Clyde Christensen – December 14, 2017
Download PDF version
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(WR Kenny Stills and WR Jarvis Landry have combined for 14 touchdowns. They’re approaching Mark Duper and Mark Clayton who had 21, I think, in 1986, whatever it is. Does it seem like they’ve been that successful? I know it has been a strange year. You’ve changed quarterbacks and traded RB Jay Ajayi. Does it seem that they’ve stood out in that way?) – “It has. It has felt that way even though I would say that I just think it could’ve even been bigger that all those games where there were 50 snaps and 52 snaps – a lot of that stuff, which we don’t stress much – but a lot of it is based on snaps and how many opportunities you get. They’re good players and they’re going to be open. The more snaps we get, the better chance they have of having big days. It does feel like they’ve had nice years. I think probably I would have a feeling toward myself that they should have bigger numbers. They should have bigger numbers and a lot of that has been the snap (numbers) early and just not being great and sharp on third down.”
(Since the Baltimore game, you guys are averaging 24 points per game. I know you probably didn’t know those numbers. What do you think is the correlation there in terms of the upswing in points?) – “I don’t know. I think we are playing a little bit better. It wasn’t real hard to improve. It feels like we improved, but we started from so far back. So, I do think we’ve gotten a little bit of momentum. I do think that … A ton of things – Jay (Cutler) playing with these guys longer, the system, all the above, just doing things better. I think we’re still working on the turnovers. We’re still working on the penalties, stuff that just kind of stops drives and help keep you from scoring points. We have been pretty efficient in the red zone. (Quarterbacks) Coach (Bo) Hardegree has done a good job. He’s the lead dog in the red zone; so we have been efficient in there. That has helped a little bit. I think probably a little bit of all those things. I wasn’t really aware of it (averaging more points), but I know we’re playing a little bit better, and it’s a little more fun, trust me.”
(So Quarterbacks Coach Bo Hardegree is responsible for the red zone success?) – “No, I’m just saying that we’ve gotten in the end zone and scored touchdowns. We’ve been better at that. Players are responsible for all of it. Trust me. Players. Players. But that has been part of it. We’ve been pretty good when we’ve gotten in there and the same thing, we just haven’t been in there. There was a point I think where I looked at it and in fact, I think New England had 23 more red zone possessions than we did. It might have been 28. It was an enormous number. That came up the first time we played them a couple weeks ago. That shows how well they were playing and how we have not gotten down in there. I think that’s part of it. We’re cashing in. We’re getting in the red zone a little bit more and getting ourselves a chance to score points.”
(So many players that are as versatile as they are on offense when you’ve got WR Jarvis Landry who can line up in the backfield, WR Jakeem Grant and guys like that, you’re basically changing personnel without substitution at times. How important is that to an offense and isn’t that something you can build on going forward?) – “It really help if you can do it. We’ve always had an intention to do it. Sometimes we’ve shot ourselves in the foot. It can backfire, because maybe you don’t get a … The downside to doing that is you don’t know what look you’re going to get, you don’t know how they’re going to line up, you don’t know what defense they’re going to play – all of those things. And the upside is that you do give them some looks where their regular calls and keys and tips and reminders don’t match up, because they hadn’t seen that. There’s a tradeoff. You kind of try to keep them to a minimum; but you want them to be effective. They were effective the other night, Monday night, and that helped us a little bit just moving those guys around. Jakeem gave us a couple big plays and had a heck of a chance at another one. It does help; but again, it’s not Madden football. It’s not quite as easy, and it’s hard to get it practiced. It’s hard to get it executed and then all of a sudden they come with a blitz and you go, ‘Well, who was supposed to pick him up?’ So, it’s more complicated maybe than just, ‘Let’s put Jakeem here and let’s put Jarvis here and we’ll move ‘11’ (DeVante Parker) over here and stick this guy in the backfield and this and that.’ But we need to. We have versatile guys. You love to use their versatility. I’ve said all along Damien (Williams) and Kenyan (Drake) have a chance to be really good receivers. They’re very skilled at it. They have very good hands and then they love running with the ball once they get it in their hands. You’re always looking for Jarvis as a versatile guy. He can throw the ball. There has got to be a pass coming out of here one of these days out of him. You do, you’re constantly looking for that. It’s sometimes harder than … You think it’s easy and it’s hard, but it is good. It’s a good problem to have.”
(I have a two-part question about QB Jay Cutler: one, it seemed to us that his comfort level last week was as high as we’ve seen in this offense. Was that true, and if so, why? And I guess the second part was your range of emotions when he was almost sacked twice, got out of it and completed that pass, because we hadn’t seen that kind of mobility out of him.) – “That was three parts. (laughter)”
(I tried to condense.) – “Okay. I know how you guys are on the accuracy. (laughter) It was good. (Jay Cutler) played extremely well. I think the biggest thing is he took care of the ball. He threw it away when it wasn’t there. He really was in control and made good decisions. I think it helps. We had a huge emphasis … They had done a great job protecting the ball. You don’t want to give (Tom) Brady any extra possessions for obvious reasons. So, it was the number one point of emphasis last week that we had to take care of the ball with the quarterback and everyone who handled it. He did a great job doing that. The play he made in the red zone was outstanding. I’ve said all along that probably one of the most impressive things about him to me, who didn’t know him and hadn’t been around him at all, is he has a really nice knack in the pocket for feeling the rush, finding soft spots, some of those things. I thought that was one of them, coming from his backside and dodges him and makes a nice, accurate throw and picks up a big first down that led to a touchdown, I believe. I think that those are … My first reaction is ‘Why is that guy free? Who’s guy was he?’ That’s how you always think of it as a coach. And then you become a fan and say, ‘That’s pretty good. He dodged him and made a play.’ You enjoy that. That’s fun. That’s a third down maybe that didn’t go quite the way you drew it up, and that’s part of this thing. You see it every weekend that these quarterbacks just make plays or someone makes a one-handed catch or hurdles somebody and you need those. When you’re struggling, you tend not to get them, and when things are going right, when it’s your night, then they do happen. What was the third part of the question?”
(You got it all.) – “I got all three? Okay.”
(It was really only two.) – “I’m not sure. You said my feelings. (laughter)”
(I only have one question.) – “One, one part question?”
(Just one.) – “Okay.”
(I wanted ask about WR Jakeem Grant’s game the other night just in terms of what you took from that game, because on one hand he got into the end zone, on the other hand, he almost got in the end zone twice. What do you make of his overall performance?) – “I think it’s kind of what we all have been looking forward to and he has been champing at the bit to get and we just haven’t got them. We’ve given him a couple chances, but they’ve been hard ones. He was excited. He has been excited. He stays excited. I thought that it was just kind of a feel-good thing. We need him. He’s a big play guy. You need big plays out of him. Sometimes it’s hard to substitute. How do we get him? Who does he go in for? All those things. I thought it was great. You don’t want any drops. You sure don’t want any drops. We were actually teasing him. I told him, ‘Probably 15 million people had gone to bed on the East Coast by that time, so not everyone saw it.’ We were actually teasing him today that the whole 30 million didn’t see that drop at the end of the game. You don’t want that, but that happens. All you want is them playing hard, following the process, taking care of business in practice, go back out the (next) day and work on it, work on your deep ball technique, catch techniques and do all of those things. If they’re humming and you drop a ball, move on. That does not bother me. As long as the process is right, he’ll get that fixed. It was fun, he ran a couple really good routes. It was fun to see him get in the end zone. He would’ve loved to get that last one. That would’ve been neat for the kid. He’s one of my personal favorites. So, it was fun to see him get some opportunities. He’s an exciting guy. I’m like everyone else in the stands. He’s fun to watch when he gets rolling.”
(Not to make excuses at all for the drop, but as a faster guy, when you’ve got that much separation and you’re running as fast as you are, there’s a lot of disruption with the pass and things like that when you’re running that fast. Is it difficult to kind of corral a deep ball like that as a faster guy?) – “Yes, it’s hard. You get excited. The ball is up … It doesn’t matter how fast you are. I don’t know that speed has anything to do with it. It’s all relative. I’ve always thought deep balls, because you see them for so long and you have a chance to kind of tighten up, so I do think sometimes deep balls that look easy are harder, because you’re running, arms are pumping, head is moving and you have a chance to see it. Sometimes it’s easier when a ball is just on you and you just react. This one you kind of see and you kind of (ask), ‘When do I put my hands out? When do I extend? Is someone coming from inside? Where is the free safety?’ You have too much time to have stuff run through your mind. It’s going to happen. It happens to the best of them. We’ll go right back to work on it today and hopefully eliminate them and cut them way down.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase has been hard on himself at times this year. What made Monday a good night for Adam as it relates to play design, play calling?) – “I think some of the things we were talking about like there were some unique formations that he hit on. I do think that it’s not an exact science. It’s a feel thing. Sometimes you get hot and sometimes you don’t and sometimes you’re dialing them up and just everything is working. He dialed up some good stuff at good times. I think that probably Jakeem (Grant), even the shot he took there at the end, is probably a little out of the box and aggressive. It was a heck of a call and we had a chance and we didn’t execute that one; but there were a lot of things that were kind of unique that hit, which is a credit to him and even more so the players who execute them. Did that answer your question?”
(Yes, I was just trying to say something nice about Head Coach Adam Gase.) – “By all means.”
