Clyde Christensen – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(Opening Statement) – “I meant to say this the other day, just a shout out. Part of the win goes to our ops guys, Scotty Bullis and his staff and what they did last week getting that team out there. Everything kind of gets done for us and the players to win the football game. Film, equipment, IT and ops – what they did to pull that off, getting that thing all transferred out there … Because all of a sudden the team just kind of showed up on Tuesday. We take it for granted. I take it for granted a little bit that all of the operations, getting those guys out there, getting them from the airport up there, into LA, the rest situation, film getting set up, equipment getting out there – they did it all. That would be an interesting thing for you to look into how you move a whole franchise and servers and computers and film and stuff out there. I’m amazed that they pulled the thing off. It wasn’t without its little glitches, but in terms of having a chance to get a team prepared, it’s a pretty amazing job to go 3,000 miles and come from all parts of the country and give ourselves a chance to win a football game and get a team prepared. I thought they were phenomenal.”
(How did you guys do in the no-huddle, up-tempo offense?) – “I think we’re improving. One of the big stress things that we started again this week is you don’t just turn that on. It’s an experience thing. One of our key points this week it was listening – listening to the quarterback, being able to hear his voice, know when he gives you a formation, know when he gives you a play. I think that’s a work in progress. We were faster. Our procedure was better than it’s been. It’s not where we want to get it. We’ve got to hear the quarterback. We’re asking too many questions of him. We’ve got to get lined up a little bit quicker. I think it’s a knack. We did it for a lot of years at that old spot (Indianapolis) and you just kind of get … You have to learn your quarterback. When does he give you a signal? When does he slip you a little signal behind his back? When does he give you a formation? Which way does he say it first? Help your buddy who is coming back to the line of scrimmage, ‘Hey, hey, we’re over here, we’re over here.’ I think we’re getting better. It’s a big emphasis point for us. We know where we want to get to. Jay (Cutler) is really good on the line of scrimmage. He’s really kind of natural. I said that last week. I’m kind of amazed how smooth he is at the line of scrimmage. Now we just have to get where we hear his voice. We’ve got to hear his voice. That’s just a learned thing that happens with experience. That’s not just black and white and it happens. It’s going to continue to improve. I think we are doing a better job with it than at any point last year, and that’s everybody. That’s everybody from us getting into our stance where we can get a ball snapped quicker – ID’ing people. There’s a lot that goes into it; but just hearing his voice is a big emphasis. Just hearing and knowing how he does stuff. The more they do that, the better they’re going to get. You know where he’s going to send you. When we’re really good at it, you know where he’s going to send you and ‘Oh, I know what he’s going to call.’ You just know when the signals come and you can catch it from 30 yards away and get yourself lined up. We’re getting there.”
(We don’t know what to expect from T Laremy Tunsil. Do you have an expectation level? Did what you see last Sunday meet that expectation?) – “Not yet, but I think he’s a young guy. It’s one of the toughest positions in football and you’re on the road. Those were very, very, very good, borderline elite pass rushers coming off the edge. That’s an all day job he had out there. He’s just going to keep getting better. I think of him as a rookie left tackle, if you will. To think of him as an experienced lineman isn’t the case. It’s back to his position, but it’s new in this league. Those cats coming off the edge were really good players last week. I was not disappointed. I think he might have been. The sack was more on myself and the play call. We held the ball on a 3-step (drop) and let a guy come around. (Tunsil) protected it the way we needed him to. Sometimes sacks aren’t always quite as clean cut, clear cut as you think. He’s okay. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to be a really good player. He’s finding his way. He’s still an extremely young guy. I thought he held up pretty darn good. If you look around the league, there are some catastrophes and some quarterbacks getting hit really hard early in this season. That’s not a bad first outing. The same thing, right? It’s our first outing and everybody else’s second. Even that goes into it. It wasn’t his second game. That’s his first game and that was his first start at left tackle, if you will, for 2017. That’s a long answer but no, we weren’t disappointed. I think he’s going to improve, improve and improve. We talked about it last year but if you’re a batter, it’s your first time around the league getting these outside rushers. He was inside so he didn’t see these guys last year. It’ll be his first time around seeing some different guys and all of a sudden … If you go against those guys, you get a little book on them and that’s big. He’s developing his book and he’s going to see some new experiences this year.”
(It looks like you’re not afraid at all to run RB Jay Ajayi in what would appear to be obvious passing situations.) – “Well, yes. I think we came out of Week 1 the most balanced run/pass team in the league. That was darn good balance. I know it’s a little cliché-ish but you look for balance, we got balance, we’re better on our play-action than we’ve been, so I don’t think it was … The more we can keep – I think we averaged 6 yards, third-and-6 was our average distance on third down. So we were better on first and second down. We still had too many minus plays but the more we can stay on schedule where you can call a run or a pass, and (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase will dial up a … If we can keep our third downs to third-and-5-or-less or third-and-manageable, then he’s not afraid to dial up a run and he’s not afraid to go for it on fourth down. If we can just keep those options open, we’re better. This week was pretty good balance. It was a good football game. Neither team turned it over, so we weren’t going to get a bunch of possessions. We had to make them count. I’m not sure, of the non-2-minute (offense) we didn’t score on five of the eight (drives) maybe or something; but there weren’t a ton of possessions in that game. The balance was really key. We think of it more as let’s keep it run/pass downs on first and second down where we can call either one, and now we’re going to tend to be close to a 50/50 team, which is optimal. You do want balance. You do want them not defending … You don’t want to be single-dimensional at any point so that was a plus in the game. Coach Gase has always been willing to dial up a run in some pass situations.”
(QB Jay Cutler’s ability to buy time in the pocket, to maneuver around. Is that something you see on the practice field? Did that surprise you how smooth he is in that area?) – “It’s been on his film. I haven’t known Jay but obviously I’ve seen him just crossing over. He’s always had a knack for doing that; but it has surprised me how natural it is. It has surprised me just that he’s really good at it. I thought he did a really good job. He didn’t put the ball up. He took calculated chances. He wasn’t careless with the football. If you can calculate your shots – he gave DeVante (Parker) a couple of jump balls and 50/50 balls, which were great. We want those. He really did a great job of managing it. On the play to Kenny (Stills), he bought the time and that was huge. I think he is … I’ve said that. He’s just kind of natural. He has a great feel and you do forget he is a veteran. He’s played an awful lot of football games; but that’s not a taught behavior. He just kind of moves around and kind of knows where people are coming from and he does have a great knack. That’s going to be great with our Big 3 receivers. Those guys can run and jump and I can see more of the same where we’re going to get a couple of those balls downfield and we have a chance. We want DeVante (Parker) to catch one more of those 50/50 balls. Let’s keep them over 50/50 balls. Throw them up 50/50 and let’s be a higher percentage than that. He made the huge one that got us kind of cranking and had a chance to make a couple of others that I think we’ll make before it’s all said and done; but it’s darn close.
