Adam Gase – August 2, 2017
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Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(A couple of days ago you were unsure about S Reshad Jones. Today he’s out there for the team drills. What changed? – “He went through … did the conditioning test. He crushed that. When we talked after the walk through, he felt like he was going to be ready by … The biggest question for him was just shoot me straight. Don’t just be trying to run out there just so you can so you’re off PUP. You’re out there, you’ve got to be honest with us. He legitimately felt really good and probably did a little more than I expected. I think it’s just hard with him because it’s not going to be … There’s no middle ground with him with him. It’s like ‘Hey, either I’m going or I’m not.’ But he looked good. He was moving good. I was giving him a hard time saying ‘Now we’re going to move you to linebacker.’ He looks good though.”
(On RB Jay Ajayi, is there anything that you can update us on? I guess he’s officially in concussion protocol?) – “Yes, so he’s in the concussion protocol. They’re handling … that’s the trainers are dealing with that and all of the steps he needs to go through.”
(With S Reshad Jones, I know you were confident no matter what that he’d be ready to go, but is there some importance to having him back right now in terms of S T.J. McDonald and S Nate Allen and some of those other guys acclimating to him?) – “Yes, it’s nice to get him out there so those guys can get used to playing with each other. Any time that we can get – whoever that 11 is going to be on the field – as many reps as possible together, the communication factor, getting used to hearing everybody’s voice, especially at safety, because you’re making certain kind of calls. Guys, they’ve got a certain job; but some guys fill in faster in the run game compared to other guys and there’s … Everybody kind of knows what our strengths or weaknesses are, how we can kind of either compensate or cheat it a little bit. So any time we can get those guys playing together, its value.”
(You have said that QB Ryan Tannehill has looked good from the minicamp to training camp at this point. Are you just curious to see how he reacts in the team scrimmage setting on Saturday?) – “I’m not. I mean to me, every day is just like that. It’s competitive. Those guys are going hard and that’s going to be no different. The only difference is they know they’re going to get more than four plays in a period or six plays in a period. They know they’re going to have a chance to where if we go four plays and have to punt, we’re going back out there. So it makes you feel like it’s more like a game, even though it’s really short. I think our guys are excited about it because they get to stay out there a little longer and you don’t feel like you’re getting rushed off the field all the time.”
(One thing QB Ryan Tannehill was saying is that he’s been more aggressive this camp, throwing into tighter windows for both himself and the receivers. Has that worked out the way you thought or is it working out very well for Ryan?) – “I think when you’re in the offense for almost, this is kind of our second season together, and those guys all … they’ve been working together for longer than … They’ve been here longer than I have. So they know each other well. I think it’s just challenging yourselves to do things that we haven’t really done in games yet, and taking chances and seeing what we can do, what we can’t do. I think the receivers have done a good job of being where they were supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there, and his job is to just turn that ball loose and trust those guys that they’re going to be exactly where we think we want them to be really, and I think he’s really … He has a great trust with those guys and now adding Julius (Thomas) and Anthony (Fasano) to the mix, that seems to be going well and those guys are kind of fitting right in with that group.”
(Regarding S Walt Aikens, what went into the thinking to have him see more time at corner and how’s he doing so far?) – “We’re just trying to find the right spot for him. We did the safety thing last year even though he was an emergency corner as well, and we just want to give him his best chance to be able to contribute on defense because we all know what he can do on special teams. He’s one of our top performers every week and we just need to have him ready if something were to ever happen to where he can go out there and play aggressive and not think and use his skillset to his advantage. We felt like corner gave him his best chance to do that and he’s working every day to keep perfecting that craft. It’s not an easy thing to do to move back and forth but I think he’s done a good job. Walt’s one of those guys, he’s a team-first guy, and whatever you ask him do, he’s going to do it and he’s going to put everything in it.”
(Regarding RB Jay Ajayi, is this his first known concussion?) – “As far as I know. I haven’t dug any deeper past since we’ve been here, but I don’t recall anything from college either.”
(Your approach has been overly cautious instead of overly aggressive with player injuries. Can you project anything with RB Jay Ajayi? I know you don’t know how long it will be.) – “Especially with the concussions, they go through the protocol. Whatever the timetable is, it is what it is. I think by now, in our league, we all know that. We had a certain plan for him anyways for the preseason of what he’s going to do and when he was going to do it, so I don’t really see this as him getting hurt. That’s not taking away from a lot of the things that we were going to do with him.”
(Does the power running aspect of the offense take a bit of a break if RB Jay Ajayi’s not in there?) – “Well, it’s funny. Jay likes the outside zone stuff. The other guys, the smaller guys, actually like the inside zone stuff. They like mixing it up pretty good and Jay really likes getting a feel for it and working those angles, so the body type is really irrelevant. The scheme is … Some guys like it when we get everybody moving lateral and when you’re Jay’s size, when he squares up and starts going downhill, those guys are all running so he runs through those arm tackles and it’s hard to get him down.”
(When it comes to RB Kenyan Drake, what have you seen so far of him through training camp? He was able to get outside on a couple of runs today?) – “His speed obviously is something that you notice right away because it looks like the defense may have him and he pulls away from them, which is hard to do in the NFL. Like today, I think (Lawrence) Timmons looked like he had an angle on him and he bursted away from him. You really notice it especially in the route-running too. He can create some separation there. I think he’s done a good job. He’s trying to be as detailed as possible. He’s a second year player (and) he’s obviously more comfortable with the terminology and he’s not thinking as much. We’ve just got to keep giving him reps without overdoing it because having a couple of injuries at running back … Him and Damien (Williams) kind of get the workload thrown on them and then special teams, it’s just a lot for those guys to do. We’ve just got to make sure that we’re being smart with that.”
(You have a defense that really struggled last year obviously. Can you talk about Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke and the challenges that are in front of him coming in this year?) – “We learned a lot last year of what we need to improve on schematically and what happens when we don’t do things right. There would be times where we would really do things well and everybody was on the same page and then sometimes we’d be way off, and we’d get gashed in the running game or the passing game. We were able to go back, retool, figure out what do we do well and where were we struggling, and fine-tune some things. We added some guys with some veteran presence. I think it’s really worked out. I think I’ve noticed a difference, especially with the d-line. Those guys are doing such a good job of … They’re so sound right now and they’re closing things down in the running game very quickly. It’s been very difficult to run the football and we’ve had a couple of good play, like we’ve had plays at times; but, I’ve noticed a difference in the … especially with the edge.”
