Clyde Christensen – November 10, 2017
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Friday, November 10, 2017
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(How did the two-running-back system work for you last week?) – “I thought they did a good job. We had the fumble – which was a huge play in the game – that we can’t have. It was a huge play in the game – a big swing. I think it was good because it kept the numbers reasonable for them. I think it would have been a big load for any of them to take completely themselves. We’re better off when there is both of them. We probably need to get the third guy (Senorise Perry) working a little bit. Just percentages say it’s hard to make it through a whole half of a season with two guys not having an incident or two – a hiccup or two. I thought it worked out well. They’re good that way.”
(When you say the third guy, do you mean RB Senorise Perry?) – “Yes. I think we just have to have him ready to go also. You just don’t know. All of a sudden he’s two snaps away. The thing that makes it a little interesting is those two guys (Kenyan Drake and Damien Williams) are such key special teams players. They’ve had their reps cut down on special teams but they’re still special teams players, so you can lose them on the opening kickoff. You can lose them somewhere in the special teams game. The third guy is important also. Senorise is coming on. He’s working hard. He knows that he’s in the bullpen, so to speak, and better be ready to go.”
(You could have on Monday one offensive lineman, C/G Ted Larsen, that hasn’t played a down all season starting against a very good defense. You could have another playing a position he’s never started at in the league in G/T Jesse Davis. How worried are you?) – “I don’t know if worried is the right word but it’s not ideal. It’s just the way the league is right now, just with all of these injuries. The good thing is we played Jesse Davis all over the place. I remember talking to you guys about that we probably hurt the kid as far as his progressing (by playing him at a lot of different positions) probably is now an advantage. All of a sudden, now he’s going to have to play some tackle and do some stuff like that. These guys always amaze me that veteran guys come back and get it back quickly. I hope that will be the case with Ted. The same thing, it trickles all the way down. You’ll have Sam (Young) and some other guys who have to be ready to go too, that everyone moves up a slot.”
(Where is your confidence level that G/T Jesse Davis could start for a good portion of the season at tackle?) – “It’s high. You’d rather go the whole year or go three years without having an inexperienced guy starting for half of the season. Ideally from a coaching standpoint, you’d like to have veteran guys and veteran backups and guys with experience; but I just think the league, the way it is now with the injuries, with the roster, with the salary cap and all of those things, you’re going to have to depend on some guys who don’t have a ton of reps under their belt. In an ideal world, it wouldn’t happen; but in the real world, it’s happening every day all around the league. That’s the case.”
(Anything in particular about G/T Jesse Davis’ skill set that you like?) – “Yes, he’s long. He’s a conscientious guy. Football means a lot to him. Skill set wise, he’s a big, long guy. I do think he’s suited to play tackle. I do think his skill set – as far as being versatile and having played a ton of positions, a ton of different places and a ton of different practices and games – is probably going to be to his advantage. I wish we had a couple of JV games here first before we go play on Monday Night Football, that we could slip him into the JV game tomorrow afternoon and let him get a little experience before the varsity game; but we can’t. (laughter) That’s the deal.”
(QB Jay Cutler had statistically his best game of the season last week. Was it actually his best game of the season?) – “I think it probably was, yes. He looked comfortable. He threw the ball accurately – more accurately. He protected the ball. He was extremely prudent with the ball. We all thought that he looked comfortable. I think some of it probably is that he’s getting more and more comfortable. If we can keep the arrow going up that way, that would be huge. We didn’t have the drops. We caught the ball. I thought there were some positive things. It was a no-interception game. I don’t know that there was a ball that was close to being intercepted. That’s huge for us. That’s huge. All of a sudden now, then a fumble shows up and I won’t say it lost the game, but those are tight games with tight margins and that’s a big one.”
(How much do you think the pass catching of the running backs has helped QB Jay Cutler and the offense evolve?) – “For the one game that we’ve been doing it, a lot. The check downs … I think the backs caught 12 balls, is that right? They caught 12 balls and I don’t know what the average was…”
(It was 82 yards.) – “So they were 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 10-yard plays. That’s huge. That’s huge to be able to check the thing down, especially in that game where they were hurt in the secondary and it turned to kind of a zone game. To be able to hit those guys and then be able to turn them up and run with them is really big. That touchdown was an extra effort … Damien (Williams) with the extra effort and stuff. Those are really big. The one thing we do know about these two backs is that they’re exceptional, they have exceptional receiving skills. They’re very good receivers and they have a big-play ability in them. They have a knack for making big plays and hopefully with their numbers being up, their ratios will stay the same and they’ll make more big plays because they’re playing more snaps.”
(Are you seeing anything different from TE Julius Thomas the past couple of weeks?) – “Yes, I think his production is up and that always makes you a little more confident and gets the quarterback looking over there a little bit more. I do think his confidence is up. I don’t know that there is anything specific but it’s amazing how when you get feeling it, you just look better and have a little more bounce in your step, and practice … Everything looks a little bit better. I do think that’s been good for us, just for him to get a little bit of confidence.”
(Where does WR Jarvis Landry fall? I know you’ve coached a lot of good receivers. Where does he fall in that category?) – “I don’t know. He’s a good player. He’s having an extremely productive year. I know this, he’s a tough guy. Reggie Wayne was an extremely tough guy. Pierre Garcon was a tough guy. This guy is a tough guy. It’s always amazing. It’s fun to have a receiver who likes contact, who likes to mix it up in there. Those guys aren’t all over the place. He’s unique that way. He’s got elite hands. His hands amaze me. Every day in practice he does something that has a ‘wow factor’ to it, just how good of hands he has. I do think he’s a good football player.”
(Your tackles have faced some good pass rushers – Melvin Ingram, Khalil Mack – you’ve got a couple of good ones this week. How have they done as a group, whether it’s T Sam Young or T Ja’Wuan James with T Laremy Tunsil?) – “I would use the same word that we’ve been inconsistent. We’ve done well at times and then we’ve been loose at times. I don’t think it’s been just whiffs, but we’ve been too loose. We’ve just been inconsistent. We’ve got to find more consistency in the protection unit and in the offensive line. You sure can’t get whatever it was – five holding calls. That’s hard. That makes for a hard (game). You’re not going to beat many teams like that where you’re first-and-20 or second-and-20. Then we had the huge callback of a couple of big plays. Was it fourth or third down … The fourth-and-9 I guess gets called back that’s a conversion. That’s a huge play because that’s a minute and a half of clock. If you go down and score right there, you’ve got some time outs left and you’ve got more time on the clock. The other one that went down inside the 15 is a 20-plus-yard play that got called back. That’s bad ball. That’s bad football. We have to eliminate it. You can’t get where we want to go and play bad football.”
(When you look at WR Jarvis Landry’s production, he’s averaging 7 yards a catch, which is like 5 yards less than he did last year. Why do you think that is?) – “I don’t know. I don’t have something that just hits me specifically. Sometimes it’s just the way it falls and all of a sudden … I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you on that.”
