Cameron Wake – October 5, 2016
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Defensive End Cameron Wake
(On what he sees when he looks at the film of the Titans’ tackles) – “I see o-linemen. I don’t like o-linemen.” (laughter)
(On what he thinks the strengths are of the Titans’ tackles) – “I think they’re like o-linemen – they’re big, they’re slow and they’re ugly (laughter), just like most of the ones we have here. Us fast pretty guys like to take advantage of them.”
(On some of the challenges when facing a mobile quarterback) – “It’s the same old song and dance. Once you get in the backfield, you have to do your best to lower your center of gravity and put the ball on the ground. We’ve played (Titans QB Marcus Mariota) before and you’ve got to be aware of where he’s going to be. If he’s going to be moving around, you have to change your angle a little bit; but your aggressiveness can’t change. It’s going to be another day of attack football for us.”
(On how the defensive linemen counter all of the three-step drops they have seen this year) – “You keep rushing because at some point, they can’t throw the ball three steps every play. There are going to be situations and we have to try to dictate those situations where they hold the ball and the guys up front can get their job done. I’m not a genius, but if I was a quarterback, I probably wouldn’t hold the ball for too long either. That’s the way this business is. You’ve just got to keep rushing knowing that eventually things will change. You don’t want that one rush to be like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be a three-step (drop) and now it’s a five-step (drop).’ You’ve got to keep it going.”
Adam Gase – October 4, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On looking at third down and what he’s seeing) – “(We’re) a little bit off on some things. We’ve had a couple of chances as far as … we’ll look at the whole thing as far as what our misses were, where we had a couple of chances to make some plays – whether it was (a) throw (or) catch. That was a good amount of them where we could have basically taken care of business on our own, minus schematics. (We had) probably one too many protection breakdowns. That’s probably where it comes down to the most. If we could: 1) Just make the plays that are there. That’s going to help us a lot, and then if we can just clean up some of the protections, just make sure we don’t have any free runners at the quarterback. We’ve got some guys open. They’re doing the right stuff outside. We just need to clean up some of our protections.”
(On how much of a difference just doing a little better would make) – “A lot. I mean we went through them this morning. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Clyde (Christensen) put on 15 clips and he’s like, ‘If we make seven of these, you’re looking at a completely different offense as far as time of possession, first downs, all of those type of things that can keep our drives going.’ If we can just get some of this stuff cleaned up, and I think we will, especially the way I’ve seen these guys working today. That was good to see.”
(On C Mike Pouncey returning to action on Sunday and what difference he can make) – “(A) big difference. Not only, as far as a player – obviously he’s special at what he does – but attitude. He’s a different breed. He brings the kind of confidence you want as a coach. You know he’s a guy that you can always rely on. He’s a guy that rallies the troops when things aren’t quite going right and his mindset is exactly what you want – a guy that puts his head down. He works. He’s a true pro all the way. Guys like that, you want around – especially on game day – as much as possible.”
(On if C Mike Pouncey is one of those guys that can communicate a message to his teammates that coaches cannot) – “Absolutely. We need as many guys stepping up as possible and obviously getting him back, that would be a big deal for us.”
(On how C Mike Pouncey looked at practice) – “He seemed good. We’ve got to get through this week. I keep telling him, ‘If you feel right at the end of the week, then we’ll give you the green light; but if there’s anything that doesn’t feel rightm then we’ll be on hold.’”
(On what he wants to see from CB Tony Lippett this week) – “Just consistency. Just keep doing what he’s basically been doing all through practice, and then it’s another chance for him to prove himself. (It’s) another opportunity for him to go out there and compete against some good receivers and a good scheme they have going on there. The challenge for us is going to be we’re going to need our secondary guys to do a good job of tackling too this week. It’s going to be the full gamut as far as the DBs (are) concerned of using all your skill sets to your advantage and basically, at the end of the day, stepping up and making some plays.”
(On if he was happy how CB Tony Lippett competed last week) – “Absolutely. That’s never been an issue with him. At the end of the day, he’s fairly new to the position. We just need to keep growing him as fast as possible.”