(How did T Laremy Tunsil play Monday?) – “He played extremely aggressive. I thought he played well. I thought he played well. His pad level was down. He was really aggressive. He was into the game and those are good players on the other side over there. They’re a good, physical bunch, and I thought we challenged them. We challenged everybody to get our pad level down and to play as physical and play with as much leverage as they play with. I think they’re one of the best leverage teams in the league. So, that was a big challenge to get our pads down and play with leverage, and he did that. I thought he played pretty darn solid, pretty darn well.”
(Have you guys been challenging T Laremy Tunsil to play with a particular disposition?) – “No. He’s an aggressive guy. He likes football. He’s an aggressive guy. We just keep challenging him to just practice. Every practice (has) got to be a game. He’s at one of those positions that no one is going to notice the 68 plays you play (and) do right. They’re going to notice the two that you get beat. The only way to address that is that every play is a really important play all throughout the week. I think he’s learning it slowly but surely, and then to have a short memory that he has gotten better at, that if something bad happens, (you move) on to the next play. You can’t get it back. So, those would be the two things: just working consistency in practice and then the short memory that if something bad happens, move on. Don’t over compensate. Then all of a sudden you tend to try too hard or you try something new. Just stay with your fundamentals and your techniques and usually it’ll take care of itself.”
(Those things have already kind of turned or you’re still working on getting those things to turn for T Laremy Tunsil?) – “We just emphasize it. If we’re all doing it 14 years from now, you’ll still be talking about the same things. This game is kind of simple and for me (it) still comes down to fundamentals and technique and we’ll still be talking about inside hands and low pads and aggressiveness and practice habits from the beginning of time until hopefully … If he has good coaches throughout, it’ll still be 15th or 16th year after 10 Pro Bowls and a couple Super Bowls, you’ll still emphasize it. This game still comes down to those things. So, I think you never stop talking about those things. It’ll be a constant emphasis. But for him, especially as a young guy, just the consistency, that’s the big thing.”
(I know RB Kenyan Drake is fairly fresh and doesn’t have a big workload under him, but he has had 58 touches in the last two weeks. Do you have to monitor that or at this stage you just kind of let it go?) – “We’d like to get Damien (Williams) back healthy and get him in and split those up like we kind of talked about. I know ‘Rizz’ (Special Teams Coordinator/Associate Head Coach Darren Rizzi) would love it just because of the special teams ramifications on the thing. We’re trying to get Senorise (Perry) in there a little bit and continue to get him more and more practice reps. So, you’d love to. The other thing is you’re a snap away from the next guy up. Hopefully that doesn’t happen. It has been a heavy workload. It has been … It happened in a quick, severe way. So, that has been kind of impressive. The ball protection thing I’ve talked to you about and protection of the quarterback are two things we emphasize with him and now he’s playing a lot of snaps. Again, it gets harder. All of a sudden now you go play in a cold weather place and you’re on turf and now you’ve played all those snaps and you have a short week and how does your body recover? How do you handle that part of it? That’s a big emphasis this week, how we handle the off the field stuff – how you handle your rest, how you handle your rehab, how you handle your study. The short week brings up some unique situations for those things. We spent some time on it today just talking about how do you handle it in December when it’s unique. There’s a lot at stake and every little mistake gets magnified. Especially for young guys like Kenyan how quick can you get yourself right back going again?”
Darren Rizzi – December 14, 2017
Download PDF version
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(P Matt Haack seems to have been playing pretty well over the last few weeks. What’s been the key to his turnaround?) – “I don’t think it’s really just a turnaround. He had a couple of bumps in the road a little bit during the season but for the most part, he’s been pretty much the same guy all year. He had a couple of bad punts early; but I think I said this last week, Matt’s a really talented guy. He’s got a really, really good demeanor for the position and I think the last maybe month on so, he’s starting to understand the game plan a little bit better in terms of field position. I think sometimes you get a young punter and all they want to do is drive the ball and hit big balls and get numbers and all of that, and I think one of things he’s been doing a really good job of is ball placement – the ball inside the 20 – and understanding the field position battle. I think he’s got like nine punts inside the 20 in the last two weeks. So that’s really been huge for us. The field position battle the last two weeks in particular, we have won that battle and that’s not a coincidence that the result is good for us as a team. I think he’s starting to understand that a little bit. We missed on our target a few times in terms of directional, that he’s going to work on, but for the most part, I’m really, really liking what he’s doing.”
(I don’t think anybody’s expecting the eight inches of snow Buffalo had last week; but if there is snow on the ground, how does that affect the kicking game?) – “It’s interesting. Watching last week’s game, just watching how those guys handled it, the one thing we’re always going to talk to our guys about with the inclement weather is the ball is the first priority. So whether it’s the operation, the snapper-kicker-holder, or it’s the returners … It was funny last week, a lot of times the ball was landing on punts, just landing on the ground and sticking, because there was so much snow. But the operation, you look at a guy like (Adam) Vinatieri last week who I think only missed one field goal coming in and he misses two – a short one and a game winner. That certainly is going to be something that is hard to replicate in practice. There’s not much you can do. So when we get up there and see what we have going on, that’s just going to be something we’ve really got to work on, just taking care of the football and the operation. We’ve played up there before in inclement weather and a guy like John Denney’s been around for a while and Cody Parkey played in Philadelphia and Cleveland, so he’s been through it as well. We do have a couple of experienced guys and we’ve just got to see what it’s like. It’s just really taking care of the ball. When you do end up punting the ball or having field goal attempts, those are going to be really critical in those types of situations.”
(Last year special teams had a huge hand in beating Buffalo up there last season. Sort of a similar question, but does it heighten the importance of the third unit of special teams in that kind of game when weather could be an issue?) – “It does. It certainly does because we all know that if you do get inclement weather, that the field position battle is even more important. It’s harder to drive the ball in long distances in those types of conditions. Your decision making could end up being different on whether it’s a punt or field goal attempt or go for it. Things like that. So whether you have four downs or you’re going to try to pin your opponent deep – we hit a long field goal last year that ended up being obviously a monster play at the end of that game. I talked before about Matt Haack and the inside the 20 punts. Things like that really become premium in those types of games. Again, we’ll see what we get. Not that they’re not important every game, as they are; but certainly when you get some – whether it’s rain or snow – bad weather, it’s hard to drive the ball for long, long distances and long drives. That field position really becomes huge.”
(The onside kick last week that New England attempted. It looked to me as though it traveled like 8 yards. It looked like it was short. In that situation, do you tell your guys wait on the ball or attack the ball?) – “It’s a really interesting situation. So I’ve seen that before a couple of times. Basically what New England did was they came out and they didn’t even have a tee. I don’t know if you realized the ball was on the ground and so what you’re trying to do on that play is you are trying to make the ball go just about 10 (yards). I wasn’t sure live whether or not it was going to travel 10 (yards). Looking at it, the second view on it – hindsight’s always 20/20 – it probably was going to go just about 10 (yards). So (Stephen) Gostkowski actually kicked a pretty good ball for what they were trying to do. So if you’re Mike Thomas in that situation, Anthony Fasano, the guys we had there, essentially what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to put you in a bad spot of indecision, and so if you let that ball travel the 10 (yards), now it’s obviously a slow roller, now they’re on top it. Now once it gets to 10 (yards), now it’s anybody’s ball. Number one, I thought Mike Thomas played the play very well. He’s got to make a split-second decision on whether or not he thinks that ball is going to travel 10 (yards) and if he does think it’s going to travel 10 (yards), then he’s going to get on it before they have an opportunity to get it as well. So, it’s definitely a little bit of a unique play for sure. It is something we have talked about. It’s one of the onside kicks. We go through a variety of onside kicks with our guys and the hands team and the different options we can get. It was a very interesting formation. As you saw, they put one guy out on each side to be legal outside the numbers. You’re supposed to have three guys outside the hash on each side. They were very close on that one; but as far as the decision-making goes, you’ve got to make a split-second decision. I thought Mike Thomas did a good job. Obviously once he touches the ball, even though it doesn’t go 10 (yards), then obviously it’s a live ball for everybody. I thought he did a great job of recovering it.”
(Speaking of S Mike Thomas. That was one of the first plays he made this year that really stood out to everybody. What kind of year has he had on special teams?) – “Another solid season. I think the one thing that gets lost since 2014 is that Mike Thomas leads the NFL in special teams tackles. This season is no different. He’s our leading tackler right now on special teams. I think a lot of times he may not make those flash plays, those plays that are noticed to the average fan; but he does a lot of grunt work, a lot of dirty work. He’s obviously our personal protector on ‘PP’ (punt protection). He does a heck of a job recovering punts, he does a heck of a job covering kicks. He’s obviously our vocal leader. He’s our leader on the field, he’s our quarterback, if you will, of special teams. Not only has he been productive on the field but his off the field role that I get to see on a daily basis is just as important, in my opinion. We have a lot of young players, a lot of young guys the past couple of years that have played special teams for us and he’s a phenomenal mentor, not only from a physical example; but in the classroom, leading those guys and helping them out. I have nothing but positive things to say about Mike. I thought he’s played well this year.”
(Do you think he’ll make his first Pro Bowl?) – “I wish I had the magical answer to that. I’m certainly a guy that’s thought he’s played well enough to make the Pro Bowl the last few years. You can never predict the voting. We know how that goes. I certainly would, he’s got my vote.”
