Adam Gase – October 23, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 23, 2016
Postgame – vs. Buffalo
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase (transcribed by Michelle Stone)
(Two games, very similar. Is this becoming a pattern for your football team?) – “This was the way we thought we were going to have to play this one. We knew it was going to be this style of game. We wanted to make sure that we established the run game as early as we could. (We) tried to do the best we could as far as … We wanted to move Ryan (Tannehill) around a little more, but they did a really good job of shutting down the edges, which caused some problems as far as getting him outside the pocket. We were trying to do the same thing, make it a shorter game for our defense. If we could have got them … We let them kind of make it a one dimensional game. We could never really pull ahead early.”
(How much did it help you in that first quarter when RB Jay Ajayi went for 49 yards and was ripping holes and ripping yards through the line of scrimmage?) – “Anytime that happens early, it gets everybody’s confidence up knowing that, ‘Alright, we have a good rhythm,’ really before you anticipate it. He did a good job of running through arm tackles and our line did a good job as far as sticking on guys and finishing blocks.”
(What can you say about back-to-back games over 200 yards? Only the fourth in the NFL to accomplish that.) – “I think it’s a great job of those guys up front opening holes, and then he has done a great job of being decisive and hitting it and just getting every inch he can. He has done a great job with his ball security. He has done exactly what we’ve needed him to do.”
(You seem to be very patient with the running game – staying with it, staying with it, staying with it. Was that your plan going in?) – “Jay just seems like … He’s really a rhythm-type guy where it might take a second sometimes for us to get some of these runs going, but he has popped a few earlier than I anticipated. For myself, I keep reminding myself to stay with him, because he seems to find the right hole and pops it, and it becomes a 10-, 12-yard gain. That’s my biggest challenge is always just staying with it. Sometimes it’s easier to start throwing it around, because the yards come quicker, but staying with him and letting him get into a rhythm is really critical for us.”
(You spent the first five games looking for a go-to back to step up to the plate. You got one now? Do you feel comfortable with Jay carrying the load now?) – “I think we’re just going to look at each week differently. We’ll see how it plays out (and) what’s best versus that team. Obviously, he’s the guy that has done everything that we’ve needed him to do, especially these last two games. We’re going to into the next game, we’ll see what the best thing is for us that week.”
(To talk about the next game, after two good wins like this, is it almost disappointing that you have a bye week coming up?) – “No, I don’t think so. It’s pretty late in the season for us right now. Our guys have been practicing hard and playing hard on Sundays. Our guys are probably ready for that bye week. We’ve been pretty banged up. We finally got a little bit healthy, but after every game, our guys are hurting. They’re coming out to Wednesday’s practice, and they’re still not right. We probably need this week.”
(What do you think is happening on third down – the last two weeks being so much better on third down conversions?) – “Quarterback has got a nice pocket. That’s the only difference. He’s not on his back.”
(Is it sometimes that simple, the difference in your team the last two weeks?) – “Yes. It makes a big difference when he can actually take a three-step drop and not get smoked.”
(What did you see on RB Damien Williams’ go-ahead touchdown run? It looked like a couple of guys carried him in.) – “That’s how he runs. This is every game. Every time he plays, you just know – especially in the fourth quarter – you give him the ball, the first guy is not going to get him. He’s going to take two or three guys with him.”
(Your team’s disposition today, its physicality – without S Reshad Jones – specially on both sides of the ball, what did you think of it? Was it the best it has been all season, the most efficient? How would you describe it?) – “I think the last two weeks, our guys are trying to come out, they’re trying to hit. We’re running the football. Their team is going to run the football. Our guys are doing a better job as far as assignments on defense and trying to make sure that we’re not having huge plays, and we’re tackling better, because we’re gang tackling. I think it really comes down to guys are playing with energy, effort, physicality. They’re trying to make sure everything they do, it’s about physicality for us right now.”
(They went ahead 17-6, and you got the ball and you ran eight times in 10 plays on that touchdown drive. Were you tempted to pass? What was going through your mind when you went out in the second half?) – “A lot of times when you get into those situations, my brain almost goes to, ‘Stick with what’s working.’ You’re trying to think, ‘Okay, what was successful?’ The one thing I do know is that every time that No. 23 (Jay Ajayi) kept getting the ball, he was popping a run. It was just leaning on him, leaning on the offensive line. I’m sure (Mike) Pouncey walked by me like 25 times and said, ‘Keep running it.’ That might have gotten into my head after a while. I trust those guys up front. Those five together play well together, and then Jay just seems to have a good feel for how they’re blocking things. And our tight ends did a great job as far as covering up the edge and doing everything they could to either seal it off or widen the guy out to where Jay could hit it.”
(Your defense, especially in the second half, really kept you in the game. You had some opportunities. You had some good field position. They really weren’t able to come up with anything until that last touchdown.) – “That’s what we’re trying to do as far as just playing a little bit of complementary football. We’re still a little spotty at times to where one side gets hot and the other side kind of fizzles out. It would be nice if we could play together a little bit better. But that was the big thing. We kind of stalled out there in the third quarter and our defense did a great job as far as making sure (we were) holding them, whether they punted or a field goal on a short field. (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) did a great job getting those guys ready and making sure all the things that they do … It’s a tough offense to stop, especially when the running game is rolling.”
(A lot of penalties. Do you disregard that because it’s a victory?) – “No. It’s dumb. The penalties we have, they’re not the kind of penalties that you say, ‘We had a holding call, because the guy stood back inside and he held them.’ The things we’re doing right now, it’s just absolutely dumb.”
(Special teams – you had the punt blocked. What went wrong?) – “We’ll take a look at it. It’s hard, for me sometimes to tell right after the game. When you’re in the moment, when you’re trying to communicate with (Special Teams Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach) Darren (Rizzi), I’m flipping all over the place as far as offense, defense. We had the punt. We had a couple of things that didn’t quite go the way we wanted to on kickoff return. I know he’ll take a close look at this and try to figure out, ‘Okay, who are the best guys to have out there?’ I know he has lost a couple of guys the last couple weeks as far as now they’re playing more on defense. It kind of puts him in a bad spot. He has got some new guys playing on a lot of his teams. So, we’ve got to get some things cleaned up and this will be a good week for us to do it.”
(The home stand – overall, now you’re 2-1, the bye week, and then the Jets. What have you thought about this home stand? Have you protected the home? Have you established an identity? What have you done in these three games?) – “How many games have we played? Seven. We’ve got a ways to go.”
