Darren Rizzi – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(Before Sunday, there had been only two kickoffs returned for touchdowns this season in the NFL. Where do you come down on the new touchback rule, this desire obviously to – in the interest of safety – get at the expense of exciting plays like that? What are your thoughts about it now at midseason?) – “It has kind of gone the way I thought it would go so far. I think there are a lot of teams with better kick coverages that have tested other return teams in terms of putting the ball near the goal line. I think the reason there hasn’t been a whole bunch of big plays is because just for that reason – it’s hard to return a high, short ball for a long return. You may get some guys out past the 25-, 30- (yard line), but it’s hard to get a home run on those, and I think that’s why a lot of teams have done that. It’s kind of funny. It’s mixed. There are some teams that are not doing it, that I thought would’ve done more of it. I think what you’re going to see in the second half of the season is that – especially in the north with the weather and all that – I think more teams will start to do it more and the touchback percentage will start coming down even more. So, it has been interesting. I was looking at the stats the last couple of days and the average drive start obviously has changed, because the touchback is at the 25- (yard line). (You’ve) got to look at the teams that have been doing it, not been doing. I think a lot of it depends on your kicker. A majority of the kickers can put the ball down there, inside the 5-yard line – goal line – and make it tough on these guys. I think it’s going to continue to drop really, because the numbers would say that. But I actually think it adds a nice dimension to the game. When they instituted the rule, I don’t think they probably thought through every single facet of what was going to go on. I think it has really added a nice strategy thing. If you look at teams that are actually doing it when they’re leading, and you would think probably going in there it would be the opposite. Maybe when you’re down, you’re trying to make a play, but there are teams that are maybe up by a score, that are trying to put the ball down inside the 5- (yard line) to make a team go longer in a one-score game. So, there have been some unseen things I think that they’ve been pretty interesting, so I think that it’ll continue to trend downward.”
(A lot of teams don’t have a lot of dynamic kickoff and punt returners. How does that help you in terms of what you do, to have a number of different guys that can do that – punt return or kick return – help you out in that position?) – “It’s a good problem to have. It’s definitely a good problem. This is my eighth year here, and certainly, it’s something I’ve always been striving to get to a point where you have multiple guys and have some options. Certainly, we have a lot of guys in the building that have proven they can do that. Obviously, Jarvis (Landry) has done it for a few years now and now with Jakeem (Grant) and with Kenyan (Drake). Damien Williams is another guy that has been back there before. So, you’ve got some guys that can do it. I think what it does is when you look at a guy or a play like Sunday, when you have a guy back like Jakeem and Kenyan together, and you back the ball up 5 yards, it’s, ‘Okay, which guy are you going to kick it to?’ And that has been good. It’s the same thing in the punt return phase. We’ve had Jakeen back there, Jarvis back there and both those guys are both productive. I think they’re both over 11 yards per return at the moment. For a special teams coach to have options back there where you’re not just a one-trick pony, it really helps you. It helps your game plan. It helps you strategize against your opponent and it certainly helps you during a game.”
(The follow up to that, have you ever had a group as deep as this one to help you out as far as the number of guys that can be able to do those type of things?) – “Not here. This is the first time in eight years, I think, we’ve had this many guys that I feel comfortable putting back that I think can make a huge play or game-breaking play. We’ve had a lot of guys who can do it – had a lot of guys who’ve been very efficient at it and statistically have been good – but this is really the first time we’ve had this many guys that I think at any time could break one and make a big play.”
(You talked a little bit last week about CB Chris Culliver and how you saw him and scouted him in college, and he was able to help on special teams. How could he help you now and also maybe the role of CB Lafayette Pitts?) – “We’ll start with (Chris) Culliver. He’s a guy that did a lot of stuff in college. He was a very, very talented guy. Right now, in the positions that he can play right now for us, he can certainly be a jammer on the outside on punt return. We’ve done a good job there rotating some guys through, because you never know. Like the other day, you get a re-punt (and) you like to have some fresh bodies out there. So, he’s a guy that can do that, play jammer. On kickoff, he has done that in his career where he has been either a one or a two or a contain guy or a safety guy. He has done that. He was a gunner earlier in his career. He has done a bunch of jobs. He has done some field goal block stuff, so we’ve got him trained right now to kind of help in those roles. As far as (Lafayette) Pitts goes, going back to the preseason, he’s a guy that made some plays in preseason as a gunner, as a jammer on kickoff as well. And really, he has been impressive in practice. Here’s a guy that has really worked now through nine weeks of just working at it. He’s kind of a model of consistency in practice. He’s really getting after it every day. (He is a) blue-collar guy. I played college football with his head coach at Pittsburgh, Pat Narduzzi. We played college football together, and I remember having a conversation with Pat. He’s exactly what Pat described – a hard worker, really good football IQ. I know he has been anxious to get an opportunity. Depending on what happens here with the 46, we know he’s ready to go, certainly – mentally and physically – for sure.”
(After the muffed punt by P Matt Darr, did you say anything in particular to him?) – “I didn’t. He’s his biggest critic. I know he was going to be hard on himself. After I let him cool down for a minute, I just told him not to be too hard on himself. Listen, guys drop passes. As receivers, some of the best receivers ever have dropped a pass. He has never shown that he’s a guy that’s going to drop snaps or something like that. As far as I’m concerned, it was a one-time thing, and we’re not going to overdo it. Once in a while, I get a little upset on the sideline, as you may have noticed. (laughter) Once in a while. But those aren’t the things I get upset about. That’s going to happen. That’s why there’s a snap. That’s why there’s a catch. It’s something we practice all the time. Matt has been a model of consistency since the day he walked in. To me, it’s one of those things where it’s a once-in-a-while thing. I’m not going to sit there and yell and scream at a guy. It’s not going to get any production at all out of that. So, after he calmed down I just told him, ‘Hey, listen. Let it go. We’re going to make it up to you here, and we’re going to need you again at some point.’ It is what it is. He has probably looked at that play about 7,000 times.”
(You’ve been here for eight years and throughout that span, I’ve seen games won and lost on special teams. I don’t think the fan base has an understanding of how important it is until it happens. How do you get the players to understand the importance that this is really a significant third phase of the game?) – “One of the things we do is every Saturday morning we – actually, myself and (Assistant Special Teams Coach) Marwan Maalouf – we go through and look at all the league plays every week. We pull out maybe 20 plays away from all around the NFL, because it may not be our game that you can learn from the most. It might be another game, because like you said, you never know when it’s going to come up. We try to learn from other people’s mistakes, if you will. You know the old, ‘Don’t touch the stove, it’s hot. Don’t touch the stove, it’s hot. Don’t touch it.’ It’s like dealing with one of my kids. So, we try to learn from other people, and we pick out huge special teams plays from other games … We show them Saturday mornings, and we try to learn from those, because there is … You look at one or two games a week that come down to a play like it happened in our game, whether it’s the dropped punt or it’s the penalty on the punt return which we had or a kickoff return for a touchdown. People out there that want to be a special teams coach, you have to be ready to ride the wave now. They’re going to have some highs and lows. With that game, it was a great example of it. My point is it’s hard to get the guys to understand unless they see it. You can say it as much as you want. You can stand up there and I can beat the table and beat the podium and (say), ‘We got to be ready. We got to be ready. We got to be ready.” But until they see it happen … So, learning from other games, to me, is a huge tool. I think in this day and age of social media and video, games and everything else, seeing it is believing it. I can stand up there and draw lines on pictures and show PowerPoints until I’m blue in the face, but watching it happen to other teams, I think is one of the biggest learning tools we can do. We do that every week, and we show other examples. To me, that’s really the biggest way to do it.”