(When it comes to the offseason and you guys make decisions. How much do you get on the table for a guys like S Mike Thomas, WR Matthew Slater, WR Steve Tasker, who might not see a down on base defense but you need them but you need them for that part of the game?) – “I think the one thing you see more and more of now in the NFL is that a lot of teams are keeping players like that. A couple of guys you mentioned, a guy like Matt Slater who, to use him as an example, he’s probably played less than 100 offensive plays in his career; but he’s a captain, he’s a leader and he really handles all of their special teams stuff. Mike Thomas does a lot of the same things for us. He’s been voted captain the last few years by his teammates. They see it, I see it; he’s a great mentor like I mentioned. There’s a lot of teams that are keeping a few of those guys around. Not only are you keeping one, but if you look through the NFL, there are teams that are keeping there or four guys on their roster to be those veteran type special teams players. That’s what Mike Thomas is for us.”
(Going back to the onside kick, obviously because it’s New England, everybody is going to say they get credit for being innovative and bringing it to the forefront first. You said that you’ve seen it before, what else have you seen?) – “I did. In fact I think the guy that’s the special teams coordinator in Tennessee – Steve Hoffman – I think he ran a similar play when he was in Kansas City. I’ve seen him do it before with I believe it was Ryan Succop, their kicker. I want to say it was three or four years ago. I’ve also seen it in college a few times. So I have seen it. A lot of teams will also use the same type of play with a tee and sort of do the slow bunt; but obviously you can get a little bit of a slow roll if your ball is on the ground. I go to my kids’ Pop Warner games all the time. You should see some of the onside kicks that they have. They find new ways every week. I don’t think they kicked the ball deep once this year. I’ve seen a lot at the 11-U games in Cooper City and Davie. (laughter) But yes, I have seen it before and we have looked at it in the offseason. We try to keep a collection of onside kicks in the offseason and what we’ll do is try to evaluate as many as we can and show our guys as many as possible. We’ll bring up clips and we show our hands team, we’ll bring up clips from three or four years ago because you never know when those are going to pop up again. That formation, that kick is something that we’ve looked up before.”
(Because it places everyone in such a bind, why haven’t we seen it more consistently?) – “I think you’ve seen the one with the tee a bunch. A lot of people call it a bunt. We’ve seen a lot of people do it with the tee. I just think a lot of people are apprehensive and very, very cautious to do it without a tee because if you mis-hit the ball and it doesn’t go 10 (yards), you don’t give yourself an opportunity. Obviously they have a quality kicker in (Stephen) Gostkowski and they probably practiced it enough they felt like they had a good (chance to get it). Onside kicks across the league, when you know they’re coming, it’s a low percentage play. So I’m sure in their mind, that’s just as good of a chance to recovering that one as any other ball.”
(When you saw there wasn’t a tee, you had to have an idea that something was up?) – “Yes. The thing that I was very proud of our guys for is (not getting caught off guard). What New England did was they tried to make it look very nonchalant, like they were they just standing around, hanging out and I think they tried to catch us off guard a little bit. Our guys were on top of it. As soon as they hand the kicker the ball, he’s obviously able to … Once the official goes out, they’re able to kick it, and our guys were on top of it. The one thing is, New England’s done a bunch of different, I don’t want to use the word oddball; but abnormal onsides kicks over the years. They’ve had Nate Ebner rugby kick on off the ground, they’ve had (Stephen) Gostkowski swing and miss on purpose and Ebner hit it. We were prepared for something that they hadn’t done. I kept saying to our guys all week, ‘When we get in that situation at the end of the game, it’s not going to be a play we’ve seen. It’s going to be something that’s going to be innovative or new. They’re not going to try the same thing because we’re going to be prepared for those.’ That’s usually what they do, so that’s why we go back and look at a bunch of plays throughout the league and try to figure out and make sure we’re as prepared for as many as we can; but I knew it was going to be something out of the norm.”
(Can you ballpark how many different onsides kicks you’ll see over a season around the NFL if you watch film? Didn’t former Dolphins K Caleb Sturgis do like a behind the calf kick? Like how many? Would you see a dozen?) – “I’ll give you a backtrack a little bit on it. A lot of teams started going to that spike kick. You line up and spike it. What happens is, finally people start to get good at defending that play, so then people come up with new ideas. ‘The spike kick is not the new thing. What can we do to come up with a new one?’ In the course of this year, we watch, I’ve watched, every onsides kick from the season. I’ve probably seen, through the 14 weeks, 25 to 30 different (kicks). There’s different variations. There’s different motions. You guys have seen us do the one with two kickers out there. You’re trying to keep the hands team off-balanced. You don’t want them to be lined up and they know one specific thing is coming and they’re able to defend it. There’s very good coaches in this league and if they know what’s coming, they’re going to have a way to defend it. So you’re trying to keep that team off-balanced in that situation.”
(Can you tell us the names of the onsides kicks?) – “There’s spike, there’s swing back, there’s bunt, there’s dribble, there’s slam.”
(Are you just making these up?) – “(laughter) No. Smash, pooch, mortar.”
(Smash-pooch is one?) – “No. Smash, comma, pooch, comma, slam, comma, swing back, comma, spike, comma, bunt. I’m trying to think if there’s any others.”
(You said dribble?) – “Yes, there’s dribble. Now, obviously, there’s all of those in both directions and then there’s a rugby kick out of your hand. You’d be surprised that even, and we don’t see this situation often; but we almost had it the week before against Denver. If you get a safety, a lot of people don’t think about this, if there’s a safety and the other team is in a position where they have to onsides kick it … So say Denver the week before, we got that safety late in the game, if they wanted to onsides kick it, they cannot use a tee. They don’t have the option. The NFL is different than college. A lot of people don’t realize that because it’s a very rare play. We call it an onside after a safety. You have to come out there and if you want to onsides kick it from the 20, you can’t bring the tee out, so you don’t have a choice. So you’re going to see a play like New England. You’re going to see a drop kick. You’re going to see something out of your hand. When we blocked the punt a few years ago against Minnesota late in the game, they did one with Blair Walsh. They did a spike and he drop-kicked it to his left, our right. We had a 2-point lead with less than a minute to go. These are all situations that a special teams coach has to cover, and you never know when they’re going to come up. They can come up once in 10 years; but these are things that we do in our Saturday meetings, our weekly reminders and things that we have to cover, because we have to be prepared. You never know.”
(But once in 10 years could cost you a game.) – “That’s exactly right. I’ve been here nine and we’ve only been a part of that post-safety onsides kick twice – once in Buffalo my first year and once in Minnesota – where we were on hands team and they were onsides kicking it from the 20. It was twice in nine years, but we have to be ready for it every week.”
(So you could punt a kickoff if you wanted to, just a normal kickoff, is that correct?) – “You can punt a kickoff (if the ball hits the ground before you kick it, like a drop-kick). Yes, you can do anything you want on a regular kickoff from the 35 (as long as the ball hits the ground or is on a tee). After a safety, you can do anything without a tee.”
(I didn’t realize it didn’t have to be on the ground for a kickoff.) – “Yes, you can have the ball in hand and you can (drop it and) kick it off the ground (like a drop kick). As I said, that’s one of the things New England has done in the past.”
(So off of a flag-football game, you can have someone throw it 60 yards, 70 yards into the end zone.) – “I misunderstood your question.”
(You said you could have the ball in hand. Can a person throw it?) – “No. And just so we’re clear, on a regular kickoff, you can have the ball in hand, but it’s got to hit the ground before you kick it. On a post-safety, obviously now you don’t. You can kick it right out of your hand. You can drop-kick it from the 35 on a regular kickoff, but the ball does have to hit the ground. Yes, just to be clear. You can’t just wing it or throw it. These are all things. We didn’t get into the fair catch kick question yet. We’ll save that for next week.”
(Is that why they call it a kickoff, because it’s kicked off the ground?) – “Yes. Did anybody know that after a fair catch you can kick a field goal? You get a free kick after a fair catch, but you never see it; but we’ve got to be ready for that every week, too.”
(What’s the onsides kick called that K Cody Parkey did where it just bounced along with him and then he recovered?) – “The one against the Raiders?”
(Yes, is that the dribble?) – “Yes, we just call that a bunt. Some people call it a dribble. There’s 50 different names. If you’re talking to 10 different coordinators for special teams, they will give you 10 different names.”
Matt Burke – December 14, 2017
Download PDF version
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(According to the game book, DT Ndamukong Suh played every single defensive snap against the Patriots. No. 1: How amazing is that? No. 2: Was there ever a point where you asked him to come out and he told you, “No, I’m staying?”) – “(laughter) No. It’s amazing. I always talk about the way that Suh prepares and gets himself ready to play. A little bit was kind of the game situation in terms of we didn’t have a lot of long drives, necessarily. We were kind of getting off the field at times, which allows us to keep those guys playing. When we get into those longer, extended drives where we’re trying to roll guys a little bit and keep them fresh and be a little bit proactive … Our total snap count was like right around 60. I think it was 61. It’s definitely a testament to him and his preparation and obviously he didn’t want to come out. We didn’t really get to a point in the game where we felt his snap count was affecting his play because we were kind of being able to get out. (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) was controlling the clock and our time of possession was pretty good from a team standpoint. We just never really got to a point where we felt like we had to roll him out of there.”