(When you look at the Panthers defense on film, what is it that stands out and what do they do really well?) – “Here are a couple of things that stand out: 1) We pulled out some film of watching practice with them two years ago and it’s the same defense and many of the same players. I’ve always had a special respect for people who keep things the same. They keep the same system, they keep the same coaches for the most part – they hired from within on the defensive staff. They’ve been doing it a long time with a lot of the same players – the same key players – so I think that’s the first thing that jumps out is that they know what they’re doing. They’re a very, very good team defense. They’re very well coached. They know how to adjust. They’re aggressive. Now you plug in that they have some really, really good players – a premier guy up front, a couple of premier guys in the middle and a couple of premier guys in the back. They’re very talented to go with their experience, which is a great formula for success, which they’re having. They’re the No. 1 defense in the league and they’re playing extremely, extremely well. It’s a good challenge, a good challenge on a third national TV game in a row. We have to prove we can win one. This is the kind of game that if you want to get where we want to go, you’ve got to go win one of these games in a prime time, (against a) prime team and a team that’s playing extremely well. This is a big game.”
T.J. McDonald – November 9, 2017
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Thursday, November 9, 2017
S T.J. McDonald
(What has this experience been like for you?) – “It’s been humbling. It’s been tough to sit back and watch, but I’ve been doing what I can to be here for my teammates and it’s definitely made me appreciate the game. I’ve done everything I can to get back right and being around this building, being around these guys, has kept me going and kept me pushing.”
(You were allowed to be in the building the entire time, is that correct?) – “Yes, I was allowed to go to meetings. I was still working out. (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach) Dave Puloka, (Manager of Skills Development) Mike Wahle, (Director of Sports Performance) Wayne Diesel, they all helped me stay right. I felt good today.”
(How do you describe the feeling when this week comes around?) – “Last week was the longest week ever, I’ll tell you that. (laughter) That was the longest week. This week, the biggest thing for me is just trying to make sure I stay the same player and not get too high, not get too low. I’m not going to go out there and try to press, try to force myself to make a play. I’m just (going to) play the game like I know how. I’ve played a lot of games in this league, so just play the game like I know how, let the plays come to me and play hard.”
(What was the hardest part about this process for you?) – “Watching the games on Sundays, not being able to be in the stadium, not being able to get the true feeling of a win or be able to make the corrections after a loss and just be able to sit there and be in a shadow. That was tough, but I’m back here now and I’ve done everything I can to make sure that my body is right, my mind’s right and I’m ready to go.”
(Where would you watch the games? At home usually?) – “Yes, I’d watch the games at home. I’d watch the games at home or even, Tony Lippett is on IR and we’d watch the games together to be able to keep that camaraderie going and be able to see what the mistakes are and what the good things that we’re doing are. That’s been helpful.”
(Kind of weird, though, to be sitting there watching on TV?) – “Yes, especially when you’re healthy. You feel like you can go out there and help.”
(That’s probably the longest layoff of football in your life.) – “Yes. I was on designated IR my rookie year; but that was for about six weeks and I came back. I was able to practice, but this was a little different.”
(Did you turn off any of the games before they ended or did you stay with them wire to wire?) – “No, once I started watching, I was glued in.”
(Even the 40-0 game against the Ravens?) – “Yes. I was just seeing what things were going wrong. I’m in here and I see these guys work their ass off every day, so I definitely want to see the fruits on Sunday. When that doesn’t happen, I’m not just going to turn the game off. I just want to be able to see it and be around, and like I said before, these guys have been keeping me going this whole time.”
(How was it like at practice today?) – “It was good. I tried to run around as much as I could. I’m definitely taking this preparation very seriously and everything, so it was good. It felt good. It felt like I was able to run around. I’ve still got to tune up some things, stay in the meeting room and stay on top of things; but like I said, this is not something that’s new to me. It’s definitely a great feeling.”
(Do you feel like you’re physically able to play an NFL game on Monday?) – “Yes.”
(Is this going to feel like a season opener or how would you describe it? It’s a weird deal. November, your first game.) – “I guess it kind of feels like a season opener for me; but this team’s got one goal. We’re just worried about winning this next game, so it’s not about me. For me, I just want to go out here and play and help these guys win.”
(How can you and S Reshad Jones complement one another on the football field?) – “We’re just two guys that want to win. We want to win. We want to make plays. We’re going to play aggressive. I definitely feed off of him and all of that. We’re two dudes that want to win. I want to win. I’m passionate about the game and I think that in itself, is going to be able to help make a difference.”
(As far as the skillset is concerned, as well, how do you guys complement each other’s skillset?) – “We’re welcome to do whatever they ask us to do. Whatever (Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke) asks us to do, I feel like we’re both capable to play deep, play in the box, whatever they want us to do – come blitz. It helps us be able to show different looks because you never know which one’s down, which one’s back. We’ll be able to come out here and do some different things.”
(Have you fulfilled all of your legal obligations?) – “It’s in the process.”
(How anxious are you to hit a receiver coming across the middle and make your presence felt that way?) – “I definitely want my presence felt. That’s what I love about the game. I want to make those pads pop and that’s what I’m going to do on Monday.”
Jay Cutler – November 9, 2017
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Wednesday, November 9, 2017
QB Jay Cutler
(We’re at the midpoint of the season now. How do you feel you’ve played in your first eight games?) – “I think we talked about it today. I don’t think it can be a concern for us. We’ve just got to try to get better each and every week, and this week we’re just worried about Carolina.”
(With your rib situation, when do you actually feel it – which motions or movements on the field does it restrict you?) – “I mean if I get hit. That’s about it. Other than that, I feel pretty good.”
(You’re throwing has looked – in practice and in the game – looked the same as it always had.) – “Thank you.”
(Has it affected you at all?) – “No, not really. It felt good. It felt good Sunday night.”
(You’re the FedEx Air Player of the Week. I guess you’ll get a FedEx truck or something?) – “What am I going to do with my FedEx truck? (laughter) I don’t know. I’ve never had a FedEx truck before. (laughter) Do you have to pay taxes on it do you think? (laughter)”
(I don’t know.) – “Damn. (laughter)”
(Nice honor, not nice honor? You don’t care?) – “I mean we’ve got to win games. You can have all the FedEx trucks in the world; but we’re about one thing and that’s winning football games. If you’re not doing that, you’re not doing enough.”
(What do you see from the Carolina defense?) – “Incredible. Incredible defense. I’ve played against those guys before. The core group of guys are still there. ‘59’ (Luke Kuechly) and ‘58’ (Thomas Davis), they control everything. They’re incredibly smart players. They get everyone else in position. They get out of checks if they don’t like them, get out of calls that they don’t like, and get into something that’s better. The front seven is still getting after the passer. They mix up coverages and do enough on the back end to keep you guessing a little bit and bring some edge pressures. It’s a really solid group.”