(Speaking of last week, it seems like you had some good plays, some not good plays in the special teams. Is that a good kind of teaching tool as well? Since you had great plays in that game and you also had some penalties throughout the course of the game as well?) – “It is. I think it’s a great lesson for guys. You just take Kenyan Drake for example, a rookie. At halftime, he was down. He was down, because he had that penalty on Jakeem’s (Grant) touchdown. At that point, we could’ve maybe blown the game open there a little bit and got a nice cushion. At halftime, I came in, and he was sitting down, and he was really in the dumps. I just walked over, I said to him, ‘Listen … You’ve got to let that one go. You’re going to make one up here. Either you’re going to get a block …’ I’d be lying to you if I told you he was going to get a kick return for a touchdown with five minutes left in the game. But I knew at some point he was going to have an opportunity to make it up and there it goes. Luckily and fortunately for us, it happened in the fourth quarter of that particular game, but it is a great lesson to learn that mistakes are going to happen, whether it’s Matt (Darr) dropping the ball or getting a penalty like that, but we’ve got to be able to respond. As (Sun-Sentinel columnist) Omar (Kelly) said, I’ve been here for eight years. I’ve seen a lot. There are a lot of times where we didn’t overcome those mistakes. There have been plenty of times in my eight years here where we didn’t overcome the mistakes that were made, whether it be offense, defense or special teams. I think one thing you’re seeing these last three games is you’re seeing a team that has started to play complementary football in spurts. We have to do a little bit more, we’ve got to be a little more consistent and all that, but I think that we’ve overcome some of those things, and that has been the impressive thing to me about these last few weeks.”
(If you can take a view of the special teams from maybe 10,000 feet, where are you happy? What needs to improve?) – “I’ll start with the improvement. We’ve got way too many penalties this year. Way too many. There have been way too many. Again, a lot of them are effort penalties, and I understand that, but things like we lined up wrong on the field, that ‘L.T.’ (Laremy Tunsil) was too far back, and we’ve had a couple after the whistle penalties. We can’t have those at all. Kenyan Drake is trying to make a block in the heat of the battle, and it’s full speed, and he’s running a high-speed decision. Once in a while, a rookie is going to put a hand on a guy’s back. I get that. We’ve had way too many there. It has been the inconsistency that I’ve been a little disappointed with. We’ve shown at times to be really good in the return game, but we have too many peaks and valleys. So, number one is the penalties. We’ve got to get rid of that. We’ve had some missed assignments, some mental errors, which again, in my opinion, we shouldn’t have any on special teams. The things we’ve done well, I think one of the things that goes unnoticed right now is (that) our kickoff coverage team, knock on wood, has been pretty darn good in terms of pinning them down when we’ve decided to not kick it deep. We’ve been pretty darn consistent on our punt return yards. In our opponent’s gross punt average, I think we’re second in the league right now. And so those things … Giving our offense some field position, we’ve been good there. It’s really, from an overall standpoint, the consistency. We’ve had, to me, we’ve been good play, bad play, good play, bad play, great play, poor play. So, one of the challenges as special teams coach is trying to stay (consistent). You don’t get that second opportunity. Now, we were lucky that day. We got a second opportunity on the kick return, the punt return. You usually don’t get those. Usually you’re out for one play and you’re out. If you make a mistake, it could affect the game tremendously – not like offense and defense. That’s where I think where we’ve got to get better – penalties, consistency.”
(Were you surprised when they kicked it, that they didn’t try to kick it out of bounds? I mean not out of bounds, but in the end zone?) – “A little bit. I thought they’d try to drive the ball a little bit. They popped it up to (Kenyan) Drake earlier in the game, so we changed our call. We initially had a sideline return, so after the play, I thought maybe – when Jakeem (Grant) made 10 people miss – maybe they’ll overplay that one. We changed it from a sideline return to a middle return, and fortunately, it worked out.”
Vance Joseph – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(CB Chris Culliver, what’s the plan?) “Well the plan is to continue to evaluate him. Hopefully … he’s getting closer and closer each week. When he’s ready, we’ll play him. He wasn’t quite ready last week. Hopefully he’s closer this week.”
(Is there a chance for Sunday?) – “Yes, if he’s ready to go, we’re going to put him out there. Obviously we need more capable corners out there. If he’s ready, he’s going to play.”
(CB Lafayette Pitts, just talk about him and the decision to bring him up.) – “Yes, he’s a young kid that’s done well for us during training camp and preseason. He can run. That’s one trait that he has, he can really run. He’s tough, he’s a smart kid and he’s been with us, so it’s fair. He should be the next guy to come up, because he’s been here and he’s work hard so it’s fair.”
(Why would you say, or why do you think that you need more cornerbacks?) – “Well, we’ve only got really … we’ve had four healthy guys, only. You need probably five to six to play a season. Obviously, having a corner like (Chris) Culliver come up – who’s played in games at a high level – helps you. It helps you play better in the secondary. Hopefully he’s ready to go, and when he is, he’s going to play.”
(With CB Chris Culliver, can he go inside to that nickel spot?) – “No. He’s never done that, but it allows us to have more flexibility with Michael (Thomas) obviously, with ‘Max’ (Byron Maxwell), and ‘Lip’ (Tony Lippett). Again, he’s a guy who’s played well at corner. That only can help us here. The same way (Donald) Butler came in and helped us, the same way (Bacarri) Rambo played last week and helped us. He can be the same kind of help to the corner group.”
(What is CB Chris Culliver? A playmaker?) – “He has been in the past. Obviously he hadn’t played here for us yet, but in the past he has been a playmaker. And at the corner spot, making plays – that’s critical.”
(Talking about you saying you need more corners, does that have something to do with the fact that you’re playing the Chargers, and QB Philip Rivers, and you know they like to air out the ball a little bit?) – “No, I think just having more cover corners on the roster helps you. It helps (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (Darren) Rizzi, it helps me and it helps you play the game better. It helps you play the game with more comfort knowing you have four or five guys who can play. Having a guy like (Chris) Culliver again and having (Lafayette) Pitts up, it only helps.”
(With S Bacarri Rambo, you’ve rarely brought a guy in and within one week put him into your base defense. Is that just a point of desperation, or did he show you something at practice?) – “Well, I think in the past, he’s shown the ability to play in the high zones and have great range and instincts. He showed us that instantly in practice so we thought, ‘Hey, let’s put him out there and see what we’ve got.’ It also helps Michael Thomas concentrate on playing base safety and playing for (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (Darren) Rizzi. That’s Michael’s actual role. I mean he’s a big-time (special) teams player. So to keep Michael with coach Rizzi and allow him to play less downs on subs (packages), it was natural to put Rambo in. He played very solid. It wasn’t perfect, but he did play very solid. It was fun to see.”
(Last week, Jets WR Brandon Marshall tried to portray CB Byron Maxwell as a guy that holds, or grabs on every play. Does he?) – “He does not. I would say last week he had a couple, and it’s the game. It’s the game of a press corner. It’s a fine line between having a corner who never touches people to a guy who grabs all the time. I don’t want a corner who never touches guys. I want a corner who is close, who’s competing (and) who is trying to make plays. He has probably gotten two or three (penalties) on the year? That’s not bad. That’s not bad compared to the league. Most guys who are bad probably have about 10 right now. He’s got three or four. I’m fine with ‘Max.’ ‘Max’ competed hard last week, and did a fine job.”
(Looking at the Chargers, other than QB Philip Rivers, what are some of the challenges you face with their offense?) – “The challenge again is the running back (Melvin Gordon). He had a big-time game last week, 196 yards. He’s got the most attempts in the rushing game, in the entire league. He’s a good young back. He’s fast to the hole; he breaks tackles. Our challenge again is stopping the run game. It’s been that way for the last month it seems like, but that’s where it starts. You stop the run game, and hopefully make them one dimensional, and we can rush. That’s our strength obviously with Cam (Wake), and Andre (Branch), Mario (Williams) and those guys. Having them in long third downs and having a chance to rush.”