(Was that the best DT Ndamukong Suh has played all year?) – “He’s played pretty good all year. I don’t know. I’d have to go back …”
(DT Ndamukong Suh seemed to have more tackles for loss.) – “Did he? I don’t know. He played well. He definitely played well. He affected the game. He obviously had the sack and some of those things. He’s a guy that affects the game regardless of the stat line because they’re always accounting for him. Sometimes it’s stuff not everyone sees where they’re double-teaming him and putting four hands on him and that frees somebody else up to make plays. He’s always got an impact on the game but he definitely played really well on Monday night and obviously was a big part of our victory.”
(After the game, one of our photographers took a pretty amazing photo. I can show you later. You’re very emotional. It’s very cool. If you could take me back to that moment, it seems like you were very emotional from the game. What went into your emotion?) – “When was that? Postgame? Yes, it’s just … I’ve said this before. All games are … We put a lot into it. We put a lot of work into it and all of that but it’s a high-intensity moment for four hours straight, in between every series, especially against a team like that. I felt obviously we had to stay ahead of the curve and keep changing things up. You can’t give them a static look or they’re going to figure it out eventually. So for me, it was like every series, ‘Alright, what are we doing next? How can we change this up? Alright, they’ve seen this.’ So it was about four straight hours of just non-stop, non-stop, non-stop. When it kind of ends … Obviously it was a big victory. I just felt like … I don’t know. I’m not sure what the picture is obviously but I was just letting out a lot of – probably two weeks’ worth – of stuff from the first game that I had personally. Game days are hard on play callers. For me, the players and coaches did a great job – and I mentioned that in our meeting – about just helping me with that stuff. Literally, I was getting feedback from the guys on the field. (Ndamukong) Suh always comes over and he’ll talk about what he’s seeing and things. Reshad (Jones) was coming over, Kiko (Alonso), ‘X’ (Xavien Howard). Even ‘X’ was like ‘Man, I’m doing this. I’m good on this.’ That helped. It’s just a four-hour straight high-intensity, stressful, on edge (experience). So when it’s over, and obviously we got a result that we were happy about, it was cathartic.”
(How many wrinkles would you say you threw at the Patriots this game?) – “I don’t know. I pretty much dialed up every blitz on my call sheet. (There were) a lot (of wrinkles). That’s just what you have to do (against them), which is hard. It put a lot on the players. There was a little bit more learning because we had some new stuff in and we had some changes. I came in at halftime and was like ‘Hey, we’re going to kind of put this stuff to the side and we’re going to come back to this.’ Even series to series, I try to stay ahead of it and let them know so it’s not just blindly coming in from the sideline. So in between series, I’ll try to go up and down and say ‘Hey, here’s what I’m thinking,’ or ask the coaches ‘What do you guys like next third down or next this?’ I think that’s just how it has to be with (the Patriots). If they know where you’re lining up, they’re going to have answers and ways to exploit that. We tried to do a pretty good amount of different things. Again, preparing for them with different personnel groups and not quite sure what they were going to come out in – in terms of who they’re putting on the field and their course of attack – you had to have a lot up because you weren’t sure where they were going to come with it. So you had to have answers no matter what they did.
(As a follow up, can you do that week to week? Is that possible?) – “Sometimes. Sometimes it’s overkill. Sometimes you can screw yourself if you’re putting too much in. All of the time you want your players to play fast, so I’m always cautious of slowing them down just by overloading them mentally too much. There are games where you don’t have to do that all of the time. Sometimes you mess yourself up. We want to play technique and play our defense and those sort of things. Every game is a different entity in terms of how much you need or what you don’t need or what the challenges are. A game like this week, where you have to be sound with the running back and where he’s going to be and hold up your edges, if you try to get too cute sometimes in a game like this, then he squirts out and it’s trouble. Every week is a different challenge in how you handle that stuff.”
(Was CB Torry McTyer out there in the dime package?) – “He was.”
(Did you guys play a snap or was there a penalty?) – “No, we had about … I think there were three snaps. I think he played three snaps.”
(How many times have you showed dime this season?) – “Probably not a ton. Against these guys (the Patriots) we have a few times. I would say less than 10, probably.”
(Around the NFL, it seems like the dime maybe isn’t as popular as it was 10 years ago or something like that. Is that true?) – “I’m not sure. Again, we have different personnel groups we try to use and it’s week to week and what the matchups are that we like on the field. Any time you’re putting somebody on the field, you’re taking somebody off and that’s what you weigh in terms of is this a good matchup for us or is this guy better for us in this situation than somebody else? I guess that’s about it. We’re going to use the personnel that we feel is going to fit us best for each play.”
(The Bills are such a run-heavy team. You know RB LeSean McCoy is going to be bringing it. How do you contain him?) – “It’s going to be a team effort, obviously. I think he’s the best in the league at making people miss. He’s unpredictable in terms of where he is taking runs. He’ll jump cut and bounce pretty much anything. Everyone is going one way and he’ll stop on a dime and take it back the other way. It’s not going to be a one-man thing. It’s the whole team – everyone – has to swarm to the ball. He’s going to make somebody miss. You guys can write that one down now. Someone is going to miss a tackle in this game. As long as there are four or five other guys that are closing to him and closing up space on him … Obviously he’s most dangerous in space and when he gets air around him, so we’re going to try to take that away as much as we can and not just give him those opportunities. But for me, it’s really about our guys pursuing and chasing and being relentless to the ball because, again, there are going to be situations where he’s going to beat a one-on-one tackle and there’s got to be guys there to clean that up and not let a missed tackle turn into a 20-yard gain. If it’s a 3-, 4- or 5-yard gain, then we put the ball down and play again. We’ve got to try to get hats to the ball to eliminate the explosive (plays) with him.”
(With CB Xavien Howard, has he reached a point now … I’m not saying you would do this every week because of the game plan; but do you feel confident enough for him to shadow any receiver in the league?) – “Yes. We’ve done that all season. He’s obviously made a bunch of pretty spectacular plays the last couple of weeks. We’ve had that confidence in ‘X’ all year and again, obviously some of the results are starting to show. I tried to tell you guys. Nobody wants to listen to me. (laughter) But yes, that’s the same as the personnel packages and everything else – week to week – how many different calls and variances we have. That week, if we feel that’s a good matchup or a better situation for us, then we’ll do that and we’ll flip guys. Maybe it’s not ‘X.’ Maybe we like a different matchup for somebody else. That’s part of our discussion every week we start on the game plan.”
(You said before that one of CB Xavien Howard’s biggest issues was getting his head around and locating the ball. Not X’s and O’s wise, but technique-wise and maturity-wise, have you seen him grow as a player?) – “Yes, absolutely. Again, I think I mentioned it last week or the week before, I think it’s just the experience is catching up to the talent with ‘X.’ On paper, he’s a second-year player; but in reality, he only played seven games last year. I think he’s gotten a lot more time this year, obviously. We have put him in some spots in terms of matching guys or doing certain things. We’re putting him in those spots to get that experience and he’s been responding. I think it’s just part of his maturation and development.”
(Speaking of CB Xavien Howard, what goes into limiting a guy as explosive as Patriots WR Brandin Cooks? A guy that can get vertical as quick as he can.) – “Well, ‘X’ can run first of all, so that helps. I thought what ‘X’ did in the game Monday night was really put his hands on those guys at the line of scrimmage. Cooks is a fast kid and he’s explosive. You’ve got to try to get him before he gets going a little bit. When he did get going, the second pick (Howard) had, he showed some pretty serious closing speed. But I thought most of the night, ‘X’ was really getting up on the ball and pressing him and trying to disrupt before (Cooks) really got off the line of scrimmage.”
(Was there an increase in man coverage? Was there an increase in press? And if so, in the times that you utilized those techniques, what was the strategy behind it?) – “Again, we try to be a press team for the most part, as formations and splits and certain things dictate, and calls. We probably played a little bit more man, probably because I was pressuring a little bit more than maybe I normally do. So maybe there was a little bit uptick in just man coverage. Again, they were having success. Those guys were covering. It gave me, as a play caller, confidence that obviously I’m looking out there and I’m calling man and they’re covering them, so I can keep going back to it. That helps.”
(When you watched the Buffalo/Indy game earlier this week, are those favorable conditions for a defensive coordinator?) – “I don’t know about that. I was a coach in the last game that happened. I was in Detroit when we played in Philly in 2013 in a very similar (snow storm). I never thought I’d see it again, honestly. We kind of came off the field and we were like ‘Man, that’s never going to happen again.’ So I coached and literally the same thing happened. ‘Shady’ (LeSean McCoy) went off for about 150 yards on us. I get it, where on the surface it looks like a low-scoring game and all of that. I think one of the issues defensively is you’re reacting to what an offense is doing. Especially a guy like McCoy, who’s got really good balance – that’s probably one of his better assets as an athlete – so he knows where he’s cutting and how to make those moves. As a defender, you’re reacting to that and it’s harder to keep your footing and do some of those things when the field conditions are like that. Obviously if you can get him behind the sticks, you saw they were running the ball on every third down. It was third-and-10 and they were handing the ball off just because throwing was a little questionable, especially in that second quarter when it got really bad. That’s great. There’s an advantage of that in terms of it was a low-scoring game and all of that; but it’s more difficult, I think, defensively, just because you’re reacting to what an offense is doing and that just slows you down. You being sure on your feet and stuff is going to slow you down even another step and whatnot. That’s nothing we can control. I remember when we came out of that game in 2013, we sat down as a staff and was like ‘Hey, if this ever happens again, overall, philosophically, what are things that we would do? What are some of the techniques we would do?’ We went through our game plan this week kind of normal and we’ve kind of tick-marked some calls and some thoughts if the field happens to turn out like that. I don’t know what the odds are, but we’ll be ready for it if something happens.”
