Saints special teams coach Darren Rizzi talks about the impact his unit is making and talks about going viral.
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00:00 It is a little colder here in the shade though, for sure.
00:03 >> It's a lot we wrapped up.
00:04 >> Let's be real.
00:05 >> [LAUGH] >> Well, I got in my office for a couple
00:09 of days, feels good, fresh air feels good.
00:12 >> We've asked about Blake piece by piece so many times this season,
00:17 but he kind of has bounced back each time there was that moment of adversity.
00:21 What have you liked about his ability to do that or seen him do?
00:25 >> Listen, I told all three guys, Blake, Lou, and Zach, after the game,
00:28 I thought we had one of our best practice weeks last week as far as the operation
00:32 goes.
00:34 Listen, I know sometimes it sounds like coach speak and all that, but
00:38 I say things like work in progress and it's a process.
00:42 And it really is, when you take a deep dive on rookie kickers,
00:47 there's very few guys that have ever come into this league and
00:52 not experienced some type of peak and valley type of thing.
00:56 And I think the thing that Blake has going for him is he had a really good mindset.
00:59 He's not overreacting with any of the misses or bad hits.
01:07 We've dissected all those things.
01:11 He's a very good self corrector, meaning there's some kickers that miss a kick and
01:15 may not know why.
01:16 He can give me his feedback on all the little nuances with kicking.
01:22 And so I think his personality really has helped him with that,
01:27 meaning not the overreaction, where he can get back to work.
01:30 But again, new snapper, new holder, rookie holder.
01:36 And I think I mentioned this last week,
01:37 when you look at those operations throughout the league, rookie snapper,
01:41 rookie holder, rookie kicker, there's sometimes gonna be some of those
01:44 unevenness and inconsistencies.
01:46 So kudos to him, but right back at it this week.
01:49 So I kind of believe, the field goal he missed the prior week,
01:57 I've never really seen him hit a ball like that before.
01:59 So we knew there was something kind of odd about that situation.
02:02 So he's just really done a great job just kind of getting back on track every week.
02:06 And just kind of keeping it, not looking at the big pictures,
02:09 kind of keeping the focus, small focus.
02:11 So kudos to him.
02:13 >> As GT had that penalty early in the game, pump blocks are kind of weird.
02:16 It's like, okay, you get the ball, it's not a penalty.
02:19 You miss by an inch, it's a penalty.
02:20 What's the coaching point there on that risk or reward of going for it?
02:26 >> Well, the interesting part about that one is, if you noticed,
02:29 he kind of half rolled to his left, the left hand punter.
02:33 Like we did the week before, their guy didn't get called for a penalty,
02:35 we did, so that's a whole other subject.
02:37 But when we coach up, if you hear like an OTA's training camp,
02:42 we'll do pump block circuits.
02:44 There is an art to blocking a punt,
02:46 a little bit different than blocking a kick.
02:49 When we teach blocking a punt, we're really trying to take the ball off
02:52 the punter's foot, if you will.
02:53 It's not, you really don't wanna have your hands over your head.
02:56 You really wanna have your hands together, not apart.
02:58 You see how many times you just come go to a game,
03:00 you see a ball go between someone's hands, or they're over their head,
03:03 and they miss it and try to swat at it.
03:05 So the other part of that is taking an angle from the block spot, so
03:09 that if you do miss, you don't make contact with your opponent.
03:13 Probably went under the radar, but the week before,
03:17 before the block punt, had an earlier rep where he just missed,
03:22 it kind of went underneath the punter's leg.
03:26 And so the angle through the block spot is very, very important.
03:29 Most fans wouldn't realize how quick that operation is.
03:30 You really only have two seconds.
03:31 The average snap punt time in the NFL is two seconds.
03:34 And you gotta go ten yards in two seconds.
03:35 So there's really not a lot of time for false steps, fast technique.
03:40 So it's something that we work on.
03:42 JT's obviously blocked punts before.
03:44 I just think it was one of those bang, bang plays that kind of cost him
03:47 doing business.
03:48 He had a really good rush and just missed, so it was a good play.
03:50 >> Do you think he was outside the tackle box on that one?
03:53 >> Well, the way the rule reads is rugby style punt.
03:56 It doesn't really distinguish inside the tackle box.
04:00 So he's on the move, so again, I'm gonna get myself in trouble.
04:03 I'm gonna stay away from that.
04:05 >> Chris, I don't know how many times in your career you've had a somewhat viral
04:09 moment, cameras catching you doing things.
04:11 Do you get a lot of reaction from friends, family, colleagues?
04:15 >> I don't know why, I'm such a mild-mannered guy, so
04:18 I can't understand why that is.
04:21 >> Sure.
04:22 >> Hey, listen, I guess I'm a guy that wears my heart on my sleeve.
04:25 I'd like to have fun doing it, I love fun coaching.
04:27 I've been doing this for a long time now.
04:30 And the players, we're asking these guys to work very, very hard every day.
04:35 And we try to keep it light and have fun with them as well.
04:37 And I think there's a part of that.
04:40 Obviously, the thing this past week was,
04:44 I didn't realize that my high school t-shirt was gonna get so much attention.
04:50 I expect a nice Christmas present from Rod, by the way, for the million views.
04:53 But that's a side note.
04:54 [LAUGH] But somebody else told me to say that, by the way,
04:59 I wasn't original.
05:01 But all kidding aside, I didn't realize, I've given my alma mater a little bit of
05:04 love, and a little side notice for you guys as well is that Lou Headley's
05:09 fiance is an Italian from New York.
05:12 So we had a little moment there, a little Italian moment there after the nice pun.
05:16 So it's kind of apropos for the moment there.
05:19 So, but yeah, but no, just having fun while we're working hard, that's all.
05:26 So a little fun moment, and a little shout out to my high school, so all good.
05:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]
05:33 >> Let's call this out.
05:33 >> [LAUGH] >> Come on, come on.
05:36 >> Nah, man, I gotta go walk.
05:37 >> [LAUGH] >> I mean, you got the get up going.
05:40 >> No, man, I'm freezing.
05:41 >> I'll let you guys get back and seal.