(With the run defense, it’s usually not been plays popping out. It’s just a steady grind. But then last week, it was the plays that popped out. How do you get that addressed?) – “I’ll tell you this, in the last month it’s been better; but obviously we’ve given up big plays in the running game. It’s been good, good, good, good, bad. It’s been good, good, good, good, bad. We’ve got to stop the bad. Last week, the one run of 40 yards untouched? That can’t happen. We misfit the gap at the end position. The linebacker was soft, the three technique was soft, the safety was misaligned. We’ve got to stop those things. The third-and-1 play was a simple crack-replace by the nickel. They got outside and ran for 40 yards. Overall, I’m not down on the run game, but the big plays have to stop. It’s got to stop. If we can rectify those, you’ll feel better about the run defense. But right now, I don’t.”
(How much does getting DT Earl Mitchell back probably help you? Jordan (Phillips) playing less snaps…) – “Absolutely. It helps because Earl’s a really good player also. And it helps Jordan play less snaps, but Earl’s a really, really, good player. I was with him in Houston (Texans). He brings energy. He’s going to be in the right fit all the time. He’s tough on double teams. He’s going to bring an element of consistency, of hard playing, and obviously resting (Ndamukong) Suh and resting Jordan helps. That’s like getting a really good player back. It helps in the overall defensive scheme. It helps having him back.”
(How did DT Jordan Phillips play on Sunday aside from the play everybody remembers?) – “Jordan played very well. It was probably Jordan’s best week of practice and Jordan’s best game. Now on the long run, he was a little soft on his block; it started with Jordan. Obviously, he is a young player trying to find his way still, but he is a talented guy. If he does it right, he can be a real force for us; but he’s not totally right all the time yet.”
(Did you know his hands were that good?) – “He was a high school tight end. I’ve seen his film. He’s been our drop guy from Day 1 and it happened to work out. He caught the ball and almost scored. Nice hurdle move, right? Big athlete. It was fun to see.”
(You said that he practiced well all last week, so you kind of knew it was coming. How do you get him to practice at that level every week?) – “I think this with Jordan (Phillips), okay? Jordan’s in a room full of veterans. He’s kind of the baby amongst the d-line. I think when Earl (Mitchell) was here in the spring, Earl had a hell of a spring. I mean a big-time spring. And Jordan wouldn’t try to take Earl’s job. When Earl got injured, Jordan stepped up big time. Earl comes back last week and Jordan has a hell of a week at practice. I think just Earl being there (and) pushing him is going to help him. That’s what we want. We want in the room healthy competition; iron sharpens iron. If Earl being present helps Jordan practice well and play better, that’s what I want. I want those guys competing to be the starting guy next to (Ndamukong) Suh. I want everybody competing. I think Earl being back helps him.”
(DE Andre Branch playing good, is that because he’s starting? Why is he playing well?) – “I think Andre Branch is a talented guy. He was when we signed him. He’s been a guy over the years that hadn’t been consistent. Now he’s being more consistent. He’s playing with a tougher attitude. He’s not avoiding contact up the field. He’s working with the tackles. He’s playing the run game well. He’s in a contract year. He wants a long-term deal somewhere, so I don’t blame him. You play well and you get your long-term security. He’s a guy that’s a top-round pick. He should be a good player because he’s talented enough.”
Adam Gase – November 9, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with San Diego Media
(What are your thoughts about San Diego’s offense and defense so far you’ve seen this season?) – “I see an offense that, for me, it looks really familiar. With Philip (Rivers), it just seems like it’s the same every year where he has had quite a few injuries around him, and he figures out a way to get his young players to accelerate in their growth and be impactful. He still has a few of the same old guys that we’ve seen in the past that are still effective. Defensively, I see a group that’s playing very fast, and the front is being very disruptive and causing a lot of problems for teams’ passing game and then they’re doing a good job of stopping the run.”
(When you look at the defense and you see a player specifically like Chargers CB Casey Heyward – I know you played against him last year when he was with the Packers – what kind of impact has he made on the San Diego defense?) – “It’s always hard to just look at one guy and say he makes all of the difference in the world. But I think any time you add anybody in the secondary that is able to be competitive on the ball and then turn it over – and you have a front like they do right now where that ball has to come out very quickly, when the defensive backs understand that and can play very tight and they can sit on routes and take advantage of that – it makes it so hard for the offense to combat that, because you’re talking about turning the ball over and then giving a quarterback like Philip Rivers a shorter field.”
(Obviously, RB Jay Ajayi has been playing well the last three, four weeks. What has been the difference now and why couldn’t he do this early in the year?) – “He did well in the spring. Training camp was going alright. I think we were trying to go with a two-back rotation there with him and Arian (Foster), and he was trying to get used to what we were doing as far as in the running game. He had been more of a gap-scheme, inside-zone runner most of his career, and we were leaning a little more on the outside zone. I don’t know if he was comfortable with the scheme early on. As we’ve gone on and he’s gotten a better feel for what we do and has (been) more comfortable with what we’re doing, he’s really gotten in a groove. He has a good feel for our offensive line. That group is finally back together. That was nice to have about three weeks ago when you get that first line that we thought we were going to have early on in the season back together. I think with those five (guys playing together) and our tight ends have done a good job and our receivers have been doing a good job of getting guys covered up, and he has taken advantage of that.”
(How much did having RB Arian Foster there help him, if any?) – “It’s hard for me to say. That would be a better question for him. As far as my opinion – as far as the impact he had on our offense – we have so many young guys. Him being a veteran guy that had been through it before, he was kind of able to teach some of these guys the inner workings of how to run outside zone. I think he did help our guys. He was very open to helping our young backs out, and he did a good job as far as trying to educate them (about) how to run the ball in that scheme.”
(How did you end up in Denver with Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy and what was that relationship like during the week and on game day?) – “I got there in 2009. I was hired by Josh McDaniels. Mike was hired as the coordinator. We kind of gravitated to each other fairly quick. I was the wide outs coach, and we spent a lot of time together just trying to figure things out, because with Josh being the head coach, he was trying to turn a lot of things around. We had to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what Josh wanted to do. We were trying to do exactly what they did in New England, so we were in a learning phase. We had to spend a lot of time together just trying to figure out how we were going to coach certain things. (With) our weekly involvement, we were always together as far as with Josh, game planning. And then on game day, when it started, there was a lot of communication between himself, Josh and myself. Then when we got into the (John) Fox era – when Mike took over the offense – then it became more of Mike having control of the offense. I was the quarterbacks coach at that time, and he was very open in giving me assignments and counting on me to put certain things in the game plan and ideas together for him, and then he would basically take what he liked and implement what he liked as well. He put a lot of responsibility on me in a situation where he probably really didn’t need or have to do that. I always felt like he was trying to get me ready for something. That’s something that I’ve always appreciated, the fact that he had that much confidence in me.”
(What makes Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy such a good offensive coach?) – “I think the attention to detail that he has. He’s a stickler for a lot of little, tiny things that a lot of people would be like, ‘Why is that important?’ They don’t understand that even though you may have success on a play, you may win a game, there are all of these little, tiny things that pop their head up that a lot of people won’t address because you won or you completed a ball. He looks at it as, ‘That worked, but we have to make sure that we do this correctly, because when it doesn’t work, there’s a reason behind it.’ He is very detailed as far as – in the passing game specifically – where everybody is supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there, the quarterback timing. He has a different vantage point because of playing the quarterback position, he knows how important it is for 11 guys to be on the same page.”