(What did you see in Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke specifically that you brought him in to try to put that thing back together?) – “When we hired him, ‘V.J.’ (Vance Joseph) had said right from the get go ‘This is my guy, I have to have him with me.’ I had met Matt one time before and right away, right when I met him, I was like, ‘I like this guy.’ He’s got a different look in his eye there’s just something about him. I really enjoyed being around him. He wasn’t a cookie-cutter coach. You saw something; there was some different fire in him. And when we got him here, it was exactly like what ‘V.J.’ had said. When I’d been around him, you could see he’s one of those guys that gets guys going. He gets his group going. He understands the process of putting together a defense.”
(Is that what you see out there now with Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke?) – “Absolutely, 100 percent. ‘V.J.’ (Vance Joseph) set this thing up and Matt was able to take it to the next level with explaining why we were doing things and when we were calling things, understanding why we do everything we’re doing. Last year it was harder to do that way because you’re trying to figure out what we are doing to begin with. You kind of lose the why a little bit.”
(Any update on WR Isaiah Ford?) – “I’m waiting to hear on the second opinion. We’re in no rush right now.”
(You mentioned the run defense being improved. We’ve seen it even with some of the young draft picks. We saw DT Vince Taylor make a couple of plays today, DE Cameron Malveaux. Does anyone stand out on tape as far as who has been stout against the run?) – “I really can’t specifically name one guy because when you’re doing well against the run, it’s usually a team effort, when you’re really hammering it good. Right now those second and third groups, you’ll see it every once in a while where you’ll have some plays where they are hit in the backfield but then you’ll also see some big plays kind of rip out of there. It’s all about consistency. But when you’re moving guys in and out and you have a different floor plan with each other, sometimes that’s going to happen because somebody is going to be off. That’s why we practice. We just every day come out here and keep getting better and get used to playing with each other.”
(You were talking last year about RB Damien Williams and how during the offseason, when you came in, you would talk to QB Ryan Tannehill and basically looking for anyone that had been underutilized. Is that a fair way to characterize what you said?) – “I don’t know if underutilized; but you’re trying to figure out what the strengths of everybody is.”
(I wonder if there’s anybody who stuck in your mind this past offseason where you thought maybe you could do some different things with or some more things with?) – “That whole group, between Jay (Ajayi), Damien (Williams) and Kenyan (Drake), because of them being here last year, we probably didn’t use them as much. Kenyan had a lot on his plate and we tried to expand his role a little bit. It probably was too much for him sometimes. Now that he’s more comfortable, seeing how far we can take him. We have a really good feel for Damien with what he likes and what he can do. Jay’s been very vocal about how he wants to be more effective in the passing game and he’s done a great job with that. There’s nobody else I can really think of that … Jakeem (Grant) is probably the one guy that we made a move and moved him outside and allowed him to find ways to get him the ball and let him run. In the slot sometimes, it’s so predicated off of coverage, you can get eliminated from the progression just by the coverage on certain plays. By putting Jakeem outside, he’s caught a lot more balls and he’s been more involved with the offense and that’s been good to see.”
(How’s the high school program working out with having the kids at practice?) – “I think it’s been good. I know the players enjoy it. I didn’t really realize when we first started doing this – when (Senior Vice President of Communications & Community Affairs) Jason (Jenkins) brought the idea up – I didn’t realize how much of an effect it would have on our guys. Our guys stay out and talk to a lot of these kids. This spring, I’ve said it before, the energy level was completely different than anything I’ve been around. I think our guys took it to a different level because they knew a lot of those kids may never get to see them play live on Sundays. With them being able to watch them practice, eyes are on them and they want to perform and they want to do well.”
(I spoke to Head Coach Travis Johnson from Miami Edison High School and the Deerfield Beach High School coach, Jevon Glenn. They told me it was your idea. How did you come up with this?) – “(Senior Vice President of Communications & Community Affairs) Jason Jenkins came to me in the spring and then we had a bigger meeting with a few people from the stadium and some people in our building. We were trying to figure out a way, what can we do to kind of open up the doors a little bit? We felt like the offseason was a good start for us, to where no one’s out there. When you guys aren’t out there, its dead air. It’s just everybody in the building, there’s just not a lot of juice out there. We felt like it would be something that would help those high school teams or even the younger teams to see those guys doing exactly what they have to do every day. They walk out there and they see them doing individuals, they see them going through the same drills they’re doing, and they’re professional. It kind of hits a lot of those guys of ‘Wow, you do have to keep working on the little details of what your job is.’ That’s been most of the reaction I’ve gotten from coaches. That’s what hits the kids a lot, they go ‘Wow, they do this. They go through routes versus air. They’re doing a walkthrough where they’re talking about the coverages.’ I think a lot of those kids, they just think we roll a ball out and go. They get to see all of the little details of what goes into it.”
(Did you have any reservation about continuing this during training camp?) – “No. We were trying to figure out how we could get more people out there. Our biggest concern is always when it gets to be too many and everybody starts hugging the sidelines. My biggest fear is somebody not paying attention and one of our guys getting knocked into a bunch of kids.”
(With S T.J. McDonald, we’ve asked you before about the plan with him. He’s out there running with the ones. What is your vision for how … Are you going to play him all the way through the preseason and then it’s going to be just gone? How is that going to work?) – “We haven’t really gotten that far yet. We’ll figure it out. We’ve had small discussions but we try not to get too far ahead of ourselves. It’s going to be a tough thing for him to sit and watch. We’ll try to make it as normal for him as possible. When we have to make that transition knowing that he’s not going to be here, we’ll do that at the right time. Right now, I just want him to play ball and not worry about what’s going to be going on in September. I just want him to just play.”
(For us, it looks like he’s competing for a starting job. That’s the way it’s been presented to us.) – “Well.”
