Vance Joseph – June 6, 2016
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Monday, June 6, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(On whether CB Xavien Howard knows how to use his size yet for the cornerback position) – “Not yet. He has showed us that he has great movement skills. He has long speed. He has ball skills. He has great lateral quickness. Obviously, being a rookie, he knows nothing about playing the position on this level but talent-wise, he’s what we thought he was going to be.”
(On whether he was surprised by CB Xavien Howard’s size) – “At the combine, I walked by him a couple times. I knew he was going to be long when he came in for his draft visit. He was a bigger man (than) I thought he was going to be. He has long arms. He has big shoulders. He is built like a safety, but he has corner skills. And that’s important not just to be big, but to have corner skills.”
(On the competition at cornerback) – “It’s going well. Obviously, (Byron) Maxwell is a guy we’re hoping to be our starting right corner. We have (Tony) Lippett and (Xavien) Howard competing for the left side. (We) also (have) Bobby McCain involved. It’s an ongoing battle, but you guys all know (that) to be a great secondary, we need three or four guys who can play. That’s important (to) keep those guys. It’s getting better every day.”
(On how CB Xavien Howard’s patience and footwork are coming along) – “His footwork is really good. His patience – his eye progression – it needs some work. That’s most young corners coming to the league. In college, you can kind of put your eyes in the wrong spots and still make plays, because the quarterbacks aren’t as accurate. But in the NFL, if you put your eyes in the wrong spot, you won’t make a play. That’s his issue – it’s really eye progression – even patience you could say.”
(On his impressions of players so far despite no-contact practices) – “It’s tough, because the guys up front are rushing against guys. We’re not wearing pads, but you can see the front-four guys rushes, as far as the get off, as far as the quickness and bursts and the skillset, you can see that; but obviously for an offensive lineman, it’s tough blocking (DE) Mario Williams with no pads. You can see it, but also, the evaluation is going to come better with pads on, obviously, in training camp. It’s fun to see Mario win on the edge, but with pads makes a difference.”
(On the defense’s pass rush potential) – “We have great potential with Mario (Williams), obviously Cam (Wake) and (Ndamukong) Suh and those guys. They’ve got history of being great pass rushers, but that’s on paper. Until we do it, nothing is solid.”
(On being in the defensive coordinator role) – “It’s different. At first, I couldn’t find a spot to keep myself busy, but now I float from spot to spot (on the practice field). But it’s important to be detailed. If you’re going to play great defense, it’s always the fine, small points that you have to perfect. That’s (in) every position. That’s football. It’s a game of inches, literally.”
(On the competition at nickel) – “Nickel is going. We have Bobby McCain working there. We have the young kid from Penn State – (Jordan) Lucas – working there, also. (Tyler) Patmon is working there, also. That’s an, obviously, important job. That’s a starting position. Most of your snaps are going to be in nickel, so that spot is obviously an important spot. And we have to find a guy who can do it from down to down.”
(On CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu) – “We’re taking it slow with him. He had a, obviously, serious, serious knee injury, and it has probably been a year – a year and a couple months – from his injury. We’re taking it slow with him. (We are) hoping to get him to camp, so we can give him more attention. But right now, we’re feeding him some reps slowly, so we can get him back in the groove of playing football.”
(On what has impressed him about the defense so far) – “Just the attitude and the effort. Guys have been engaged every day, and that’s important. If you’re going to be a great defense, you can’t have days where you take days off. If they’re going to beat us, they’re going to beat us, because they’re better, not because they outwork us. The work ethic has been very impressive.”
(On DT Ndamukong Suh’s participation in voluntary OTAs) – “It means a lot, because … My philosophy with this is this: It’s obviously voluntary. It is voluntary workouts. But it’s also voluntary to be good. If guys want to be good on defense, they’re going to be in town, they’re going to be here working. I get it. It’s part of the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). But if you want to be good on defense – you want to be a good player – you’re here. That’s how I look at it.”