(With RB Kenyan Drake and RB Damien Williams in the backfield, how does that change your approach as far as throwing more passes to running backs?) – “I think it’s a strength of theirs. I think it’s something they do extremely well. They’ve got a really good feel for getting out of the backfield, finding soft spots. Obviously, the run after the catch is something that they’re really, really good at. I think (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) did a good job calling plays Sunday and trying to feature that a little bit for us.”
(Can you talk about patience as a quarterback? A lot of times a quarterback by their own nature will want to throw the ball downfield. In this instance, even Sunday night, there were a lot of break offs, a lot of short stuff. Does it take a little bit more patience-wise from a quarterback to have to be patient and take the little stuff?) – “I think one ball we kind of chucked it down to DeVante (Parker) on the left sideline. That was kind of the only ball that I felt like I forced into something that I probably shouldn’t have. I probably should’ve checked that one down, too. The defense, that’s kind of what they gave us. I think (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) did a really good job of tempering his play calls and then putting us in situations where we’re going to be successful.”
(What did you think of RB Damien Williams’ touchdown?) – “Nothing really surprising. I think the kid is an unbelievable football player.”
(So, that approach worked, obviously. Can you continue that approach or is it based on only what the defense will allow?) – “I think it’s a little bit of both. I think every team wants to get the ball out pretty quickly and get it to their playmakers. There are certain defenses that you want to take advantage of and try to take some shots a little bit deeper. Going into this week, we’ll see how they want to play us. Adam is going to do a good job of trying to call plays that give us the best opportunity to win football games.”
(Now entering November, how exciting is it to still have everything as far as playoff possibilities and all this stuff still available in front of you?) – “Everything is in front of us. We kind of control what our future is. I think this group does a good job of staying focused on one week at a time. This week is Carolina. We’ve got a Monday game and got a little bit (of an) extra day, so we should be prepared.”
(Have you found there to be a difference in November, December football versus early season?) – “Yes, I think so. The good teams, they figure it out. They start getting better. They start executing really well and they find ways to win games, no matter what it takes. I think that’s the difference (in) November, December. If you want to be in it at the end, this is when you have to figure out how to play your best football.”
(The last three games that you’ve been in, do you feel like something has been better in the passing game than it was early?) – “I think it’s a case of us just executing, us just getting better as a football team. Offensively, you look at all the penalties we had Sunday night. If you take those away, we’re going to feel pretty good about ourselves. I think we’ve gotten better and better and better. We’ve had a few hiccups here and there, but we’ve kind of been trending in the positive direction.”
(Have they told you when you’ll start to feel normal with the ribs, how many more weeks?) – “I feel pretty normal now.”
(It doesn’t affect you at all?) – “No.”
(Sleeping or laying down?) – “No, I slept well last night.”
Ndamukong Suh – November 9, 2017
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Thursday, November 9, 2017
DT Ndamukong Suh
(How’s your knee?) – “I’m well. I’m looking forward to Monday.”
(So you’re a go for Monday? No question?) – “You’ve got to ask (Head Coach Adam) Gase. He makes the final call.”
(I think if you say you’re good, Head Coach Adam Gase will say you can play.) – “He’s got all the power so you just have to wait for him to decide and hopefully I’m up on Monday.”
(What do you see as the challenges of playing against Panthers QB Cam Newton?) – “He’s an elite running back in the quarterback position. He obviously has a great arm as well; that’s why he plays quarterback. He’s a great challenge for us. I enjoy playing against him. I enjoyed two years ago going up there and practicing against him and that team. I think it was good for this team, as we did against Philly this past year. I’m excited. I think it’s going to be a great opportunity, obviously being on the road again, underneath the lights. Hopefully we’ll come out on the right side.”
(How disappointing has it been that you guys have been in front of a nationally televised audience and haven’t produced a win?) – “I would say at the end of the day, we just haven’t gotten our job done – whether it’s a national television game, one o’clock game, afternoon game, primetime game – we want to be successful in all situations, in all games, because every one means the most and obviously we’ve got to take care of this week’s business to get to where we want to be.”
(How did you injure yourself in the game? Can you tell us what happened?) – “Did I injure myself? I didn’t injure myself. (laughter)”
(What was the incident where it happened on Sunday?) – “It was on the play, the sack-fumble, and then I was just going after the ball. It’s football. I understand things happen and trying to stay out of the way and make plays.”
(So it was just the impact of somebody’s leg?) – “Honestly, I’ve refused to watch the film (of the injury). Let that be that. You can make your own interpretation from there.”
(So you haven’t seen the play?) – “I’ve seen the first half of it. (laughter) I haven’t seen the tail end of it. I saw up to Kiko (Alonso) making a great play on (Marshall) Newhouse and getting the ball back out for us.”
(I know you guys were frustrated about the loss but has there been a lot of talk in the locker room about RB Damien Williams’ touchdown?) – “In what regard?”
(Just the touchdown that RB Damien Williams had.) – “He’s an elite back. He’s a guy that we know that when we put the ball in his hand, he’s electric and can make plays. I think we’ve seen various sparks of him, especially early in the year when the carries were split between three guys. Now he has an opportunity to play a little bit more. He’s a great guy coming out of the backfield from a passing threat, as well as running out of the backfield. We expect for him to make plays and ever since I’ve been here, I’ve always seen him as a great threat.”
(Going back to your sack-strip, do you recall the last time you actually flew at a quarterback to swipe a ball like that?) – “No, I don’t really recall. It’s something that honestly, my d-line coach (Terrell Williams) challenge me to do. I saw the opportunity and did it.”
(With Panthers QB Cam Newton, obviously everybody knows he’s an athletic quarterback. How difficult is it for a defensive lineman regarding containment when you have a player like that?) – “I think that’s the biggest thing is that when you worry about containment, you’ve already kind of lost. For me as a player, as a guy that has played against athletic quarterbacks and specifically Cam himself, you just go out there and take your shots. The way we have our defense set up and the way we know we can rush, and at the same time the help that we have in the back end, you just go out there and play.”
(Most quarterbacks are kind of … when they’re about to get sacked, they kind of crumple up. What does Panthers QB Cam Newton do? Does he try to take somebody on or get out of there?) – “Cam is a little bit different in the way that he’s a bigger body, so he can shrug things and he feels like he can overpower through most tackles, especially when he sees little guys. I have noticed that when he’s going against bigger guys, he’s going to shy away a little bit; but at the end of the day, he knows how to move around the pocket. He’s been doing it all of his career. I remember watching him at Auburn and being successful there. At the end of the day, you just have to make sure one, you go after the ball first and foremost; but two, you get after his right arm and make sure he can’t throw the ball and get rid of it.”
(You’ve been around S T.J. McDonald for a while now, six months or so probably. What are you guys getting when he returns?) – “Man, I’m excited about T.J. coming back. One, he’s going to have fresh legs, so he should be running all over the field and having fun. Secondly, he’s just an elite DB that has the ability to play in the box as well as in coverage. I think in preseason and really in camp, when I have a chance to be on the field with him at the same time, he just finds the ball and makes plays. I’m excited for him to come out there and be able to do that.”