(With the concussion scare from the live practice, which is the first time I’ve seen in a decade by the way, does it make you feel like maybe you need to scale it back in the scrimmage?) – “He didn’t get a concussion in the live period. That wasn’t live. He just didn’t see him. That was in the 2-minute drill where we were just going thud. We weren’t even going live and nobody got that. We still have to look at how we want to do the scrimmage. Initially I always go in ‘Hey, we’ll be live.’ We’ll see where we’re at when we get there. We still have a couple more days. They know that we’re going to have more live periods coming up. We need to tackle better. We need to make sure we stay on our blocks and get that live action. That’s how you get good at something. You do it, practice it, over and over again. We can’t just say we had two periods of live action and then ‘Hey, we’re good to go.’ You’ve got to keep working on it.”
(So with RB Jay Ajayi, was it the S T.J. McDonald hit? He told us that wasn’t during a live period.) – “Yes.”
Reshad Jones – August 2, 2017
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Wednesday, August 2, 2017
S Reshad Jones
(How’d it feel just to be out there?) – “It felt good to put the pads on. I haven’t had the pads on in a while. It feels good to be out here and run around with my teammates and get my feet wet a little bit.”
(It didn’t seem like you were limited in anything.) – “No. It was straight go. Like I said, it felt good for me. It’s been seven or eight months since I’ve had pads on. It’s a fun experience. It feels good.”
(How did you tweak the calf?) – “Working out early on with my trainer. It was something minor.”
(They seemed like they wanted to error on the side of caution with you?) – “Yes. They just wanted to be careful. Calves are kind of tricky. When you’re coming back off of them, you can pull it and be out for a long time. They just want to be careful.”
(How did it respond today? Did you think about it at all?) – “No, not at all. It felt pretty good.”
(How do you like that group you are playing with back there with the DBs?) – “We’ve got some talent back there. We have some veteran guys in Nate Allen and T.J. (McDonald) that we brought in that have played a lot of football around this league. It feels good to be back there and kind of communicating and running around with those guys.”
(Did you feel like you were riding a bike leading the guys back there? How did it feel today?) – “It felt great. This is what I do. I’ve been playing in this league for a while. It just felt good to come back out and sweat a little bit, get my feet wet. I feel comfortable.”
(You busted up a running play in team drills. That had to feel pretty nice.) – “Yes, it felt good to get in that backfield for the first time. It felt good.”
(One of the issues last year was tackling. How do you, as a player, alone make that better? Obviously you weren’t there for the second half of the season.) – “You just have to work at it in practice. This is a great time at camp to work on your angles, communication, everybody running to the ball and different things like that. Tackling doesn’t just start on Sunday. It starts out here on the practice field. That’s where you get better at it.”
(How well did you understand the defense last year compared to this year?) – “We’re a lot more comfortable now. It’s the second year up under the belt (with the) same defense. We’ve got veteran guys in. We brought in a guy like ‘L.T.’ (Lawrence Timmons who is) a championship guy, or a champion that knows what it looks like and knows how to get it done. We just have to build off that energy.”
(How much are you itching to get this thing going?) – “I’m ready. I’m excited. I feel good. We did some great things last year but I think the ceiling is very high for this team. We just have to continue to put the work in out here. The sky is the limit for us.”
Ryan Tannehill – August 2, 2017
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Wednesday, August 2, 2017
QB Ryan Tannehill
(So is your son, Steel, going to make the 53-man roster?) – “It’s a long shot at this point. He worked hard. He comes out here every day, but I don’t know if the talent level is quite high enough yet. (laughter)”
(What’s he going to play? What position?) – “I don’t know. Kicker or something. (laughter)”
(How nice is it to have your family out here though on a day like this?) – “It’s cool. They don’t make it out every day but on the days they do make it out here, it’s cool. I’ve seen it for years. Older guys have their kids out here and I always thought it was so cool to be able to play catch with your kid. Especially this time of year, it’s the only time of year they’re out here after practice. You go through a hard practice, whether it’s up or down – whatever happened at practice – you can see the joy on the faces of these dads when they play with their kids, and I’m being able to experience that now. So it’s a pretty cool feeling.”
(This is like a process, these practices. But Saturday you have a scrimmage. Do you look forward to that specifically and for you, what you went through, coming back like this just to test yourself a little bit?) – “Honestly, it’s just another step in our preparation for the season. Obviously we will have more live periods in that practice, so the intensity of that practice is up more than just your standard practice; but I go about it the same way that I prepare for every other practice – go out and learn and push yourself and see how we can get better.”
(So no different for you considering the brace and wondering what I can do?) – “Yes, it’s not a lot different. I push myself out here like I will on Saturday, so it’s not a whole lot different.”
(A couple guys have said you’ve taken particularly chances with your throws being more aggressive in training camp. Do you agree with that at all?) – “Yes, I mean early in training camp – throughout the spring and early in training camp – (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase wants me to push myself. He wants me to take chances and test my limits, test our receivers limits and find those boundaries. Then the closer we get to games, the more we’ll tighten things up and start protecting the football a little bit more. But right now, we’re in the part of the preseason where we’re finding those boundaries. We’re figuring out what those boundaries are and we want to push those limits.”
(Would you say that as far as you, is it throws in the middle of the field, throws outside the hash mark, deep throws? Where do you test yourself specifically?) – “Just any situation where it is tight coverage and guys are one-on-one and you try to give them a chance and see what happens. We have a lot of talented guys on the outside and it’s finding the right balance of giving them a shot and protecting the football. That’s what it comes down to is each guy plays it a little differently; finding those guys strengths and how they attack the football in certain situations and we’ll go from there.”
(Do you have to be really quite confident and secure in your situation to get to this level? Was that a process getting to that level? Like testing yourself in tight spaces and stuff as opposed to in years past when you had to prove yourself more?) – “Yes, I think that’s just the progression of the offense. It’s Year 2 and we’re fine-tuning now as opposed to learning overall concepts. That’s part of the fine-tuning process is testing ourselves and pushing the limits and finding our boundaries.”
(There was a moment in Monday’s practice where guys were tackling each other. That was fun. But you pulled aside like 30 guys. You were right in the middle I noticed and you were pretty vocal and delivering some type of message. I hope you remember this. Why did you decide to do that and if you could share some of the messaging.) – “There was just a lull in practice. I felt the energy drop. We had a strong first period as an offense and I felt the energy drop on the offensive side of the ball and we can’t have that. We can’t have the ups and downs throughout practice and throughout games. We have to establish habits of pushing ourselves and keeping the energy high, the intensity high. Things get tough. I think we went from a live to an un-live period and kind of felt everyone relax a little bit. We don’t have time to relax. We have to keep pushing ourselves to keep the intensity high and keep the pressure on the defense. You saw it. The defense was playing fast and flying around and I didn’t feel like, as an offense, that we were playing the way we needed to play. I think we were able to respond the second half of practice and come back with energy and execute the way we need to do it.”