(On whether he insisted DT Ndamukong Suh attend voluntary OTA practices) – “No. He wants to be here. He’s obviously learning a new system. He’s in great shape. He’s having fun doing it. I’ve been really impressed with him so far.”
(On S Reshad Jones and whether his absence affects the defense) – “It doesn’t hold us back. Obviously, again, that’s a contract matter. That’s not my area. But it won’t hold us back, because when guys aren’t here, I treat them as (if) they’re injured for the week. I don’t even think about it, really. I move on with guys who’re here. The guys who are here, that’s who we’re coaching. That’s who we’re going to go forward with until he shows up.”
(On whether he expects S Reshad Jones to attend mandatory minicamp) – “I’m not sure.”
(On the message it would send if S Reshad Jones does not attend mandatory minicamp) – “Again, it’s a contract matter. It’s his personal contract matter. It won’t be any message, in my opinion. We’ve got Michael Thomas out there. We’ve got Isa (Abdul-Quddus) working. The guys who are here, we’re going to work with and focus on those guys.”
(On situating himself at practice as the defensive coordinator) – “I bounce from the DBs first. That’s my comfort zone, obviously. I go DBs first, (then) linebackers and very little with d-line. They’ve got plenty of help down there with (Assistant Defensive Line/Pass Rush Specialist) Coach (Jim) Washburn and (Defensive Line) Coach (Terrell) Williams. I float between the DBs and linebackers.”
(On whether he has given thought to how DE Dion Jordan might be used) – “I have not. That’s a league issue. And if he shows up, I would certainly do so. But right now, I have not.”
(On whether the defensive tackle rotation will be similar to last year’s) – “I’m not sure how it was done last year, to be honest. But to keep those guys fresh is of importance, obviously. We want guys to play hard and fast all the time. Big guys, they wear down if they’re playing too many snaps, so that’ll be determined probably in the fall.”
(On how DE Cam Wake looked in his return to the practice field) – “He looked great. He looked explosive. Obviously, it’s still early on. He has not gone full speed, but he looked great.”
(On Head Coach Adam Gase talking trash to the defense) – “I love it, because practice should be fun. It should be competitive. Every down counts. If you get a team that’s always engaged and competing every day, that’s a sign of a good football team in my opinion (and) not just going through the motions (or if) they score, it’s no big deal (or) we make a play, it’s no big deal. It’s a big deal to win every day. That’s important.”
(On sharing quotes of the late Muhammad Ali with the defense) – “We shared this morning. We’ve got four days left of OTAs and the minicamp before the break. We were just talking about one of his famous quotes, ‘To be a champion, it takes skill and will, but more will.’ Football is a game of will. Lots of guys have talent, but the will part is so important in football. It’s a hard game – to practice every day, to play injured, those things. It’s a game of will.”
(On DE Cleyon Laing and where he has been playing on the defensive line) – “He’s playing only end right now. He’s doing a fine job. He’s rushing hard. He’s playing hard. And again, that evaluation is going to come more in training camp when pads are on.”
(On DE Chris McCain and the decision to move him to defensive end) – “Being a 4-3 (technique) team, we’re playing with more outside ‘backers that are space players. Our defensive ends are more in the mold of outside linebackers. It fits his skillset more. He’s a taller outside pass rusher, so for him, it just fits better for him to be a (defensive end) in this scheme versus a Sam ‘backer or a Will ‘backer.”
Adam Gase – June 6, 2016
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Monday, June 6, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On what Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph has brought to the job) – “High energy. The scheme has been … it’s a tough scheme to go against every day. I know those guys are being held accountable, for sure. You look at the effort and the energy that the defense is playing with, especially upfront. The way these guys are running the ball, the way that they’re coaching this thing, seeing these guys move every day, it’s impressive.”
