Bobby McCain – November 21, 2018
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Wednesday, November 21, 2018
CB Bobby McCain
(Your thoughts on being out of concussion protocol?) – “(I’m) good to go. It’s football, so things happen. (I’m) good to go and I’ll be ready this week.”
(How big of a relief is it that you’re not going to have to miss a game?) – “Big. The bye week was big for us. (It give you) a little extra time to get your body right. Like I said, I don’t want to miss time. I don’t want to miss a game. I’m happy to be back.”
(How do you look at the challenge of facing Colts QB Andrew Luck and the Colts who are very hot right now?) – “They’re a good team. I know he hasn’t been sacked in a little while, so you try and get some smoke in his face. He’s a good player. He’s a good quarterback. He was out for a little while with his injury but now you can see he’s back on track with what he’s doing. It’s a good challenge, a good opportunity for us to go up there and play well and get a W.”
(How big was the bye week for you personally to overcome your symptoms?) – “It was good. It was good for us. It gives you a little extra time, even without the protocol, just throughout the little nicks and knacks of your body. It’s good that we had it late. Now, we can get guys fresh and get guys back on track and go try to win this stretch.”
(How do you plan to maintain that one-game mentality but knowing that there’s six left and you guys need to win more of those?) – “It’s always one game at a time. Always. We know what’s ahead of us but at the end of the day, you can only control what you can control, and that’s one game at a time. Each and every day we’re going in, putting the preparation in and we’re going to go out and try to have a great performance. Regardless of what happens on the field, the one thing we want to leave with is a W.”
(Is there any more pressure trying to fix some of the things you’ve had in the first part of the season knowing that the season is short?) – “No. We know what we’ve done well. We know what we haven’t done very well. Throughout the bye week, (we were) just taking a look at that and understanding how teams will attack you, how coordinators see the defense, how schemes are ran. Taking a look at that is big. Like I said, being able to go through on a bye week and see what teams are doing that are different than the week before, the week after. It’s a great opportunity and we’re going to correct the things that we haven’t been doing right and keep doing well the things we’ve been doing well.”
(Are you going to watch a lot of football tomorrow?) – “Yeah, for sure. A lot of football. Good and full, too.”
(Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving meal that you remember as a kid?) – “My big momma always makes a good Thanksgiving meal – turkey, dressing, ham. We have it all. I’m from Alabama, so we really throw that macaroni. We really throw down.”
(How grateful are you guys, because there are some teams that do practice on Thanksgiving?) – “That’s big. We appreciate it. They know how important it is and we know how important it is for this team, just being with their families. We have a lot of guys that are married, have kids. Not me personally, but a lot of guys that are married and have kids want to be with their family on Thanksgiving. That’s a good deal for us.”
Adam Gase – November 21, 2018
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Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We’ve seen a good chemistry develop between QB Ryan Tannehill and WR Kenny Stills over time. Is that the type of thing that excites you, to have them back to try to see whether that can get certain guys going that Ryan has had a good on-field rapport with?) – “I think it’s good that they’re both trending in the right direction as far as health-wise. Kenny, especially with the long speed he has and being able to run after catch. Those guys always seem to find a way to hook up down the field. We’ll kind of see how it plays out.”
(Today, what’s the o-line that you’re working with?) – “Whoever is available.”
(Who do you have in?) – “All of them. All of them practiced today except I think maybe Ted (Larsen) was limited. But we’re rotating guys in there and stuff.”
(So today it would have been C Jake Brendel at left guard?) – “It was a little bit today. We move those guys around a lot in practice because we want different guys taking center work and things like that. You’ve just got to be ready for all of that stuff because you’re only going to have seven (active offensive linemen) most of the time, so you have to have a good contingency plan if somebody goes down.”
(What have you seen from T Laremy Tunsil and T Ja’Wuan James when they responded the next day?) – “They seem to keep improving. I feel like both of them were good yesterday and then today it seemed like there was a lot of passing going on, so they’re working their sets a lot. They seem like they’re in better shape than what they were last week, I know that.”
(When you look at your difficulties in the red zone, is there a theme? I haven’t seen dropped passes or penalties or anything like that. Have you detected anything?) – “We’ve missed a couple of opportunities. We just have to get the ball to the right guy. It comes down to when we have our opportunities, we have to hit them. We just haven’t finished the plays the way we need to to get in the end zone.”
