Special Teams Coordinator Michael Ghobrial
September 4, 2024
Q: What do you think of a possible (cornerback) Adoree’ Jackson for punt returner?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: I'll never close the door on getting the ball in the playmaker's hands. He's back there working at it, and obviously you guys know we only suit up 48 people on game day, so the more position flex, the more versatility a player can have, the better.
Q: Have you studied him in the past and how he handles the ball?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: He's dynamic with the ball in his hand. I do know that. Like I said, we'll never shut the door on putting the ball in a playmaker's hands.
Q: Does (wide receiver) Gunner (Olszewski) look comfortable to you back there? He looks like he's moving around kind of slowly.
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: I'll let (Head Coach Brian Daboll) Dabs handle that with him coming back, but he's back there working at it, doing a great job catching the football.
Q: How do you kind of weigh putting somebody back there who's compromised a little bit and just saying, ‘hey, we're just going to catch the ball and we're fine with that’ versus wanting to get somebody who's healthy and get the yardage?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: The biggest thing to me with any returner value is the person has to make sure they can own the football. That's safely securing it because the most telling statistic in terms of winning and losing in this league is turnover margin. So, we want to make sure whoever is back there, that guy is owning the football and making smart decisions to catch it.
Q: But would you consider sacrificing return yards if it meant that you had somebody back there to secure the ball?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: The number one priority will always be to secure the ball. To your point, a guy could have all the run skill in this league, but if he doesn't catch the ball well, you kind of vacillate with potentially losing the game, which is obviously something we don't want to do.
Q: Where do you stand as a kickoff returner as you enter Week 1?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: That's more game plan specific. We'll have different rules for different games and different kickers. That will be fluid throughout the week and obviously with the weather changing.
Q: When you were returning kicks in the preseason, how cognizant were you of not wanting to show too much of what you're going to use while also wanting to test the new rules?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: There's balance to it because it was a new rule. It still is a new rule, so you wanted to be able to gather useful information. You did't want to necessarily just go out there and say, ‘we're going to be very vanilla the whole preseason’ and not actually get good at potentially stuff that you want to do. But at the same time, yes, you are keeping some stuff close to the vest there. I felt like we did a good job, and our players did a great job in terms of just owning the fundamentals and the technique, which I feel if you can do that in this play, you have a chance.
Q: We saw teams have different approaches with the kickoff returner. The faster, general punt return kind of guy, the bigger guys, the running backs. On a general question for you, on a general basis, what have you learned about the kickoff and what direction would you lean in regard to what the approach is in that?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: The one thing I did learn about the kickoff is it hits pretty damn quick. Speed is always a huge attribute of any returner. A returner that can eat up grass initially with good catch mechanics, catching it forward, that can get to that initial line of defense has the best chance of actually having an explosive return in this league. Those come in all shapes and sizes. You could have a guy that can get to that line and then their collision balance is poor, and they go down with an arm tackle. Or you can have a guy that's a running back that's used to being able to break through tackles and he gets through that initial line and is able to break that arm tackle to get that explosive. There's really strengths and challenges to putting different types of personnel back there. I think at the end of the day, any player that has the ability to make smart decisions with the football and can eat up grass is going to have a chance to have success in that specific play.
Q: What do you think of the notion of this being a new play? Week 1 is just moving out of the end zone. Let everyone else figure it out and you'll have data to study for week two.
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: Obviously you guys know our stadium. Sometimes you can't control that with the wind. You always have to prepare to be able to get those balls that are in play. There is no fair catch to bail you out anymore. It's something you have to practice religiously. On the other side, again the weather changes in our stadium. We have to plan. We are going to cover a lot of kicks. That is something that also, when you do cover kicks, sometimes it provides the defense momentum. There's going to be a good strategy when it comes to that. Then we'll be able to handle that as a staff later in the week.
Q: Not asking what you guys are going to do but are you expecting to see…the preseason was a lot of send the ball in the air to the five-yard line. Are you expecting a lot of knuckle balls and bouncing balls across the NFL the first two, three weeks?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: Yeah. I think you've always got to...These kickers are so skilled. They really are. The foot accuracy that a lot of these NFL kickers have is very impressive. Their ability to be able to place the ball in the alleys outside the numbers with lower hang times at times, you've got to prepare for it because we're dealing with the best in the world. Our returners being able to truly see the ball off the tee and get a jump on it to be able to make sure they own the football is critical for them having success. I do expect us to see a little bit more of that variety of type of kick.
Q: What makes (wide receiver) Bryce Ford-Wheaton effective as a gunner?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: I love Bryce Ford-Wheaton, by the way. He's wired the right way. I think it starts with the mentality. When the mentality is right, the rest of it comes into play. Obviously, as a receiver, he has a natural feel for being able to get people off the spot. He's a really good catcher. He gives that possession position flexibility in terms of that. Anybody that's a receiver that's out there, you've got to obviously regard them in terms of coverage. I think the mentality, number one, is awesome because he approaches it like he is going to go win that rep every time. Then again, the experience of him being a receiver also translates in other parts.
Q: How challenging is that for him to have impressed you guys with something that he really doesn't have much on film doing? You had other guys who were more experienced here, but the idea that he was able to show you those kinds of traits, I would imagine it's not much time to be able to do that. He has to do a lot more in a short period of time.
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: So, with him being a younger player, you always question whether the experience will come to life and how quickly he can translate to play that position at a high level. Our job as coaches is always to look at whatever their primary position is and put as many similarities that they can have in terms of what they do primarily. Be like, ‘okay, this is the same thing here, except now we're asking you to do this’. Or ‘this is how it's different, and now we're asking you to do this’. ‘Oh, you did this as a receiver? Let's do it again here’. That is always a challenge as coaches to make that learning process happen a lot quicker. To the kid's credit, he studies his tail off. He does. He's always there after practice working extra drills, and he truly wants to be great with whatever role that he's given.
Q: In single coverage, there usually used to be layers of coverage in case somebody broke through. Can you still do that? Or are they so close you can't have a layer?
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: It's a great point. It's definitely more difficult to create layers because everybody is on the same line, and you are so much closer. If you think about it, them aligning on the 40-yard line to create layers, you're basically seceding field position right away. You have to be very strategic with how you get to those spots. Can you do that with a good amount of guys? Who knows. I think the biggest thing is knowing that you're in a stagnant position and having to get off at a slower tempo, whereas guys would be inside the 25-yard line on sometimes the returner catching the ball. You have to be very strategic with creating levels but also not jeopardizing how much space you're giving up right away.
Q: (Kicker) Graham (Gano) is obviously coming off knee surgery last year. I'm curious what you saw from him this summer and if you have to bring him along slowly during the season or is he back to full range Week 1? We haven't really seen him get a ton of opportunities this summer.
MICHAEL GHOBRIAL: I've seen Graham, the Graham Gano that wins football games in this league. I'm really excited to see him put pen to paper. He is a proven kicker in this league and I'm fully confident in his ability to go make kicks at any distance.