(On if hearing ‘Attack, attack, attack’ is an oversimplification or sums up the defense) – “It pretty much sums it up. I mean I’m sure that we’re making it easy as far as what we’re saying; but, for the most part, that’s what we want our guys to do.”
(On G/T Jermon Bushrod out at practice today and if he’s ahead of schedule) – “I think this is where we’re hoping it would end up – to where he could kind of get going here at the end of OTAs (and) minicamp. So we’ll see how it plays out. We want to be smart with what’s going on. We don’t want any setbacks with him and every day is going to be ‘How do we feel the next day?’ And then see where we go from there.”
(On having the best five offensive linemen on the field) – “Well, I mean when you have a guy that can play multiple positions and obviously, being around him for a year last year helps me kind of know where his mind frame is and his intelligence level. Obviously he knows the offense very well, being in it for a year, but just having a guy that can play multiple spots is, like we’ve been talking about all this time, it’s critical.”
(On rotating a lot guards and if there is a depth chart right now) – “Every day they’re creating a different one (depth chart). They have a different rotation every day and we’re just trying to give guys reps. The thing that they’re doing a great job of, between (Offensive Line Coach) Chris (Foerster), (Assistant Offensive Line Coach) Jeremiah (Washburn) and (Offensive Quality Control Chris) Kuper is, they have an idea of what we’ve run. So going into practice, they look at the scripts and kind of see, ‘Okay, so and so hasn’t had this run or this protection before.’ So they kind of script it out that way off of what we’re scripting in practice.”
(On if any of the offensive linemen have flashed to him yet) – “It’s hard to tell. Without being in pads, you can evaluate the pass protection but the run game gets a little muddy sometimes.”
(On if there are any major concerns on WR DeVante Parker) – “No. I mean it’s just part of the offseason where, when you’re running as much as we are and something small comes up, we’re probably being a little overprotective. But that’s typical of this time of year, where you get one or two skill guys (and) you just want to make sure that they’re healthy enough so in the summer, you’re not setting them back. We need him to feel good (not only) once we get into this minicamp but to feel good going into the summer so he can train because that’s a lot of time between that minicamp and training camp. I think we’re looking at five weeks there. So as long as he can train this summer, that’s really the most important thing for us.”
(On CB Xavien Howard’s footwork and what he’s seen in that area) — “I’ve seen a guy that’s really stepped up and competed at this level. He’s seen a lot of different routes, probably more than what he saw in college. And the guys he’s going against are pretty good. To see all these different looks and being able to stick with a lot of these guys has been impressive. I know the thing that you love about this kid is he’s just constantly working. Being around guys like (CB Byron) Maxwell and seeing what he does day in day out, he has a great guy to kind of learn under. And then (WR Tony) Lippett and him are just battling. It’s like, ‘Who’s going to be the guy?’ And they just keep fighting.”
(On CB Byron Maxwell and the trash talk he has with Maxwell) — “There’s probably a little favoritism towards the offense but I guess that’s just been something that I’ve enjoyed being around the DBs. I always love the swagger that they come with. You don’t hear a lot of offensive guys talking a lot of time. Defensive guys have a tendency to talk a little more and I love that. I love the energy when the guys bring that and as soon as he (Maxwell) arrived … He was part of one of the greatest defenses in the history of football in 2013 with Seattle and he has that to him. That’s the way he was raised coming into this league and that’s what we want from him. We want him to have that swagger. We want him to have that confidence and I just like being around that. For me, it gets me going before practice when I see him; I know I’m going to say something. Like today, he started off with me. I mean he came at me hard so that was good. And I love that and it gets me going for practice.”
(On if he talks trash to defensive backs as well) – “I try. I can’t keep up though.”
(On what he sees from RB Jay Ajayi and his receiving skills) – “Any time you’re playing that spot in this offense, you have to be able to do it all. It’s not a one-trick pony type of offense. You have to be able to protect. You have to be able to run the ball. You have to be able to catch. So we really don’t believe in ‘Hey, you’re just a first and second down back.’ I don’t know what that means. We look for guys that can stay on the field all three downs because we’re not looking to sub personnel. We want guys that can be in great shape, stay out there and then, if we need to switch somebody out because we’re having a long drive, then so be it. But really, whoever the guy is that we’re starting with in the series, that’s the guy I want to finish.”