(Is there anything you guys can do … is this personal accountability? Execution?) – “We just have to make the play when it’s there, whether it be throw it, catch it, protect it (or) however it works out.”
(What makes Colts WR T.Y. Hilton so unique?) – “He’s really fast. He can stretch the field, which when you have a guy like that, that gets DBs a little nervous so they back off a little bit and make sure he doesn’t beat them over the top. Then all of a sudden he’s catching clean 20-yard routes and he can run after the catch. Any time you get a guy with speed like that, it puts a lot of stress on everybody else.”
(What’s been C Jake Brendel’s trajectory since he’s been here? Has there been a ton of improvement or is there something you look back on or a point where he really sold you guys on keeping him around?) – “I think a lot of it has to do with the longer he’s been around and the more he’s absorbed the offense, the faster and better he’s played. I do think he had a really good energy about him when he came back from that injury. I know that was a long time for him because he didn’t have a choice. He had to wait. I think he was chomping at the bit. He came back and he’s made everything count.”
(Is C Jake Brendel one of your smartest guys?) – “He’s probably up there. I don’t know. I haven’t really given out IQ tests or anything.”
(Are you planning on watching the NFL games tomorrow?) – “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
(When you think of some of the reasons that the team’s overall penalties have decreased this season…) – “I think we’ve been a little up and down. At the beginning of the year we were really low and then we hit like a really bad streak where we dropped down pretty far. It seems like it’s cleaned up a little bit lately. It’s really about just being consistent week in and week out. It all comes down to … That’s why we try to make a big emphasis on individual (periods). It’s fundamentals, technique, hand placement … Do the right things at the beginning of the play to make sure that you’re not putting yourself in a bad position.”
(With tight end snaps, we saw TE A.J. Derby finally healthy and play the most of the group last week. Are tight end snaps for you now mostly who is our best matchup against this particular opponent as opposed to who did well in practice that week? A combination of both?) – “I think some of it is situational. Some of it is moving those guys in and out. We’re trying to make sure we keep the run/pass fairly even. I know sometimes it can get tilted one way or the other. We have different packages for different guys. Some games, one guy’s package might get called more.”
(Colts QB Andrew Luck hasn’t been sacked in five straight games. What does that tell you about what’s going on there?) – “I think their o-line is playing really well. I think he’s doing a good job of getting the ball out. Receivers are doing a good job of getting open. It’s a group thing that occurs when you have a run like that going on. It can’t just be the quarterback. It can’t just be the line. It takes everybody to make sure that … If all of those guys do their job right and the quarterback gets the ball out, that’s when you have a streak like that.”
(Colts QB Andrew Luck for a long time was hurt for so long and now he looks like the Andrew Luck of old.) – “He looks like what I remember. I saw him play maybe like (his) second year (in the league). He’s tough. He can make every throw. He’s got good anticipation. His accuracy is really good. He’s a tough guy to … Him being healthy and the more he’s played, you can see the confidence is going up. Hopefully we just keep him in the pocket. The last thing I want to do is have him get his confidence back and start running around. That’s when it gets really frustrating.”
(With the way Colts QB Andrew Luck is playing and the points they’re putting up, can you guys afford to get into a shootout with them or are you going to have to find a way to hold them down?) – “If we get in a shootout, that means we scored a touchdown, which I’m all for. (laughter) It’s been a while. We need to do everything we can to play team football, so we’ve got to make sure we hold them to field goals if we get them in the red zone. We have to find a way. If we do get a turnover, we have to create points out of that on offense. We can’t let up anything on special teams. We have to be effective of being on the positive in special teams areas. We’ve been talking about it, especially the last couple of weeks, of we don’t have one side favored over the other. We have to play team football and we have to make sure that we’re doing a good job with the turnover margin. Our penalties need to stay down and we have to figure out a way to win the third-down battle.”
(Will you get a chance tomorrow to just take some time and enjoy Thanksgiving?) – “Probably not. They’re not here, so …”
(How did QB Ryan Tannehill respond before practice today and how did he do today?) – “He was good. The last two days, he’s been excited to get out there. I think he was really tired of watching. You can tell he’s fired up. Both days he’s been out there, he’s been excited to be out there.”
Ryan Tannehill – November 20, 2018
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(What was your reaction when Head Coach Adam Gase said you’re starting Sunday?) – “I’m excited. It’s been a long road to get back to where I’m at now. It was a tough five, six weeks of grinding, of frustration, of pain, of working through things to finally be healthy enough to play again. I’m really excited about where I’m at.”