(On how the threat of Hurricane Matthew is affecting plans) – “I’m more staying away from it and just focusing on what I need to focus on. That’s why (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (General Manager) Chris (Grier) do such a good job as far as telling me what I need to know (and) if we need to make any kind of changes. There are plans in place already. We had discussions before we took off for summer break. We had discussions after we got back as far as certain situations and what we would do. We went to the extent of if we ever had to go somewhere else – those types of things – if we would have to leave early within a week. So we have protocols that we have in place. It’s just now kind of a wait-and-see for us.”
(On TE Jordan Cameron) – “I don’t know a timetable. We’re going through the correct steps. We’re trying to make sure we’re putting him in position to where he feels right, as far as not only health-wise, but mentally where he’s at. Sometimes it takes a second. We haven’t really gone through every process as of right now. Our trainers are being smart with it and working with the doctors and the NFL people. We’re trying to make sure we go through exactly what we need to go through. At the end of the day, we got to make sure he’s alright.”
(On whether TE Jordan Cameron visited a specialist and if it’s alarming) – “I don’t think it’s alarming. I think it’s a guy that’s trying to make sure he’s checking all his boxes and making sure that things are right with him. That was something that we really encouraged with him as well. We’ll play this thing out and figure out where we are. Really, we’re day-to-day right now. He knows how I feel about him and the support that I have for him as far as, we need to do everything we can to make sure he’s right and feels good. His health is the No. 1 priority.”
(On whether he knows how the running backs will be used this week) – “Yes, I do. That’s all you’re getting. (laughter) That’s the one time, I’m not giving you that one this week.”
(On why he thinks the running back rotation is important) – “I think I’ve got to get … Whether it’s one or two guys, I need to create some kind of flow for these guys. I feel like last week, I probably should’ve done a better job as far as if somebody got hot, keeping them in the game instead of moving guys in and out. That was some bad coaching by me, as far as rotating those guys. Going forward, hopefully we can target a couple of guys a game or one guy a game and let that guy get in the flow of it and see what happens.”
(On whether S Isa Abdul-Quddus and S Michael Thomas will rotate at free safety) – “We’ll see how this week plays out. We’ll see how practice goes. Every week, we go in and there are certain positions that we do that with. Sometimes it goes noticed, sometimes it goes unnoticed. Mike has been playing well. We felt like he could help us back there, and part of the reason is Bobby (McCain) has been playing well (in the nickel/slot position).”
(On the biggest thing that stood out to him about S Reshad Jones) – “The one thing I didn’t know about him is that, (I thought) he is kind of the guy that is somewhat quiet and wasn’t really vocal. He’s probably been one of our most vocal leaders. He’s done a good job of trying to step into that role and help the younger guys develop. To see a guy do that, kind of go outside of something that he’s never done before I appreciate that because you talk about taking something off my plate, taking something off ‘VJ’s’ (Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) plate – he’s done that. (We’re) not even talking about the fact that the guy is an unbelievable player. I don’t know if I’ve ever been around too many safeties like him. The only one that comes to mind that I’ve been around is Brian Dawkins, and that was the back-half of his career, or the back part of his career. He’s a special player. The toughness he plays with – his ability to do everything – is rare. I appreciate what he brings to the table.”
(On having success stopping the Bengals running game and what was the difference between that game and the first three games) – “I think our guys did a good job of taking the coaching that (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) did as far as making sure that we were playing team defense. And they executed the plan higher that we had probably since the Seattle game. I think we had a little misstep there in the New England and Cleveland games. They did a really good job of helping each other. The defensive line did a good job, which protected the linebackers and allowed them to make plays. Then the secondary did a good job of coming up – if something did leak through – of getting up there and making sure that we got them down. If we can keep building off that, that’s going to be key. Obviously this week it’s going to be key, because we’re playing a team with two very good running backs and a good offensive line and a quarterback that’s also a threat. We just need to keep building on being assignment-sound, playing fast and rallying to the ball. That’s going to be the biggest thing.”