(Do you have actual notes from that game that you go back to?) – “Yes. I keep a lot of stuff. I’m like a pack rat. I’ve got notes from all over the place.”
(How big of a deal do you make out of holding New England to 0-for-11 on third down? Do you put it up on a wall?) – “No. I don’t put anything up on the wall. Honestly, I had no idea. I literally had no idea. You play the play. I’m just trying to get the next call out and figure out what’s going on. I had no idea it was going on until the last drive. (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) was up on third down and I was looking up at the scoreboard to calculate what the time was going to be in that last 2-minute drive and how many timeouts they had. I was looking up and trying to be like ‘Okay, there’s this much time left.’ And I’m going through the process and they flashed up on the scoreboard that they were 0-for-10 at the time and I was kind of like, ‘Man, that doesn’t seem right.’ (laughter) When you go through that, I felt like I was getting my butt kicked most of the game. You’re just up against it nonstop. I had no idea that was happening. I knew we were having some success and the guys were rushing well up front. I was happy for the players, that they were able to execute and have some success in a game like that. That was it. We didn’t put anything up. We moved on to Buffalo pretty quick.”
(You’ve actually held teams to 1-of-24 on third downs over the last two games. Did you know that?) – “No. Now I do.”
(That’s pretty remarkable.) – “It’s alright, yes. I mean every week is tough guys. Buffalo is actually 10th in the league right now in third downs. They’re converting over 40 percent of their third downs and obviously have a couple of different types of weapons, so it’s going to be another big challenge for us this week in terms of whether it’s keeping Tyrod (Taylor) in the pocket or containing (LeSean) McCoy and those sorts of things. We don’t look back. We try to look forward and we can’t worry about what happened last week or the last two weeks. Every game is a separate entity and we’ve got to go out and perform again or you guys are going to be asking me different questions next week.”
Adam Gase – December 14, 2017 (Conference Call)
Download PDF version
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase (Conference Call)
(You’ve given your team a couple of days off here, what’s the message at 6-7 and how do you guard against having a letdown after such a morale-boosting win on Monday night?) – “What we did this week is this is kind of like our Monday night (game) schedule. We try to keep our schedule the same with going over the last game and giving our players their day off. We change up the back half of the week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to adjust, to cover what we need to cover and practice. Really, this is something that we’ve done before, so it wasn’t really specific for just this week. Our guys, all we’ve been talking about is we’re focused on one game at a time. We’re at the point of the season right now where if you worry about anything else, that’s where you get in trouble. For us, we’ve had a lot of ups and down this year, to where the last two games, we’ve played better. Guys have been unbelievably into the games to where the energy level was great the last two weeks. Really, that’s what we’re focusing on, just trying to keep that energy level the same and going out there and trying to execute as well as we can.”
(How much more comfortable has QB Jay Cutler gotten as the season has gone on, especially considering how late in the game you guys added him?) – “I think the longer you go, the more comfortable you get. As a quarterback, you really know the guys that you’re working with. You develop more timing. That was the discussion we had early in this process. You spend basically since the start of the offseason in April to August with Ryan (Tannehill) and building everything around him, and then we lose him and we get Jay in early August. One of the discussions that we had with (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (General Manager) Chris (Grier) in the front office was, we’re probably going to go through some interesting growing pains in public. It’s not going to be in training camp, it’s not going to be in OTAs. We went through a little bit of that where it didn’t look very good. We had to work through that. Guys did a good job of sticking with it and not getting frustrated and it kept building week after week.”
(You mentioned you guys kind of built everything offense-wise around QB Ryan Tannehill. How much did you have to adjust and tweak your scheme to what QB Jay Cutler does well?) – “The way that we do it is really we emphasize what he really likes. Going back to my 2015 notes of seeing where we went with him that season, some of the things that we did then, we were better in Chicago than what we are here. We’ve got different personnel here, as well. (We were) just trying to find that happy medium of where we were when we were having success with him and where we were at. There are some things that Jay likes to throw compared to Ryan, and vice versa. It’s just one of those things, you tweak a little bit at a time. It’s hard to make just an overall change in one day.”
(How much does RB Kenyan Drake’s production help validate what was considered this ‘wow’ decision that you guys made to trade RB Jay Ajayi?) – “I don’t look at it like that. I think that was just a good move for us. The good thing is we’re so bunkered down here, we’re not really listening to what anybody else says. We’ve got a lot of confidence in that room. Those two guys work extremely hard. Between Drake and Damien Williams and Senorise Perry, those three guys have been around for two or more years and I’ve always been able to count on those guys. We just knew that we were going to get max effort from them.”
(Where are you with RB Damien Williams? We didn’t hear your injury updates, if you can share that.) – “We should get him out there today. We’re just seeing how he feels. It’s really going to be one of those situations where he’s going to have to really communicate with us, because we can say one thing and our doctors can say, ‘Okay, this looks better;’ but it’s really going to be how he feels strength-wise. We’re playing a crew this week that if they blitz, you’ve got to bring it and if he’s lacking strength there, then that’s going to be an issue for him. I just need to make sure that he’s completely honest with me and we’ll see how it goes this week.”
(Obviously you guys had confidence in your running backs to make that RB Jay Ajayi trade, but how much has RB Kenyan Drake maybe even exceeded expectations with the way he’s played the last few weeks?) – “I think any time that you get an opportunity to play, I know this was something that he discussed with me after last season. He felt like he squandered an opportunity. I made him a starter one week and he was going to be the point of emphasis and we went away from him. I know after the season that was one thing that he came to me and regretted, and wished he would have played better in the opportunity he was given. I just had the discussion with him, ‘Well, if that opportunity ever arises again, make sure that you run with it.’ I think our offense is always going to be built around more than one guy, though. We like using multiple personnel groupings. We like to use multiple backs. I just think it makes it hard on the defense. Plus, in this league if you only have one guy and you lose that guy, it makes it tough. I just like the rotation we’ve got going on right now.”
(What really jumped out from watching the Monday game as opposed to some of us watching other prime time games that you guys were in, was how that defense was really attacking the Patriots’ front line and how it helped your back end. Has that push been consistent enough or is that something that you liked seeing or liked maybe they’ve turned the corner there, in what we saw on Monday?) – “I think there was a lot of factors that went into what happened in that game. I thought our secondary did a great job of playing aggressively and showing our entire team that they were going to play tight coverage and contest throws. When that happens and our coverage and our front are working together, I thought our front seven did a great job of trying to hurt their run game early. We got a lead, which hasn’t really happened for us this year, which is what we’ve been waiting for. Any time that we can get a little bit of a lead and let those guys really turn loose as pass rushers, that’s what we’re looking for.”
(Jon Gruden, I think, mentioned that on the broadcast, that you guys getting a lead hasn’t happened all that often; but that helped pin your ears back and get after Patriots QB Tom Brady. What frustrations have you had in not being able to do that and get to that point enough this season?) – “I think the frustration probably is more on myself. Being the guy that is running this offense, I feel like I haven’t helped the defense enough. They’ve done a great job. The last two years, they’ve never said one word, no matter what the situation’s been. They’ve always had an outstanding attitude as an entire group of, ‘It doesn’t matter what the score is, it doesn’t matter how much time is left, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to do everything we can to get a stop.’ It was nice to see that we actually could get a lead, build on it and put ourselves in a better position than what we mostly have done the last two years.”
(What have you seen from this Bills defense? Obviously, you guys had some success against them last year; but it’s, schematically and personnel-wise, a different group. What have you seen from Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott’s unit here?) – “Sean is tough to go against. I’ve always watched him from afar. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to be on the other sideline against him. It’s always difficult, especially when you go against a guy that can make in-game adjustments, that’s always going to have something tough for is to go against when you start the game and it’s going to evolve as the game goes on. If you show any kind of weakness, he’s going to embarrass you. You’ve got to be on it. You’ve got to be ready to adjust. You’ve got to find things that work. I feel like the defense is playing extremely fast. They look like they’re playing extremely confident. They’re finding ways to put pressure on the quarterback and it might not necessarily be by sacks. Something that we talk about here all of the time, it’s really about pass disruptions. It’s about sacks, hits and pressures. You see a lot of the time the quarterback is throwing the ball earlier than they want to.”
(Have you done anything to prepare guys for the weather up here knowing, especially after what happened last week, that it could be pretty cold and maybe snowy again this week?) – “Maybe I’m from the school of ‘It’s all about a mindset. If you’re going to worry about it then it’s going to become a factor.’ I always tell our guys, ’75 percent of you are from the Midwest anyway.’ We’ve all played in this. Now, last week was crazy (in Buffalo). I only can think of one other game where when I turned the game on and saw guys look like they were going a foot down, I started thinking, ‘What would I be calling here?’ (laughter) I thought both teams did an outstanding job of trying to find ways to move the ball. I thought (Bills Head Coach) Sean (McDermott) was extremely smart in how he played everything. I know, at the time, everybody thought him punting the ball wasn’t a good idea; but that was a smart move.”