(Head Coach Adam Gase has talked about he was not in rhythm in his play-calling and he took responsibility for a couple of them, like a sack or something. Any idea why that might have been?) – “I think opening day, a new staff, a new defensive coordinator, there wasn’t film available on these guys – I think all of those things. Still, we’ve talked a lot about what are we? What does it look like with Jay (Cutler) at quarterback and blending in with these guys? I think there are some natural things. (It was) opening day. An opening day is hard to have a feel, so we’ve had some changing of parts in this thing, so I think it was that. The same thing this week. Opening day is hard on a new staff because you don’t have film. The preseason doesn’t help you that much and you can go look at Buffalo but that doesn’t help you on the defensive side, and this guy was a head coach (for the Chargers). You just don’t know what he’s bringing with him, what has changed. So I think that was all part of it. (Gase is) always harder on himself than I am. I thought he dialed up some things in the red zone where he gave us a chance to score touchdowns and we ended up going 0-for-3 in the red zone, which was big. We needed those points. He’s blaming himself and I thought that we have to make those plays for him. We’ve got to make some plays on those. We had some chances in the end zone and stuff there. I do think it was a hard week to get a feel film-wise. Really, you just don’t have any film on that head coach, with that defensive coordinator and with that defense. You’re speculating. You’re kind of calculating, trying to guess what they’re going to do; but you really deep down don’t know. I’ll tell you the other thing. The first game, you have a lot of things going through your mind. You kind of tend to do too much and you’ve got too big of a menu and sometimes you can get lost on that sheet. Especially opening day is kind of ‘Here’s what I want to be. Here’s how I want to get the ball to these different guys. Here’s what Jay (Cutler) does well. Jay and Jarvis (Landry) are this together.’ I think all of those things will get better and better, but I don’t think he called as bad of a game as he’s kind of saying he did.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase is hard on himself. Has he stopped saying ‘I did bad?’) – “No, but I do think one of his strengths is that he takes responsibility. I think the players respect that. At halftime, he told me ‘I didn’t get us into a rhythm in the first half.’ That’s the job of a play-caller. It isn’t to get guys 40 yards open, but just to get your offense in a rhythm. The first drive was darn good and then we kind of lost it a little bit. I do think the players respect how he takes his share of it. They win the game. It’s not coaches who win these games, it’s those guys. Everyone’s got plays. Everyone has a trillion plays but it is how you do things and the way you do it and execute it was the key thing. I didn’t think he was … He felt like he lost a little rhythm in the second quarter – midway through the first quarter and the second quarter there – but I would take his side and say we also dialed up a couple of things we have to hit. We have to hit that thing in the back of the end zone.”
(You mentioned the red zone. Do you have a go-to guy in the red zone and should you have a go-to guy in the red zone?) – “I think we’ve got a bunch of go-to guys. I think Julius (Thomas) is going to be a good go-to guy. DeVante (Parker) has to play big. If you single our wide receivers, we should make some big plays out there. We had a jump ball to DeVante. He almost came down with it but he didn’t. We had Jarvis (Landry) at the back end line. We had a close, a shot at him. They hit theirs to (Antonio) Gates, the back-shoulder throw there; and we didn’t hit ours. We didn’t make that play. Yes, I think we do. Then just having the ability to run in the red zone is key too. Having ’23’ (Jay Ajayi) banging up in there in the red zone is huge.”
(You mentioned you didn’t have film on the Chargers. What did you mean?) – “I’m just saying … We had film, but it was a new staff. You didn’t have any film other than preseason, which is really hard to watch. No, we had a film set up…”
(We agree) – (laughter) “If you think I like watching preseason any more than you guys … I’m always amazed there are fans in the stands. (laughter) No, it was just hard to get a feel because it was their first time as a staff in the regular season. It was hard to get a feel for the film. They didn’t have cut ups. By Week 8, we’ll have cut ups on top of cut ups of what they do and their tendencies. We didn’t have those. It was more ‘Here’s what we think.’ But you really didn’t know, so now you’re preparing for everything. Are they going to come after us? They ended up playing 3-deep zone – some form of 3-deep zone – most of the game. We had worked on all of the contingencies because you don’t know. They may be coming.”
(What did you think of that play in the fourth quarter where QB Jay Cutler rolls to the right, sees a guy running at him, looks like he’s going to run, then he stops, backs up and kind of lobs it to WR DeVante Parker while backing up. It occurred to me that there may be times where Cutler isn’t in the sort of traditional, prototypical position with his feet and arm. Is that something you expect throughout the year, that he just kind of makes it work?) – “I would say his rhythmic throws are non-conventional. (laughter) He kind of has an ability to throw the ball with his feet in a lot of different positions, which is a plus. That play falls in the category of ‘you don’t teach that.’ We do drill a lot of stuff, but that’s one of those that you just have a knack and he threw that thing really early. In fact, he let it go and it was one of those where the coaches are going ‘Oh, no. Oh, yes!’ DeVante made a heck of a catch on that ball, over the top of him; but that was an anticipation throw. When he lets that ball go, there’s really no one open and (Parker) is a long ways from coming open. I think that was special. That was a huge, huge play in the thing. A big play – big catch, big throw.”
Ndamukong Suh – September 20, 2017
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Wednesday, September 20, 2017
DT Ndamukong Suh
(Beyond your usual high-quality play, could you point to other specific factors about why the run defense was better Sunday? Was DE William Hayes a factor? DT Davon Godchaux? What specific things could you point to?) – “I would say, without question, William Hayes was a big factor of our run defense. I think he implemented that very early on, really in OTAs and especially in camp when we got the pads on. I’d just say, in addition to all of that, it just really comes down to execution. We understood what they wanted to do against us, and we executed. We practiced. The coaches were giving us great looks throughout the week and I think we understood everything from A to Z, what (the Chargers) wanted to do, and they understood that they were going to struggle with (the run game) if they stayed with it.”
(What do you need to do to make this consistent, to make this an every game day situation?) – “Honestly, just continue to take the same approach. I think we did a very similar job today, as this is usually our run day and we look at a lot of stuff; but also guys take the time on Monday and Tuesday to look at it themselves and obviously come in with questions for the coaches, anticipation of what we may do for blitzes or just overall alignment and assignments of what we need to accomplish.”
(You’re one of the leaders of this team. Obviously, this LB Lawrence Timmons situation has thrown everybody for a loop. How do you address it as a leader?) – I think Lawrence, at the end of the day, is going through some particular issues. (I’m) unsure of what those are; but all we’ve got to do as teammates is be there to support him with anything that he needs. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to continue to move forward and put our head down and understand that when we have the time to be able to help Lawrence, help him; but at the same time, we’ve got to prepare for our Jets game and go from there.”
