Ryan Tannehill – August 12, 2016 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Friday, August 12, 2016
Postgame – at N.Y. Giants
Miami Dolphins Quarterback Ryan Tannehill (transcribed by the N.Y. Giants)
Q: How would you summarize your game today?
A: I thought the young guys came out and played well. The defense got their hands on the ball multiple times and it really turned the game around for us. Offensively, we didn’t get much going in the first half – first or second group – but then they started getting their hands on the ball and it flipped the momentum and it really got the game going for us. I’m really proud of those guys with the way they came to play, and the way they made plays.
Q: I know it was only two series, but how did the game go from your perspective in those two series?
A: We didn’t move the ball like I wanted to. We had a couple completions short of the sticks. Then, in the second drive, we kind of got going in the run game, and then a penalty put us back behind the sticks, and that’s not where you want to be. So – frustrating. Frustrating that that was our limited sample size there, but there’s some good things in those plays that we did well. We have things we have to clean up and have to clean up as soon as possible. It’s definitely something to build on moving forward.
Q: Did [Olivier] Vernon tell you he was going to start chasing you all over?
A: (Laughs) Yeah, he hit me pretty hard on that first one. He made it count. But, no he didn’t give me much warning. I talked to him after the game. He’s a heck of a football player and he’s going to make a lot of plays for them. I enjoyed my time with him in Miami and wish him the best.
Q: Ryan, do you start evaluating the first team offense with this game, or do you wait until you have a larger sample size?
A: I mean, we’re in the process right now, so we’re not coming to any conclusions or jumping to assume what we are or are not. We’re in the process and this is just another step in the process – Preseason Game One. We’re just going to stay the course; keep getting better every day and moving forward. Nothing to stress or worry about; things we can do better and things we did well. We just have to keep moving forward and moving the ball forward.
Q: Ryan, is it fair to say that one of the things that need to be done better is [to] protect the quarterback?
A: Well, it’s going to be a big part of every football team in the NFL. You’ve got to be able to protect the quarterback and get the ball out and get the ball in playmakers’ hands. We have a lot of playmakers and we want to get the ball in their hands. You have to protect to do that, so yeah, we want to protect, we want to get the run game going, we want to protect the ball, we want to run the ball – it’s all part of the formula to great offense, and it’s a big factor for it.
Q: Ryan, we’ve made a big deal about your empowerment at the line-of-scrimmage from Adam Gase. How did that come into play tonight and how did it feel for you?
A: It felt good. We didn’t have too many checks in my two series – maybe a couple – but I felt good at the line. I felt confident in what we were doing. We knew exactly what we were doing. Our guys were confident in what we were doing. They made a couple plays on us upfront and forced us to get the ball out quickly and kept us short of the sticks, so you have to give some credit to them. We left a few plays out there – we had Jay [Ajayi] in the flat there and weren’t able to make that play. Then in the run game, we had the holding that really set us back. We have things that we can clean up, and they’re going to be good for us, but there were some good things in there as well.
Q: When you see that you guys are 2-for-3 in the red zone; I think you rushed for more than 100 yards. Do you look at that as starters-reserves, or the offense?
A: Yeah, we’re all in this thing together. I don’t think it’s categorized in our minds. Obviously, we know who we played with and who was in, but we’re a team and we’re in this thing together. I was proud of those guys – the way they battled and took advantage of the turnovers the defense made. That’s one of the big things in this game – when the defense makes a play and gets their hands on the ball, the offense has to take advantage of that and get points, and we did that several times tonight. I’m proud of both sides of the ball there for making plays. We had some young guys – [Thomas] Duarte – on a fourth down, able to catch it and cut it up into the end zone. Matt Hazel, you know, coming back in and getting one from Matt Moore. There’s a lot of good things that happened in that game, and things we can build on.
Q: What type of role could you envision Jakeem Grant maybe having?
A: I think we saw some as a return specialist tonight. It was pretty fun to watch – just the moves he can make and the creases he can hit with being how small he is. The tiniest little crease makes one guy miss, and he’s moving. I definitely think he’s going to help us a lot on special teams and we’ve seen what he can do as a receiver as well at practice. He’s a guy who can get open and make plays in the pass game, so I think we’re going to keep developing there, but you see already his impact on special teams.