(What did you get out of that tape to even scout the Bills?) – “Nothing. (laughter) ‘Shady’ (LeSean) McCoy is really good. (laughter).”
(Bills QB Tyrod Taylor threw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns during your Week 16 overtime win last season. What do you recall from that performance?) – “I recall seeing him run around a lot and make a lot of plays. He was very frustrating for us, I know that. I feel like he plays well against us and we’ve got to do a good job of not letting him do what he did last time. Every time we felt like we were about ready to make a move in that game, he would do something and ‘Shady’ (LeSean McCoy) would do something. It’s a tough combination to deal with. Both of those guys are so athletic and can hurt you in so many different ways. That’s what makes it tough to go against them.”
(Are you guys preparing for QB Tyrod Taylor to be the starter on Sunday?) – “We’ll make sure that we’re prepared for any scenario to come up; but we’ll be ready if he’s ready to go, and if someone else is in there, we’ll be ready for that.”
Adam Gase – December 14, 2017
Download PDF version
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(What’s been the thing that you’ve liked most about WR Jarvis Landry and WR Kenny Stills as a receiving duo this year? They’ve produced 14 touchdowns.) – “I think they’ve been very reliable. They’re available. Those guys, especially in the red zone, they’ve done a really good job of being where they’re supposed to be. This last game, the second touchdown Jarvis had, I don’t even know if we’ve ever thrown him the ball on that. That was a good job by him doing what he was supposed to do and he found that window. And then Kenny, a lot of his touchdowns seem to come from a little further out; but when he gets a one-on-one matchup, he figures out a way to get open.”
(Has the change in quarterback, does that affect receivers going from QB Matt Moore to QB Jay Cutler?) – “I don’t know if it really changes that much for us. Our guys are going to try to be where they’re supposed to be and then whether … I think it’s really just how those guys are feeling on that given day. I know there’s been some games where Jay’s been able to move around pretty good and some games he’s kind of just staying in the pocket and hasn’t been as active as he was this last game.”
(There were nine DNPs on the injury report yesterday. I don’t want to ask about every one of them but are there any that really stand out or any that you’re concerned about?) – “I don’t know if we’ve really changed that much from week to week. I mean we’ll keep trying to get Damien (Williams) going here. That’s really going to be … When he’s kind of ready to go and the same thing with ‘Bush’ (Jermon Bushrod). The rest of those guys, really we’ve been doing … The older guys we’ve been kind of keeping out on Wednesdays and we’ll try to get them going today.”
(CB Cordrea Tankersley I guess is the one that …?) – “Yes, I mean we’re trying to get him back. I felt like he got a couple of things hurt on the same play. It’s tough.”
(What comes with you having so many guys inactive? Players were playing in so many different spots. You had WR Jarvis Landry lining up at running back or WR Jakeem Grant in the backfield. You’re basically able to change personnel without substitution. Is that something that this team can build upon? Is it something that you can move to going to in the future?) – “Yes, I think anytime that you can be multiple and keep the defense guessing what you’re doing and run-pass options. You just try to find as many ways to get the ball in our playmakers hands. Really, that’s the most important thing is it becomes tough to get Jarvis the ball sometimes because like last game, he was doubled on so many snaps. That’s why other guys were popping open and we had some guys running free because he’s being accounted for. There are different ways teams do it. I think we saw like three or four different ways that New England did it and sometimes I don’t even … Until he watches the film, I don’t think he really realizes that sometimes they’re having the linebacker come flying out there and he was underneath, and the nickel was staying over the top. I mean there were some creative ways to double him this last game. It’s just if the quarterback makes a mistakes, that’s when a turnover will happen trying to force him the ball. All of those guys did a good job of just doing their job and Jay (Cutler) did a good job of staying with his progression.”
(How do you balance the fine line of coaching RB Kenyan Drake to avoid the minus plays while not changing him too much and having him still look for the home run?) – “Well, he hasn’t really put himself in position … Any of the minus plays have been kind of on us more than anybody. I mean he’s saved us on both those – the touchdown run and the one last game where we had an unblocked guy right in the hole and he saved us from a minus play. Really, any negative yardage he’s had, we’ve either been beat too quick to where he really couldn’t do anything about it or we just didn’t have the right call for what they were doing.”
(You guys have been averaging 24 points in the six games you’ve played since the RB Jay Ajayi trade. I don’t want to put it on Jay but is there any underlying theme of why the offense has sort of ticked upwards?) – “I think that’s going to be one of those things that I’m going to have to look at at the end of the year of what happened, before and after. It’s hard to – like when you’re in the middle of it – it’s hard to really kind of figure that out. I do think we’ve done a better job of executing some things. Guys have really probably made plays when we haven’t had a great play call and we’ve done something special as a player that you really don’t coach. It will be something we’ll have to evaluate at the end of the season of what really started … Where did we start sliding and why did things kind of start getting better?”
(With your offense the last two years, do you realize that I guess you’re 10-1 in games where you’ve rushed for 100 yards. Is there any kind of correlation that you could put to it?) – “I think there was a time where somebody told me if Jay (Ajayi) got 25 touches, we never lost. Well, I think it happened this year at some point. I just know we’ve got to score one more point than the other team. A lot of times though, when you have good rushing numbers, you’re probably winning and you’re running the ball at the end of game. They’re bringing everybody. All it takes is the running back beats one guy and you can pop some big ones. It’s hard for me to correlate those things because every game is just so different.”
(You’ve been getting contributions from guys maybe in ways that you didn’t envision when the season started. T Sam Young at right tackle, CB Torry McTyer in the secondary on Sunday, TE MarQueis Gray in the backfield. How critical has that evolution been for you guys and is there anyone that we haven’t picked up on at some level?) – “I think if you’re on this roster, we just anticipate you’re going to have to play, and when you do, we can’t have a drop off. That’s the reminder we give the rookies right at the beginning of the season. Cam Wake is not going to care that you’re a rookie in Week 9. He’s going to expect you to do your job and do it well. We’re not looking for those outs. Players aren’t looking for the out of ‘Hey, I’m a rookie.’ Nobody cares. If you step on the field, they expect you to play like a guy that’s been playing for 10 years. That’s where that internal pressure on some of these younger guys kind of comes from those veteran players that do it right all the time. They expect you to do it right on Sundays.”
(How many different ways has TE MarQueis Gray do you think lined up this year?) – “I don’t even know. We try to use him where we can, when it fits in. There’s been some stuff where we’ve had some things and we never got to it. We just keep trying to build his library up and when the time is right to put him in, that’s when we do it. Last week we were able to kind of use him a little bit and he made some plays and helped us move the ball.”
(What does it say about WR Jarvis Landry that on a night where he’s doubled through most of the game, he’s still able to get big catches?) – “It’s impressive because it’s no different than when you watch (Ndamukong) Suh get double-teamed for 61 plays. You wonder how he gets a sack or how he gets tackles for losses. Good players find a way to get open no matter what other teams do against them.”
(What was your comfort level with the celebration of WR Jarvis Landry’s touchdown celebration?) – “I never pay attention so I never know what’s … Matt tells me after the game about something that happens. I’m like I really don’t care so …”
(You showed some wrinkles in this last game. I assume you do that and we don’t notice in other games. Can you do that every game? Is it fair to expect that you should be able to come up with something every game?) – “I mean you can, but if they’re not a team that runs certain defenses, it’ll probably not look right. It probably won’t be open. I mean there are certain coverages that are good to be able to do things like that. There are certain teams you want to play (in order to do that). Every team is different and some of the stuff that we did this week, we’ve done before. It just probably looked different because Jakeem (Grant) was in there and we just had a bunch of different personnel groupings. I mean a little bit of it is trying to take a little off (Kenyan) Drake and put Senorise (Perry) in there every once in a while; but it’s just different ways for us to kind of use guys to where Drake can get a second to get a blow.”
(And what about defense?) – “I think defense it was those guys were feeling good as far as what was going on early. I think the more confidence we gain throughout the game, the corners were doing a good job. And when that happens, then (Defensive Coordinator) Matt’s (Burke) able to really get aggressive. If we get a little bit of a lead, then we can kind of turn those guys loose and Matt can be aggressive. The corners were playing well, so I think what he did was a lot of really good things that we haven’t been able to get to.”
(With the way that CB Bobby McCain is playing on the outside, is it possible to re-think maybe he’s our best guy out there and not CB Cordrea Tankersley?) – “The one thing is, Bobby is playing really well inside, as well. I don’t know when we’re going to get ‘Tank’ back. I just know our guys are always going to do everything they can to play well, and if Bobby’s number gets called outside, he’s very confident, as I’m sure you guys know. He’s very confident in his abilities and he’ll do whatever we ask him to do. We’re always going to look at that, though. Whatever the best thing for us to do that week (is), that’s what we’ll do.”