(How do you balance supporting a teammate versus the obvious decision that you have to be responsible and be there when you need to be there on Sunday?) – “Yes, no question. I think you have to look at it as any other person in their particular field of work. You’ve got to go to work and take care of your business. At the same time, be attentive, be on time and then go from there.”
(When you look at the Jets and you look at your schedule, do you agree this is one of those ‘should win’ games?) – “No, because it’s the NFL. The NFL is one of the toughest things in sports, to play any given Sunday, as they’ve made the slogan. Every team is respectable. Every team you have to give ultimate respect (to). They have great players; great talent. We’ve obviously seen great players. I’ve played against (Jets RB) Matt Forte many times so I know what he can do. I’ve played against (Jets QB) Josh McCown, as well. So I respect them and understand that we have an opportunity to win, but it’s no given win by any means.”
(You seem like you’ve been very intentional about your leadership with this team. How did it feel, then, to have your teammates vote you as a team captain last week?) – “It’s obviously a huge honor. I think anyone would say that (about) having your peers vote you as a captain. I think, no matter what, being able to have a C on your chest is great; but at the same time, the guys who don’t have C’s on their chest for game day, are still expected to continue to be leaders and understand that they have an ultimate role. There have been times in the past, especially when I was a younger guy, where I know I probably wasn’t going to get a C on my chest; but at the end of the day, I understood what my role was, what I needed to do and how I could help other people and be a leader in my own way.
(Sometimes it’s just kind of a formality, but you hadn’t been a captain your first two years with the Dolphins. Did it actually mean something to you this time?) – “Yes, for sure. I was a captain at the end of last year. My first year here, I don’t think we really had captains per se. It was more of each game it was decided and done from there from the head coach’s perspective; but without question, it definitely means something.”
(You seem to be a guy that as you get a little bit more comfortable with your circumstance and situation, you start to open up. Has that been your norm?) – “Yes. For me, for sure, it’s that way. I’m definitely not an easy person to get to know, nor do I necessarily allow people to get to know me like that, just because I’m a natural introvert. But I understand that the light that I am in, that’s shined on me, and I need to be open, especially when it comes to my teammates. I think they understand that and I think they’ve been open to how they receive me and, for me, how to receive them as well. So at the end of the day, it’s about getting to know each other. I think any person, as you walk down the street, or however you may meet somebody, you’re just not going to spill your entire life to them day one. It’s going to evolve over time.”
(Being a natural introvert, how difficult has that been always being a star?) – “(laughter) I don’t know if I’ve always been a star, but I think that I’ve always looked at to be a star and I’ve always wanted to live up to being a star. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter to me if somebody sees me as a star or doesn’t. I want to just prove that on the football field, as well as outside (in) life, whether that’s academics or whatever it may be. My parents always taught me to be that way and strive for the stars.”
(Did you, or any of the other players, speak specifically to LB Chase Allen, who wasn’t supposed to be a starter at the beginning of the year and had do play on Sunday? Did you speak with him before the game and calm his nerves?) – “No, not at all. I don’t think so. I think guys in his group may have or may have not; but Chase understands and I think every single guy on this team understands that no matter what, at any point in time, you can be put in a role where we expect you to do things. I think at different levels, even (Terrence) Fede, for a guy who’s not a starter but a guy that we expect (a lot from), especially on special teams; but even on the defensive line we expect things from him. With the situation, (Allen) had to learn some stuff the night before, as well as game day and have adjustments. So I think at this stage and understanding, all of the things that we’ve gone through, all of the injuries that we have seen in the past and potentially stuff that can, unfortunately, happen in the future, guys are always prepared and ready for their role to be expanded and accept that.”
(LB Lawrence Timmons has been in the league a long time, but he hasn’t been in Miami very long. Does he have credibility with you guys to where when this happens Saturday, you give him the benefit of the doubt or do you not know him well enough yet to extend to that? – “I think we have a good gauge of what he is, and he’s a good person. Obviously this time that I’ve spent around him has been limited; but at the same time, I’ve enjoyed my time around him and really expect the best from him. He’s an adult and a veteran, and he’s obviously been doing it for many, many years. Aat the end of the day, it’s a mishap. Everybody’s had those situations. You can account for me when I got suspended for two games. My teammates would expect for me to do better; but at the same time, I have to deal with that situation and I need to come back when I’m allowed to come back and go from there. That’s kind of what the situation is for him”
(Have you talked to LB Lawrence Timmons? I don’t even know, is he around?) – “I gave him a call but his phone wasn’t working. That’s kind of been the extent of it. Right now, from my understanding – and I don’t know everything – I think he’s in good hands.”
Jay Cutler – September 20, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Quarterback Jay Cutler
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked today about the system that he’s using now might even be a little bit better for you because of changes compared to 2015 in Chicago as far as some of the things that you can do in this offense. Do you agree with that? How is that the case?) – “It depends. What did he say? What changes?”
(I think more personnel.) – “Yes, if you start playing with a DeVante (Parker) and a Jarvis (Landry) and a Jay Ajayi and Kenny (Stills) and Julius (Thomas), you start putting those pieces together, they’re going to make a lot of systems look good.”
(He mentioned some things involving zones as well, so there were some strategic things. How comfortable are you here?) – “Really comfortable. I think it goes back to a lot of it has to do with the personnel. You get those guys around you, the offensive line played well. They make it go. I just kind of feed them the ball and watch them work. It’s fun being behind center with those guys.”
(When you see WR DeVante Parker one-on-one outside like that, do you just say, ‘I’m going to through it out there and see…’) – “All of those guys are kind of like that. If you want to play us one-on-one, we’ve got a lot of options. We’ve got a lot of ways we can beat you up. (The Los Angeles Chargers), they did a lot of zone. They weren’t going to play that game with us. They kind of zoned us out. They tried to put eight in the box; but even eight in the box, Jay (Ajayi) is either going to make the first guy miss or run him over and get his yards. It’s tough to stop.”
(We spoke to Head Coach Adam Gase about the conservative game plan in the first half. You’ve been an aggressive quarterback all your career. Is that in any way … Did that frustrate you in any way or is it just part of it?) – “No. I knew. We didn’t want to … We kind of wanted to get things going a little bit. With the last 10 days, things being crazy, I think easing things in there, trying to get the ball to different guys and trying to keep it third-and-manageable. I think that was the biggest thing – not getting into third-and-longs, not getting into situations where we were fighting the sticks.”
(Your thoughts on the Jets defense, the challenges this weekend?) – “It’s still a Jets defense. Todd Bowles is still one of the best ones out there. They’re going to do a lot of different things. The front seven is still going to give you fits. They’ve got a talented back end. You’ve got to be prepared for a lot of different looks. That’s what makes it so difficult.”
(Nonetheless, the Jets are not playing very well. Do you see this as a really good opportunity to be 2-0?) – “If we don’t play good football, we can go up there and lose a game really quickly. We don’t want to look past them; don’t want to look in the rearview mirror. We’re just going to concentrate on them and try to put together a good game and get a ‘W.’”