(Is that the residual effect of maybe a 1-4 start last year that maybe you weren’t ready to jump out of the gate and you’re trying to stress that this year? Maybe you need to get out of the gate quicker?) – “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it that deeply. It’s just a matter of establishing practice habits this time of year, throughout the spring and throughout the preseason, that we’re not going to accept the up and down flows of tempo, energy. It’s a tough league. It’s tough to win in this league and to win consistently, and we need our best each and every day – not part of the day, not half of the day. We need our best the whole day. It’s just establishing those habits as a team, where it doesn’t really matter what’s going, we just keep pushing each other, lifting each other up and moving forward in the right direction, then good things are going to happen for us.”
(You’re such a pleasant, even-keeled guy. Was there a moment over the last two years where you’ve said to yourself “I need to be comfortable being tough on teammates when needed in the position I’m in as starting quarterback?”) – “I’m even-keeled with you guys most of the time. I’m not always even-keeled (laughter). I have a fire and a competitive spirit and a drive to win. There are certain situations where I have to get on my guys. I don’t think there was a moment where I just sat and realized that. It’s always been a part of me. I think (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has given me the freedom and the confidence to be myself and to lead in the way that I want to lead. He has my back and we’re in this thing together. He knows how my heart is in this thing so he’s giving me the freedom to go out and lead the way that I want to lead. It’s been really fun for me. I think I’ve seen our team grow because of that.”
(How much have you guys brought on the makeup of Head Coach Adam Gase – that competitive spirit and the aggressiveness of the coach – how much have you brought that on and also the offense this year?) – “Well, I think you take after your head coach. I think no matter what it is and who it is in the league, what head coach, I think the building kind of takes on his mindset and the way he goes about things. That’s definitely true in this building. The fire he has and the competitive spirit, the will to win, relational – I think you see a closer, tightknit building than we’ve had in the past.”
(So you better keep that going by signing Head Coach Adam Gase’s kids’ autographs and stuff. You can’t reject that. It’s very important for the relationship, right?) – “(Laughter) Yes, I don’t know. We’ll see. (laughter)”
(There was a red zone touchdown pass to TE Anthony Fasano where I think you rolled out to the right today. I know you threw several touchdowns. But you rolled out to the right, it might have been play action. Last year that was such a successful part of the offense, the play-action roll out. Getting into X’s and O’s a little bit, what does that do to a defense? Why was that effective? Can it be effective moving forward?) – “I think it all starts with the run game. If you have an effective run game and are gaining yards on the ground then they have to honor it. If you can get the linebackers flowing downhill then you’re able to have the play action and roll out. Everybody has to change directions and go back the other way, so you’re able to get leverage and get guys open just because of the aggressiveness of the defense. But it all starts with the run game. If you’re not running the football effectively, you’re not going to get the same pull out of the defense. That’s part of it is having a good running back and having a good run game and we’ll need to use the play pass and the play actions to counteract that.”
T.J. McDonald – July 31, 2017
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Monday, July 31, 2017
S T.J. McDonald
(How much do you enjoy the sound of shoulder pads colliding?) – “It means football is back. I enjoy it a lot. I definitely have a lot of fun with it.”
(You got somebody good today. Was that RB Jay Ajayi?) – “Yes, that was in the period that … we had a couple periods – a couple live periods – that wasn’t live, though. I was just trying to thud him up and do my job. It’s always good to have contact and it is football, so it’s going to happen.”
(Do you look forward to the preseason games as closer to actual games for you since you’ll be out for a while?) – “Yes, I’m looking forward to live bullets, going out there and getting live action and all that. I understand that I’m going to have my time to be out there and play before I’m going to have to be sitting out for a while. I’m going to take full advantage of it and try to get better throughout every week through the preseason, and I think it will pay off for me.”
(Does that delay cross your mind at all during training camp? When you get done with a day do you…) – “No, I don’t have time to think about that right now. I’m trying to get better, trying to learn. I’m in a new system. I’m trying to get comfortable in this system and just make sure I’m on the same page with everybody. I think that would be selfish of me to put myself in front of that and be thinking about my situation. I’m just trying to get better every day.”
(With all of that being said, have you had a conversation with the coaching staff about specifically what they’d like you to do and what you’d like to do during September and October on a daily basis within the rules?) – “They have a plan for me. We haven’t gone that far yet as far as all that. We’ve got a while left in training camp and I think that my focus right now just needs to be on training camp. I know they have a plan for me and we’ll figure that out when that time comes, but right now I’m just focused on getting through the preseason and getting better and getting comfortable in this system.”
(Where is your comfort level in terms of being in the system?) – “I’m still learning. I’m definitely not comfortable yet. I’m still learning. Going through OTAs definitely helped me a lot, but you still have to get out there and see different looks and things like that. (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Matt) Burke and (Defensive Backs) Coach Lou (Anarumo) do a great job of breaking it down and making it a lot easier for us. For me, this isn’t my first year, so I understand defense; but this system is a little different and I’m definitely learning, so I’m still learning.”
(You’re mostly an in-the-box safety, or at least you have been going back to your career. How does this system work in terms of left-right, strong-free?) – “They’re really interchangeable. Free safety and strong safety in this defense are interchangeable. We do a lot of similar things depending on different looks that we get and things like that. I can do both. It’s more so having to learn … You have to learn both. It’s not like you’re just going to learn strong safety, because the strong safety is not just the only one in the box. Sometimes I’ll be in the post and you get two high looks, things like that. So you just learn both and learn how to be interchangeable between both because we do a lot of the same things.”
(I saw former S Isa Abdul-Quddus hanging around. Have you guys been able to have any interesting or helpful conversation?) – “Yes, definitely. He’s helpful to be around. He’s the one on the film right now that we were watching from last year. He’s got experience in this system, so having him in the meeting room definitely helps and he was out there on the sideline today and things like that. Having him in the room, someone who’s been there, someone who’s done it in this system, is definitely helpful.”