(Obviously everybody plays in the same conditions, I’ve heard the story. All snow games don’t really matter, players say that before they go play in it. As a play caller, do you have to change your approach in terms of concern about footing and conditions and field?) – “Yes. That’s every week. What (Buffalo) played in last week, that was crazy. I only can think of that Detroit vs. Philadelphia game. When you watch guys trying to … Nobody’s going anywhere. I feel like when I started watching the game, it was just stoppage of play and it kept building up and nobody was moving in it. The first time you saw a guy running out of the huddle, he’s taking these huge strides. I started thinking like, ‘Wow, what would I be calling?’ I thought what both sides were doing, they had some good stuff. Indianapolis had some really nice plays that kind of used (the snow) to their advantage, and so did Buffalo. You have an idea of what you should do, but until you’re in that situation, you’re probably learning as the game goes on.”
(When you have a running back that can run inside, outside, line up out wide or in the slot or wherever, how does that benefit your offense and what kind of bind does that put the defense in?) – “It just makes them declare what they want to do. Like the guy (LeSean McCoy) we’re playing this week, you’ve just got to be careful who ends up one-on-one with him, because when you’ve got one of the better players in the league, if he can get you in space, he becomes a big time issue. Any time you can have running backs or tight ends that puts the defense in a situation where if they want to play man and you have an advantage there, if it’s too big of an advantage, you can’t play any man. That eliminates certain coverages. As a play caller, you start eliminating what they possibly could run.”
(The kneel downs, it seemed like the Patriots may have been a little chippy. What do you tell your players there? Obviously, we’ve seen what it can become at the end.) – “The game’s going on. You can tell if a guy’s going to come off the ball. They weren’t that surprised. That’s why I’ve always looked at it as if you’ve got the whole d-line standing up, they’re probably not coming. If they’re in four-point stances ready to come off the ball, you better come off the ball. The game’s still going on. That’s not a give-up play.”
(We saw it get ugly in Jacksonville because they took issue with that. You have no problem with full speed defense on the kneel down?) – “If you play Seattle and it’s a 2-point game, (Seahawks DE) Michael Bennett is going to try to find a way to get a turnover. We saw, I think in 2012 when we played Tampa, we talked about it. We had a specific way we were going to go about handling it. If the game is going on, you’ve got to be ready to play.”
Adam Gase – December 12, 2017
Download PDF version
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(That was a signature win against sort of the gold standard of the NFL, certainly of the AFC and I’m just wondering if you will acknowledge that in the one game at a time scheme, that this means a little bit more to this organization even going forward?) – “It means a lot to probably first the players, because they have to go out there and they have the physical battle they’ve got to handle. They’ve got to handle the mental battle as well. Not everything’s quite gone right this year and guys have done a great job of just plugging along, figuring out a way to get better, find a way to win last week, find a way to win this week. That’s a tough team to play and they’re a well-coached team and they know that they have to execute and protect the football and get turnovers. They know the formula to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter and I felt like the players did a great job. The coaching staff did a great job getting these guys ready. It’s a good win for us because that was the most important game of that week. I know you want more than that but really, if you lose next week nobody really is going to give a (expletive).”
(How kind of uneasy is confidence at times because you guys lost five straight and it seemed like maybe some of these guys are hanging their head a little and then you do what you did the last two weeks and that locker room was completely transformed last night.) – “I mean that’s the NFL. They’ll hang their head for a day and then we’ll move on. Once we hit Wednesday, we’re on to the next one.”
(It seemed like there were a lot of plays where QB Jay Cutler had significant time. Did the offensive line play as well as they have all season yesterday?) – “I’m not sure if I can say that’s all season. If you go game by game, I think they did a good job with the fronts they were getting. New England makes it very difficult. You’re not really sure sometimes how they’re going to rush. You have an idea of who may be coming, but the way that they enter the line of scrimmage is very difficult because they do a lot of things where you have to pass the defensive linemen off. It can get tough. They do a really good job of making sure that if you’re not on the same page, you’re in trouble.”
(Speaking of offensive line. C Mike Pouncey’s played every game this year. He hasn’t played all 16 games since 2012.) – “I’m glad you’re bringing it up. (laughter)”
(What has the team done, what has C Mike Pouncey done to not have durability issues season?) – “I think he’s just worked extremely hard every day. I mean I don’t remember the last time I hadn’t seen him here trying to do something. He doesn’t need anybody to tell him what to do. He’s going to be in here on his own. This means a lot to him. He wants to be out there for his teammates every snap and he’s had the right mindset this year. Not that he hasn’t in the past, but I know he’s really locked in about focusing on one game at a time, one play at a time. He’s just trying to be a guy that we can count on every week. I’m sure he hasn’t felt 100 percent or great all of the time and he just keeps plugging along and trying to do everything he can to help us win.”
(I know you’ve always like RB Kenyan Drake’s potential but have you been surprised at all the last two games about his ability to handle a full work load as well as he has?) – “Not really. I mean that’s why we drafted him. We’d rather be able to … Like that combination of him and Damien (Williams) really caused a lot of problems because both of those guys have can do everything you want them to do. We’ve just got to keep working on cleaning up the ball security and make sure that he hangs onto that thing and keep putting two hands on it in traffic.”
(You’ve been thinking of getting WR Jakeem Grant involved on the outside. You’ve been talking about that for a while and last night we saw it.) – “It was … (you guys) kept bringing it up, so I had to keep putting it on the back shelf. (laughter) We kept working on these packages with him and it just never flowed right in the game, in a lot of the previous games, to where we weren’t getting the matchups we wanted. We were seeing coverages that were different than what we thought. This game I think it was more, we’re going to put it out there and we accidentally kind of fell into a couple of them the last time we played them because we lost all of the running backs. So we started putting them out there more and it just kind of got us thinking a little bit of maybe we just should put him out there and let’s just see what happens, (because) he can do so much. And it kind of lets us play around with some things with him and Jarvis (Landry), when you start doing the things where they’re in the backfield and then they’re all playing different positions and in different spots. Guys have fun with that. They like being able to do something a little creative, so we kind of started doing that stuff.”
(You’ve come a long way, obviously. You’ve talked a lot before about the offense being minimalist when you guys couldn’t do a lot right. Now you’re lining up guys in the backfield that have never played running back. Is it a matter of the team just figuring it out and you feel more comfortable opening it up?) – “No, I think it’s just (me) less angry when they make a mistake. Just let them figure it out and they’ve done a good job. You’ll see every once in a while we’ll have a little confusion, but they figure it out by the time the clock hits 0 on the shot clock. Sometimes it’s kind of messy because guys have to change what position they are. We try to keep everything as consistent as possible; but now, all of the sudden, you’ve got five wide outs in there or four wide outs. Somebody’s got to change. It’s tough sometimes; but guys have done a good job being right, for the most part.”
(You guys jumped out to a lead. How did that influence the game? How did it change it for both teams?) – “I’m sure our defense was happy. That was a first. We wanted to just keep trying to push the ball, whether it be in the run game, pass game, however we were doing it, just to put pressure on them and see if we could score some points to where if we could get up by 6, 7, 13, whatever it was, to just give our guys a chance to really put pressure on the quarterback. That’s what we wanted to do. We’ve been talking about it for a long time. Those guys have done a great job of hanging in there with us and yesterday, we finally got a little bit of a lead and they were able to go do what we want them to do. They put a lot of pressure on (Patriots QB Tom Brady).”
(Do you think the Denver game gave you guys something? I know Denver hasn’t been playing well but just the confidence of seeing the plan actually materialize on the field?) – “I think any time you get in a situation where you’ve lost five games in a row, no matter how you win that game, it’s nice to win a game. Confidence can really build throughout a week the next week, and I think that’s really what happened to us. Guys came in with a purpose in the Denver game, did a good job, and then when we went through practice last week, there was a different way about how even at practice we were. There was no change in effort or execution or anything like that; but it seemed like guys were walking around differently, like they felt good about what we had going on and how they were going to perform.”
(What’s gone into WR Jarvis Landry’s ability to find the end zone this season?) – “I don’t know. It just happens. We’ve called certain plays and there’s options, and sometimes it’s dictated by coverage. We just caught some teams in the right coverage.”
(With RB Kenyan Drake and CB Xavien Howard, you see these guys and you know what kind of talent is there. You’re trying to tap in and you’ve worked with them for a year and a half and now all of a sudden, it’s kind of blossoming, in our eyes anyway. What level of satisfaction is there for you when you see that happen?) – “It’s really been … I guess for both guys, I’ve enjoyed it just because, especially Drake, I give him a really hard time. Just to see him stick with it. When we traded Jay (Ajayi), we kind of put those two guys in a room and were like ‘Alright, both of you guys are going to get touches’ and they knew how I wanted to use them. Just to see his engagement in meetings and practice and how much you can see the effort he’s putting forth to try to make sure he does everything right. He wants to be a reliable guy. Just seeing that growth really fast, it’s been fun to experience. Then ‘X,’ he’s been confident since the spring. Just getting some success … Things happen like that for DBs. It snowballs for you. You get one, you get your hands on the ball and then all of a sudden it’s like three or four.”
(Speaking of snow balls, how do you prepare a team from South Florida to play in the snow?) – “It’s just mindset. It doesn’t matter. It’s three and a half hours. You get a 12-minute break.”
(But there’s no way to simulate anything.) – “I mean we can cool (the bubble) down if you want to but to a point, it’s not going to do anything.”
(It is winter though, right?) – “I know. It was cold yesterday.”