(On how frustrating it is to be a play caller and the offense keeps going three-and-out) – “You try to work through the game of understanding that it is four quarters. When you’ve been through it enough where you’ve had first halves where it doesn’t go quite right, and then all of a sudden you catch fire in the second half, that’s what you’re kind of hoping for. Maybe it takes one first down and all of a sudden you’re rolling. So far, we’ve kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit too much and it’s continued and rolled over into the second half some games. I think for us it’s basically getting back to some of our basics and doing a good job on first and second downs. Let’s get into third-and-manageable, get inside third-and-5 and let’s convert those. We have a good a number of third-and-5s and we’re in the right position, we’ve just got to finish some of these plays. I think the more we’re together and the more we’re getting used to … I think our guys are getting used to my play-calling style. I think our guys are getting used to our scheme and they understand the why. We’re doing it right. We have to take it to that next step. We have to make plays. If the ball’s a little off, make the play. If we throw a good ball, we have to catch it 100 percent of the time. If we can eliminate some of those little things … Same thing with the protection – when we have the blitz picked up and we’re in the right spot, let’s finish the blocks. Let’s get the throw off. If we clean up a couple of those things – hopefully this week, we’re heading in the right direction, as far as what we did in practice today – those numbers will turn around.”
(On if his point of emphasis is getting the first, first down) – “Yes, I guess that’s just my history as far as a lot of the offenses that I’ve been a part of, if you get that first, first down, you just feel like, ‘Alright, we’re going to score now.’ When you have that kind of confidence, you can feel it amongst the coaching staff (and) the players. Right now, we’ve been stalling out there on that first third down we have every time. What we need to do is we have to do a good job of staying third-and-manageable and get that first, first down and then let’s roll.”
(On if your reputation as a play caller is made on third down) – “Yes. A lot of times as a play caller, you’re putting it on yourself as far as let’s get up, get a good scheme drawn up, the right play called and try to pop somebody free. If you can call the right play versus the right coverage, sometimes your players just have to be in the right spots to catch the ball or finish the run, whatever it may be. That’s why sometimes as a play caller, you get frustrated because you’re like, ‘I need to hit the right number here and call the right play versus the defensive coordinator.’ Sometimes when it’s all not quite going right, you’re calling the wrong play at the wrong time, we’re not finishing (and) we’re doing this wrong, so it just kind of snowballs on you. We just need to get back to some of the little things that we were doing right earlier, especially in training camp. There have been a couple of games where we’ve actually done some good things on third down. I think if we just keep working on this and doing the right things and putting ourselves in the right position, it’ll start turning for us.”
(On why there hasn’t been more movement on third downs) – “It just depends. Last week we had third-and-1, we do it and we don’t hook up. Some teams are better at playing them than others. If you play our team, every time you go into a naked (bootleg), you feel like Mario (Williams) is right in your face. You’ve just got to know who you’re going against, what’s the right scheme – if they zone everything up, sometimes it’s not ideal; if you catch somebody in man and all of a sudden a guy doesn’t take the right angle, you might get a big play out of it. Sometimes they’ve been good; sometimes not so good. The down and distance does make a difference because playing run over ‘Hey, it’s going to be pass.’ You’ve got to pick your spots when you start moving them around.”
(On how helpful this weekend was to hit the restart button after the first four weeks) – “It was good. It was tough leading up to that game (last Thursday at Cincinnati) because everything is so fast and everybody is working so hard to try to get ready for that game. When that’s over and you’re able to come back to the office and look at what you’ve done and where you need to go to get better, that is very helpful. It’s nice to be able to come in today, point out a few things, say, ‘This is what we need to fix. Here’s where we need to get better.’ And like you said, hit the reset button a little bit, which is good because now it’s right at the right time for us – end of the first quarter, heading into the second quarter, we’ve got four home games and a bye week. Right now we just need to finish doing what we’re doing every week. We’ve got to go out there and we’ve got to work. We have to figure out a way to get a little bit better every day and then on Sunday we have to put out the right product.”