(The Dolphins receivers and running backs were recently rated by one national writer as No. 3 in the NFL. What are your early impressions on the tight ends, receivers, and running backs on this team?) – “There’s a lot of talent. They’ve got guys that stretch the field, guys that can catch the short ball and guys that can run after the catch, and also running backs in the backfield that are powerful running backs. Jay’s (Ajayi) done it, Damien’s (Williams) a great back, and (Kenyan) Drake as well. Julius (Thomas) at tight end; they’ve got so much talent over there that they can really … I know for (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase, it’s not going to be too hard to call plays and whatnot with all that talent because they’ve got so much stuff going on over there. They can stretch the field, they can run the ball, they can do everything. You really have to play honest as a defense with all those weapons.”
(Does any one of them have a talent that makes you say, ‘Oh I didn’t know he could do that,’ whether it’s RB Jay Ajayi and his tough running or WR Jarvis Landry and his hands? Anything?) – “I played against the Dolphins last year, so I have it kind of broken down, and I think that adding Julius (Thomas) helps a lot, as well. I kind of knew what you were going to get out of those guys. I didn’t know Jarvis (Landry) was as tough as he was; he definitely is a tough runner with the ball in his hands. I know Kenyan’s (Drake) fast, he’s going to stretch the field, and DeVante (Parker) is definitely coming into his own, so I’m excited to play with those guys.”
(Has your buddy DE William Hayes come up with any new theories now that he’s back?) – “Not yet. I think that he’s just getting comfortable. I think that we need to stay tuned for that. I think that it’s coming, though. (laughter)”
(You’re going to be out for such an extended period of time. Is it realistic to expect when you come back, in what will be Game 1 for you, to be at the level that you would’ve been had you played for the entire season? Will there be a period of getting your feet wet?) – “I think that it’ll be my job, according to the plan that has been put in place, for me to stay sharp and stay around the building. I think it’s unrealistic to say that I’ll be able to go out there and pick up like it was nothing; but I think at the same time, it would be realistic to say that my body will feel a lot better in Week 9 than it would if I had played eight weeks. I think those two together … I’ve never done this before. I wish I could give you a better answer, but I think that being able to stay sharp on the mental part of it (is important). I’ve played a lot of games, so it won’t be my first game or anything like that. I’ve played a lot of games in the past, so I think that once I come out there, as long as I’m staying sharp, staying in shape, it might take a little while to make sure I’m all the way back in football shape playing four quarters and all that, but I know that my body will feel good.”
William Hayes – July 31, 2017
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Monday, July 31, 2017
Defensive End William Hayes
(Was practice more fun today, because there was a little tackling involved?) – “Yes. Any time you get a little more contact, I think it heightens up the practice. For me, I like to play the run. Any time I can get more of it, it’s more fun for me anyway.”
(You are a run-stopping specialist, but I think you had a few sacks, was it yesterday I think?) – “A specialist? (laughter)”
(Expert?) – “I guess I can just play the run. I don’t know about the specialist part. (laughter)”
(How do you feel when you have a day like that against the pass? Are you especially proud of yourself or is it just another day in the life?) – “I’m a defensive end, so I figure I should be able to pass rush, too. It’s just something I work on a little bit more and try to get better at. I guess the run (would) probably be … I’m definitely a lot better at the run; but I’m just working on my craft. When you see it start working, it’s a beautiful thing.”
(What does it feel like to tackle someone? You don’t always get to do that in practice.) – “It’s cool. It’s fun. It’s part of football. See ball; get ball. That’s how I play it.”
(It’s more fun for us, too.) – “It is.”
(We like it when you hit each other.) – “Yes, it gets a little bit more testy out there.”
(You played your entire career before now for Jeff Fisher, right?) – “I had one year with (Mike) Munchak.”
(Is it strange at all being at this part of the year and not hearing him or being around him?) – “Not really. (Head Coach Adam) Gase is very personable, so they kind of got a lot of same traits like the way (players) interact with the coach a lot. That’s cool. It’s not really a drop off from that standpoint.”
(This is probably a better question to ask you five weeks from now, but from being around DE Charles Harris now for several months – a couple of months – any feel for what he might be able to give you guys this year?) – “He’s a special football player, very explosive. The thing I like about him the most is every day he continues to work on his craft. If he has an issue, it’s not like he’s lackadaisical about it, and none of the rookies are. They really focus on their craft. But he’s very coachable. From the coaches to me, Cam (Wake) or (Andre) Branch saying something to him, he takes everything that you say, and he takes it personal.”
(What are some new theories that you explored during your free time this offseason?) – “I haven’t had too much free time. I’ve been really working on football. I think the theory thing, we’ve probably got to hold off on that until after the season. It’s football time now. I’m just here trying to help win some games.”
(How settled in would you say you are in terms of your new team, new defense?) – “I’m pretty settled in. I’m still learning the playbook. I was trying to get the playbook a little bit better. But for the most part, I’ve got everything down. The more you know it, the faster you’ll be able to play. But for the most part, I process everything. I don’t have too many ‘MEs’ (mental errors), so I guess I’m taking everything in pretty good.”
(DE Andre Branch said the defensive line holds everyone accountable. Is that something you’ve noticed? Is that something you’ve picked up on? Are you comfortable holding new teammates accountable?) – “Yes I am, because I practice a certain type of way and I play a certain type of way. If I tell you to do something, I’m not going to be saying nothing that I wouldn’t do for myself. I don’t have any issues with adjusting to that. That’s kind of how I’ve always done things. From (Ndamukong) Suh to Cam (Wake) to (Andre) Branch – I don’t care who it is – we’ve all got to hold each other accountable. If I say something to Suh, he shouldn’t take it personal, because if he says something to me, I wouldn’t take it personal. For the most part, we’ve been doing a good job with that. That’s not something I had to deal with. That’s something I’m really accustomed to.”
(Is that pretty normal with the group?) – “Yes. I feel like if you do something and you’re leading by example, nobody should have a problem with it if you tell them they need to run to the ball harder or they might need to play this a little bit better, because at the end of the day, you see me out there doing it. I make an effort to get to the ball. If I have to tell somebody, ‘You’re slacking,’ it shouldn’t be an issue. When they see me, they see me as I can be an example.”