(I should’ve been more prepared, but the quote from Head Coach Adam Gase was, ‘This really kind of fits Jay better, because coming from an offense that was predominantly drop back in Chicago, we didn’t have the play actions that we do now, because we weren’t running outside zone.’
From that standpoint, how does this fit you?) – “We have a lot more, I think, outside zone here. (Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach) Chris (Foerster) put that in. That just kind of opens up, like he was saying, your play-action game. We were more inside zone with their transition from Denver to Chicago. It was a lot more inside zone. We didn’t have the complete package with the outside zone and a lot of the outside zone play-pass stuff. When you start putting that stuff in there and you start getting eight-man boxes and some one-on-ones outside, it can really open up the field; but then if you want to drop back you got three, four, five guys that legitimately can catch the football.”
(Does your nimbleness surprise teams even though they know you? You’ve been in the league a long time, but it might be an underestimated part of your game.) – “I think they’ve got a lot to worry about in general with everybody else out there. Trying to contain me in the pocket and worrying about me getting outside, I think that’s one of the last things that they … If it happens, it happens.”
(As far as what you got out of the no-huddle last week, is there another level to take that to in terms of frequency, in terms of effectiveness?) – “We can always clean things up. I’ve talked to (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) about it and the rest of the guys. They know what we can clean up and what we did well. We’ll try to improve for this next one.”
(You got to ball early and often to WR Jarvis Landry. What makes him such a security blanket for you?) – “They were playing a lot of zone and he was working the middle of the field. He got a few run-pass options out there, we kicked some out to him. A few screens that we kicked out to him. He got some yardages. It was kind of how it went. As the game unfolded, we were able to pick some stuff outside.”
(Obviously, there was more aggressive play calling – Head Coach Adam Gase would acknowledge that – in the third quarter. Is your relationship with him such that you can good naturedly say at halftime, ‘Let’s try to open it up,’ or do you never share that view with the head coach?) – “It depends on where we’re at. It depends (on) the game, how he’s feeling, how the offensive line is blocking. First game, I kind of knew what he wanted to do this first game, so I kind of left him alone. Adam knows. He has got an aggressive nature at heart. He wants to score points. Three (points) at halftime, he knew that wasn’t going to win the game. We were going to have to do some stuff offensively, push the ball downfield to win this one. He’s not dumb. He’s the head coach here for a reason. He has been successful for a reason.”
Jay Cutler – September 20, 2017 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, September 20, 2017
QB Jay Cutler (Conference Call with N.Y. Jets Media)
(How has the adjustment been to Head Coach Adam Gase’s system in Miami and what has that process been like for you coming in late?) – “It’s been good. I mean I was familiar with the system. The run game changed up a little bit, but it’s been kind of getting used to the guys, the schedule, just getting back into football.”
(How would you characterize the Jets interest in you in March?) – “I mean I think it’s … we were just feeling each other out. It wasn’t aggressive. It wasn’t super vague. It was just feeling each other out and it just didn’t work out.”
(How interested were you in perhaps coming to the Jets or not interested?) – “I’d just been cut from Chicago, where I’d spent eight years, so I wasn’t in a hurry to really go anywhere. I just kind of wanted to go through the process and if something really jumped out, I’d investigate a little bit more.”
(You had a visit scheduled, correct and then it got canceled?) – “Yes, we had a couple of visits and then they got changed; but for numerous reasons, and then they were able to sign Josh (McCown), and that was kind of the end of that. So it worked out for myself and for Josh.”
(From your time in Chicago with QB Josh McCown, what stands out to about him?) – “I love the guy. I mean we could sit here for an hour and I can tell you all the great things about him. He’s a heck of competitor, unbelievable guy in the locker room, unbelievable guy in the quarterback room, selfless. He’s one of those guys that you run across and you’re happy that you had him as a teammate because he’s one of a kind.”
(What are your impressions of watching the Jets defense on tape?) – “It’s a good defense. (Jets Head Coach) Todd (Boyles) is always going to put out a defense that’s going to give you fits. They’re going to cause some problems in the run and the pass game. They’re going to show you a lot of different looks. They’ve got talented guys at each level of the defense. It’s going to be a (tough) week for us. We have to be on it and we have to be ready to play on Sunday. ”
(How hard has it been on the team overall, just practicing in California and now you have another road game this weekend?) – “And then we go to London next week. This isn’t something that’s … We can’t look past New York. It is what it is. We had to go to Cali. We stepped up to that challenge. We had a good week of practice and got a win. We got to come back to Miami. We didn’t know if we were going to be able to come back here or not; but everyone’s home now. We’ve just got to lock in and get ready for this week.”
(This is kind of a Chicago Bears reunion thing because you also have RB Matt Forte here. What are your memories of him and your relationship with him?) – “Yes, and (Jets QBs Coach) Jeremy Bates is there as well. I’ve got a lot of fondness for him as a coach and a lot of respect. Both of those guys, they are great competitors. They are great guys. They’re awesome dudes to have on a team and guys that I’ve missed and look forward to seeing.”
(Have you kept in touch with Jets Quarterbacks Coach Jeremy Bates at all and during the course of this offseason, did he reach out to you with the possibility that you might come here?) – “Yes, I’ve always kept in touch with ‘J.B.’ (Jeremy Bates). He was instrumental early in my career, kind of getting me off to a good start. (He’s) one of the best play-callers and coaches I’ve ever been around to this day. So I talked to ‘J.B.’ throughout the process, talked to him afterwards. I saw him I think a month ago. He’s always somebody that will hopefully be in my life.”
(What specifically about Quarterbacks Coach Jeremy Bates that makes him good at developing younger quarterbacks?) – “He knows the game, he knows the game of quarterback. He does a really good job of teaching fundamentals, keeping your base. And then calling plays, I know he isn’t calling plays; but when I had him, he was calling plays and that’s an art for him. There’s an art to it. It’s not something you can just jump into and be good at it. He’s got the knack for it. It comes naturally to him.”
Adam Gase – September 20, 2017 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase (Conference Call with N.Y. Jets media)
(Maybe you can start off by making the LB Lawrence Timmons decision and how you arrived at that and how you replace him.) – “Really, we’re going to … We’re keeping everything in-house as far as the details of anything. Obviously, it’s public knowledge that he’s suspended indefinitely right now. We’re really going to leave it at that. We’ll make adjustments that we need to make and wait until Sunday to really show what we’re doing.”
(When you turn on the film and you look at the Jets, what are your early takeaways and assessment of their play thus far?) – “I coached Josh McCown and Matt Forte at different points of their career. Watching Josh over time, he has really developed an ability to really get rid of the ball quick and cause some issues. He can be aggressive down the field and he’s not afraid to take shots on third down and try to push it and take advantage of the coverage you’re in. Matt is still … When I watch him and see how patient he still is and able to hit the hole and get those chunk plays, – just looking at his average per carry – he just does such a good job. His vision is so good. He’s a tough guy to defend because you have to understand if you’re not sound in your defense, he’s going to cause you a lot of problems.”