(The timing is right for the decision? Before now would have been too soon?) – “Yes, 100 percent. We had a process we were going through this whole time. The last time I talked to you guys, I tried to make it happen sooner and it just wasn’t ready. I didn’t have the arm strength, didn’t get it there. I shut it back down and then over this past bye week, we were able to have a throwing program and progress all the way through. I feel really good. Obviously, I’m not quite 100 percent, but I feel confident and have made all the throws that I’m going to need to make over the course of a game.”
(When was it that you guys tried to go again and you had to shut it down? Was that before the bye week?) – “Yes. That was – I don’t even know … three weeks ago?”
(You had said before that it hurt every time you threw and you were kind of resigned at that being the reality of the rest of the season. Is that still the case?) – “I don’t know if it’s going to be the rest of the season. Obviously, I’m not completely pain-free now; but it’s at a tolerable rate and it’s something that I can deal with. It doesn’t affect any throws that I make.”
(Were you worried that you were going to have to adjust the motion that you had to do based on the injury?) – “That’s one thing we didn’t want to do. If you had to adjust, then you’re running into other problems whether it be elbow issues or different shoulder issues. That was something that we were kind of working through is making sure that I was able to have a consistent motion that fits the way I throw the ball in order to not run into other issues. You could probably figure out a way to get especially shorter throws there, without getting your arm all the way up or all the way back, whatever it may be. But as far as pushing the ball downfield, you’re not going to be able to make those throws and you’re going to cause yourself other problems as you move forward.”
(What would be the latest thing that a doctor or doctors told you about how healed it is?) – “It’s something that is purely off feel at this point. We got the MRI way back and saw what we saw. Four or five doctors were all on the same page of what it was and it’d just be kind of working through it and it’s purely off feel at this point. Everyone is confident that no further injury is going to be caused by playing through it at this point, with where it’s at in the healing process, and confident moving forward.”
(Two years ago when the knee happened, you guys were on a roll and the team went to the playoffs without you. Now you come back tied for the sixth seed and you have a chance to go on a roll and make the playoffs. What’s your mindset with that?) – “I’m excited. We have a lot of football in front of us. Obviously, one game at a time; but I firmly believe that if we take care of business, then we control our own destiny. It’s going to be a matter of going out each and every week and performing and winning football games.”
(Do you personally plan on playing as if you’ve never been away? Is that a realistic expectation for you in this game?) – “Yeah, I think so. I think you have to step in and play your game. I feel confident. I don’t feel like any aspect of my game is taken away as far as running the football, getting outside the pocket. I’ve been doing that throughout my rehab the past week, making throws outside the pocket. The doctors are confident it’s not something that taking a hit running the football or anything like that is going to affect the injury that I had. I feel completely confident that we can do all the things that we’ve done in this offense.”
(You mentioned when you talked to us first, that the type of way that you got hit before can be the only way that it could worsen. How do you kind of prevent from that being a possibility?) – “I mean it’s always a possibility. That’s kind of the nature of the game. There’s always a possibility of taking a freak hit or getting your arm grabbed or whatever it may be. You can’t really think about that or plan for it. You play fast, get the ball out on time, trust your tackles and move up in the pocket. Past that, you just have to play football.”
(How different is this offense now personnel-wise than the one for the Cincinnati game?) – “It’s a little bit different obviously, losing a couple guys. Jakeem (Grant) going down, Albert (Wilson) going down, DeVante (Parker) is dinged up. The offensive line has changed. It’s definitely some different personnel, but I think bringing in Brice (Butler) will help us outside. He had some big catches today at practice. He’s shown speed, long range. (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase showed the quarterbacks some highlights of his time in Dallas, so we kind of have to get a feel of what he brings to the table. Obviously what we saw out of practice today is a guy with a lot of range and speed, good hands. He made a couple of big catches away from his body. We’re excited about what he brings to the table. We have Kenny (Stills). Kenny is still out there. We’re going to have to get our tight ends involved and our running backs as well. We still have a lot of good skill players that we can get the ball to, just maybe different guys than it was in Cincinnati.”