(On an example of something he did this weekend with the extra time) – “Just going through what we’ve done. That’s basically what you do. You check out formations; you check out tendencies. You look at, ‘Are we putting guys in the right position? What are we good at? What are we struggling with?’ Basically, we’re doing what the opponent we’re going to play is doing. They’re looking at us and we’re looking at ourselves to say, ‘What do we need to do to help ourselves on third down? What do we need to do to help us on first and second down? What’s our best running game? What’s the best completion as far as getting the ball out quicker? How do we help our own guys?’”
(On T Branden Albert not practicing today) – “He was sick today. He was sick so we sent him home.”
(On if T Branden Albert’s absences from practice today was ankle related) – “No.”
Jarvis Landry – October 4, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Wide Receiver Jarvis Landry
(On how to fix the offense’s struggles on third down) – “We have to find different ways to get guys the ball, and it starts with all of us. It starts with the protection, it starts with the right reads, it starts with making plays. At the end of the day, third down is about making plays (and) understanding that the defense may have a twist or a wrinkle, but at the end of the day it’s about winning the matchup and making the one-on-one play. For us, we just have to do that more.”
(On if the issue is 10 guys doing their job and just one guy making a mistake or error) – “On the offensive side of the ball, you can’t afford that. You can’t afford one bad thing or one guy slip on his details or he loses his assignment. For us, we have to find a way to stay on our details like (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase is constantly talking about. If we do that, I think that will allow us to have more success.”
(On what the receivers can do to get open more on third down) – “Again, for us, it’s trying to find those matchups. Sometimes it happens to be a coverage sack. From that standpoint, we have to find ways to maybe not get sacked or protect a little longer. Sometimes it takes a little longer to protect. But at the end of the day, if he throws the ball, we have to find a way to make the play. I think that’s the overall picture out there of our problems.”
(On the message from Head Coach Adam Gase this week) – “(He was) pretty much laying out the keys to victory and telling us, like I’ve been saying, we need to execute on third down. (He’s) addressing that we’re last in the NFL on third downs – addressing it and trying to practice it more and get better at it.”
(On if moving the pocket would help on third down) – “Why not? But obviously that’s up to (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase and the coaching staff – how they scheme it. At the same time, it’s about us going out there and executing. I think at the end of the day, it leaves from X’s and O’s and it’s about playmakers making plays.”
(On if Head Coach Adam Gase has made the message clear to the team about performing or losing their jobs) – “That’s in any business. At the same time, Coach Gase has a high standard for us and he requires a lot of us. That says a lot of him as a coach (for) wanting that out of us. Obviously, in doing that, we can be more successful, which allows us to win more games.”
(On if one of the frustrating parts about going three-and-out is that there is more to the playbook that they can’t get to because the offense isn’t on the field) – “It is. At the same time, we always talk about getting the first, first down, to kind of create a rhythm of some sort. For us, it’s something we haven’t been able to do as of late. We need to go back and fine-tune those details and get all 11 guys doing their job on every play, and take it one play at a time. Hopefully that gives us the momentum that we need to carry drives.”
(On how important it is to take advantage of this stretch with four-straight home games) – “It’s what we need to do, and we understand that. It’s no secret. For us, obviously the 17-0 (perfect record) is out of the window but coming into the second quarter of the season, we talked about it today – just taking one game at a time. Yes, we have four home games and a bye mixed up in there somewhere; but it’s about the Tennessee Titans. We’re not looking ahead; we’re not looking back. We’re looking at the Tennessee Titans. For us, that’s going to be our main focus for the rest of the season.”
(On how he feels the offense has performed when going up-tempo as opposed to going at a more regular pace) – “Being on the road hasn’t really helped us as far as communication. But at the same time, the tempo of our offense allows us to get the d-linemen tired – get those guys fatigued. Then the pass rush slacks off and it makes it easier on the o-line. That’s when our offense really comes together. Our tempo is a gift and a curse, because we get tired too; but at the same time, we practice the way we practice so that when the fourth quarter comes, we’re still able to go.”