(In putting together your first 15 scripted plays, what’s the key to having success with those plays?) – “Sometimes you’ve got to get a little lucky. That sounds terrible, but really, at the end of the day, you don’t really know what the defense is going to do. You do the best you can to at least put things together that are good against multiple things and that your players don’t have to think a whole bunch about. But you do need to have some things go your way to where maybe you hit on a couple of plays early in the game. There have been times where, at least myself, where we started to go and things didn’t quite go right and you just scrap it and start shooting from the hip. And there have been some games where things are just falling right and you get rolling and then there are some games where it just doesn’t work very well.”
(Are there coaches that are known for being good at [scripted plays], and do you think it is overrated?) – “I think there are some guys that just seem to put the right set of plays together, and they have success early in the game. It might be a little overrated, because everybody wants to say, ‘You knew what they were going to do.’ But at the end of the day, you never really know what the defense is going to do.”
(When you look at a player like RB Melvin Gordon, where have you seen his biggest growth from Year 1 to Year 2?) – “I think the thing is it looks more like he did in college now to where there’s no indecisiveness and its attack the line of scrimmage, stick his foot into the ground and use that speed and his physical-ness. You’re seeing it’s hard for defenses to tackle him as well. That’s kind of where this league is right now where there are few really good tackling teams. If you can have a running back that really hits an open seam and is able to accelerate, it’s tough for defenses to get guys down, because they’re glancing blows. You’re not seeing a lot of guys being able to square up on running backs, because everyone is moving laterally and all of a sudden you hit a guy that’s moving at a good clip, that’s a good size and he’s not going to go down. I see that decisiveness of he knows exactly what he’s trying to get done on every play.”
(What’s it going to be like on a personal level? You’ve got a game to win and for four quarters that will be your focus, but pregame and then again postgame, just even during the game a look across the sideline and you see Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy there, being that you guys started as assistants together in this league and now as head coaches on the opposite sidelines, what will that be like?) – “This is the eighth time that we’ve gone against each other. I know I was a coordinator at the time, but it’s always a little strange. Any time we’re not playing each other, obviously I always want Mike to win, and I want his guys to play well, and I want him to have success. You really have to focus on what your job is and your players. You try not to focus so much on the opponent and just focus on the job that you have to do.”
(Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy said he called you prior to the Chargers signing C/G Matt Slauson. How did that phone call go?) – “He called me, and it was interesting, because I was probably like five hours away from calling him and recommending Matt to him. Matt was somebody that … Obviously, we are very fortunate to have the center that we have on our team. Matt is one of those guys that you just want in your building no matter what position he is playing, because he is so flexible as far as what he can do. Matt is one of the best people I’ve ever been around, he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around, and he’s such a great communicator with coaches, as far as what works (and) what you should avoid during a game. He sees things like a pro does. He’s an advantage, not only as a player that’s physical, smart and just a team guy all the way, but when he comes off the field, the information that he gives you as a coordinator is rare, because he sees so much. I think that I really grew to appreciate that last year, because if we don’t have that, we’re not even in half of the games we’re in because he held that whole thing together. He played hurt. He stepped in at the center position, and I don’t even remember how many reps he ever had at center when he had to jump in there. The guy was just such a valuable piece of what we were doing last year. When he was out there and available and Mike and I had that conversation, I don’t remember exactly what every little question was, but I just remember telling him, ‘This guy is absolutely your kind of guy.’”
(Now you’re going to be going against C/G Matt Slauson and no doubt he makes the Chargers offense better. How do you balance that? I’m sure you’re not picking up the phone to Rex Ryan or Bill Belichick and saying, ‘Boy, you’ve got to pick up this guy.’ There’s a competitive advantage in this league that you want to retain, but now you’ve strengthen an opponent. How do you balance that out? You’re not going to make that call with every head coach in the league. How do you balance that?) – “I think it’s a little bit of a relationship thing, it’s a trust thing. In the division I’m in, I don’t have a personal level really with any of the coaches in our division. The guys that I do have relationships with – whether they be coordinators or head coaches – I always looked at it as, if it’s a guy that I had a great relationship with as a player, I want to do whatever I can to help him. If whatever place fits him, if that team actually calls me and asks me a question, I’m always going to give them an honest answer, because I care about the player and I want him to have what’s best for him. I’m not going to look at it in a selfish way. I’m going to look at it as, ‘What I can do to help that guy?’ because the way I look at it is once I’m with a guy, he’s one of my guys forever, so I’ll always do whatever I can to help that guy out.”
(Have you talked to Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy this week?) – “I have not talked to him this week. I think the last time … I called him and just congratulated him on the last game, and I just said I’ll see you on Sunday.”
(You mentioned your relationship with Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy already, but off the field, I know your guys’ families know each other, and I believe you guys have vacationed together. What does that look like in terms of the offseason communication when it becomes a little easier to be in touch with friends in the league?) – “It has been very helpful for me. Even if I have a plan for certain things, it’s always good to either bounce something off another coach, and I feel like I’m very lucky to have Mike as a close friend of mine. It makes life a lot easier when you do have that kind of mentor and friend that will be honest with you and you can be very open with and you’re willing to share ideas with. It is nice the fact that our wives are very, very close. For us to be able to spend time in the offseason and the summer and hang out – for me and him – it’s good conversations, and it’s a relaxed atmosphere to where you’re occasionally asking questions about certain things and you know you’re going to get an honest answer that’s going to try to help you out.”
(Does Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy give you any advice on how to handle media? Does he say nice things about us?) – “I’ve never asked about media stuff.” (laughter)
Ndamukong Suh – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
(What is it about Chargers RB Melvin Gordon that makes him such an effective runner?) – “Obviously watching today and the last couple of days, he’s a very, very tough and hard runner. (He’s a) young guy. Obviously he’s well-talented and we’ll have a big task on our hands.”
(Is there anything that you noticed about RB Melvin Gordon the last couple of weeks. I think he’s had 111 and 196 rushing yards. Anything in particular? Shiftiness?) – “No, not really. We just started watching film on him and started looking at him this past week, or earlier this week. As I said, he’s a hard runner. (He) runs downhill and obviously most running backs that run hard like that usually have an opportunity to break tackles and get extra yards.”
(Have you ever in your career been part of a situation on this where you’re going to be on the road for about 11 days and if so, what’s the biggest challenge?) – “No, this is actually my first time of having a West Coast trip where it’s extended like this. I find it fun. Get away. A lot of team bonding, which I think will be good for us. I’m not saying that we need it, but it’ll be fun. I enjoy my group. I enjoy being around them. I’m excited for it, but at the end of the day we’ve got business to go out there and take care. First in San Diego and then obviously got to go up north to LA.”
(Speaking of your group, it sounds like there’s a good chance DT Earl Mitchell is on track to be back this week. If that’s the case, how big of a lift could that be?) – Earl is a great player and I think he’s obviously a starter, has a quality to be a starter, and playing at an elite level. As many d-linemen that we can have that are interchangeable that can play on all levels, which Earl can do, would be great.”
(What’s one thing DT Earl Mitchell does particularly well?) – “He’s got great get offs, got great hands and obviously he finds a way to make plays. It’s what we’re tasked to do – get out there, create havoc and make plays and allow our linebackers to come downhill easy.”
(In two the last three games, you guys were on the field for only 53 plays a game. How much has the effectiveness of the Dolphins run game and the ability to extend drives give you guys the needed rest during the game?) — “I think I said this before. Whatever situation that we’re pretty much put in, we have to go out on the football field. At any particular time, our goal is to go out there and dominate, get off the field, hopefully get a three-and-out or getting a turnover, as we’ve been able to do the last couple of weeks, and give our offense as many more opportunities as they can to put up points on the board.”