(I believe it’s been nine quarters since the offense has scored a touchdown. How do you get that turned around and what needs to happen for it to turn around?) – “I just think we have to execute and do our job. I think it goes all the way around, everyone who steps on the field. If we just go out and do our job and execute, we’ll end up in the end zone. It has to be finishing through the end zone. I think the past few games, we’ve moved the ball well and then got to the red zone and kind of stalled out. That’s going to be huge for us, is to be able to finish through the end zone and get seven points on those drives and not come away with three.”
(I might be wrong but it feels like you’re a little tired of talking about your health. Is that fair?) – “I understand. That’s unfortunately the position we’re in. But yeah, I’m ready to put this behind me and move forward and start winning football games.”
(Every shoulder injury is different, and I have no idea of the details of Colts QB Andrew Luck’s shoulder, but it just occurred to me that he has bounced back from a shoulder injury to play really well. What have you noticed about that and is it sort of encouraging that this great quarterback also bounced back from a shoulder problem?) – “I haven’t followed it too closely. I know that they’re playing good football right now. I know he was dealing with stuff throughout the offseason and kind of delayed camp maybe or something like that. He seems to be playing really well right now. I don’t know exactly what he had going on, but I have a ton of respect for Andrew and he’s playing really well right now.”
(Different players use different motivations for why they play and what they want to accomplish. What are you playing for these final six games?) – “I’m playing for the guys around me. I see how much work these guys put in. I believe in these guys, I believe we have a lot of football in front of us and we can go win a lot of football games. I’m going to give it everything I have with these guys and hopefully come out with wins.”
(It could come down to a shootout against the Colts considering how many points they put up. With the pain that comes with throwing the ball, how do you mentally prepare yourself for that if you do have to throw quite a bit?) – “I’m not concerned with the amount of throws. I’ve had big throwing sessions – over 100 throws – throughout the last week and a bunch today. I don’t know how many I had today. I’m not concerned. It’s at a tolerable level. It’s not something where it’s killer. It doesn’t feel like I’m getting stabbed or anything like that. It’s a tolerable pain. It’s not an issue. I have a ton of respect for this defense. They’re playing good football right now. They play very good fundamentally, they tackle well, they’re in their spots and we’re going to have to sustain drives. They don’t give up a lot of big plays. They do a good job of taking things away down the field. We just have to sustain drives and make the plays that are there.”
(As far as the shoulder, do you have to do anything extra to loosen it up or anything extra after practice to treat it?) – “Of course. It’s a work in process. It’s a process to get things going and get loose and go. Once I’m loose, then I feel really good. It’s a maintenance process of continuing to rehab and build the muscles around. It will be something that I think we’ll sustain the rest of the year is the process of getting ready to go and then rehabbing as well.”
(How confident are you of where you’re at right now from where you were and how can you keep that the last couple weeks of the season?) – “I think even if it stays where it’s at for the rest of the year, I’m totally confident in where it’s at. Hopefully it gets better; but if it doesn’t, then I’m totally okay with that and we can get fully healthy in the offseason. I can make all of the throws and do what I need to do. That won’t be an issue. As far as how far I’ve come, it’s been a big step from first injuring and trying to throw a few weeks later and just really couldn’t throw. That was the stabbing pain and I just didn’t have any juice on the ball. From there to here has been huge steps, and now I’m okay if it’s incremental steps or minimal steps.”
(The offense has been up and down most of the season. With six games left, maybe needing four of those to make the playoffs, is there any extra pressure now to fix some of these issues that have been plaguing the offense quicker or sooner rather than later?) – “We have to go out and execute. I think consistency is our issue. At times, we move the ball well. At times, we’ve scored touchdowns. It’s just been hit or miss on what it’s going to be, whether it’s turning the ball over, explosives, not playing well on third down. We have to be able to put it together for a full game. Sustain drives, convert third downs and then get the ball in the end zone in the red zone. We’ve shown at times, like I said, all aspects of that. We just have to be able to play consistent and put it together. I think we can do it, I believe we can do it; we just have to go make it happen.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said he thought you were juiced up on Monday. Can you describe your emotions this week and when he told you that you’re going to be our guy?) – “Of course I’m excited. It’s been a hard five weeks of sitting out and kind of sitting back and itching, biting at the bit and doing everything I can to get back out there. To finally be healthy enough to get out there and go and be with my guys, I’m really excited and looking forward to the opportunity.”