(What is a respectable yards per carry average in your mind?) – “Zero. (laughter) I don’t know. I don’t really get into all the statistics. I just want to try to get them to second-and-long, so Cam (Wake) can come in and get a sack.”
(You had your veteran rest day or veteran off day given to you by Head Coach Adam Gase. Which side do you fall on that? Do you want to grind every day and be out there, or it’s a marathon, you need to give your body a break?) – “If you let me, I probably want to be out there, but he’s the coach and he knows what he’s doing, so I’ve just got to believe in his system. He has been doing a good job of keeping guys healthy and winning football games, so I’m going to do whatever he wants me to do.”
(Is a veteran off day enjoyable? What do you do?) – “Looking at practice. I like the grind; but at the end of the day, like I said, he’s a winner. He has proven that, so I’m going to follow by his system.”
(Did you know they tried to give DE Cameron Wake the day off today?) – “I figured that wasn’t going to happen. First full day, first live day, he wasn’t going (out). I wouldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t have done that either.”
(What have you really enjoyed, what have you liked about this new group that you’re part of, this locker room?) – “The chemistry they’ve got here. Everybody just wants to win. That’s the beautiful part about this team. I’m going there and not trying to change the culture. I’m just trying to come in and put my stamp on the game. I’ve just been constantly taking in whatever they tell me to do. It’s a beautiful thing. You can see the system here. You can see the progression this team has taken. To me, I think we look a lot better since OTAs to now. We’re just going to continue to get better and better.”
(You mentioned everybody running to the football. I don’t know if this is more of a collegiate thing, but do you count loafs by any chance and if so, how?) – “I don’t think you count loafs; but it’s pretty easy to see on film. If you see yourself running and you’re running by somebody, you figure they probably could’ve run a little faster or if you see somebody not giving the effort. Like I said, you just hold them accountable. Let them know that’s not acceptable. That’s it. The name of the game is to get the ball carrier on the ground.”
(On a day like today when it’s a live scrimmage, how does it feel when the defense pulls out the victory? Is there a different kind of swagger in the locker room?) – “No, not really. At the end of the day, we’re all in this together. We’re competing on the field and when we get back in there, we’re a family. You don’t hold it over nobody’s heads or nothing like that. I’m pretty sure the offense the next time we go live, they’re going to be ready to go a little bit more. You’re just competing on the field, just making each other better.”
(Is there a strategy behind the wool ski cap?) – “No, not really. It gets cold in the rooms. I just try to stay a little warm.”
(I’ve seen you and G/T Laremy Tunsil talk quite a bit already in this camp, sometimes after practice. Just curious what your early impressions of him is and what kind of knowledge are you sharing?) – “Him and ‘Big 7-0’, big Ja’Wuan (James). I’m just kind of giving them a little feedback on things that I possibly see. I’m not their coach; but I let them know how talented they really are. They’re two exceptional tackles. If they keep working, they can be the two best tackles in football, and I really do mean that. They’re very, very talented.”
Kenyan Drake – July 31, 2017
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Monday, July 31, 2017
Running Back Kenyan Drake
(What does it feel like to actually get hit – legit tackled hit – for the first time in a while?) – “It was very reassuring. It was good to be back out there – full pads, full speed, full go. The defense was ready to get at us. We were ready to get at the defense. It was good to get the competitive juices really flowing again.”
(We’re not 100 percent sure, but we think you were involved in the scuffle. Is that accurate?) – “Sometimes you got to get in (and) get down and dirty sometimes. It’s football. It’s a contact sport. You can’t avoid contact at all times. You try to keep in on the practice field – keep it off the game field – because you get flagged 15 yards in a game. The competitive juices kind of get flowing once everybody goes to the ground, so it happens every now and then.”
(What started it?) – “I don’t know. Just some scuffle. I saw my guys in white jerseys in it, so I was like, ‘What the heck, I’m going to join, too.’”
(So you weren’t the primary?) – “No. I really don’t know (what happened). I just saw people grabbing each other. I tried to go in there, try to break it up, somebody pulled me off. I didn’t like that, so things happened.”
(What is your comfort level compared to last year as a rookie?) – “From a cliché standpoint, a year wiser. That’s simply put, but I’m not really necessarily comfortable, because I won’t necessarily say that I’m where I want to be personally. I know this team is not where we want to be personally. It’s really more about getting used to being uncomfortable, because at the same time, like I said, we’re not where we want to be. We want to take the next step not just be a playoff team, but be a Super Bowl team.”
(Speaking of comfort, we saw RB Jay Ajayi went off the practice field. How comfortable are you in the starting role if that should happen at any point?) – “I feel like any one of our guys are ready to step up and take that responsibility. Jay is a great player, but football is a very brutal sport, so if somebody goes down, it’s always the next man up. We wish everybody to obviously be healthy, because we need everybody at full speed to be a great team, but I feel like any one of us are ready to come up and have that role.”
(I know all three of you guys are trying to be complete backs, but I was thinking about the receiving perspective. In my opinion – there might not be a group as good being able to do things in the passing game out of the backfield. How would you describe what you all have from a receiving perspective out of the backfield?) – “Just being a complete back in general, not just with running the routes; but also being versatile and getting lined up out wide. (Head Coach Adam) Gase does a great job with putting us in space with linebackers and safeties, so we can exploit that versatility that we do have. Any one of us can go out there and execute that. I feel like Gase does a great job of putting us in the best position to be successful.”
(Did you see how RB Jay Ajayi got dinged up?) – “No. Like I said, it was full contact in various periods today, so who knows. He was taking shots left and right, and that’s just the game. I’m pretty sure he’ll be back sooner rather than later, so I’m praying for his recovery.”
(You guys committed last year to being an outside zone team, and that was something you guys worked on a lot. You also during the season had some success running some power as well. Is that something that you guys could go into a little bit this year as well, have that in your bag of tricks and be a little more versatile?) – “Yes, of course. Having that outside zone scheme definitely opens up the capabilities of the offense, because stretching the defense out gets the defense to run. With the inside zone scheme, it’s all about the perception of an outside zone play and hitting it down the field, so when they take a couple steps out farther than what they think – thinking it’s an outside zone play – you kind of crease it up the middle and get 3 or 4 yards. Those 3 or 4 yard plays turn into 10 and as the game goes on, you hope you can break them as the defense wears down.”