Adam Gase – November 9, 2017
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Thursday, November 9, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Do you think a guy like S T.J. McDonald can change the disposition of an entire secondary in the way he plays?) – “I think he can help us tremendously. I think with his presence back there, with a guy with his size, his speed, his range and his football knowledge, I think that only helps us.”
(Both S T.J. McDonald and S Reshad Jones are considered in-the-box safeties. Are you certain that they can play well together and have the range to serve as that center field?) – “Yes, we felt really with what we were doing in training camp, and it gives us a lot of flexibility to be able to put either one in the box, blitz either one or play either one in the middle of the field. We feel like we’ve got a good … We have two guys that complement each other well.”
(With C/G Ted Larsen, has he progressed to the point where you guys are comfortable playing him?) – “We’ll find out today. Today will be really a good step for us because he’ll be able to practice the entire practice, or at least go in the team periods and stuff, where last week, that Wednesday we didn’t. We weren’t able to do that. We just did the individual.”
(We haven’t seen C/G Ted Larsen obviously, since I guess August. What was the allure to him back in free agency when you brought him in?) – “One of the things that we wanted to make sure we did was one: add some veteran presence on the offensive side because we knew we weren’t going to be able to make too many moves, because we have a lot of young guys that we like; and we felt like at that position and kind of where he’s been in his career and some of the coaches that he’s been with, we felt like we had a really good connection. We were trying to bring in some guys that we knew. We had an idea of how we would run our system and how he fit in, and I felt like he was doing a good job. He just had a setback by getting injured.”
(If and when C/G Ted Larsen is able to go, his position left guard, correct?) – “Possibly. (That is) one of the positons he plays. He played left guard when we were having training camp. We just have to … Really today’s going to be a big day for us to kind of figure out the best five guys we want to play together. Everybody’s assuming that it’s just automatic and he just jumps right back in there but this is his first day in pads against defensive players. Thursday and Friday, we weren’t in pads. It’s just going to be how quickly will he adjust to the speed of the game when we get going? That’s really what we’re going to have to find out today.”
(Is T Ja’Wuan James a long shot for practice today would you say?) – “Yes, I’d say really long shot. We’re still going through the process with him. I’ll know more hopefully by the end of the week.”
(Do you have any clarity on T Ja’Wuan James as far as maybe its long term?) – “Yes, I mean there’s a possibility. I don’t know. I don’t have all of the information. We’re still meeting with doctors. He’s kind of getting some second opinions and things like that to make sure that whatever we decide to do this year, if it’s long term or short term. We just need to figure all that out.”
(Who is the likely candidate there at right tackle?) – “That’s what we’ve got to figure out today and we have some thoughts and ideas of how we want to go about this. We just want to get out to practice and kind of move some of the pieces around and really figure out, like I said, the best five.”
(With T Sam Young, how did he perform in that game and also to follow up on T Jesse Davis, how much training at tackle does he get now that he’s spent the past two weeks as a starting guard?) – “Sam, I mean that was a tough spot to get thrown in there because we were basically throwing the ball the entire time and all of a sudden, he’s coming in cold off the bench for your first action of the year and you’ve got (Raiders DE Khalil) Mack, across the ball for you. Those guys – him and ‘Bush’ (Jermon Bushrod) – the good thing about it is when you’ve got two guys that are veteran guys and are pros, they figure it out real quick. He did exactly what we needed him to do. I mean there were a couple of times where he got edged a little bit; but some of those things are easily fixable for us with him out there. With Jesse, he’s trained across the board, pretty much the entire season. When he wasn’t the starter, he was playing so many different spots. He’s worked so much at right tackle. We’ve got some good flexibility with those guys up front.”
(How has the versatility of TE MarQueis Gray served you? You were able to use him in the backfield as well.) – “We just keep trying to find a different role for him on offense. We’d love to settle in on one thing, but really he’s one of those guys that can do so much, that we’re able to develop some game plans and do some different things with him. It’s always how the flow of the game is going. Last week wasn’t as much (playing time), but he had a big carry for us on third-and-1. Just his versatility is really helpful for us.”
(Is T Ja’Wuan James’ injury just a hamstring, to your knowledge?) – “Yes, it’s somewhere in that area, I just don’t know what the exact issue is because (my) medical degree is not very good. (laughter)”
(Can you give us some context on how well T Ja’Wuan James was playing? Has he been your best offensive lineman to this point?) – “I would say (Mike) Pouncey’s been our best guy. He’s been our most consistent guy. I think Ja’Wuan’s had some really good games and then he’s had some games where I’m sure he would say he wished he would have played a little better. I think that’s been the story of the first half of our season is probably inconsistent, across the board, with everyone on offense. Really, that’s what we’re looking for. Pouncey’s the only one I can say every game, I’m seeing a lot of things that are good.”
(Is T Ja’Wuan James better than last year?) – “I think he’s had some games that were head and shoulders better than any games that he had last year. There were probably about three games that I can say that were really, really outstanding.”
(How do you assess offensive line in a mid-week practice midseason? Are you guys going to rank up a little bit today?) – “As much as you can. I think our guys do a pretty good job though on Wednesdays. When we get in pads, it is good competition. I think our defensive scout team did a really good job last week. They made sure that they gave our offensive line a really good look. We did a couple of things to really make them feel the speed of those edge rushers. Our No. 1 defensive line will jump in there, occasionally, for the first couple snaps of practice and we’ll choreograph that with them. Cam (Wake’s) been great, as far as helping me out with getting all of those guys out there – him and (Ndamukong) Suh – and giving us a great look, especially in the run game, just to try to give our guys a feel of a real game. Just for those guys to volunteer to do that, it just shows you they want to help get things right.”
(What led to S Maurice Smith getting a lot of snaps at safety on Sunday?) – “That was our thought going into the game and every time I looked over, I felt like he was around the ball and made some good plays. It was really the personnel groupings we were calling. That’s how he ended up in the game.”
(I don’t know if you heard but Phil Simms was very critical about the field conditions. I’m wondering if it was any better for the Raiders game and is it a concern on your part that players are unable to perform at their best or even perhaps get injured because of the field conditions?) – “It’s one thing … I go out and walk the field before the game and just try to see (what the field looks like). For me, I’m always looking for what’s the right kind of cleats to wear for our guys. (Equipment Manager Joe) Cimino does the same thing and sometimes we both go out there at the same time and try to figure it out. We felt really good before it started raining. I think we were a little surprised that we come out for the introductions and all of a sudden (it was pouring down rain). I thought we were doing some sort of pregame thing and all of a sudden you walk out and it’s a monsoon. I think (President and Chief Executive Officer) Tom (Garfinkel) has done a great job of researching and finding the right solution to get us kind of pointed in the right direction. Those guys are working hard to make sure that we kind of get this thing squared away. There were a couple of things that kind of occurred where it just didn’t work out the right way that we wanted to. Hopefully we’ll have this thing fixed by the next time we play at home. We feel good about the direction we’re headed and what we’ve got lined up. Tom has really been on this thing. I know it bothers him because he wants it to be perfect for us to give us our best chance to win.”
