ball, you get a chance to make a play. He just needs to kind of knock the rust off a little bit and get going. 
 
Q: How much of that was (Kaelin Clay) being injured at the time or you guys wanted him to have a big play? I know you have other options as well. What went into that decision? 
A: Little bit of both. Kaelin rolled his ankle and, again, whenever you get a chance to throw 13 in there and make a play, big gain, opportunity to make a play and just trying to make one.
 
Q: Does he have his own style back there, because the way he caught the punt is not typical? 
A: Odell definitely has his own style. He’s always been that way, he’s different that way. His ball skills are off the charts, you’re not going to have everybody else catch the ball the way he catches it. He has really big hands; he has big, strong hands, very confident hands.
 
Q: Is there any point where you find yourself lobbying with (Pat Shurmur) trying to get him back there more often?   
A: We’re not going to force anything. Kaelin is very capable. Whenever we get a chance to make a play, we make a play, but when you have a guy like Odell as you move forward, there are going to be some spots where you can throw him in there, you take advantage of those opportunities.     
 
Q:  Do you change up what you do as far as blocking and protection depending on who you have back there as a returner because everybody has their own unique style? 
A: No, normally we keep the same things schematically. It depends what we’re going against opponent-wise, but both of them are capable of doing multiple things.
 
Q: When it’s a week later and you have to go against a team that was hit for a big fake on the punt, is it a one-time thing or is it something you have to anticipate changes in how they’re going to approach that, because someone found a hole?
A: I’m sure they probably want to go back to that last thing that hit them, but whenever you get hit on a fake, it’ll make you re-think some stuff. I’ve been hit on a fake before, so they’re going to make you go back, see what you’re doing and making sure schematically, you’re sound.  
 
Q: Has Kaelin been decisive? It seems like he got caught in between a few times on punts.
A: Kaelin has been in the situation where the punters have been kind of icky – Chris Jones is a phenomenal punter, and he did not punt well last game, and he’s left-footed. A couple of those balls came off his foot kind of funky and they were short and hit the ground, started rolling. If you watch him, he’s normally 50 yards, 45 yards, 5.2, 5.1 his returns – it’s ridiculous. He can crush the ball. But he didn’t play well the other day, and then we had Logan Cook, who has been up and down a little bit. His first two games have been where those guys haven’t punted the ball as well as they normally do.   
 
Q: On the onside kicks, the first one worked really well. It looked like he tried to bounce it off the guy and that worked. The second one, did he just mis-hit that?
A: Yeah, he just mis-hit it. You wish you could hit them all perfect, but he didn’t hit it as well as he could’ve hit it.
 
Q: Is that another play where you’re trying to bounce it off the guy?
A: No, it was a different play. 
 
Q: What have you thought of (Cody Latimer) as a kick returner so far?
A: What we saw on tape, we love Cody on tape – big, strong, physical guy that can run through hard tackles, and very decisive as a returner. We look forward to him getting better. Last week, the week before, he only had one opportunity and then last week we had two more opportunities. He did well, if we make the block on the backside, we might be talking about a touchdown Cody scored. Who knows? But I like what we’re seeing from Cody. 
 
Q: What’s this weekend like for you? Do you get to do anything different since it’s sort of a homecoming?
A: No. It will be the same weekend, my kids will probably come down to the hotel for a little bit or I’m going to go home for a little bit. It’ll be the same thing, it’ll be a lot of people around that know that I’m in town, but that won’t change anything. Game day is game day. It’s a business trip. I just went home on Monday. It’s one of those deals, you go ahead and go play, get on the plane and go back home.
 
Q: Have you been getting your treatment down there? 
A: Yes.
 
Q: Will your wife make you your favorite meal or anything?
A: Not probably. We might go out to eat somewhere, but other than that, it will just be a business trip. Go down there, play the Texans, get back on the road and come back.
 
Q: Do you go down and back the same day when you have treatment? 
A: The day after. I went down, drove down after the Dallas game, and then had a treatment that morning and flew back the next morning. 
 
Q: Impressive.
A: I’m feeling it now. 
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