(On if he gets the sense that their might be more fast coming) – “The way that our offense is run, it’s built for that. It’s built for the tempo and to control the game like we want to control the game. For us, we want to mix that up. We’re going to find ways to have tempo, slow it down when we want to and also go as fast as we can. For us, it’s a game plan, week-to-week thing.”
(On how being 1-3 right now affects the optimism) – “You’ve got to be (optimistic). I think for us, we have true competitors in this building – from the coaching staff to the chef in the kitchen. For us, we’ve got to find a way to be better on third down, win the time of possession, win the turnover margin – big things like that. That’s going to allow this team to generate the momentum. I feel like when we start winning … I feel the streak coming.”
Mike Pouncey – October 4, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Center Mike Pouncey
(On whether he is practicing today) – “I’m back at practice (and) excited to be back out there with the guys. We’ll see how this week goes and prepare to play in the game.”
(On how mentally difficult returning from an injury can be) – “Mentally, it’s very tough. Seeing the guys you’ve been working with the whole offseason go out there and accomplish a goal – and that’s to be ready for a season – and to miss games, it was very tough on me. I definitely didn’t see this coming, but I’m glad to be back. It’s definitely a blessing. (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has been awesome the whole time, trying to keep me as patient as possible to come back to the practice field. Today, we’ll see where we’re at.”
(On whether he was lobbying Head Coach Adam Gase to return to practice) – “I’ve been feeling good for a long time. It’s something that we had to be real careful with, so we didn’t have any setbacks. I’m excited to be back out there.”
(On when the injury occurred) – “Some pile-jumper from the Dallas Cowboys jumped on me. That’s basically how it happened. He fell on top of me; we fell at the same time.”
(On what doctors told him following the injury) – “(I) fractured my hip.”
(On whether he will play this Sunday) – “We’ll see. I want to see how practice goes this week. Honestly, it’s up to (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase whether I play or not. But I’m looking forward to showing them what I can do out there this week at practice.”
(On the big picture for the rest of the season) – “Big-picture-wise, we’ve been in this position before. It’s only four games in so far. We’ve got 12 games left in the season. We’re looking forward to turning this season around and winning a bunch of games here. Luckily, we got a four-game home stretch, so we’ll be looking to play real well these next four games at home.”
(On whether he still feels this team is different) – “Of course I do. I feel like the players … We’ve been in every game. Unfortunately, we started slow in some, but I feel like this team is very competitive. I think we can turn this season around very easily. We’ve been beating ourselves for the most part, if you watch the film. But we look forward to these next games (and) can’t wait to go out there and play Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.”
(On whether his hip injury will linger) – “You can’t predict injuries. Honestly, I didn’t predict the guy jumping over the pile and falling on me. But other than that, I feel good enough to go out there and play. I’m healthy, and we’ll see what Coach (Gase) thinks after this week.”
(On whether there is a long-term concern about his hip injuries) – “We all have concerns long term – every guy that plays in the NFL. Right now, I’m not too much concerned about it. I wouldn’t put myself in a position to hurt myself or have a setback and go out there if I wasn’t ready to play.”
(On the effects on the injury on his career and if he thought the injury might have been more serious than it turned out to be) – “Well, yes – sitting there talking to the doctors, all the ‘What ifs?’ came into play. If this would’ve happened or that would’ve happened, you start questioning how long you can play in this league and how physical this game is. I’m very fortunate to be back as fast as I am right now. When I first injured this hip, there was a lot of doubt in my mind (about), ‘Would I ever come back and be the same player?’ I guess we’ll see today.”
(On whether his return can have a positive impact on the team) – “I think whenever you have one of your leaders that has been there – a guy that a lot of these guys on this football team looks up to – I think it helps out a lot. That doesn’t guarantee that we go out there and win games. We’ve still got to go out there and do the right things the right way. Hopefully me coming back, it gives this team the spark that we need.”
Ndamukong Suh – October 4, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
(On having C Mike Pouncey back at practice) – “We haven’t practiced yet. He’s still got about an hour before we get out there. Nah, it’s always good to see him, obviously in pads, and it’ll be good for me to get some work against a Pro Bowl center.”