(Last week you guys allowed 140 yards rushing – 110 in the first half and just 30 in the second half. Why were you so much better in the second half?) – “I think it’s just cleaning up tackling situations. We reviewed some of the plays today, as well as earlier in the week, just seeing where we made mistakes. We didn’t have an opportunity to get the ball carrier down. I think in-game situations and changes is what we adapted to and we limited them.”
(Were some of the big plays assignments or alignments? Like right before the play, the alignment wasn’t quite right and that’s why some of the plays did spring early on?) – “I think alignment in any position, whether you’re an offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball, is going to be key to you having success in that play. But at the end of the day, it’s about going out there and executing and making sure you can get the ball carrier down, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”
(You have a good chance of closing in on sacks, if you continue playing the way you have. Is that something that at the beginning of the season you set as a goal – to have double digit sacks?) – “No. Whatever happens, happens.”
Clyde Christensen – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(Head Coach Adam Gase said he wants you all to hold him accountable, hold him to those runs.) – “He has, and he really has done a good job. It really isn’t a small thing when you’ve thrown the ball successfully and as much as he has. He has stayed with the run. I think his discipline in the play calling, he has done such a good job with it that it really did help us come out of that thing and stabilize this whole thing when we were really struggling early. I think that has been no small factor. I tease him about getting a little rash when he has to call too many of them in a row, but he has been really disciplined.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked about getting WR Jarvis Landry the ball. He said he felt bad about not getting it to him. How tough is that when things are working on offense and you stick with what works?) – “It’s really hard. It’s unique getting it to wide outs, because it sounds easy. (With) fantasy football, you throw it to your best players, but a lot of times it’s hard. It’s hard. It depends (on) what they’re playing. It depends how the game is going. Just because you dial up something with his number on it, doesn’t mean it goes to him. But he was really hot. He was playing well, and he was beating the guy who was over top of him. It really wasn’t Coach Gase’s fault as much as mine, because I usually give him those suggestions. So, it was really my responsibility to get it to him. We knew he was winning. We knew he had a hot hand. We just had trouble getting the ball to him, and that falls back on me. Coach Gase probably took my bullet on that one. That’s really my fault. It’s not as easy as you think, but you have to. He’s a guy … Even with the three catches, he still made us go. He makes a great move on the guy and goes up the sideline, he runs over a guy, pops his helmet off. Jarvis is kind of our tempo setter. He gets the unit going. We have to keep the ball in his hands. That’s him – he plays with it on his sleeve. The more the ball is in his hands, the more this offense is going to be pretty darned good.”
(At the risk of causing you a rash, what do you think of the term ‘game manager’ for a quarterback, and is that what QB Ryan Tannehill is now?) – “You want every quarterback to be a game manager. We talked about that last week (about), ‘When do you take a risk? When do you not take a risk?’ – all those things. There’s nobody who’s not a game manager. The Brett Favre’s and freewheeling guys still have to be a game manager (and know) when to throw it away, when to take a chance, when to throw it up for grabs. I think he is managing the game well. I think to go three weeks without a turnover, to protect the football, to understand how we win a football game, understand who we’re playing, understand what our unit is – those are all really hard teaches, because they’re kind of unique. Every week is a little bit different. Some weeks you need him to take some chances and make some big plays. Some weeks you need him to be patient and take checkdowns. I think he has managed the game extremely well. I think it’s a really, really good term. Publicly, it’s kind of derogatory that you’re not a playmaker if you’re a game manager but even the great playmakers that I’ve been around are game managers. But it’s a hard teach. It’s a hard, disciplined teach. It’s a hard, disciplined learn. It’s tough.”
(So QB Ryan Tannehill shouldn’t be offended by that?) – “No quarterback should be offended. It should be a compliment, but it kind of has this derogatory term of making you a non-playmaker (and) you just manage the game. Absolutely not. In fact, you guys make our job a little bit harder, because they do look it as a … It’s like a possession receiver. What’s a possession receiver? You catch the ball underneath. It has this derogatory connotation, and yet, it’s absolutely a critical, critical … You want receivers to possess the ball, that keep possessions. I think game manager for a quarterback falls in that one that has this negative connotation, but not inside the coaching rooms it doesn’t. Not at all.”
(How would you describe RB Jay Ajayi’s running style, and is there anybody he reminds you of that you’ve coached?)– “Maybe a little bit of Edgerrin James. Edgerrin was a good mix of right when you thought that you had a finesse guy, he ran you over and right when you thought he was going to run you over, he ran around you. I think maybe a little bit of … I actually didn’t have Edgerrin before the knee surgery, but he had that ability to do both. I think this guy … That’s like a pitcher. If you’ve got two good pitches and one’s a hardball and one’s a finesse pitch, that’s a hard combination. I think you see it … You saw it at the end of the game. All of a sudden you come running through there and on a safety. That’s a bad feeling, because one time he goes around you and one time he goes right over top of you. I do think that he has a nice, little combination going. He’s a violent guy, he’s a big guy, but he does have an ability to outrun you or run around you.”
(Can you talk about the production from the tight ends – TE Dominique Jones and TE MarQueis Gray? It seems line QB Ryan Tannehill is getting more confidence in both of them.) – “I think one of the huge factors … That’s what we said in our team meeting today is that it’s going to take all 53 (players) and some. There’s no such thing as rookies anymore. There’s no such thing as practice squad. They’re just Dolphins and everyone is going to have to step up and make a play. (We) had (Thomas) Duarte up from the practice squad this week. He played two snaps. You had your three, four and five tight end playing against probably the best (defensive) front we’ve seen this year. (The Jets had a) really good defensive front with a bunch of girth and big guys. For those guys – I said it last week – MarQueis did a great job. Now ‘D.J.’ (Dominique Jones) comes in, who got released after camp, and he comes back and catches a huge third-down conversion to run some time off the clock and keep that drive going. At the end, he catches the touchdown pass, and that’s your fourth tight end who jumps in there and does it. And Duarte was ready to go and played two snaps and gave us a little cheerleading effort there and some enthusiasm. It’s huge. It has to happen. The second half of the year, it’ll happen more and more and more, because guys are worn down, guys miss some time and someone has to step up. No one really gives a darn; they just want you to win. So, that’s really, really important. So, I do think (Ryan Tannehill) is getting confidence in those guys, especially on movements. We had the huge movement again where he’s throwing it off the run, and those guys are coming across, and those are big plays. And (the) touchdown. To have the confidence in a guy you haven’t done a ton of work for and with. To hit him in the corner of the end zone like that, that was a big, big throw and catch.”
(So, you’ve seen the playmaking ability of WR Jakeem Grant and RB Kenyan Drake on special teams. Are they progressing to the point where you can use them a little bit more?) – “We really think so. They really have some juice to them. We tried to get a little Jakeem package going. I told you we were going to try and do that, and he dropped the one. It was kind of a little bit of a setback, but we’ve got to keep doing it. They make plays. Damien (Williams), it’s the same thing. As soon as they go in there, they make plays. The more we can get them in there, the more we can find things to do with them. It’s, again, not as easy as the outsiders look at it. There are only so many balls. (Leonte) Carroo has got to step up. He got 35, 40 snaps this week that he wasn’t expecting to play. All of a sudden, Kenny (Stills) goes down, and he plays 35 or 40 snaps. Those are really important. (There are) no little things to us being successful and try to keep some momentum going as we head on the road.”
(Is there anything about RB Damien Williams that has surprised you?) – “When I took this job – and you’re watching all the film and you’re trying to assess – he became an instant favorite of mine. They talked about him as a special teams guy, but one thing that jumped off the tape is every time he touched it, something good happened. I always tease with Coach Gase (that) it probably – it’s not a joke but – that he per snap probably has more big plays than anyone on the offense. The number of snaps he has for big plays, his ratio is really, really, really high. And he’s a tough guy. He gives you some tempo. He was one of the guys who, when we got here, I just thought was really an important guy to keep around here and get involved. I have not been surprised by it at all. He was one of my instant favorites, if you will, because of what you saw on film. Every film you watched, he’s whacking (a) linebacker coming up the middle or he’s finessing somebody, he’s breaking a tackle. (The) special teams guys love him. All the things you’re looking for in a backup running back in your two slot or your three slot. He has been really, really terrific.”
