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OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Baltimore Ravens special-teams coach Jerry Rosburg received some national acclaim Monday night, when he was selected as a "Gruden Grinder" after the 23-16 win over the Houston Texans. The award, which is given by ESPN analyst Jon Gruden, applauds a behind-the-scenes person (usually a player) who plays a pivotal role in helping the team win. Special teams made a major impact for the Ravens, from the fake punt to Sam Koch's five punts downed inside the 20-yard line to Justin Tucker's three field goals. "It is an honor, I must say, coming from a Super Bowl champion football coach who understands the role of special teams and the big picture of things and how important it is to have good special teams to win," Rosburg said Thursday. "We take it as a whole special-teams honor. We take it as a high compliment." The recognition on national television brought some well-deserved notoriety and plenty of text messages for Rosburg, who didn't know about the Gruden Grinder award until after the game. "I knew something was up when I got my phone after the game and my phone had blown up," Rosburg said. "I figured something bad happened or something good happened. It was one or the other. I'm glad it was something good." One message came from a guy who had lost track of Rosburg and thought he might've been in the witness protection program. Another text read: "If this doesn't stop soon, I'm going to have to shut my TV off before I vomit." "These are really good friends that I have," Rosburg said. Rosburg's was the first of the awards given to the Ravens' special teams this week. Koch was named AFC special teams player of the week on Wednesday, and Tucker received AFC special teams player of the month on Thursday. "We like to have these things because it means we're playing well," Rosburg said. "If the trend continues, [long-snapper] Morgan [Cox] should be player of the year."
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