(Why would you say the defense hasn’t been playing at the level recently that it was playing at earlier in the year?) – “I just think (the) Baltimore game, that surprised me with our tackling more than anything, because really when we went back and watched that, that was really the thing that hurt us more than anything. The Jets game, we (had) one good series, one series that really wasn’t that great. They got us on a few plays to where we felt like if we do the right thing – alignment, assignment, those type of things – we’re in good shape. We kind of screwed that up. In this last game, it’s not like they scored 40 points on us. That is a good offense. They’re a tough team to go against. I think there are a few things that we need to clean up, and I know (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) is working hard to do that. I know those guys on defense are trying to get a lot of these things, the mistakes that we’re making, fixed. Really, we’d feel better about that game if we make two tackles on two different plays. One of them we got a free guy in the hole and we miss the tackle and it causes a touchdown. It’s just unusual, because some of the guys that have missed tackles have not missed tackles this season. We’re just having that little breakdown at the wrong time.”
(Would you have liked to seen better run defense while in nickel last week? If so, does S T.J. McDonald help you in that area?) – “I think any time, no matter whether it’s nickel or base, we’re always going to want to be stout in the run game. We always are going to feel good about our defensive front, especially with the interior guys we got and the edge guys we got, because they try to do their job exactly the way we’re asking them to do it – setting the edge and squeezing everything back inside. We like our linebackers. They’ve been pretty consistent as far as tackling goes. We’ve had a couple bad games here and there with being consistent on that, but it hasn’t been … Like last year, we were all over the place. That was rough. But this year, it has been pretty good. We’ve just got to clean up a few things and we’ll be in good shape.”
(One more question about the field. There probably isn’t a ton you can do in season – that might be more of an offseason project – I don’t know definitely; but do you think you might look at eliminating back-to-backs with you and the University of Miami, potentially going to field turf or anything like that?) – “(laughter) How would I know?”
(Have you looked through a turf catalog of any kind? [laughter] Have you gone out and seen sod samples?) – “(laughter)”
(Has it been concerning enough to you that you might address it in the offseason?) – “For me, I’m going to let people do their job. My job is to show up and coach. There are a lot of other people on that other topic.”
(You added a 6’9 offensive lineman. He’ll be great at rebounding I’m sure, but what can you tell us about T Zach Sterup?) – “I’ll find out more today. Our personnel department, they’re always going to be combing the league for guys that we’re interested in. He was a guy that (was a) top guy on their list to possibly bring in, and we had an opportunity to do that; so we thought it was a good time. You’re kind of in that part of the season where guys are starting to get banged up and when you lose a guy, you’re not sure how long he’s going to be out. Any time we can get a guy that can come in and we feel like can help, or we can develop, we’re going to take a chance on him.”
(As the season progresses and we’re in November now, do you see yourself playing DE Cameron Wake the same percentage of snaps that he has been playing or can you step it up because there’s less time needed to protect him?) – “I think a lot of it is going to be situational based, with how the game is going. Every game is going to be different. I’d love for us to get a lead one of these times, so we can actually let him rush the passer. I’m all for it. I just want to see one time with a lead late in the third quarter and going into the fourth quarter, and watching those guys go to work. We haven’t given them that opportunity, really, in the last two years. It’s one of those things that the offense is really taking it personal that we haven’t done that yet. I know those guys want to do that, because they do want to watch those guys rush the passer snap after snap, and another team trying to catch up to us. That’s one of the main goals we have on offense. We find a way to get a lead late in the game so we can let those guys do their thing.”
(Closing statement) – “Damien (Williams) and Jakeem (Grant) are both sick, so I’m not sure if one or either one of them will be out at practice, just so you guys know. I don’t want you to think that the sky is falling. (laughter)”
Adam Gase – November 9, 2017 (Conference Call)
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Thursday, November 9, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Carolina Media
(Can you give us a quick scouting report on the Panthers defense?) – “I think their ranking pretty much tells a lot of the story. It’s probably the best defense that we’ve played this year, so far. The talent level up front is as good as you can get. I think the linebackers, I don’t know if we’ve ever – in our two years (in Miami) – played a group like this before. The back end has done a great job of staying as tight as they need to and contesting on throws. The safeties have done a good job just making sure that they’re staying in front of things and then when they get their opportunities, for the most part they’ve made plays on the ball. The linebackers always are going to be the toughest guys to go against just because of the way (Luke) Kuechly plays and Thomas Davis. It really makes it tough offensively to match the kind of speed that they have.
(Where do you think your offense is right now? I know it has been up and down this year.) – “That might be an understatement. (laughter) It’s been strange, those first eight games, just being where one game, we feel like we play well and we do a lot of good things and then all of a sudden, you get shut out really two weeks in a row, which is a little surprising. We bounced back and then we had another poor performance. Really, we’re looking for consistency and it really has to start with the execution from the beginning of the game. We just need to make sure we’re doing it right at the beginning of the game just so we can have a faster start and gain that confidence. I think in some of those games, we didn’t do a very good job of rebounding from negative plays that happened early in the game.”
(How important is a guy like DE Cameron Wake to your defense?) – “He’s extremely important. One, being a guy that’s been around for a long time, he has a veteran presence. Obviously he’s really the heart and soul of what we’re about as an organization. He’s a guy that we want to basically retire here. He shows up every day and comes to work and does his job at the highest level, whether it be out at practice or on game day, whether it’s a meeting or walkthrough. You wish you had a whole bunch of guys like him. He’s a rare guy. For a guy with his years in the league, it’s really unbelievable how he goes about every little detail that he does in his life.”
(Obviously LB Luke Kuechly and LB Thomas Davis are stalwarts on the Panthers defense. Is there anyone in particular that impresses you up front? I know they rotate guys but DT Kawann Short or DE Julius Peppers or anyone that flashes to you when you watch film?) – “Well, Short is probably … We’re lucky enough to have one of the best guys in the league playing defensive tackle and I think they’ve got one of the best guys in the league. There’s probably like two or three of these guys that exist in the world and we’ve got one and they’ve got one. Just to watch him play, when you turn on the field and watch how much he penetrates and how disruptive he is, he’s a special player. Those guys do an unbelievable job up front of keeping those linebackers clean and letting them use their ability to run to their advantage. When I watch Peppers play, it’s unbelievable. Just being in Chicago for a year and going against him and then a couple of times in Denver when we went against him, it’s unbelievable just to see that he’s still playing at the level he’s playing at. There has been some really outstanding plays he’s had this season where it just flashes like he was 25 years old again. It’s been an impressive thing to watch.”