Adam Gase – November 7, 2016
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Monday, November 7, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(In your plan on the road, what’s the advantage to being able to run the ball?) – “I think it helps us as far as slowing down the pass rush anytime you want to throw it. I know that makes the biggest difference to me. It’s both home and away. Running the ball is critical to just really your entire game plan –offensively and defensively. It helps the other side of the ball as well. When you’re in those situations that you want to get some play-action, that’s when you can get some big plays and if you’re running the ball effectively and you get guys up in the box, you get a chance for some bigger plays then just 5 to 7 yards a clip.”
(Last week in talking to Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen, he said you sometimes get a rash when you call too many running plays. When you were struggling in the first half to get a lot of production on the ground, did you start to break out into a hive?) – “Clyde might not be speaking any more. (laughter) The one thing, and I reminded our guys again today, don’t let me go away from Jay (Ajayi). And don’t allow me to start getting in that rhythm of just throwing the ball. The reason why is, why Jay is so effective is, he’s a guy that runs very angry, and when you do that for four quarters, eventually the other teams going to break because he’s a big back that runs hard and he runs through contact. You saw the other night, in that last three minutes of the game, all of a sudden a couple of arm tackles, he runs through them and its 20 yards. So the key for us is it’s really the attempts, staying with it, finding that rhythm, and if it happens early, great. Because that means it’s going to be a long day for the other team. If it doesn’t, just stay with it because eventually it’s going to work out for us.”
(When you get on win streaks of three or more games, do they have different feels? Do some feel more secure than others and if so, have you thought about this win streak?) – “It’s different right now for us, just because we’re at a different stage of our program. Obviously it’s very early in our program. We have a lot of young players, so we’re more focused about one week at a time. I really think we have that mentality. I know it’s very boring, but I’ve been on teams before where we’ve gone … we went 11 in a row in 2012 and we just expected (to win) the next week. We have a lot of things we need to clean up. We have a lot of things that we’re off on. There are a lot of things that could have happened in that game that it could have flipped for us really easy. We’re still kind of in that learning stage of how do we do things correctly throughout a 60-minute game to put as close to a perfect game together as possible.”
(Has G/T Laremy Tunsil been all you expected through eight games?) – “He’s done a great job as far as adjusting to that position. The last three weeks, he’s been unbelievable as far as the way he’s changed as a puller. When we’ve run some of these gap schemes, he looks really smooth going through there. He knows who he’s going to go get. He attacks them. I think that was something that was tough for him early, just trying to figure out … It’s just a different feel. You’re pulling around. It’s just a different vantage point. But all of the outside zone stuff and inside zone, any time he’s climbing in the second level, I mean that’s an impressive thing. He could go the wrong way and then be like, ‘Oh, we’re supposed to go this way,’ and he turns around and still gets the linebacker. I mean the guy is a physical freak and an unbelievable athlete. The good thing is he learns quick. He makes a mistake one time and he doesn’t make it again.”
(What do you say to a wide receiver who says this is great, we’re winning, but I’m not getting a lot of touches. I’m not getting as many targets as I’m used to.) – “I think a lot of times when that happens, I put it more on myself. I did a bad job yesterday. We had some things moving around and I know what you’re trying to get at. I’ve got to do a better job of getting Jarvis (Landry) the ball. It was bad. We got into a couple of situations where they played some different personnel groupings and he’s so valuable to us in the slot. Then when we lost Kenny (Stills) and DeVante (Parker), he kind of was struggling a little bit as far as he couldn’t really open up the way he had done during the week. I have to find a way to get him the ball – just figure out a way to get him some touches to where he can catch it and go and make some plays, which he did. Anytime we put the ball in his hands, he makes something happen. And the fact that he … What did he have? Three catches? I mean that’s just not acceptable. And that’s all on me. I know Ryan (Tannehill) does a good job of trying to make sure that we’re in a good play and gets him the ball when his number is called. I don’t want him forcing the ball to him. It’s my job to make sure that our best player on offense is getting the ball.”
(What led to the decision to put TE Jordan Cameron on IR Saturday and do you get a sense from talking to him maybe that this is it for him?) – “Well, we felt like it still was going to be some more time. Obviously we want to make sure he’s comfortable, when he gets to the point when they say he’s cleared, that there’s no hesitation for him as far … Because really, you have the protocol and then once you’re cleared, the guy still has to feel ‘I’m good to go.’ Obviously when you have had a couple (concussions), you want to make sure everything’s right. That’s why we sent him back to Pittsburgh. We make sure that he’s seeing all the right doctors. As far as talking to him, he’s been very positive with me. He wants to keep playing. But right now we weren’t sure how long he was going to be out. So that’s why we ended up (taking) the IR route, which is good for him because now it gives him a chance to really do his homework (and) evaluate everything. But the sense that I’ve gotten from him, as far as down the road, is that he wants to keep playing.”
(When you have two talented and very explosive players like WR Jakeem Grant and RB Kenyan Drake splitting the hashes back there on kickoff return, how beneficial is that for you guys on special teams?) – “For us, obviously, if they try to avoid Jakeem, we have a guy that’s pretty explosive back there (and) a little different style too. Anytime you’re trying to defend two different styles, it’s just like a running back or wide receiver as far as using two different guys, it just makes it really tough because you have to be right on whatever decision you make as far as ‘We’re going to kick it to (Kenyan) Drake, and this how we need to attack him,’ or ‘We’re going to Jakeem (Grant), and here’s how we have to attack him.’ I think you saw what they both bring as far as back-to-back kickoffs. Jakeem’s running around forever and not making any yards but he’s got a lot of guys tired, which was good, and then Drake’s just going to go straight ahead, find a crease and hit it.”
(When did you know about WR Kenny Stills and the illness and how did that alter your game plan?) – “He came in and he started talking about how he wasn’t feeling well so we started getting with him and then we were close to almost not making him active. He got an IV, and then he looked fine. He really did. When we were going out there, I was like, ‘Alright, we’re going to be good.’ He kept telling me, ‘I’m good, I’m good.’ Once we started playing, it looked like it was getting worse for him. He was trying to go and as the game (went on), you could tell he wasn’t himself, but he was trying to push through whatever was going on with him. Then all of a sudden, he … when we went into halftime, I think it was before that 2-minute drive, the (athletic training staff) was like, ‘Hey, he’s already in the locker room. We should have him for the second half.’ When we came back out for that third quarter and he wasn’t going to come back, then it was, for myself, trying to figure out how do we make all these changes? Obviously he’s heavily involved in what we do and makes a big difference with us because he does so much as far as he’s a big-time deep threat. It makes the DBs and the safeties play a lot deeper. You saw yesterday there were a couple of times where we’re trying to get the ball to Jarvis (Landry) and the safety is 15 yards deep and doesn’t move, because he’s not worried about anybody going over the top. Kenny does so much more for us besides what normal receivers do as far as catching the ball. Blocking (and) the fact that he is a threat at all times and can hit a home run is something that is very important for us.”
(With the young guys, you ran a lot of times with two tight ends and then you even had your running backs out there running routes. Where is your confidence level with WR Leonte Carroo and WR Jakeem Grant?) – “Both of those guys played more than they’ve ever played. Carroo had quite a few plays. Jakeem, we have certain packages for him just because he does have a lot on his plate with special teams. I know that seems like something that is very easy but we need him to be on what his job is on special teams. We have certain things that we’d like to do as far as personnel groupings with Jakeem. We try to just make sure, ‘Hey, know this stuff and that’s the most important thing.’ Carroo has to know the whole gamut. He’s got the tougher job because he has to know all three positions. He has to be able to go in for any of those three guys. He does have a tougher job and that is a tough job for a rookie because you’re (usually) just trying to figure out one position. To have to know all of them, it becomes tough. But those guys are developing and they’re getting better.”
