Adam Gase – September 1, 2016 (Postgame)
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Thursday, September 1, 2016
Postgame – vs. Tennessee
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase (transcribed by Michelle Stone)
(On Xavien Howard’s and Kenyan Drake’s performances) – “Well, obviously we’ll be able to go back tomorrow morning and look at the actual details, I look up the one time, I think X (Xavien Howard) got the ball caught on him. It was pretty tight coverage, a good throw-and-catch. Drake had a couple of good plays. I know he had a good load of work on special teams. We’re just trying to make sure, kind of see where we thought he’d be good for us. We kind of put him into a couple of different spots. I was hoping to get him some more carries. It just didn’t seem like the times that we got him that we had drives going on the series he was in.”
(On interchanging players at the offensive guard position and if he thinks anything has been settled after tonight’s game) – “I think we’ll have a good idea of what we want to do for that first game but I think I said it a couple of days ago, there might be a chance that we play multiple guys in this game. We’ll just keep working through where we’re at in that situation and if we’re playing two or three guys in the game that’s what it is. Until someone just takes a hold of that thing, we’ll just keep moving guys around.”
(On Laremy Tunsil being the only rookie not playing and what lead to that decision) – “Well, the other day, obviously, was a little bit of a scare for him, so we were just being smart. In fact he did miss a day of practice. We were just trying to make sure, his health is the most important going into this thing. He said he was ready to go, so he was kind of probably a little more lobbying than what we were thinking. We were just like, once he went down, we decided that it probably wasn’t the best thing for him to play.”
(On feeling pretty good about what you’ve seen from him (Laremy Tunsil) this preseason) –“Yes, I’ve seen a guy who’s improved since the first day he’s been here. And obviously pass-protection is his strength so he’s done a really good job in that area. We need to get some things cleaned up in the run game. A lot of times it’s just calls coming out quick, understanding the angles, how the linebackers fill, so there’s a little bit of a learning curve there.”
(On assessing the running back situation) – “I like our depth. The fact that it seems like we’ve had a lot of guys have success, whether it be in practice or in the preseason games. I know it hasn’t shown as far as our total group, but it seems like somebody’s flashed a little bit every game. The only disappointing thing is that we’re never healthy at the same time. Every time we went out to practice it was four different guys. I feel like DT (Daniel Thomas) might have been the only guy that was consistently out there. We’ll see how this shakes out here in the next two days, and see who we wind up keeping on the roster.”
(On his final impressions of Jay (Ajayi) – “I was a little disappointed that he put the ball on the ground. I feel like what he’s shown me in the spring and in training camp as far as being a guy that is reliable in the passing game. I don’t know the exact ball placement on second down – I’m not sure if it was behind him or if he dropped it – I know I have a lot of faith, even if the ball’s off target, he usually makes that play. I know it’s the fourth preseason (game). Everyone kind of looks at this game and shrugs their shoulders but any time you walk on that field it’s important. I would’ve liked to see him not – I don’t think we saw a ball on the ground the entire preseason as far with the running backs. To have that happen, I guess I expect better from him. I have higher standards for him.”
(On did he like what he saw from Brandon Doughty) – “Yes. He did a good job. He went in there with confidence, which, I don’t know if any of you guys have been around him, but he’s a very confident kid. He looked like he was loose. He was having fun and that’s what you want. You want him to be able to go out there and go through his progressions and make throws. The last thing we talked about with him was just, Hey, make plays. Find a way to get completions. He was loose and he did a really good job. The thing about him that’s been very impressive (is) he stands in there. He’s not afraid to get hit and deliver the ball. His toughness is very impressive.”
(On how he feels about the team being prepared for the season opener in Seattle) – “I think we’ve grown a lot. I know from the spring, just thinking back to where we were when we started that first voluntary mini-camp, the growth that we had through the spring and through training camp…sometimes you had ups and downs where one guy dominated the other side and I feel like we’re levelling out some. As far as the competition goes, I feel like there’s been more days of steady competition between offense and defense. Heading into this game, we feel like we’re fairly healthy. I know we’ve got a couple of guys we need to reevaluate in the next couple of days and see where we’re at going into this game. I like our guys’ mindset. I love the way they practiced all training camp. I just don’t remember a day where I walked off the field thinking, That was terrible on both sides of the ball. I know at the scrimmage I was disappointed in the offense as far as the limited amount of snaps that we had and not performing, but for a really high percentage of the time the guys came out and they worked every day.”
(On which positions he feels will be the toughest to evaluate during roster cuts) – “I think a lot of it is going to be in the back end. We got to go back – you keep looking at the roster and seeing where you can kind of keep guys. Really, sometimes, the injuries play into it to. We have some things that we have to clean up as far as getting with our medical people and figuring out where everyone is at. Once we do that we can finalize that and figure out where really the tight spots are for us.”
(On how he feels the team performed this preseason when it came to turnovers, penalties and dropped passes) – “The penalties…as far as if they’re aggressive penalties, where you’re playing hard, you’re trying to do the right thing, I can live with those. Any time you have false starts, any time you have offsides, those are the ones that are frustrating to take. Illegal procedure penalties…I feel like we haven’t had a lot of those. I know in training camp we’ve had some rough days where both sides of the ball were taking their turns. But as far as turnovers go, obviously we’ll always be happy if we keep getting the ball like that. When we protect the ball, I thought our offense did a great job. They are getting their hands on the ball, especially in practice we haven’t really been turning it over on offense. So the fact that they are doing it in preseason games, it’s very encouraging.”