(I read that you like the way your new rushing offense looks. What in particular do you like about it?) – “I think our guys did a good job. They’re two different styles of backs and any time you can kind of change it up on the defense, I’ve always looked at it as a good thing. They’re not seeing the same things over and over again. Those two guys, they’re hungry to play. They’ve been kind of sitting back there for almost two years now. The fact that they got an opportunity, there was a little excitement there for those guys to come out there and play well. It was great for a lot of the guys that have been invested in those guys and put in the time to help them get better. To see those guys get an opportunity to perform was fun to watch, and they did a great job. They really try to do every little detail right. We’re obviously always going to have a few things to clean up after the game but if we can continue to get performances like that out of those two guys, that’s going to help us tremendously.”
(I know QB Jay Cutler played well for you last week. How would you describe his season as a whole?) – “Really, every game that I’ve got to grade, I keep going through and seeing how he did to start the season. We had an extra day this week just to kind of go back and then playing a Thursday night game, going into this last one, I was able to evaluate a lot of stuff. Just looking at how he’s played, when he’s had time in the pocket, he’s done a really good job of finding the open guys and getting the ball out on time. The games that we’ve struggled in were where things were collapsing quick and we weren’t getting open quick enough. It was hard for him to get in a little bit of a rhythm. I always say this about quarterbacks: it’s the toughest position because you need 10 other guys to do their job before you even have a chance to do yours. I think the good thing with what Jay has done is that he’s gotten better every week. The last two games that he’s played, with the Jets and the Oakland game, those are two good games back to back. This is going to be an extremely tough team for us to play, not only the personnel but the scheme that they’re running. This is going to really kind of tell us where we’re at.”
(Yesterday in QB Cam Newton’s press conference he spoke about how special it is to play on Monday Night Football. Does playing on Monday Night Football have any extra meaning to you and your team?) – “I’ve tried to think how many Monday night games I’ve actually been involved in. It seems like every one I’ve been involved in, it’s been some kind of crazy game at the end of the game, where something happens. The one that sticks out to me was in 2012, we were down 24-0 at halftime against San Diego and that was like the first time I actually got to see Peyton Manning take over a game. The fact that it was Monday night, it just made it that much more special. It was one of those games where so many people probably turned their TV off and the next thing I know, we win the game 35-24. There is something about playing in this game. It just has a different buzz to it.”
(You mentioned their defense and that their personnel was difficult and then you said something about their scheme. What exactly about their scheme makes it hard?) – “I don’t think you see too many teams where they’ll stay with their base personnel when you put three wide receivers out there. Basically Shaq Thompson goes out there and covers the slot receiver, and he’s done an unbelievable job out there. Just to see how athletic those guys are, I think it makes it tough on the offense. It’s tough to run the ball and then it’s tough to throw the ball. If you try to push the ball down the field, you have to have great protection and it’s tough to hold up against that front. They can rush four or five and it’s going to feel like an avalanche. They just cause a lot of problems. There’s a lot of different pressures that they run that come from every different direction. They keep you off balance.”
Adam Gase – November 6, 2017
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Monday, November 6, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(What was your take on the penalties after looking at the film?) – “I think some of them are preventable, obviously, with just better technique. When you get tied up with a guy sometimes we just have to learn how to disengage at the right time, when a guy’s going away from you. You can’t keep tugging at him. Some of it is we have to find that balance with when we make our cuts sometimes, where the line feels the running back is going to be kind of going in a certain direction. If we cut too fast and we don’t press it enough, then all of a sudden there’s a quick jerk back and the d-linemen disengage with the offensive linemen and it’s just unexpected for them. That’s why that whole running back and o-line is kind of tied together. You have to work together really well to really have a good running game.”
(They always hurt but it seems like they really costly last night) – “Oh, it just was at the worst times. We’d start a series out and Damien (Williams) has a huge play and we get a holding call and we’re on the 20(-yard line). I mean who knows. Maybe if we don’t get the holding call, he gets tackled for 10 yards; but you’ll take it because it’s not first-and-12 or whatever we ended up being.”
(What, if anything, would you tell S Reshad Jones to do differently on the last one?) – “I don’t know. I’m still kind of trying to figure out what happened on that one. I’ll talk to the guys that I need to talk to just to get clarification on that. I haven’t heard back from them yet.”
(You did some good things offensively. The deep passing game is still not there. It looked like there were a couple time where QB Jay Cutler looked deep yesterday but it didn’t happen for whatever reason. What were those reasons and do you think you can win in the second half of the year without much of a vertical passing game?) – “Well, I mean we were running a vertical passing game but I don’t know what …”
(In terms of balls 25 yards or more?) – “Yes, I mean if they’re playing 2-Man, you’re not going to get those throws. Why do you think the backs were getting 10 yards a clip? That’s what drives me nuts is that nobody knows … stop. I mean we’re calling it and we’re doing what we’re supposed to do with the ball versus the right … like the coverages we’re getting.”
(Has that been the case or year? I wasn’t talking specifically about last night.) – “Yes.”
(Would it be fair to say now you look at the running backs more of yards from scrimmage as opposed to rushing yards total under RB Jay Ajayi, right?) – “Yes, pretty much. It doesn’t matter however you get the ball. If you throw a swing pass out to him and get 8 yards, it’s as good as a run.”
(When C/G Ted Larsen was put on the 53 man roster Saturday and then not active Sunday, can you just go through that and what happened?) – “Well Wednesday we did individual with him and we were in pads. We went individual. Then Thursday he practiced. Friday, he practiced and we felt like it was in our best interest to wait until he actually got a full day of padded practice to where we actually were able to practice him, because when you have that long of a layoff, to just get thrown in there into a game and you haven’t had padded practice work in practice versus a defense, it’s going to speed up real fast. I know we can think just throw him back in there and we’ll be good to go, but it’s professional football. This isn’t Pee Wee. I mean it’s going to be moving pretty quick.”
(Do you feel like C/G Ted Larsen’s getting pretty close?) – “I hope so. I mean we’re going to need him.”
(Can you assess where your team is at midseason?) – “I think we’re probably not exactly where we want to be. We’ve had just too many ups and downs. We haven’t played together yet. It seems like when we finally get moving on offense, we stub our toe on defense and then when they finally have a couple of good drives to where they’re three-and-out or a short drive, we don’t get anything going on offense. The defense has really been keeping us in the games all year, where we were trying to find our way on offense. This last game felt a little more normal of what it should feel like and we just couldn’t get on the same page. I thought Oakland did a good job. They stuck with their game plan and did a good job of some of the matchups they got against us, against our coverages. They finally started busting a couple of runs there on that one drive. There were probably like 36 yards came on one drive. I feel like we’re close to clicking. We just have to find a way to play together. If we can play a good game of complementary football, that’d be really what we’d like to see.”
(T Ja’Wuan James did not look good when he left the locker room yesterday. What is the story about him?) – “I don’t (know). I haven’t talked to the trainers yet, so we’ll find out.”