(Your run defense gave up a pretty big number overall yesterday – a very small number in the second half. Why the improvement in the second half, and how do you feel about them?) – “They got a couple things cleaned up at halftime as far as being a little more assignment-sound. We got a little loose there in the first half. (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) did a good job when we went into halftime. He cleaned a couple things up, made a couple of adjustments. A couple of the calls that we were making were really good and we were doing a couple things that weren’t right. Obviously, that touchdown was completely … The run (Matt) Forte had, we screwed that up as far as what we were doing technique-wise. But he’s making the right calls. If guys just execute those calls, we’re going to have a lot more efficiency in the run game.”
(Have you made a determination on whether CB Chris Culliver will be activated, or are you going to wait?) – “We’re going to wait. We’ll go through our normal deal.”
(When WR Jarvis Landry comes off the field hot, he plays hot. Do you stay away from him? Do you let him simmer down?) – “Depends. Sometimes I don’t see it. I think he does that to make sure I don’t see it sometimes. But I saw one time (where) I knew he was mad and it came from the fact that I had him on one side, and I called something, and I think they had a neutral zone infraction, and I flipped the formation to go to something else. I think he knew what I was trying to do the play before – he knew what the play was – and they jumped offsides. I think he was just mad, because he was going to get the ball on that play. I think he was just mad that I changed the play, which I’m fine with. I want him to want to get the ball. That’s how he plays, and that’s why all of us enjoy being around that guy on game day, because there’s an intensity there. The guy is a competitor. He wants to win.”
(You question some facet of your play calling just about every game. Is there ever a game when you look back and say, ‘I hit this one out of the park. There’s nothing to second guess.’?) – “No, that’s hard to do. It’s like any job you have that you really have a passion about doing. You’re trying to do everything you can to be perfect, and it’s hard to do. It’s probably impossible to do, but that’s the mindset. That has got to be the goal for everybody in our organization.”
(A couple of other housekeeping things: DT Earl Mitchell I think can come off the IR this week, is that correct?) – “Yes.”
(Do you anticipate him doing so?) – “If everything is the way that we think it’s going to be, probably.”
(Do you still have hope you might see DE Dion Jordan in uniform this year?) – “I don’t know. We’ll see. When somebody tells me that we’re close to that range, then I’ll worry about it.”
(How did you evaluate QB Ryan Tannehill’s game yesterday? He was kind of a unique task for him.) – “He did good. I didn’t put him in great spots. He got hit a lot yesterday. There are probably about three hits there that I don’t know how many guys would’ve been playing after them. The amount of hits he took at his legs was … We got to protect him better. He did a good job though as far as getting us in and out of the right plays. He made some good throws. He went where he was supposed to go with the ball. There were just some situations he was in where we either didn’t do the right thing or (there was) broken protection. There was nothing he did to where I could say, ‘That was bad on his part.’ He did exactly what he was asked to do. There were a bunch of us that really didn’t come through on the other end for him.”
(I’m sure you came in with some ideas of things to work on as far as development. Where are you guys at on that halfway through the season now?) – “I feel pretty good as far as what we’re doing with (Tannehill’s) drops, what we’re doing with some of his mechanics that we tweaked here and there. The thing about him is he’s one of those guys that will work on things on Monday and Tuesday where no one is really looking. In practice, he’s always trying to make sure that he’s right with what we’re asking him to do. He has got a lot on his plate. He has got a lot mentally on his plate. That just adds to the technique part when you’re trying to make some adjustments. He has done everything I’ve asked him to do, and he has played well. He has played well, especially in crunch time here when we’ve had some tight games.”
(People that have been with Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph in the past, they always talk about how he’s able to make adjustments at the half or throughout the course of the game. How big has his ability to kind of see things and make those corrections, even if it’s something that you haven’t practiced throughout the week? How has that been for you guys this season?) – “That’s something that I noticed right away in the preseason. The way I hear him talk during the game is pretty … It’s a neat experience for me being on the other side of the ball and hearing a defensive coach. Sometimes, I’m hoping that a defensive coordinator, it doesn’t say the same thing about me sometimes as far as, ‘This is coming,’ or ‘This is coming,’ (and) he’s calling good defenses, because then, you start feeling like, ‘The guy has got me pegged like that.’ But what he does as far as being able to see it and see it before the play and seeing what mistake was made and then being able to adjust right there off of still pictures and then making a change within the drive or the next drive or at halftime, it has been very impressive to watch. It has been – for me – educational to see a guy that works and thinks as fast as he does.”
(DE Cam Wake and T Branden Albert both said this upcoming West Coast trip is not a vacation. Just curious what you have in mind to make sure that everybody stays focused over 10 days, 11 days.) – “Everybody has just got to be a man. We’re there to do a job. It’s not a time to … We’re not on a bowl trip. We are there to do one thing. We’re there to work, find a way to win a game and then go to work for an entire week and try to win another game. We’ve got to handle business there on that first leg of the trip. When we hit that second part, then we really got to … That’s going to be the week that we have to buckle up and be pros.”
(Will you have a curfew during the week?) – “Maybe. We’ll see how Sunday goes.” (laughter)
(With P Matt Darr, when he drops that punt, you know it’s uncharacteristic, you know he takes it tough, do you talk to him? Do you leave it to Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi? Do you talk to him today? How do you handle that?) – “I didn’t say anything to him yesterday. I saw him for like two seconds, walked by and said, ‘Move on.’ It’s rare for him. The guy does everything right. I got a lot of trust in that group. All three of those guys, they do so much right, do everything right during the week. Those guys are true pros. Our biggest thing is it’s about trust. I feel like that’s why we were able to stick together yesterday. It looked like it was going to be interesting there towards the end. And the fact that guys have developed this trust amongst each other that each guy is going to do their job, that makes a big difference.”
(Where is your confidence level with LB Jelani Jenkins playing with a club? Can you talk about all that this guy has fought through?) – “It was a freak thing that kind of happened when those two guys collided. It’ll be interesting. He has got to figure out how he’s going to operate like this. It’s one thing to talk about it. I’ve been around a couple guys that have played like that and some guys have handled it well, some guys it has been tougher, because you can’t grab anything. We’ll see how his preparation goes, how quickly he can get used to everything. The fact that he’s so quick to want to get back out there, those are the kind of guys we want here. Those are the kind of guys I want to be around all the time that constantly are trying to (say), ‘It doesn’t matter what happens, I want to want to be back out there. I want to help us win.’”
(On that note, how do you evaluate a way … [Is it] having LB Jelani Jenkins practice with that or holding him out of practice this week?) – “If he has got a club on, he’ll be alright. He can just roll. The whole thing is (about) how comfortable he is.”
(With LB Jelani Jenkins and these injuries, obviously, it’s a number of fluke things – maybe the groin is connected to the knee. But can you talk about how difficult the season has been for him?) – “Anytime that you get injured … The amount of work that he has put in from the spring – because we had a little setback there early in the spring – but the way that he worked to get back was very impressive. And then we had things rolling and then we’ve had these little setbacks. The thing that he has done is you never hear him complain. Whether he has been hurt or healthy, he’s one of the best guys you have in the meeting room. He’s always asking questions. He’s always making sure that he’s on point, even if he wasn’t playing. The guy just puts his head down and works. And then he comes out to practice, and he sells out. He has done that every day that we’ve had him on the field. That has been a true pro that keeps grinding. Sometimes you have these potholes in the road and you keep moving through it, because sometimes you have those early and you push through them and then all of a sudden you have eight years where nothing happens.