(On the difference one man can make) – “If you’re referring to (Mike) Pouncey. I think he has a great impression on our offense. Obviously he’s one of our leaders, and a guy that can obviously get the job done and play at a very high level and bring other guys (up) around him. (I’m) excited to have him back and look forward to practicing against him.”
(On his family not being too fond of his surprise visit) – “My family, no. (Laughter) My grandparents aren’t too fond of surprises and neither am I, so I know where I get it from.”
(On the challenges the Tennessee Titans offense presents) – “(They have a) great run game, obviously (they) have two strong backs – big backs that want to run and get downhill. They’ve been great in their average, especially on first downs. So we have a big task ahead of us to shut down the run and obviously making them a one-dimensional team and put it on their quarterback and see if he can beat us.”
(On keeping up with the hurricane) – “Yes, I’m aware of it. I think you would be remiss if you weren’t. At the end of the day, it’s weather. Mother Nature has her choice and we’ll deal with it once she comes.”
Ryan Tannehill – October 4, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(On what it means to have C Mike Pouncey back) – “It’s huge. He’s a heck of a football player and a leader on this team. It’s really nice to have him back on the field with us.”
(On getting the run game going) – “We’ve done some good things in the run game so I don’t think we have to reach. I just think we have to be consistent. We’ve had some great runs and then (we’ve) had some tough ones at times as well. So I think, just like everything else we’re doing right now, we have to be more consistent in what we’re doing and execute the plays that are called.”
(On the offense being last in the league in third down conversions and if the key to that is the first two downs) – “That’s definitely a big part of it. You want to keep yourself at third-and-manageable. We’ve had third-and-manageable opportunities and we watched the tape this morning and it’s just simple things. Nothing crazy. We make eight to 10 more plays on third down and we’re in the top of the league. We watched 15 easily made third downs this morning. It’s not major fixes. It’s just a throw here, a catch here, a block here, and they add up. We just have to, as a group, play cleaner football and the conversions will come.”
(On if Head Coach Adam Gase saying that it took at least a quarter of the season for his offense to click in previous stops and if Gase has talked to him about that) – “Yes, he mentioned speaking with someone from Chicago and it reminded him of that situation. I sure hope so. We’re a quarter of the way in and things haven’t gone exactly the way we wanted them to. I feel like we have all the pieces to get it going. Now it’s just a matter of doing it.”
(On how much pressure he personally feels) – “It’s not necessarily the pressure. I feel urgency to just play the football that we can play. I believe in the guys around me. I believe in myself and I know that we’re not too far off. We just have to make the plays that are there.”
(On using depth on both sides of the ball and how those guys are filling in) — “We had some guys step up and play good football for us. (Anthony) Steen played good football. (Kraig) Urbik last week, when (Anthony) Steen went down, stepped in and did a nice job for us. Dion (Sims) did a nice job while Jordan’s (Cameron) been out. We’ve had guys that have stepped in and done a good job. But that’s the NFL. Guys are going to go down and – knock on wood, I hope no one else goes down – but someone will probably go down as the season goes on and the good teams have guys step up and fill in.”
(On if he has kept an eye on the hurricane forecast) – “No. I know that’s coming. I don’t know exactly when it’s hitting or what the forecast looks like for the weekend. I’m feeling for Haiti and the islands right now – the Bahamas – just seeing that massive storm come. I’m praying for those people.”
(On if he’s taken any preparations at home) – “If it ends up heading this way and it’s going to hit us, yes I have to button up the house and make sure we’re all prepared at home. That’s kind of tough to do when you’re here all day but we’ll get it done if it needs to be.”
(On the challenges he faces on the road with a silent count) – “Well, there are always challenges being on the road. That’s part of the reason home teams have some advantage. Cadence (is) a big part of it, communication – being able to communicate cleanly, clearly. That’s why we’re looking forward to this four-game home stretch we have.”
(On how much of a difference that C Mike Pouncey can make) – “He can be a huge difference. I think just the belief that this team has in him and his work ethic – his example that he sets day in and day out at practice – as well as the player that he is. He’s one of the best centers, if not the best, in the league. It will be great to have him back.”