(What is the plan for this week regarding S T.J. McDonald?) – “We’ll see where he’s at when we throw him out there. It’s not like he’s coming back from an injury, so we can put him into practice on Wednesday. I expect him to be out there ready to go. He’s been chomping at the bit for a while now.
(How ready do you believe S T.J. McDonald is to just jump right in?) – “I don’t know. Run across the middle and you’ll find out. I think he’s pretty ready. (laughter)”
(I’d probably rather not. S T.J. McDonald’s been in meetings, he’s been in film with you. He seems right there in step with everybody else?) – “Yes. I want him to play. I can’t wait to watch him play.”
(When you talk about this team at the midpoint and how you assess it, you’ve got C/G Ted Larsen and you’ve got S T.J. McDonald coming back. That’s kind of an unusual situation when you’re usually losing guys this time of year.) – “Yes, it was well planned. (laughter) The Ted (injury), that hurt us, because it just threw everything out of whack. It was on the same day that Ryan (Tannehill) did his ACL. Just a lot of things spun out of control. We felt really good about our o-line and it just threw us out of flux there for a second. (With) T.J., we knew what we were getting into with the suspension. We knew it was going to be about this time and we were just hoping that we were trending upward when this happened, to where we could have that push over the top that could maybe make a difference for us. We’re not exactly where we want to be. We’ve been worse. Last year it felt different, a little bit. I know really it’s the same record. This year, it’s more of we’re not horrible in the injury department – we’re not in a bad, terrible shape – but I feel like our guys last week, they prepared the right way. That’s what has me somewhat excited moving forward. We’ve got a stretch here (where) we’ve got tough road games, we’ve got tough home games, division opponents. Everything’s up for grabs and it’s really, ‘Who wants to do it right? Who wants to keep doing it right week in and week out?’ Our guys have a great opportunity and this is what the NFL is. This is when you want to be playing. You’ve got a shot. You’ve got eight games to see what you’re made of. If you play well and you prepare well, you’ll find yourself in a good spot at the end of the year.”
(Just looking at the run game, you guys were able to mix some things up. Were you satisfied with the timing of the play calling and the execution of what you guys were doing?) – “I don’t know about the whole timing thing. There was a couple of times where I was going back and forth trying to figure out what was the best thing for that situation, just trying to get a feel for what they were doing on defense. They did a good job. They were a little bit all over the place. They kept changing it up. It was a little bit different for them. I thought our guys handled a lot of the things that they were doing fairly well. A couple of those runs where we ended up having penalties, you wished we didn’t, because we had some good runs. We cleaned that up. I like where our running game is heading. We were able to do a couple of things where we popped a big one, which was good to see, and there was an earlier one where we were really close; (Kenyan) Drake got tripped up in a pile of guys. I like where that’s headed. I think it makes a difference. I think those guys out of the backfield in the passing game really made a big difference.”
(Will you continue to use both RBs Damien Williams and Kenyan Drake or maybe just see whose got the hot hand after a few series?) – “We’re going to have to use both of them because it felt like those guys were exerting a lot of energy there. Damien is still doing special teams stuff because he’s one of our best guys. Whatever Damien had, he left it on the field., I know that. Both of those guys did. They sold out and gave us everything they had.”
(What did you think about RB Damien Williams’ touchdown? What did you observe about the blocking, any of the setup for that play?) – “Obviously, it wasn’t as clean as everybody sees it because we were running all over the place, guys lined up on the wrong side. We got it straightened out and just seeing Jarvis (Landry) turn around and just know that he was going to get crushed and he didn’t care. He was just all about getting into the end zone. That’s that selfless attitude we’re always searching for of guys just selling out for each other. Damien did a great job of staying in bounds and then getting into the end zone. (It was in) slow motion, but it was a great play to watch on film.”
(I know there’s obviously a lot of football in it, but you had personal investment in RB Damien Williams. He’s a guy you’ve been really close with. A big breakthrough for him getting his first start and having that game, what did that mean to you to see that happen for a guy you obviously care a lot about?) – “I just know he’s a guy that cares about one thing and that’s winning, whether he’s the starter, backup, playing every special teams, catching 100 balls or catching five. He just wants to do whatever he can to win. He wants to be on the field to help and when he is on the field, you get everything he has. Just to see him be able to get the opportunity was great. We want to just keep moving in the right direction and keep giving him chances, keep giving (Kenyan) Drake chances. If Senorise (Perry) gets a crack at it at some point … I want to see those guys do well. They put in a lot of time, they put in a lot of effort, and they want to do it right.”
(How did you feel about TE Julius Thomas last night and do you think this could be a launching?) – “That’s where we finally got some of the coverages we were looking for. That’s what happens.”
(The two or three things you liked best about QB Jay Cutler’s performance?) – “I thought he was really good, just demeanor-wise. He did a good job of staying the same. He never got too high; he never got too low. There were a couple of situations there where it just kind of felt like we weren’t trending in the right direction and we ended up putting something together and getting some points. I thought he did a good job of buying some time. He was good with the ball. I thought a couple of his throwaways were smart. There were a couple times where he knew he had to make a play and he did. Really at the end of the day, if we can just clean the pocket up just a little bit to where he can set his feet, especially early, that kind of helps him throughout the game. If we get him drifting away and he can’t set his feet, you just don’t want that to be a consistent thing. You’ve got to keep fighting to try to keep that pocket clean.”
(Why the change in opinion in the players kneeling on the sideline as opposed to the locker room?) – “I’m going to worry about football. I’m not going to get into all of that.”
(On the question earlier about long passes, obviously, your point well made about coverages. That said, you haven’t had a play from a receiver longer than 34 yards this year. Is it entirely over a body of work because of the way teams are defending you deep, or is it also a function of the offensive line not holding up enough for some of those plays that were called to actually go forward and materialize?) – “It just depends what I’m calling. I could’ve done something, rolled out to the right and watch (Khalil) Mack just blow Jay’s (Cutler) lungs out; but I didn’t feel like doing that. It’s all about timing and protection as far as what you’re calling versus what they’re doing and what they’re playing on the back end. Sometimes they call the right stuff. It’s a chess match. There are times I’m calling shots, but nobody knows I’m calling shots.”
(Right, which is what I was bringing up…) – “It is what it is.”
(It appeared as though that might have happened where we saw QB Jay Cutler’s eyes go downfield a couple of times in the fourth quarter, but was it just not open at that point as opposed to the line breaking down?) – “When you got three guys on two and then you’ve got a linebacker on (Kenyan) Drake or Damien (Williams), we can force it in there but I don’t think we’re going to like the result. It’s tough. They did a good job. They were spinning the wheel pretty good. It wasn’t like it was easy to say, ‘It’s second-and-7, this is what they’re always doing.’ It wasn’t easy.”
(What did you see regarding coverage on TE Jared Cook last night and how much of a concern might that be with tight ends going forward?) – “We just gave him too much air. There were a couple times where we talked about getting our hands on him (and) we didn’t. A couple of the zone coverages that he caught balls in, we should’ve had tighter coverage and we didn’t. I wouldn’t say that was … One time we were playing man. The rest of the time we’re playing zone. We just can’t give him so much air. We’ve got to make sure we do a better job in those first five yards.”