(The time that LB Jelani Jenkins has been out, what have you seen from LB Neville Hewitt?) – “I’ve seen a guy that the experience of playing every week, it helps him a little more. When we came in this year, we were thinking developmental, let’s get him ready, but he has accelerated as far as the more reps he gets – the more he sees – the better he gets. Obviously, with a guy that has his skill set and talent, for a guy his size that can run and hit, the faster that we can get him to where he starts playing at a starter-type level with the knowledge of football – the skill set is already there – it’s just the football IQ to make sure that we keep growing that with him.”
Branden Albert – November 7, 2016
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Monday, November 7, 2016
Tackle Branden Albert
(Over 500 yards rushing the last three games, 111 yards I think against the top ranked rushing defense. What kind of point of pride is that for you, and RB Jay Ajayi and the whole offense?) – “I think as an offensive line, we feel like we could’ve done better. But for the most part, for us to do what we’ve been doing is gratifying. We felt like we left a lot out there yesterday. We could’ve done better, but we’ll keep improving and keep going.”
(The second half, you guys really asserted yourselves. What was the difference, did you just wear them down?) – “No, I just think … I think they were on to us and what we were trying to do. They had a point to prove and I think we had to make some adjustments in the second half, and that’s what we did.”
(RB Jay Ajayi said that there was some trash talk in that first drive, and that him punching the wall was him letting out some frustration. What did you hear going on there?) – “They had a point to prove. They didn’t want us to make history on them. They had pride. Their pride was playing into it. They did a good job in the first half, but winning the game – that’s the most important part.”
(Were they kind of quiet in the fourth quarter?) – “No, they were still talking a little trash. It was an uphill battle yesterday. They came with their A-game; but all three phases played good together, and we all got it done.”
(Because of the style of RB Jay Ajayi … he’s a hard runner. Do you sense those defensive guys soften up over time?) – “I feel like the last … the first two games as the second half came, guys didn’t want to hit him. But I think yesterday those guys had a point to prove yesterday. They were playing yesterday; I’m not going to lie. So I give them the credit, but we got the ‘W’ and we still rushed for 100 and something yards. That’s all that matters.”
(How would you describe the confidence level of the team sitting at 4-4 with a three game winning streak?) – “I think we’re confident but we still know we got an uphill battle. We still got things we’ve got to do and we’ve got to keep preparing each and every week, not get comfortable and keep working.”
(How does the skill and talent of this offensive line group compare to some of the others you’ve been a part of throughout your career?) – “I think you’ve got four guys who can play left tackle. You’ve got probably the best center in football, in my eyes. I think there’s a lot of experience. You’ve got two young guys that just want to play football. You’ve got three guys that have been there. I think our talent and I think our experience is helping us out right now.”
(Looking ahead to this week, the running game travels in this league. It’s a tough one – 11 days out, West Coast…) – “Well, we’re going to see what type of team we really are. (We’ll) see what type of discipline we’ve got. We’ve got to stay grounded, stay humble and make sure we do the little things to keep us going.”
(How do you feel right now? We’re halfway through the season and it seems like you’re playing some of your best football.) – “Myself? I’ve just got the support of my teammates and we’re just doing good. I just feel good about how we are doing as a team. If I’m doing my job and helping this team win, that’s all that matters.”
(What’s the biggest challenge of this road swing, being gone so long and going so far?) – “We’re not on vacation. We are there for business. Guys have got to get that in their heads that we’re there for business. We are not there for pleasure.”
(To go up against a run defense that talented, and you guys still get RB Jay Ajayi over 100 yards. What does that say about your offense?) – “We did some of it and he did some of it yesterday. With the tight ends and receivers, it’s a whole collective thing with our offense. It speaks a lot about us, our attitude and what we’re trying to do; but we can be better, and we can achieve more.”
(How much do you enjoy the feeling … It seems like a lot of the onus has been put on the offensive line to make things go, and you guys have responded.) – “It feels good. It feels good that we’ve got the support of our coaches and the organization. I think that’s been lacking … the offensive line play has been lacking the last couple of years. Now we’re starting to get it done. It can’t be just three games; we’ve got to keep improving.”
(What kind of sense did you get from the fans and the crowd yesterday?) – “I feel like people are starting to believe in us. I think that we are starting to fill them seats back up. About four weeks ago, there was nobody in those seats, but I think we’re starting to make people believe in us.”
Jay Ajayi – November 7, 2016
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Monday, November 7, 2016
Running Back Jay Ajayi
(Obviously, the New York Jets game yesterday with the No. 1 [rushing] defense, but obviously you guys kind of ‘poo poo’d’ on that yourself personally. You had a decent game towards the end. Kind of wore them down.”– “Yes, we were going against a great challenge. We knew they were going to be good up front and so it was just kind of about staying persistent with the running game and trying to be steady throughout all four quarters.”
(How have you been handling all this recent success for yourself? I mean, 500-plus yards rushing…) – “Yes, I think I’ve just been the same me. And that’s kind of what I’ve been focusing just week in, week out – just come in ready to work (and) just being consistent making plays.”
(This started when the offensive line got healthy, the projected five starters suddenly started playing. Is the quality of blocks you got in front of you and also from the receivers down field as well, can you talk about that?) – “Yes, having those guys, the fab five out there, I feel confident every time behind those guys. I know they’re going to create creases and then it’s just about hitting it hard and breaking tackles.”
(To go up against a physical New York Jets defensive front like this and still go over 100 yards, what does it say about your guys’ rushing attack and the offensive linemen up there?) – “I think that we were able to go against a good front and we were able to rush for over 100 yards. I think that you have to respect that. I think we had a good day on the ground and we were able to do a lot of good things on offense.”
(After the first 200-yard game, we asked you, ‘Hey are you hopeful you might get a thousand?’ Now, you’re expecting to get a thousand yards right?) – “I mean we’re still taking it week by week. Hopefully that occurs in these next coming weeks, but it’s been good for the production that we’ve had on the ground. Myself, I’m definitely proud of what we’ve accomplished. At the same time though, we’re not sitting on any of that stuff and we’re just trying to just keep pushing forward.”
(What does it say about the faith the coaching staff and Head Coach Adam Gase have in the running game? It was a little bit of a rough first half and you just kept pounding away against the top-ranked rush defense.) – “Throughout the week (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase kind of made it clear that we are going against the No. 1 rush defense. At the same time though, it’s going to be a four-quarter game. He’s still going to trust the running game and allow us to still get in a rhythm because he told us it might not be how it’s been with the 200-yard games, where we’re having a lot of good runs early and we’ll just have to fight and just kind of chip away, and it became that kind of game yesterday. And we were able to do that.”
(Strength vs strength.) – “Yes, definitely.”
(What is the challenge of being on the field for say 70 or 80 percent of the time?) – “I don’t think it’s really a challenge. I think it’s just being out there and that’s the opportunity I’ve been given now, is to be out on the field a lot more. It’s just about preparation, making sure that you know what you’re doing out there, and then just executing the plays.”
(This team hasn’t had a whole lot of success going west. What was the deal with the San Diego game last year? What’d you learn from that? And how do you get over the hump going west?) – “I think we’re a whole different team this year than we were last year. And I think that we’re excited about this opportunity to go out to California for a two-week period. We know the challenge of what’s in front of us, that it’s not going to be easy traveling coast-to-coast; but we’re excited about our opponent this weekend and it should be fun.”
(How would you say your body feels right now?) – “I feel good. I came in like I usually do and did some of my regeneration stuff. So it’s starting to feel better so that by Wednesday’s practice I’ll be good to go.”