(You got a little bit of a break with the weather. It was a nice overcast day for training camp in pads. It wasn’t as hot.) – “Yes, but the humidity down here, that’s a killer. The sun might not have been out, but it still feels like you’re practicing in a swimming pool. It’s cool to be down here and acclimated, because I feel like it’s our home-field advantage.”
(With punt returns, how comfortable are you getting fielding those balls?) – “It’s an everyday thing. The weather today kind of played a factor. I should’ve took my visor off, because it was kind of hard to judge the ball when it went up in the air with the rain and the wind and things like that. That would be like a game thing. I won’t have my visor on and things like that; but it’s a process every day, because it’s not like kick return where it’s a fixed point where the ball will be. You’re liable for the ball to skip off somebody, for it to be blocked or somebody being in your face. It’s about having that confidence. The more I do it, the more confident I’ll be.”
(What’s the hardest part about that job?) – “Just (the) unpredictability of it. You’ve got to have that confidence like, ‘Alright, when I get this ball – when I catch it, first and foremost – I have to possess it.’ That’s the most important thing. I think (Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) ‘Rizz’ (Darren Rizzi) stresses that a lot. You don’t necessarily have to catch the ball, because at the same time, possession is the most important thing. If the ball hits the ground and it rolls, we still have that possession. As long as the offense comes on the field the next play, we have a win, because we’ve got the ball back. We don’t have to be heroes back there. As long as we possess the ball, that’s the most important thing.”
(You obviously did the kick returning last year. Have you been told we want you to compete for the punt return this year as well?) – “I wouldn’t necessarily say I’ve been told that, but I want to go out there and put myself in (the) best position to help my team win. If fielding punts, if playing my natural positon at running back, if lining up out wide being a receiver, kick returner, punt returner, kickoff, anything they ask me to do, I’m all for it.”
(In one-on-one pass protection drills, I’ve seen you and LB Kiko Alonso seem to have some good, lively battles. Is that aspect of your game closer to a strength or a weakness right now?) – “I feel like in anything I’m doing … This is practice, so I’m trying to get better at everything, whether that’s running between tackles, lining up out wide, being comfortable coming off of press, releases, pass blocking, anything I feel right now, I feel like I need to get better at. I appreciate the competition that the linebackers and everybody else gives everybody as we’re out there. We’re all competitors. We’re all trying to get better. I just enjoy going out there and getting better every day.”
(You and LB Neville Hewitt kind of have a chippy thing going? What’s it like in the locker room after practice?) – “We’re teammates at the end of the day. Once we step off the field, we’re back to real life. It’s kind of cool going out there and being competitors and doing what you’ve got to do to get the edge; but at the same time, you’ve got to realize we’re all human beings at the end of the day, so I don’t hold any grudges against anybody.”
Raekwon McMillan – July 31, 2017
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Monday, July 31, 2017
LB Raekwon McMillan
(First day out there in pads. How was that?) – “It was fun to go out there and finally get to tackle somebody, hit somebody and run around. You know as a ‘rook,’ (rookie) you can’t just worry about the defensive portion of practice. You’ve got to go out there and take it one period at a time – individuals, special teams, all that stuff. You’ve got to go hard in everything because you’re still trying to prove yourself to the coaches that you’re worth whatever you’re worth and that I can do everything that I’m expected to do.”
(How much faster has it been than college?) – “It’s a lot faster. I was talking to a couple of my teammates last night – old teammates – about how practice is during the day, and I was like, ‘Man, every snap is like playing the best team in your conference on game day.’ I can only imagine how it will be in a game. If every day in practice is like game day in college, I can only imagine how it is in the game.”
(Are things beginning to slow down for you a little bit?) – “Yes, for sure. When I first came here in the spring, my head was spinning, I wasn’t making the right calls, coach is in my ear – I’ve got the headphone in my ear so he didn’t really have to yell. He’s in my ear the whole time. But now it’s kind of slowing down to me. I kind of have a full understanding, repping in with one’s and the two’s. So it’s just a blessing to be where I’m at.”
(Making the calls, I remember I got a chance to speak to Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner when he was a rookie. He was just … getting in there, making the calls with the veterans, that proved to be a little bit challenging for him. But how big is that for you to be able to get in there and be accepted and be able to make those calls amongst the veterans and have them be accepting of whatever it is you need to communicate?) – “One thing I thing I learned about the NFL, I’ve only been in the league for a couple of months. One thing I’ve learned is you earn respect by going out there and doing it every day. You can’t just come in just because I’m a second-round draft pick and expect people to respect me. They don’t know who I am. They don’t know what I’m capable of until I went out there and showed them. So when I came here, yes, I’m a second-round pick, this, that and the third; but I had to go out there and show the older guys. And once I got more reps in with them, I started earning some of their trust. I’m sure I haven’t fully earned everybody’s trust, but over time we’ll go out the better together.”
(How do you use personality in being able to kind of be outgoing in order to make those calls in the middle there?) – “You just have to be confident, not much outgoing. You’ve just got to be confident in everything that you say, because even if you’re wrong, if you say it loud and proud and confident, they’re going to listen to you. So that’s just kind of another trait at middle linebacker.”
(You said that you’re wearing the head piece. Does everybody have the head piece or?) – “No. You’re only allowed to have one person on the field with the head piece. So when I’m on the field, I’m the guy with the head piece.”
(So when LB Kiko Alonso’s on the field, he doesn’t have a head piece?) – “Yes, so he’s not … In practice, we both have it; but in a game, it will only be one person. When I’m in, I’m calling it. When he’s in, he’s calling it.”
(How much time knowing that you’d have the responsibility of calling plays, how much time have you spent during those six weeks off studying the play book?) – “I try to take about an hour a day, just to look at my playbook during the offseason. I try not to get too mind-bogged in it. I was all over the place my offseason. I went back to Ohio State, went home to Georgia and went back to Jamaica. I had some fun because I knew once it’s time to come back and lock in, I’m not going to be able to get out of these walls.”
