Adam Gase – September 18, 2016 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 18, 2016
Postgame – at New England
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase (transcribed by the New England Patriots)
Q: It was two different halves, they jumped on you in the first and you fought back in the second. What was the difference between those two?
AG: Well, we made more plays in the second half. I mean that is the obvious answer. After they came down on that first drive, looking for us to respond on offense and we didn’t. You know and then we don’t respond on defense. And then, on the next drive, we got a third and short and make a bad decision as far as quarterback sneaking it. You know, we don’t get it. These three, four and outs, just put so much pressure on our defense to figure out a way to slow everything down and then the plays start piling up. And by the time, on offense, that we start fighting back, getting some points, now we have drained our defense of anything that they would have left.
Q: You have a view of the offense needing to help the defense. But the defense, I mean, there were guys running open. Couldn’t stop the sweep?
AG: Yeah I mean, that’s football and they get paid too. We got to do a better job as far as, you know, making adjustments on the sidelines. Guys need to respond when they are being coached. I feel like Vance [Joseph] and his crew, I feel like they were constantly coaching drive after drive. Trying to clean things up and trying to calm guys down and just trying to figure, alright, what are we doing wrong and what are we doing right. And trying to emphasize, you know, the little details of the things we weren’t doing right.
Q: The defense seemed to be making all the plays in the first half defensively, trying to stop them was almost impossible. How do you get this team off to a good start, so you don’t find yourself in a hole trying to dig out?
AG: Have to do a better job of executing. There are some things that we have to do a better job of as far as coaching. You know, I feel like I need to figure out a way to get our guys in rhythm earlier. Obviously all of these three and outs, I mean, I’m putting the blame on me. I’m not doing a good job on figuring out what we can do. And once we do, that’s what it should be like. The second half of us being able to get up on the ball and go, get completions and run the ball, those types of things… that’s what we need to do in the first half.
Q: [Jimmy] Garoppolo goes out with the injury and all of sudden your offense gets going, but you couldn’t stop LeGarrette Blount. He seemed to be able to do whatever he wanted to do, he was just able to make the plays to continue to move the chains on you.
AG: Yeah, he’s a big man and once he gets going, you have to do a good job at setting the edge. Got to make sure we are tackling on the edge and it’s a tough matchup between our corners and him. And we have to figure out a way to get him down.
Q: What was your conversation with this football team, when you went into that locker room at halftime?
AG: Basically, with the entire group, we talked about, ‘We got to start the game over. It’s 0-0, let’s execute one play at a time and find a way to get back in this thing.’ That was really our message. We have to execute. And if guys start making plays and we figure out a way to just get in the end zone one time and make a stop and all of a sudden, maybe we are back in the game.
Q: With everything that happened, you still had a chance, with six minutes left and then they ran out the clock. Basically, they steamrolled the defense. How disappointing was it for you to watch them really take over the line?
AG: I feel like part of the blame goes to myself. Because I mean, what did we have, six plays, seven plays in the first quarter on offense. So, I mean, I feel like the defense the last two weeks has been out there forever. So if you are playing a team that’s going to run the ball, we have to do a better job of letting them have less plays during the game. They say every game is 80 plays, 75 plays, and we wonder why we can stop a 250-pound back running through there. So, we have to do a better job on offense, because that’s going to help our defense.
Q: After [Jimmy] Garoppolo went out, you score 24-7 against them. What was the difference? Were you doing something different offensively?
AG: I was calling the same plays. We were making plays. That’s what it is. At the end of the day, whatever is on that card is irrelevant. Sometimes the guys, their role is, go make a play and we’ve just got to make more of those plays earlier.
Q: You bring in [Jay] Ajayi and [Kenyan] Drake after Arian [Foster] goes out. How did you feel about the way they performed out there?
AG: Obviously, I’d rather not put the ball on the ground. Arian had one, but they called him down and Jay, that was a critical turnover there. I mean, we just can’t have that. We have to do a better job on the ball security, but for the most part, protection was good. Drake came in there, he didn’t have a lot of reps this week, and we kind of got surprised with Arian going out and he was playing a little more than what we thought. But that’s what happens, you got to figure out, when your back is against the wall, are you going to stay out there? Are you going to fight? And Drake did a good job of going out there and giving everything he had. I thought Drake bounced back good after he put the ball on the ground, he kept fighting. So, I mean, that’s what you want to see.
Q: What about DeVante Parker? I mean really, once he got going, he was making every play that was coming his way.
AG: For a guy that was playing on one leg, I mean, I will love it when he’s really healthy. We’ll see what we can do. I just think, those three guys… we had a little speed bump there early, we just got to get them going earlier. You know, make those plays in the first two quarters. We can’t be in this position every week where we are trying to fight back and actually trying to get something going in the first half.
Q: You couldn’t bring [Arian] Foster back in the second half, is it bad? Serious?
AG: Yeah, I am going to have to get with the trainers. Right when he did it, they said he is out for the game. That’s the extent that I know about it. I don’t have time to get a medical briefing, I have some other things going on. So, you know, we will probably find out here in the next 10 minutes and I will know more on Monday.
Q: What do you take from this game. You are down 33-3, you come back, but how do you leave feeling?
AG: It happens. I was on the other side, when I was here in 2013. We were up 24, nothing and lost. The tape don’t lie, we will find out who played hard. And some of the guys that didn’t, will move on.
Q: Adam, where do you think this leaves you? I know you are 0-2.
AG: We have 14 left. I mean, go back to work Wednesday. Go thru the tape Monday, go back to work Wednesday. I mean, we played two good football teams, so come back, figure out a way to get better, clean some things up. We got to start faster, but this is the NFL, man. You know, this is what it is about, it’s hard.