(What have you noticed from QB Jay Cutler in the time that you’ve had him so far?) – “Things are going well at the time. We’re still evolving as much as we can as quick as we can. He came in late and (we are) trying to get him caught up to speed with everybody else as fast as possible. He has done a good job as of now. We’re just going keep – each week – keep trying to build on the week before.”
(How challenging is this stretch for your team where you’re practicing in Los Angeles last week and now you’re away again, and then in London next week?) – “I think our guys are used to things like this. Last year, we had back-to-back West Coast games. We went to Seattle the first week of the season, followed up with New England. This is just kind of what we do.”
(When QB Ryan Tannehill got hurt and you showed interest in QB Jay Cutler, did it take a sell job on your part to get him to come out of retirement?) – “Not really. I just asked him if he was interested. He said, ‘Yes.’ Really, I think his biggest (thing was) – kind of taking a step back at the time because everything happened so fast – was just to make sure he felt like he could really come back without a spring and a training camp. That was the one thing. He was like, ‘I’m not really sure how fast my pocket feel will come back. I haven’t done it since last October,’ I think it was. I didn’t feel like I was really selling anything. It was just more of how comfortable he felt coming in with a group of guys that had been together with me – that was our second year; but that skill group has been together for three or four years now. I think he was just trying to feel out if he’d fit that group well.”
(The first couple of games, the Jets run defense has been pretty bad. What are you seeing on film in terms of what their problems are?) – “Every game is different. When I see them, I see a division game that you’ve got a couple guys on the back end that are fairly young. I’ve played (Jets Head) Coach (Todd) Bowles quite a few times and I don’t remember really ever having an easy time running the football. He has always caused me a lot of problems. I just know that that’s a good coaching staff. When you’re going through this process of the season, it’s about getting better every week. I know their focus is going to be on making us one dimensional and trying to do a good job to put us in a position to where we can’t run the ball. Last year they were able to do that. Both games, really, they really hammered us pretty good, and it was really hard for us to run the ball that first game. I feel like the numbers really don’t tell the story of the game. We got two big runs at the end of the game. They held us at bay. It’s going to be a challenge for us, partially because the scheme he runs makes it very difficult. I just know those guys are going to get better every week.”
(When you see them on film, what do you think of their pass rush?) – “It depends what scheme they’re running. Sometimes they’re in a position to where they’re more focused on the coverage and it’s more about pushing the pocket. Then there will be sometimes where they’ll pressure you and find different ways to shake some guys free, which on third down can become problematic, because they do some different things that are tough for offenses to pick up. Sometimes they’ll let those guys go and they’ll rush the passer. The biggest problem for us is what they’re going to do against us and what’s their theme going to be? What are they going to try to do against us? Because every game has been a little bit different. I still feel like there are a few guys they’re still trying to get a feel for, that are young players. As time goes on, it’s going to evolve during the season. Us being their third game, we’re probably going to see some different things.”
Adam Gase – September 20, 2017
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Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Why did LB Lawrence Timmons go AWOL?) – “That’s one of those … Everything dealing with that, we’re just going to keep in-house. We’ve handled it the way we feel like we need to handle it. And really, I don’t have anything to add to that.”
(Will LB Lawrence Timmons have a chance to come back to the team?) – “It’s going to be something that I’m going to keep in-house and I’ll decide on that later.”
(LB Stephone Anthony, the thinking there? How did this come about? Did you have your eye on him for a bit? How did this go?) – “Yes, this has been going on for a while. It just finally happened and we’re excited that we had an opportunity to add somebody to our roster that we feel like can help us.”
(Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has stated that LB Stephone Anthony has explosiveness and speed but that he needs to improve his mental game. In general, when you have a player that has outstanding athleticism but might be prone to mental errors, what are some ways that you and your coaches can help?) – “It’s hard because for me, personally, I haven’t had a chance to meet him yet. We’ll just kind go through our process and determine what we feel he fits for us and the right way for us to coach him and teach him and kind of make our own assessment of how we want to use him. It’s hard for me to say anything right now when I really don’t know, because I haven’t been around him.”
(Do you even know so much as whether LB Stephone Anthony fits more in the inside or outside? Have you even gotten that far yet?) – “No.”
(So is it fair to say that LB Lawrence Timmons will not practice and play this week?) – “Yes.”
(Getting back to the trade, so that it pre-dates anything of what’s been going on in the last week then with LB Lawrence Timmons?) – “Correct.”
(Regarding LB Lawrence Timmons, do you guys have all the information on what happened?) – “I mean, we’ll keep everything in-house. I’m not going to get into all this.”
(You established a certain culture over the last two years as it applies to everybody. When guys step outside the bounds of that culture, can they be forgiven? Or is it a ‘You’ve been on your own, you’re not part of us.’) – “I think every situation’s different and I would say that you can be forgiven if the right steps are taken.”
(It’s the Jets week. What worries you about the New York team?) – “Well, they’ve got some new faces. Really, that’s going to be the No. 1 thing we’ve got to sort through is some of the guys that we haven’t really played before. There are still a lot of familiar faces and we’re going to have to get ready for a veteran quarterback and a veteran running back. Defensively, they got pretty young in the back end this year and they’ve got two guys that can really roam around and run at the safety positions. It’s going to be a challenge for us, especially with (Jets Head) Coach (Todd) Bowles. He stops the run and that’s one of the things that we really like to hang our hat on and he does a good job of stopping them and he did a good a job against us last year. I know statistically it looked good on paper; but the first game we played against them, that was not easy sledding. We popped two runs right at the end of the game that kind of made it look like we had a better day than what we did. When we play these guys, it’s a physical game. It’s a division game. It’s one of those games, this is a tough game. This is one of those ones where you throw everything out of the window because it’s going to be slug fest.”
(Are you optimistic at this point that LB Rey Maualuga will be ready on Sunday or is it still too early to tell?) – “It’s too early for me to know that right now.”
(I used a calculator to determine that after one game, RB Jay Ajayi is on pace for 448 carries.) – “That’s great. (laughter) I was happy that we were balanced. That was good. It was one of those games where it easily could have become … you start throwing the ball too much, especially towards that last six minutes. Our faith in (Ajayi) is obviously very high. The guys were doing a great job of getting guys covered up and he was really hitting them. Hopefully as the season goes on, we can kind of start moving some guys in and out. He’s a hard guy to take out of the game because every time he touches the ball, it seems like good things happen. But I am aware that that was a lot of carries. He played a lot of snaps but he was a hard guy to get out of the game because he wasn’t really willing to come out of the game. I think he felt like it was tight and we needed him in that first game. I feel like we have a good plan going forward. We’ve just got to … We’ll keep an eye on him. We’ll have some days where we rest him and just make sure that he’s getting back to full strength for the next week.”