(How do you look at the fourth quarter last night. You guys had some costly penalties. You had the turnover that gave you a chance. Missed opportunities?) – “Yes, I’d say so. What was that was the first game we’ve lost in how many games by seven or less or three or less? Normally it doesn’t happen. It’s one of those things where we’d rather not have the penalties and capitalize on the plays that we’re making; but that’s not what happened and we just have to find a way to clean a few things up and get back to work.”
(You mentioned in the past about scaling back the offense. Do you feel that yesterday you were able to open it up a little bit?) – “No, I didn’t (scale) it (back) yesterday. We ran the game plan and they figured it out.”
(You mean you didn’t scale it back?) – “No.”
(When you look at what you did with RB Kenyan Drake and RB Damien Williams, do you feel like this is the starting point on how you would like to operate the backfield?) – “Probably. We’ll see how far we go with it. We’ll see what else we can do. It’s hard to say, ‘this group, this group.’ It’s 11 guys. There’s a lot of factors thata re going on, whether or not who you’re playing and who is upfront. That’s kind of where it starts. How well can we protect? What do we have to do to help, when you’re playing a guy like (Khalil) Mack and you’ve got Bruce Irvin on the other side? That’s where it starts and then you filter out after that. What’s the best in the running game? What’s the best type of passing attack? There’s a lot of things that go on with this and trying to focus on one group is hard because it’s a huge puzzle and you’re trying to put it together during the week.”
(Obviously losing the ball is never a good thing. Aside from the fumble, do you like how RB Kenyan Drake ran?) – “Yes, I did. The fumble, it was a tough one because he kind of got spun around and kind of hit weird. It’s one of those things where we emphasize it so much – which we talked about the other day – about we never put the ball on the ground because I was asked that on Friday. It was a tough hit, but we got to hold on to the ball.”
(What did the tape show on the DT Ndamukong Suh forced fumble?) – “It was an unbelievable play. Just seeing it live, it really was a great play. It was an unbelievable individual effort. I was just hoping he would get there just to make it hard for him to throw it; but for him to get a hand on the ball, that was unbelievable. Just the effort by everybody after that play, that was us. That’s how we should play. It was 11 guys with their hair on fire trying to do something good. We’ve just got to clean some things up. I feel like we’re close to doing a lot of good things. We’ve just got to figure out a way to play together as a team.”
(Was DT Ndamukong Suh in the clear health-wise? Was he ok?) – “Yes, I’m going to find out. He obviously came back. I haven’t met with our trainers yet.”
(K Cody Parkey’s onside kick, the first one. Was that something he brought to you guys or is that something you’ve been working on with him?) – “No, they’ve been … It’s been up. Every once in a while it’ll be up for games. That was just the first time that we’ve called it.”
(Do you leave any discretion to K Cody Parkey on when to do that?) – “I mean it’s called and we decide to do it before the kickoff.”
(You guys are calling it, not K Cody Parkey?) – “Yes.”
(The thinking in that moment, for that kick, was what? Why at that time?) – “Why not? It just felt right.”
Ndamukong Suh – November 5, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 5, 2017
Postgame – Oakland Raiders
Miami Dolphins DT Ndamukong Suh (transcribed by Ted Leshinski)
(Suh, first of all how are you feeling? You went out of the game for a while. You were able to come back and play?) – Yeah. Unfortunately it’s football. I got tangled up and lucky enough I had the opportunity to come back. “
(When you look at yourself defensively – first half, good job against the run but there were third downs, third and longs, they were able to convert most of the time to the tight end. How frustrating does that get for you as you move along and try to stop that football team early on?) – “I think we understood what they wanted to do, we allowed them to stay on the field. We weren’t getting off the field on third down. We were putting them in situations that we wanted to be in but at the end of the day we’ve got to find ways to get off the ball, make plays and get off the football field.”
(Raiders QB Derek Carr seemed like he was able to get the ball out quickly. He didn’t get a lot of pressure on, maybe a little bit late in the game, but early on it seemed like he was getting pushed but not enough to get him off his game. Were they doing something different?) – “He’s the best in the NFL. He’s getting the ball out in under 2.3 seconds. So, we understood that we have to continue to press no matter what. At some point in time he’s going to hold the ball. The times that he did I felt like we did our jobs to get back there. The other side of the ball we needed to figure out how we could knock balls down and obviously knock passes down to get off the field. We didn’t do enough. It’s as simple as that.”
(Did you feel like you guys played well enough to win this football game?) – “No. We gave up way too many points. Obviously I think they ended up having 27 it’s not going to be winning football, if they’re scoring 27 points.”
(You’re 4-4 now. You’ve got a big game coming up next week, another Monday Night game on the road in Carolina. They’re another very good football team. How do you bounce back from this one and get ready for them?) – “Every game is big in this league and obviously no matter who you are playing it’s going to be a tough opponent. Obviously knowing who we have in Carolina … they’ve got a great offense, a great quarterback and some weapons that we need to go and stop. But we’re going to go back and look at the film tonight and tomorrow morning and figure out what mistakes were made because it’s a copycat league. They’re going to find ways to either do the same things or see things that we did in the past that we weren’t as good at and try to attack it. We’ve got to clean those mistakes up in practice.”
(You looked like you were in pain when you walked off the field and went into the locker room. You came back and played. Is there any reason to think that these injuries may hold you from playing next week?) – “I don’t make those calls. You’re going to have to talk to Coach Gase about it and we’ll go from there.”
(Ndamukong, there’s been a lot of points the last three weeks. Do you feel there’s been anything missing defensively?) – “I think we miss tackles. We weren’t getting off the football field. It’s a combination of things. But, it’s primarily those two pieces.”
(And the stuff you didn’t see early in the season when things were going better?) – “I think we were tackling a lot better. We were finding ways to get balls out and then obviously create turnovers in some aspects, especially the Jets game last time we were at home. We’ve got to find way to get back to that football.”
(You had one of the few real open pass rushes where you knocked the ball out of QB Derek Carr’s hand. Was the field hard? They were talking about the turf being wet or somethings?) – “No. I don’t feel like the field was of any particular issue for me personally. Maybe some of the other guys had a little struggle but as professionals you understand what cleats you need to wear and be prepared to go out there and deal with all conditions.”
(To be 4-4 right now, do you feel like that’s a big underachievement for this team?) – “Nobody wants to be 4-4. We’ve had opportunities to win games. We’ve had every opportunity to in all eight games that we’ve played so far to win. Unfortunately we haven’t and we’re going to go able to go from there. Luckily it’s half way so we can figure out a way to still get into the games and obviously the playoffs. That’s our ultimate goal and we still have that opportunity. We’ve just got to go out there and focus and understand what we need to do to get wins.”
