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Colts special teams coach has very ‘unique’ praise for Rodrigo Blankenship

By Jerry Trotta

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 27: Rodrigo Blankenship #3 of the Indianapolis Colts kicks an extra point during the second quarter of the game against the New York Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 27, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 27: Rodrigo Blankenship #3 of the Indianapolis Colts kicks an extra point during the second quarter of the game against the New York Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 27, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) /
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Colts special teams coach Bubba Ventrone heaped some praise on rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship’s “unique” personality.

The Indianapolis Colts’ 2020 season is unique for a number of different reasons. After all, there are predominantly new faces, like quarterback Philip Rivers and running back Jonathan Taylor, leading the offense.

The same can be said for the defensive side of the ball, as interior tackle DeForest Buckner and cornerback tandem Xavier Rhodes and TJ Carrie, who have combined to record four interceptions through three games, headline that group.

However, the biggest adjustment for fans in Indianapolis likely comes on special teams, as longtime kicker Adam Vinatieri wasn’t re-signed after suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2019. Before that, he was in the middle of the worst season of his esteemed career, converting just 68% of his field goal attempts and 78.6% of his extra point tries.

The Colts responded by signing undrafted free agent Rodrigo Blankenship in April, and the rookie out of Georgia has proven to be an absolute steal. After his stellar showing in Week 3, Indy’s special teams coach Bubba Ventrone offered up some praise about his “unique” personality.

"“He’s definitely unique. I would say he’s probably the most unique guy that I’ve coached to this point,” Ventrone told reporters, via Colts.com. “I’ve only been coaching for six years, but even as a player he’s probably the most unique player that I’ve been around.”“I don’t want to say too much here, but there’s not a lot of NFL players that are building Legos and playing video games like that. He is, and he is admittedly into that type of thing. Whatever toots your horn, man. I support whatever he wants to do. As long as he is making his kicks, I don’t care what he does,” he continued."

Blankenship hit on two of his three field goal attempts (42 and 41 yards), but he rocked the right upright on his lone miss, which was ironically from 41 yards. That shouldn’t knock the 23-year-old’s confidence, though, as he’s been nothing short of automatic for the Colts in recent weeks. In three games, he’s 8-of-10 on field goal tries and a perfect 8-for-8 on extra points.

https://twitter.com/TheAthleticNFL/status/1308775113127583746

Like Ventrone said, if he’s going to be that reliable, we couldn’t care less what activities the former Bulldog fancies outside of football or how peculiar his personality is. We obviously have nothing but respect for Vinatieri, but moving on and signing Blankenship (as of right now) was undoubtedly the right call by general manager Chris Ballard.

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