(I was curious your thoughts on, numbers aside, what you saw from WR DeVante Parker yesterday.) – “There was some good stuff. There was a couple of them I wish we could have back, that I thought were going to be some big plays. I can see him understanding the concepts so well to where he knows he has a lot of green grass and he wants to go; but he’s got to catch the ball first. That’s really what happened on that first play. He knew he had a chance for a big one. We just need him to focus on catching the ball first and then run after that. He just has to trust his speed. There were some good technique things he did on his routes. We just need the consistency. We have to just keep trying to get him going. He can be such a huge piece of the puzzle for us.”
(I was wondering about T Laremy Tunsil too in terms quality of play last night and just his disposition.) – “It’s always about consistency at this level. You can’t have four good and one bad, and that’s what you’re doing all of the time. You have to keep playing well for 60 minutes and when you play that spot, it’s the toughest spot because you’re usually going against their best pass rusher. A lot of times I know myself, in my head, I’m always thinking we’re good on the left, and I know Jay (Cutler) thinks the same way. So it’s a lot of pressure to make sure your guy is blocked every time because you get less help. A lot of the formations seem to be right-handed a lot of times. That’s a lot on a first-year left tackle. That’s a lot on his plate.”
(How was T Laremy Tunsil last night though?) – “He was pretty good. He did a pretty good job. There were a few things that I want to get cleaned up, which are easily correctable things.”
(DT Jordan Phillips is another player who is playing really well lately. What have you seen of him that makes a difference?) – “I think it just starts with the way that he’s been preparing. You notice in practice. His energy level, his attitude and the way his whole demeanor has been, for a long time now, you can see that’s why he’s having success. I don’t think any of us ever questioned his athletic ability or his ability to rush the passer. Just seeing him consistently do the same things over and over again, it’s been great to see. He’s been a huge part of that defensive line.”
(How did DT Jordan Phillips get through the night physically and did you have any issue with how he got dinged up? It seemed to be a play that wasn’t really a football play.) – “It’s hard to comment on anything like that but we’ll see how he is, when I get with those guys today. It’s always one of those ones you get a little nervous about because how is he going to be the next day? He seemed alright last night but we’ll kind of see as we go through the week.”
(The concussion protocol is back in the news after what happened to Texans QB Tom Savage. Your team has been through it a few times in the last couple years. What is your overall thoughts on the way the league has handled the new concussion protocol?) – “It’s hard for me to comment on it because we just follow the rules that they have in place. If a guy is down, we give him to the trainers, doctors and an NFL specialist. That’s it. I’m removed from it when that happens.”
(What’s the plan for RB Damien Williams this week? Are you going to test him out? – “Yes, we’re going to keep trying to get him ready to go and strengthen him up as much as we can. I know this has been frustrating for him. He wants to get out there, he wants to help us. We need him. He’s a valuable piece of this team, not only on the field but his attitude. We just have to keep getting him stronger and then when the trainers say he’s ready to go on the field, we’ll put him on the field.”
(Do you have a plan for RB Damien Williams to do anything though?) – “I don’t know. I’ll meet with the trainers later today and figure out what our plan is this week.”
Cameron Wake – December 11, 2017 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Monday, December 11, 2017
Postgame – New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake (transcribed by Ted Leshinski)
(Is this as big of a win as you’ve been around for a while?) – “I don’t know if I’d go that far; but it was fun. It was a complete game. Guys played together. I’ve been saying for the past couple of weeks (that) complementary football is something that we needed a few weeks ago. That was fun, a fun night. I know a lot of the guys enjoyed it as well.”
(As a defensive line, did you guys come into this game feeling like that you could set the pace and dictate the play and pace of this game?) – “I kind of think that we feel like that every game, to be honest. The guys that we have up front, we should run the show. That’s the way it should be. I know we put a lot on our backs when things don’t go well. I feel like it’s because we didn’t do well and when things go well, I feel like we definitely play a part. So, all across the board, guys are in the habit of making plays and I think that trickles down. Obviously if you’re getting pressure and there’s throws that may be a little errant, obviously guys are covering. Like I said, it’s complementary. You’ve got to play together, from the front to the back. They’re covering guys and giving us time to make pressure. We’re pressuring to give them time to make interceptions and PBUs and whatever it may be. Again, lots of fun.”
(What’s the difference been on third downs these past couple of weeks? Tonight, 0-for-11 for New England. How are you guys able to pull that off?) – “I think just being more accountable. I’ve told you guys before, when you have running scot free without anybody touching him, that’s not something they did, generally. It’s not just the Dolphins, it’s football all over the world. Guys just don’t run open. It doesn’t work that way. If you get beat on a great play, a great throw, that’s one thing; but we’ve had sometimes where it’s miscommunications or whatever it may be, where we shot ourselves in the foot. That was something I told you, again, a couple of weeks ago, that we have to work on being consistent, being where we’re supposed to be and doing your job. When you do that, 11 guys together, I think it’s tough to deal with us.”
(How much fun has it been to see what CB Xavien Howard has done the last two weeks? Four interceptions in two games.) – “It’s definitely been fun. To be very honest and frank, it’s not surprising. From the moment he got on campus last year, I knew the ability he had, the type of mentality and what he could bring to the table. You could tell him that I said it’s about time. I’ve been seeing him do amazing things on the field since he got here. I think all that hard work and perseverance and persistence is paying off. I’m definitely happy for him. It’s not a big surprise.”
(You said this year you couldn’t figure out why the team that went out there against Atlanta and played so well, couldn’t play that way a few games after that and the inconsistency. Have you noticed something different these last couple of performances leading up to those games to where you’re like ‘OK, now that’s what I’ve been looking to see?’) – “Well, I told you that the encouraging and frustrating thing is when you have the ability and you have pieces, you can do it; but then you don’t do it all the time. I’ve said before that if you could just never do something, then you just have to figure out a way around it; but we’ve shown that we can do a lot of good things. It’s about being consistent and putting it together for 60 minutes, complementary from front to back, offense and defense, and all of that. I’d like to think that the guys we have are back-against-the-wall, fight-out-of-the-hole type guys. You’d rather not get into a hole; but again, over the past couple of years, I think we’ve shown time and time again that we have the pieces and it’s just on us to put it together, and when we do, I’ll line us up against anybody.”
Ndamukong Suh – December 11, 2017 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Monday, December 11, 2017
Postgame – New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins DT Ndamukong Suh (transcribed by Lexie Balboni)
(You said before the game your job was to hurt Tom Brady. You guys clearly roughed him up and made him aware that you guys were around. It seemed like that started from the opening play of the game, that you guys got in there.) – “Our focus every single game is to hit the quarterback as hard as we can and make them uncomfortable. I think we did a pretty good job of it, I think we could have done more. We’ll go back and watch the film and see what our mistakes were, which I don’t feel like we made too many.”
(They were able to pick up yards running two weeks ago against you. I don’t think they had more than 30 or 40 yards rushing in the game today. What was the difference in the ball game?) – “I think as you watch them, especially over the last two weeks or so, they wanted to run the ball and they’ve been successful against us obviously the first time we played them so we knew that was going to be a big focus. Seeing that they had five receivers open they would probably want to pass a little more, using the tight end, things of that nature. So just understanding their scheme and their personnel and how they want to attack us and just go from there.”
(You guys seem to be aggressive, king a little extra curricular a little here and there. I know that’s something they’re kind of known for. Did you go into the game feeling we need to make these guys uncomfortable?) – “I think at the end of the day we looked at two weeks ago, saw that they were a lot more physical than us. We wanted to make sure we were physical, played to the whistle and imposed our will. “
(You talked about Jordan Phillips, he had a big game, had a sack, you had a sack, but hurts his ankle late in the game, comes back and again makes a play and gets a holding penalty against him and fights through it. What does that say to you about a kid like that?) – “As I said before Jordan understands his role and he’s embracing it. I think no matter what happens, as long as he’s healthy enough to be out there, whether its 60, 80 percent, obviously hope to be 100% but I think at this time of the year nobody is. He’s going to go out there and produce and that’s what we expect from him.”
(Your run defense, you guys know the Patriots are 25-yards on the ground. How big was that in terms of being able to stop them from being able to move the ball consistently?)– “As I said before, they wanted to run the ball previously, understanding their personnel. Our focus was always, no matter who we are playing, trying to shut down the run and obviously get after the quarterback.”
(Xavien Howards interceptions, what did that do for the defense, what did that do for the team overall?)– “X is doing his job, being in the right place, making plays. We’ve always said it, there’s going to be opportunities, just make the most of them. X has done a great job of that these last couple weeks.”
(The fact it didn’t look like you guys made a lot of mistakes. What does that say about the team considering two weeks ago there was like 20?) “We watched the film, we understood what we did. We made a lot of mistakes previously when we were up there. They do a great job, they run the same offense and once you pick up on that and don’t make mistakes it’s fairly simple to stop it. But when you do make mistakes they’re going to execute and make plays against you.”
(You have Buffalo next week, you guys can get to 500 with that, still be in the hunt. How much do these two games give you the confidence to go up to Buffalo and try to get back to 500?) – “I think it’s 12 o’clock now, we’ve got 12 hours to enjoy it before we get back in our office and we have to understand it’s a big task ahead of us. We’ve got Buffalo twice, we need to take care of business up there. It’s going to be tough. It’s probably going to be really cold and we’ve got to embrace that.”
