Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey -- November 29, 2018
Q: Another week, another change at punt returner?
A: Welcome to our world. It is what it is. You just – like I told you guys before, it’s just one of those deals, you’re just always ready to expect the unexpected and just roll with it. Good thing we got options, so nothing to sweat about it. Just go out there and play.
Q: I know Pat (Shurmur) was kind of lamenting not getting a chance at the field goal at the end of the game. 63 yards, is that in Aldrick’s (Rosas) range?
A: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I coached Graham Gano and Aldrick’s leg is every bit as strong as Graham’s, if not stronger. That’s definitely in his wheel house.
Q: One thing that I thought was interesting was we asked Aldrick if in pregame he tests his range and he said, not really, wherever Zak (DeOssie) puts the ball is where he kicks it from. He’s not trying to max it out in the pregame?
A: No. For him, and he’s different than a lot of kickers because his leg is so strong, we try and temper him down and just make good contact, be smooth. He’s strong. This kid can hit it from – just this is my personal opinion, I’ve seen him hit it from 65 and barely miss it from 68 and just a nice, smooth, easy swing. He’s a talented kid, has a really strong leg. His upside is tremendous.
Q: Is that different in terms of the warmup process of a lot of kickers. Do others go out and say okay I’m going to be good from here today and this is my range?
A: Yeah, a lot of them do. A lot of older, veteran guys will do that. Thank God, Aldrick is just himself. He knows himself and that’s a good thing about him. He knows that, ‘okay, just put the ball down wherever they snap it. I’m going to kick it’ and he knows we’ll keep him in his range, so wherever the ball is put down, he’s going to hit it.
Q: You say his mindset is kind of unique because it seems like a lot of kickers are very particular? He kind of seems like, Pat Shurmur called him a football player, just kind of seems a little more carefree than a lot of kickers.
A: Yeah, he’s different, he’s definitely different. I’ve had guys kick in the league for 25 years and I’ve had rookies. He’s different and I like the way he thinks. I like his mindset and put the ball down, I don’t care what hash it’s on, I’ll just kick it.
Q: Do you watch the other team in warmups and say, ‘okay, this guy he can make it from 58’?
A: Absolutely. That’s something that we communicate to the defense, like what’s the yard-line and all that good stuff. We definitely keep an eye on that.
Q: The Carolina game did you say –
A: Graham – yeah we talked about it.
Q: Going back to the punt returner thing, how much easier is it to plug a new guy in there now that the unit seems to have stabilized a little bit more?
A: It’s still not easy. At anything – at the quarterback position, at the left tackle position, at left corner, middle linebacker, you want some continuity. It’s the same thing for the punt returner because when you get different guys back there, it’s different. Guys got to kind of re-adjust to who’s back there and what their strengths, what their weaknesses are, so it’s just a little different, but you just make the adjustment and keep on.
Q: Do you have to change up what you do as far as blocking schemes and all that stuff?
A: For the most part, we keep it the same. I might call one return more than the other, but for the most part, we keep it the same just depending on who’s back there.
Q: Kind of come full circle now. Guys who have kind of lost the job are coming back now.
A: You stay in this league long enough, that happens. When guys get nicked up you get opportunities and it’s up to the guy that gets the opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity. That’s what it is, you just got to take advantage of the opportunities you get and hopefully it’ll work out for the best.