(How did C Mike Pouncey come out of this game?) – “He played really well. It’s really amazing, the fact that he doesn’t practice very much and he goes out there and grades out the way that he does. It’s hard to put into words when you watch him play. He just knows the right angles. He has an unbelievable feel for the game. The way he gets guys covered up on the second level, it doesn’t matter where their locations is, he seems to get it done. It was great having him back out there, just seeing him play, the attitude he has, how excited he was to get back on the field. A lot of people doubted him. Just him stepping on the field, that was goal No. 1 for him. Now it’s … We talked about it before, nothing less than 16-plus (games). He’s got that mindset. I think he’s looking for people to doubt him.”
(Does T Laremy Tunsil need some time to re-adjust from all of those guard reps to the speed he faces at tackle?) – “That sack was on me. That was supposed to be a quick-game type play and nobody was open. He was setting for the ball to come out quick. They’re not going to put my name on the stat sheet and say that I gave it up; but that was my fault. He did a good job the whole game. He battled two pretty good guys. The same thing with Ja’Wuan (James). Ja’Wuan did a really good job. Those two guys, going against them snap after snap, is not an easy task.”
(We’re only getting this obviously third-hand but it seems like LB Stephone Anthony has been dealing with a high-ankle issue out in New Orleans. Did he have a physical? Are you worried?) – “Yes, he had a physical. He was good.”
(So you think LB Stephone Anthony will be available this week?) – “Mhm, possibly.”
(You said you have to do a better job with the game plan. The first half was pretty conservative. Does that include letting QB Jay Cutler be more aggressive or is that just a game-by-game basis?) – “I think it’s just really how we feel like a team is going to play us. I was definitely going to account for the pass rush (against the L.A. Chargers), especially because I didn’t know what the noise level would be. I didn’t know if we would have to go silent count. There were a lot of unknowns there. We took a couple of shots early. We just didn’t connect on them. Jay made a couple of good plays to kind of move the pocket a little bit on his own and push the ball down the field. It was more of me just kind of feeling out how we were going to fare against them with Melvin (Ingram) and Joey (Bosa) on the edges and just kind of getting those guys used to real-life game speed in a real game. Both of those guys haven’t played since the third week of the preseason. That was more really the reason for us kind of getting the ball out quicker and leaning on the run a little bit.”
(Calling plays for QB Jay Cutler, is it like riding a bike again or is there a process of just finding out what works well with him and this team?) – “I know I’ve said it before but the system that we’ve kind of come to at this point really fits him better than what we had in Chicago when I was there the first time, because I was coming from an offense that was predominantly drop back. We didn’t have the play-actions that we do now because we weren’t running outside zone. We were running more inside zone, gap-scheme type team. This system really kind of fits him better. Really, it’s a continuation of what we were already doing. The biggest thing for me is just kind of knowing when to shut up when I’m talking to him. He does a good job of tuning me out. (laughter) When you’re with a guy for a full year, it’s a little easier to jump right back into.”
(DT Davon Godchaux didn’t start but he wound up playing quite a few more snaps than DT Jordan Phillips did. Was that a result of what you were seeing on the field?) – “No. Jordan actually got an ankle (injury) last game. It really was a credit to him. He kept trying to go back in there and take some snaps off those guys but that was one of the reasons that happened. When Jordan went in, he played well. He did a good job. He did his job. It was good to see how he tried to fight through that.”
(What did you think of DT Davon Godchaux?) – “I thought that whole front did a really good job. Obviously when you (play) a team that wants to run the ball and basically force them out of it, and make them pass exclusively because they don’t want to run it anymore, that’s usually a big plus.”
(Staying on those tackles, Chargers Head Coach Anthony Lynn mentioned DT Ndamukong Suh and how he was blowing up running plays early. What did you see from Suh on film?) – “I saw a guy that was not going to be blocked. When they were trying to run the ball, it didn’t matter if there was two guys on him or one guy, he was penetrating, creating negative plays (and) causing chaos. Basically the same thing I’ve seen every week since I’ve been here.”
(Did the focus on the run game maybe affect the lack of pass rush?) – “No, the ball was coming out fast. (Chargers QB) Philip (Rivers) was not holding onto that thing. For us to allow our pass rush to really get going, we either need to get a lead earlier, so it makes them one-dimensional in the fashion where they have to push the ball down the field, and we’ve got to tighten up outside a little bit. We’ve got to understand, we have to cover them tight and make it hard for the quarterbacks. We’ve got to not allow them to throw the first progression, and that’s something that we keep talking about and we’ve been working on. That’s part of the growth of the season. You’re trying to get better every week and that’s one of the things we just need to get better at.”
(Your team seems to do well with that next-man-up mentality, adapting to that, buying into it. What can you say about that? How would you rate that skill? Is it above average, average for the NFL?) – “(It’s about) the kind of players we have. It’s each guy, whether they’re here or somewhere else. If that guy is built that way, where he feels like ‘If I become the starter, I’m going to do as good a job or do my job as well as I can,’ then it’s going to be good enough for what we need. I just think a lot of it has to do with the guys that we’ve got on this roster.”
(You mentioned outside zone in conjunction with play action. How does that lend itself to play action as opposed to inside zone?) – “It’s a tougher protection probably to defend, because the way that the outside zone run game is, when a guy sticks his foot in the ground and goes vertical, you’re closing down on the edge. You’re really unblocked. If you make that play in the run game, great; but if all of the sudden we’re booting out or we’re setting up and you’re doing that, then all of the sudden you’re blocked, there’s nothing in the quarterback’s face and he’s got a lot of time. I understand, the more I’ve been in this, why we saw Atlanta have the success they had last year. (Falcons QB) Matt Ryan really took advantage of that, him and (Falcons WR) Julio (Jones). Seeing a lot of these teams, like the old Denver teams, just watching a lot of these types of play actions, it makes sense to me why it’s worked.”
Adam Gase – September 18, 2017
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Monday, September 18, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Do you have any updates on LB Lawrence Timmons and his situation?) – “No, not currently.”
(Do you expect that LB Lawrence Timmons will play next Sunday or way too soon to know that?) – “I haven’t even gotten through Step 1 yet. We kind of got in a little late last night so I’m kind of dealing with the guys that played.”
(Have you talked to LB Lawrence Timmons?) – “No.”
(Is LB Lawrence Timmons in the building?) – “No idea.”
(One of the things you guys did very well yesterday was stop the run, which had been such a focus throughout the offseason. What pleased you most in terms of what you did to accomplish that?) – “I felt like we had very few missed tackles. I thought the entire defense did a good job playing off each other. We had one that kind of got us for a longer run; but for the most part, everybody was in the right gaps, playing fast, a lot of gang tackling, a lot of guys around the ball just collapsing everything. It was really good to see.”