(On what his philosophy is on practicing inside versus outside and if he wants to be outside unless it’s lightning) — “Yeah, we try to stay out there as much as we can. If it gets to the point where it’s really kind of screwing up practice or if there’s a safety hazard, obviously we’ll go inside. But for the most part, like right now, it’s not a bad time to practice. I mean if it starts raining out, I’m sure at some point we’re going to get a game where it’s going to rain here or somewhere else. We have to be able to play in the elements and you can’t really worry about it. Whatever happens on Sundays, you better be able to play in it.”
(On the role of the tight end in this offense) – “The role they play is basically guys that can play multiple positions because historically it’s been, you have to be inline, you have to be able to flex out, you have to be able to play the slot, you have to be able to drop back and protect whether you’re in the backfield or on the line of scrimmage. There are a lot of things that they have to be able to do so those guys that have the ability to play multiple spots, those are the guys we like. We feel like we have a good group of those guys and we move them around a lot because we want to see who really does have those strengths. Right now what I’ve seen is guys that are willing to do it and they keep trying to get better and they keep trying to put themselves in position to where they can read the defense the right way, because they do. They have a lot of option routes and they have to make the right decisions to be on the same page as the quarterback.”
(On if former NFL WR Wes Welker was a guest at practice or was he doing any kind of work) – “He shows up. I mean he lives like five minutes away. I think we’re a good outlet for him and he’s been a guy that with my history with him in Denver, I love being around him. He’s such a football guy. For him to come out there and if our guys get one thing from him, I think that’s a great, great thing for our guys to have a guy that’s probably one of the best slot receivers of all-time being in the building. The way that he worked, the way he studied, everything he did as far as football … when those guys, just talking to him, it helps our players out.”
(On if former NFL WR Wes Welker will be around more) – “I’m sure. It depends. Like every once in a while, he’ll just show up and sit in my office.”
(On if former NFL WR Wes Welker will be in uniform) – “No.”
(On WR Jarvis Landry working on the boundary and what kind of growth or development does he expect to get) — “It’s been more of (WR) Jarvis (Landry) kind of, I tried to (tell him) ‘No, no stay inside,’ and he’s like ‘No, I want to work this.’ So I love the fact that he doesn’t want to be on just this position. He’s really taken it upon himself (to) moving around which is good for me because, if a situation happened like this, and we had to start moving some pieces around as far as the letter of the position, he can do it. He knows all of the spots which is great considering how much we’ve put in in a short period of time. But it’s easy to move him around. If I need to get him in the slot, I can get him in the slot; but I think he’s done a great job of saying, ‘I want to work on my outside game,’ and he’s been very productive in practice.”
(On WR Jarvis Landry’s releases from the outside) – “I have no complaints there. He does a great job of understanding what the defense is trying to do to him and he takes advantage of it. He understands leverage and how to beat it and every day he’s getting work from (Wide Receivers Coach) Shawn Jefferson in individual and then when we go out to practice, he’s seeing all kinds of different looks as far as what we’re doing coverage wise. He’s only going to get better the longer that he both goes inside and outside.”
(On if the coaches or players have said anything about Muhammed Ali this weekend) – “No one’s really said anything. I know (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) showed a couple of quotes today. It’s just interesting because we had been watching some documentaries the last couple of weeks and that happening the other day was just kind of strange how that happened when we had been talking about him quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. There are a lot of great things that are out there obviously on YouTube and stuff. You go back and, obviously I wasn’t alive when his career was going on, but there were so many great things that you can look back at what he did over his career and how he went about his profession and it’s something that I don’t know if we’ll see repeated.”