(Your skillset obviously you can play strong side, obviously you can play Mike. Where do you envision your skills being best suited to long term? As a Mike, do you think? What’s your first gut instinct reaction to that play?) – “I mean I’ve always played Mike my whole life, as you know. But like ‘L.T.’ (Lawrence Timmons), ‘L.T.’ has been in the league for 11 years and played every position for the Steelers. So wherever I can find a fit and wherever’s going to keep me a job, that’s where I’ll play at.”
(I enjoyed listening to practice today. It sounded different to me. How did practice sound different today?) – “It’s just another level of intensity. Guys strap up their stuff a little bit tighter when they say live, when we’re going to the ground, because people’s livelihoods are on the ground. We’ve got 90 players on the squad right now – 90 some players – and by the last preseason game, there will only be 50-some. So there’s people’s livelihood on the line and you only have so many chances.”
Andre Branch – July 31, 2017
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Monday, July 31, 2017
DE Andre Branch
(Do you enjoy the more physical nature of practice today?) – “No question. It helps practice out a lot. When we are just in jerseys you can’t simulate a game. When you put pads on, it’s game time.”
(What does it sound like to you when pads are colliding during football practice?) – “Football season is back. That’s what it sounds like. There’s no more OTAs, no more minicamp. Football season is here.”
(When did you find out that you were actually going to be able to hit somebody?) – “Offense and defensive line is pretty much the same as it was yesterday. We just got to tackle the running backs and receivers today.”
(You had a strip sack, was that intentional or was the ball just there?) – “I’m going to always go for the ball on every sack; but in practice, we don’t want to hit the quarterback, but I was bending. I didn’t strip him with my hand. That was my shoulder pad. It wasn’t intentional, but it happened.”
(The d-line seems to be playing pretty well this past week. What is it that makes you guys so effective? Obviously the personnel is better. Why are you so good at getting after the quarterback?) – “We compete each and every day. We know what we have in our room and we know what we need to do to win. We have to play at a very high level and if we don’t, then we hold each other accountable each and every day. Me and Cam (Wake) and (Ndamukong) Suh and Will (Hayes) and Jordan (Phillips) and Charles (Harris), and everybody else in that room, we compete each and every day to see who practices the best. It’s kind of friendly competition with us; but we know what we need to do, and that’s what we are going to keep doing.”
(Who’s the one that keeps everyone accountable the most?) – “I think it’s a group effort. At the end of the day, like I said, we know exactly what we have. There’s no one bigger than the other, no matter who they are. If a younger player asks anyone in that room, he could ask another rookie a question, they’re going to answer just like a vet. For us, it’s just everybody plays at the same level and we just keep rolling.”
(What do you think of all the talk about your interior linemen behind DT Ndamukong Suh? All the talk about who’s going to be … Is there enough depth?) – “To be completely honest with you, I haven’t heard of any talk. We just go out there and play and practice, watch film and we correct each other. We don’t focus on what’s going on outside. That’s just what we do.”
(Have you seen defensive line improvement or is it too early to tell?) – “We focus on getting better each and every day. Daily, we’ve been getting better, but there’s tons of things we need to work on. For us it’s a constant battle of getting better each and every day and keep climbing that ladder.”
(I saw you really go out of your way today at one point to talk to DE Charles Harris right there on the field. Does that help him with a correction or a tip? Any light you can share?) – “Anything I can do to help. For me, we know Charles is going to play, and he’s going to play a lot. We need him and he understands that. He’s a student of the game, that’s for sure. He’s going to help us a ton.”
(Speaking of getting better, do you think it’s possible that DE Cam Wake could be better two years removed from an Achilles injury as opposed to one year?) – “I forgot he tore his Achilles. I didn’t even know that. No. (laughter) Cam is a different guy. Anybody that can come back and have the season that he had last year, a lot of people are going to say that it’s hard for someone to improve on that. But if you ask Cam, there are a ton of things that he can work on. Cam leads and he does everything the right way. He got four or five sacks called back, so in Cam’s eyes, that wasn’t his best year. That’s how we look at it and that’s the type of guys we have in our room.”
(Do you know many sacks you had called back?) – “Yes, I do; but I don’t want to talk about it. (laughter)”
(So you guys keep track of how you all are performing? Who’s the top performer right now this first week of camp?) – “I think that we keep track of each other. Like, I keep track of myself, Cam (Wake) keeps track of Cam and (Ndamukong) Suh keeps track of Suh. But if we see one of us slacking, we’re definitely going to tell each other. Like I said, there’s no one bigger than the other. I’m not going to say that X or Y or Z is outperforming the other; but if we feel like there’s something we need to focus on in practice, then it’s going to get done.”
(I’m not saying that this has happened, but would you feel comfortable getting on DT Ndamukong Suh if he needed it?) – “I do it all the time and he does it with me, and Cam (Wake) the same way.”
(DT Ndamukong Suh is receptive to that?) – “For sure. No question. We have a huge respect for one another. Like I said, there’s no one bigger than the other.”
(Speaking of DE Charles Harris earlier, rookies come in all the time and they’re not really that polished or good with their hands a lot of times. Does it surprise you to watch him and the way he is able to use his hands right now?) – “It’s very, very, very good. You know Charles, he has flashes where you see he can be a dominate player in this league. He’s young at the same time, but he comes in each and every day and he wants to work. I wouldn’t say he wants to be accepted, because we already accepted him as our little brother, but he works extra on that. When he asks questions, if he sees that I do something and he says ‘How did you do that?’ That’s already you showing improvement and showing growth in this game.”
(There are times with the first group that the only new member of that group is LB Raekwon McMillan, and just early observations of how he’s handled playing Mike linebacker with the first team at times?) – “Good. We always tell anybody in there, whoever is in there calling the plays, we’re going to follow your lead, because you’re the Mike. So if you say this, then that’s exactly what we’re going to do. For us, he’s been doing a great job of that.”
(There’s news that Jaguars T Branden Albert has announced his retirement in the NFL. You went against him a lot, a teammate of yours last year. Does that shock you or from kind of knowing him, is that kind of expected?) – “That’s the first time I’ve heard of that. I can’t comment on that until … I would like to talk to ‘B.A.’ (Branden Albert). I talk to ‘B.A.’ a lot. I don’t know if that’s actually a fact or if you know it’s a fact, then that is news to me. He has to do what’s best for him at the end of the day, and I support any decision that he makes for himself and his health.”