Frank Gore – November 20, 2018
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
RB Frank Gore
(How different are the Colts when QB Andrew Luck has got it going like he has it going?) – “He’s on fire. He’s healthy. You can tell watching from the beginning to now that he’s back to himself. Once the quarterback is going, your team gets that much better.”
(Does QB Ryan Tannehill give you that spark?) – “Yeah. Tannehill is very smart. He’s tough. He can throw; he can run. When it’s third down, he can get out of some stuff and run and get the first down. They have to be aware of that.”
(What does it mean to you that QB Ryan Tannehill said he’s going to be in pain for the rest of the year either way? What does it mean to you that he’s going to come back and play through that anyway?) – “He knows how much we need him. It’s football, though. Everybody is going to be in pain from here on out. Me talking to him when he wasn’t playing, he wanted to be out there. He knows that he’s going to be in pain, but you can tell that he wants to play, so that’s a plus for us.”
(When you look back at your time in Indy, what stands out in your mind?) – “That’s tough. I went there … The year I came, they just lost against the Patriots – the year before they lost against the Patriots for the AFC Championship, so I thought me and Andre (Johnson) will be the guys to help them get over the top; but our quarterback got hurt. (Andrew) Luck got hurt and it was rough. The o-line was banged up. We (were) having different guys in and out. It just didn’t go the way I planned it; but I had fun. The organization was great. (They have) great people there. We fought.”
(How are you looking at Sunday’s game?) – “Sunday, they’re 5-5 (and) we’re 5-5. We’re both playing for the same thing. Win the next one and Indy is on the board. I want to try to get a win so we can keep our hopes alive.”
(Is it any extra umph going against your old team?) – “I want to win. I’m going to go out there and try be me and try to do whatever it takes to help my team be successful on Sunday.”
(Refresh my memory, did you play against the 49ers?) – “Last year. Last year or two years ago, I think. Last year.”
(Was that a weird feeling?) – “I was there for 10 years. The way I left and the GM who was there, he had just gotten fired, so it was like, ‘Okay, well, Trent Baalke didn’t try to bring me back.’ I was wishing he was there so I could really show him I was supposed to be on that team still. He wasn’t there anymore. I would say after my first year when I left San Fran, after that first year I was okay with it. I got comfortable in Indy and the organization was great to me and I had fun. But when I played against San Fran, it was pretty big.”
(You ran well in Indy. I assume that they would’ve liked you to stay. Did you feel like you weren’t going to get a chance to start there and you wanted a chance where you could’ve fought for a starting job?) – “I feel like as long as I’m healthy and blessed and feeling good and know I can still play, I’m going to play and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get on the field. The GM, (Chirs) Ballard, we’re very cool. (He’s a) good dude, great dude. He wanted to start going his own direction and he was real with me. That’s the big thing as a man, as long as he’s straight up with me.”
(So you knew they weren’t going to give you that opportunity, but you felt like they were straight up with you and they told you?) – “Yeah, they were straight up with me. (Chris Ballard is) a great dude. He was surprised. He told me he was surprised the way I was playing. (It) goes back to my age. I told him as long as I love the game and (am) still having fun and I know I can play and train in the offseason, I’m going to be fine.”
(When are you going to be surprised? Do you have to be 40? You never seem surprised. We are always surprised with you.) – “I know how I train. I know how I go out every day in practice. I know (in) the offseason how big I get myself ready to come and compete with the younger guys. Even in the offseason, competing with guys younger than me at my position, being around them every day, that helps me. I just take it one day at a time and one year at a time. I try to finish and play hard and put good film out there. I’ll evaluate myself at the end, my body, and see if I still want to go out in the offseason and train to get ready for another year. That’s when I’ll make my decision.”
(Are you trying to wait for your son, so you guys can play together?) – “No. (laughter) It’s not basketball or baseball.”
(You still look like a baby compared to K Adam Vinatieri. What was it like last year playing with a 45-year old?) – “It made me feel better. (laughter) It tripped me out when we’re in a team meeting and you see all the young guys and you see a guy over there with a lot of gray hair. ‘Vinny’ is a real good dude and he still loves it, too. I remember talking to him and he was like he hopes they bring me back. It was good there. I had a good time my three years there.”