(S Reshad Jones said after the game that he would’ve liked to do a better job of getting hands on receivers and not allowing them up the field as much. What is your assessment of the secondary and their performance in the game?) – “It’s a tough matchup. Philip (Rivers), these last – the Denver game and then our game – those are two of the better games that I’ve seen him play in the last couple years. He was really on it. He did an outstanding job with getting the ball out. It really took our rush away by the way he was finding guys open quick and letting guys make plays in shorter, intermediate areas. We keep trying to get tighter and tighter in coverage, and he does have playmakers. It’s tough. They’re going to win some battles and they’re going to get open. We just got to keep trying to find ways to get our hands on guys and be as tight as we can early so that rush can get home and make them get off the first progression. But yesterday, he was getting the ball out quick.”
(Play calling, obviously, offensively for you was more aggressive in the third quarter. Do you think that’s fair to say? Was that something that QB Jay Cutler good-naturedly encouraged you to do at halftime or entirely your thinking?) – “No. I thought the first drive was really … I called a wide receiver pass and end around in the first drive. (laughter) We just had those three-and-outs. I didn’t like … I felt a little lull – off rhythm – in that second quarter. I felt like I was holding our guys back and that third quarter really put it on getting Jay Ajayi the ball and finding ways to let the receivers win one-on-one opportunities. We didn’t really get the opportunities we wanted with Julius (Thomas) because of what they were playing. Then letting Jay (Cutler) make some plays with his feet, scrambling. Those guys really took over that game. We kept it fairly simple and they won their one-on-one matchups. That really changed a lot of it for us.”
(LB Mike Hull ended up playing every defensive snap, led the team in tackles. What’d you see from his performance?) – “(It is) what he has done since really we got here. Every time we put him in the game, he knows how to play football. He has a knack for finding the ball. He anticipates probably better than a lot of guys. I think he can see things different. Anytime anybody tries to run anything that just seems like a misdirection play, he never falls for it. He’s always going the way the ball carrier is going. He’s one step ahead of most guys when it comes to anticipating run plays or pass plays.”
(CB Bobby McCain played like three quarters of the game. I assume you guys were in nickel. Was that an adjustment because of…) – “They were playing three wide receivers, so that was … That’s really the NFL now. Last year I think Bobby had close to 700 snaps maybe out of 1,000. That’s just kind of what it is now.”
(Had you and Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke gone in with the thinking yesterday of letting CB Byron Maxwell play every play as opposed to letting CB Alterraun Verner come in for a couple series?) – “Yes, I don’t think we … He had a good week of practice. I think they both had a good week of practice. Byron was a good matchup for us. We felt like he matched up against those guys well. We liked him to get his hands on those guys and try to grapple with them a little bit. We’ll just keep working on getting better at certain aspects of how we want to play defense. That’s part of the process of the season. We’ll keep making adjustments and trying to find what this group of guys will do best.”
(Now that you’ve had the chance to look at the tape, LB Chase Allen’s performance, what did you think of it? And do you feel like you need to add some depth at linebacker?) – “I though he did a great job. I love the fact that the first play of defense (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) brings everybody, which I thought was aggressive. I love that. (Allen) gets in on the first play and made another play, just anticipating what was going on up front, shot to the sideline and knocked the guy out of bounds. Whoever we got here, we’ll get guys better and we’ll feel good about it entering Sunday.”
(I know you said you didn’t have an update on LB Lawrence Timmons, but how is that going into a game with just a handful of linebackers at your disposal?) – “We’ve had a lot worst situations at other positions before. We’re used to adjusting. It’s not a big deal for us.”
(I know you’re not in position or willing at this point to talk about specifics with LB Lawrence Timmons. Can you just say from a general standpoint or are you willing to say if you expect him to be on the team going forward? Is that something you’re willing to say at this point?) – “No. I have nothing to add for what I have right now. I’m really just gathering a lot of information. I’ve got a few other things I’ve got to deal with, with the guys that played yesterday.”
(I don’t know if it came out in the postgame since I wasn’t there but the timeout with 10 seconds left, what was the…?) – “Well, we were trying to leave enough time to where if he made (the kick), we could run another play. Philip (Rivers) was stopping all of those guys trying to run on the field. With a quarterback that has been doing it for about 15 years, stopped them and was going to clock it with 2 seconds left. That’s what was going on there. We tried to call it with 12 seconds left, but we got 10. So if he kicks it and makes it, at least we got a chance. Maybe you start running around and throwing the ball around and see if you could get something going.”
(Just overall thoughts on QB Jay Cutler?) – “Jay did a good job. He executed what we asked him to do. He was good in the run game. He threw the ball well and made some great plays off schedule. Those guys just seem to … They are learning each other. He keeps everything calm. He doesn’t get too high or too low. I know he wishes he had that one throw back to Jarvis (Landry) in the red zone. We were just a little bit off on that one. I know we were excited about having the opportunity to run that one and that was something we had been working on. I think we had that up in 2015 and I think that’s the first time I got to call it. We were close on that. That would’ve been a great one to have, but we still got points out of it. I thought he did well though. He made some … That throw he had to DeVante (Parker) was a really good play, just on that scramble drill. Those guys do a good job when things start breaking down. We’re finding guys now.”
(WR Kenny Stills gets that mismatch with the linebacker and QB Jay Cutler hit him for a touchdown. Is that a byproduct of going up-tempo and not allowing them to sub in and sub out?) – “No, that was really just the coverage they were playing. They played it a little different than we had actually thought. Kenny did a good job of staying on course and Jay got flushed and Kenny saw that matchup. That’s a tough one. It’s one of those deals where you’re hoping the rush gets there and he broke the pocket. It made it tough to where that linebacker has to try to at least shield that guy off. The extension of the play really helps that.”
(You guys have been focusing on the game so much. Now that you have the time to step back and be individuals and join your families, things of that nature, was anybody affected that you know of by the hurricane?) – “I’m sure guys … there are still a few guys (without) power and things like that. We were trying to gather as much information as we could. I’ll probably know more of everybody’s individual status by the end of the day. As of right now, really anything that I’ve been told has been guys without power. I know driving home last night, just the debris on the sides of the road was really, where I live, that’s what I saw. It was pretty late so I was just trying to get home.”
(Initial shock at all of what you saw?) — “I guess I didn’t know what to expect. So I was just more focused on just going to bed.”
(Did you and Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach Chris Foerster go into yesterday planning to play G/T Jesse Davis at left guard or was that based on how C/G Anthony Steen was playing?) – “No, that was … We were going to play them both.”
(How do you think G/T Jesse Davis and C/G Anthony Steen did?) – “I thought both of them did well. They’re not making it real easy on us to make any kind of decision long term so that’s good. I think having competition like that and two guys that really want to be out there, I think that’s a good thing.”
