Broncos STC Tom McMahon Eviscerates Week 15 K Taylor Russolino: 'Terrible'
When I first laid eyes on the following quote — Denver Broncos special teams coordinator Tom McMahon trashing with no abandon Week 15 kicker Taylor Russolino — the initial thought I had was that Simpsons meme, "Stop! Stop! He's already dead!"
“Taylor was terrible. He had a bad day," McMahon blurted to reporters Thursday. "It got a little big for him with the wind—he didn't handle it right. I think it shows, to answer your first question, it shows how happy we are getting Brandon back. This is a tough league. It took Brandon McManus two years to kick a football in this league with failures and this, that and the other. You can see how valuable those players are and it showed up in that game, not just on field goal but on kickoffs, but it got big for him. The wind—he didn't handle it right, but he'll get better.”
Ouch. Double ouch. Russolino must feel this small right about now.
For those who missed it, the former XFLer arrived via the recommendation of ex-Colts punter-turned-podcaster Pat McAfee. The Broncos were forced to start an emergency kicker with Brandon McManus on the reserve/COVID-19 list. But Russolino was ... well, terrible in McManus' stead, shanking a 51-yard field goal attempt and not one but two extra points in the friendly Mile High altitude amid the team's 48-19 blowout loss to Buffalo.
Russolino was so bad that head coach Vic Fangio made it seem like a pink slip was being drafted as he spoke.
“He had a really good day in practice the other day and I was encouraged by him. Obviously, there was some wind out there, but it didn’t bother their kicker," Fangio said immediately after the game. "I thought he was going to kick better than he did.”
Bills kicker Tyler Bass indeed was unfazed at Empower Field, drilling two FG attempts and nailing all six extra-point attempts. The issue clearly was limited to Russolino, who barely made his one successful XP, sneaking it inside the upright. The one positive he showed, a nearly recovered onside kick, was preceded by another fault; he booted the first onside try out of bounds.
“The hard part to get a guy ready for those winds," McMahon said of Russolino. "The only way you can do is you have to have that practice and you only get two practices with him. You have to have them in the preseason, you have to have them in the offseason, you have to put them in those situations where you get weather for two months to work with, but you just keep developing. We're in a situation right now with COVID, and I think that you guys all realize this, you can't go replace a guy if they have a bad game because the next COVID kicker you bring in, you won't work with him until Saturday. It's one of those where you keep working with him and if something comes up, I think he'll—he's learned from it. Focus more on the task than the situation. This week, naturally he and I go out practice and he looks like the guy that he looked like last week during practice, but we just have to keep developing him. I'd be lying to you if I don't say I want to see Brandon the next two weeks, and I want to see Brandon for the next four years every single week, every single minute of the day, every hour of the day. I want to see Brandon because he's established himself. He's earned that right and that's a compliment.”
Russolino remains on the Broncos' 53-man roster as of this writing. But his release is now an eventuality. McManus was activated from the coronavirus list on Wednesday, making him eligible to return for Sunday's road tilt against the Chargers.
Whereupon McMahon can lavish his attention on the player who deserves it.
"I'd be lying to you if I don't say I want to see Brandon the next two weeks, and I want to see Brandon for the next four years every single week, every single minute of the day, every hour of the day," he said. "I want to see Brandon because he's established himself. He's earned that right and that's a compliment.”
Follow Zack on Twitter @KelbermanNFL and @MileHighHuddle