(I don’t know … That Sunday morning after the roster was cut down – Labor Day weekend. I don’t know if you were sitting with Executive Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum and General Manager Chris Grier that day, but when K Cody Parkey became available, this is no disrespect to K Andrew Franks, who did good things here; but was that a no-brainer for you guys sitting there when K Cody Parkey became available?) – “He was really the guy that we were going to target. We didn’t know how it would shake out. We had a list of guys that … ‘Rizz’ (Associate Head Coach/Special Team Coordinator Darren Rizzi) and ‘Moof’ (Assistant Special Teams Coach Marwan Maalouf) did a good job of kind of building cases for where Andrew (Franks) was compared to other guys and where we could have gone. We felt like he was a guy that really would help us and they felt good about it. He helped us out yesterday, I know that.”
(I assume the prime thought in signing him was long kicks like that. Right? I mean he’s 6-for-6 in his career from 50-plus.) – “To me it was just make them. I don’t care where it is.”
(Did K Cody Parkey pop on your radar when the Browns drafted a kicker?) – “Yes, I think … ‘Rizz’ (Darren Rizzi) and ‘Moof’ (Marwan Maalouf) do a good job of just making sure they know the league and understand where competitions are going on and what the possibilities are. You just never know what anybody else is going to do. You just keep preparing and if a guy pops available that you like, you just have to be ready to make a move and make an adjustment.”
(How do you assess your linebacker position now going into the next game?) – “Well, right now those guys did a pretty good job. They did what they were asked to do and made a lot of tackles between the three of them. We’ll kind of figure that out over the next few days, what we’re going to do and kind of how we want to play. Possibly, if we have to make some adjustments to what we want to do versus certain personnel groups, we will. That’s what this game is all about. You just kind of figure out who you’ve got on the roster and make adjustments.”
(What did you think of tackle just before the half that WR DeVante Parker thought was a low hit?) – “Yes, I mean that’s how guys are going to hit. It was tough play on the sideline. (Parker) is trying to get his feet down. They guy is trying to prevent him from getting his feet down. It happened so fast. I guess I was more concerned of whether or not he was alright. I didn’t know if he was alright because he kind of stayed down for a second. It was hard for me to see exactly what happened until I watched film today, but that’s kind of … I don’t know. That’s football. You don’t want him to stay inbounds. They’re going to do what they have to do to keep him inbounds.”
(How from a TV standpoint, when you guys … How un-football like was the environment like? You’ve got 27,000 seat stadium that wasn’t full.) – “I mean I wasn’t paying attention. I was worried about what was going on on the field. I don’t know. I’m in a different world.”
(Do you consider yourself to be a coach who has a lot of rules or just a few pretty basic ones?) – “Be on time and play hard. I don’t know if that’s real hard.”
(With those being the rules, when those are violated in your mind, what’s your tolerance level generally?) – “What do you think? They’ve got two rules. It’s not hard.”
(Sorry if you addressed this in Oxnard, but when you found out that a few of your players had paid for the Miami Central Football team that was stranded in Vegas and helped them get back. I mean you’re the leader of these guys. What does that say to you about the group of guys that you lead in that locker room?) – “I think there is … That’s a great example of something that people found out about; but I do think those guys in particular, and other guys on the team, do a lot of things that kind of go under the radar. Our guys do a great job of always looking to reach out and help. I’ve noticed that it seems like we have more and more guys doing that, especially this last … since this spring on, since we really kind of restart up. It just shows you the kind of character our guys have. I think it shows kind of when you see them on Sunday, kind of that no quit attitude. Just kind of the toughness they have to fight throughout an entire game kind of translated off the field, to where it’s about more than just themselves. Those are the kind of guys we want.”
Cody Parkey – September 18, 2017
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Monday, September 18, 2017
K Cody Parkey
(Growing up as a Dolphins fan, would you ever watch games and see Uwe von Schamann or one of their other kickers kick a field goal and think, ‘That could be me someday’? Did that thought ever go through your mind?) – “At the time, no. Of course not. But yes, growing up and watching Olindo Mare and all of those guys, watching those guys kick, I always thought it would be pretty cool to do so. Now I’m here, so it’s awesome.”
(You’re 6-for-6 from 50 yards and beyond. I know it’s not a huge sample size, but how much confidence does that give you from that mark?) – “Yes. I’m very confident in all of my kicks in that range and in. I kind of treat them all the same. I’ve been very fortunate that they’re falling for me from that range, so I just continue to stick to my routine and go from there.”
(Being a relatively local person from Jupiter, what’s this like to kick a game-winning field goal for your home team?) – “It’s cool. It’s still sinking in a little bit; but at the same time, I’m a guy that’s like ‘Alright, let’s go to the next game now.’ It’s in the past now. It happened yesterday, so I’m already looking forward to going and getting a win vs. the Jets.”
(Did you used to go to Dolphins games?) – “Yes, we would go to like one per year. Nothing crazy, but Sunday when 1 p.m. hits, we were glued to the TV.”
(As a kid, were there times when you were envisioning kicking a game-winning field goal for the Dolphins one day?) – “I just remember watching a couple of scenarios like that, like that would be cool. I never pictured myself doing it, per se; but as I got better at kicking growing up, I was like ‘Yes, that would be pretty cool to play for the Dolphins.’ So yes, it was something I obviously never really thought would happen; but I’m here and it’s pretty cool.”
(How did you get interested in kicking and when did you start) – “I started in sixth grade. I played Pop Warner football. I played offensive line, linebacker, and kicker, and then in high school I just kicked, and then I got into kicking camps. My dad was really the one that showed a lot of dedication in me. He always motivated me, so I went out there and practiced really hard and I got to where I’m at today.”
(Did you find your teammates being nicer to you today than they were before yesterday?) – “Oh, yeah! (Laughter) No, they were cool. I think they all learned my name yesterday. (laughter) I still haven’t been here too long so it’s pretty cool. It was awesome. It was really awesome.”
(Anybody make the mistake and call you Parker?) – “I’ve had a lot of people do that, but nobody on the team, no. (laughter)”
(Your confidence in the 50 yarders, is a lot of that built just every day in practice?) – “Yes. You hit those kicks a couple of times in practice. I mostly focus on 50 and in, but there’s always a couple in practice where we hit those. You go in warmups and hit kicks like that and it gets you confident for the game.”
(In practicing from that distance, how often do you make them? What would you say your percentage is of making those kicks?) – “I mean pretty high. Anything that’s within my range that my leg can do, I feel like I’m a pretty accurate kicker. I go out there and try to kick it the same as I would an extra point, and not really try to emphasize it, and I think that’s maybe why I’ve had success. A little bit of luck here and there always helps, but I’m very blessed to be where I’m at.”
(Did Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi say anything to you before the kick?) – “Nope. I walked on the field and he kind of knew to let me do my routine and I think that’s the best way to do it. Don’t add any emphasis on it, just go out there and kick it.”