(If I told you the Dolphins would be 5-5 with all the injuries you guys have endured and still in the playoff hunt, what would you say is the reason?) – “The reason is because … I would say when I first got here in offseason workouts, how everybody was one. I’ve been on some great teams, but I never saw how … In San Fran, we were tight too, but how everybody was pushing each other and we were working hard. No one thought they were better than the next man. We all worked hard together. That’s what I would say. Even in training camp, that was a rough training camp. We were banging out there. I was like, ‘Oh, man. I have to match this stuff out here.’ Just the way we’re working. I would say we’re one.”
(What’s it going to take for this team to get hot at the right time which is now?) – “We’ve got to get better on offense, especially in the red zone. We’ve got to try to put points on the board, try to score and the defense has to come. Special teams, offense, defense – we’ve just got to play hard for each other and go out there. We’re tough. We’re a tough team, now. And don’t even think about the injuries we’ve got and just go out there and believe in each other and try to do whatever it takes to win.”
(Was it good to get back to practice after the bye?) – “The bye is good and bad sometimes, especially when … I hate when I have to sit down and I see other running backs getting big yards. (laughter) But it was good. I’m happy to get back going, to get the season back started and try to make this last push, try to hopefully get ourselves in the playoffs.”
Brice Butler – November 20, 2018
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
WR Brice Butler
(What are your initial thoughts on joining the Dolphins?) – “I’m excited to be here. Nobody wants to be at home during the season, watching games on Sunday, going to the grocery store on Sunday and to get stuff for the family. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to be a part of this team and whatever I’m asked, I’m going to do it. I don’t really know what my role is going to be, but I know I was getting a lot of reps today with the offense with guys like Kenny (Stills) and Danny (Amendola) and all of those guys. I’m just working day by day, just working day by day.”
(What do you feel you can bring to the offense?) – “Size, speed down the field and explosive plays. That’s what I’ve pretty much been doing in the league since I’ve been around. Hopefully I can do that every week.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill just called you out in his news conference in a good way. He said that you made a few nice plays that we probably weren’t watching. How did you feel about … today was your first practice, right? How comfortable did you feel?) – “I felt pretty good, I think the biggest thing was me getting used to the weather at this time of the year. Obviously in Dallas it’s hot, but not right now. I’m just getting used to that. In Arizona, I ran a similar offense under (former Offensive Coordinator) Mike McCoy. A lot of the terminology is the same, which is great. (It) has been allowing me to play fast early. Obviously I don’t know nothing yet, really. I’m pretty sure as we keep going, I’ll have to keep learning. I might mess up in practice a few times. Obviously that’s what you practice for. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can.”
(The grocery shopping you were talking about, is that what you were doing at the beginning of the year?) – “Yeah. I remember the first week I was out, my wife sent me to the grocery store on the first week of the season and that hurt. (laughter) I was in the grocery store and people were in jerseys walking around. I’m like ‘I’m supposed to be playing right now. I’m not supposed to be out here in the grocery store at high-12.’
(You’re still a pretty young guy, but to this point how would you describe your career journey?) – “It’s been solid so far. Obviously I had higher expectations. (They’re) still high, I’ll never stop expecting myself to be what I think I can be and what I know I can be. This year has been an obstacle. It’s been tough. I’ve never been cut, never been released or nothing like that and it happened twice this year. (It’s been a) humbling experience and hopefully I learned what I needed to learn while I was out and I won’t have to deal with that again.”
(Did you know anybody on the team?) – “I went to college with T.J. McDonald. Obviously I knew names, but I really didn’t know too many people, I knew Ziggy (Hood) because we trained together in the offseason. Other than that, It’s just guys that I know from watching. Obviously Kenny (Stills) is a California guy. I was in California for college and stuff like that. You hear about guys like that and people that know them. I knew a few guys, but that’s it.”
(What do you hope to make of this opportunity?) – ‘The best of it.”
Adam Gase – November 20, 2018
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Quarterback?) – “What about them?”
(What are you doing?) – “Ryan (Tannehill) will start this week.”
(And you feel how about that?) – “Really good.”
(Because?) – “Because he’s done a good job of rehabbing. I think the training staff has been very smart of going through his procedure and working out some of the earlier kinks where he got fatigued and sore. (They) did a good job of shutting him down and then building him back up. I think he’s had a good week through the bye week and then being able to practice today and make all of the throws he needs to make.”
(So you don’t have any concern that QB Ryan Tannehill will suffer any soreness or setback during the week?) – “I don’t know that but I feel pretty good as far as what we’ve done so far and with what he’s communicated to us. We’ll just take it day by day and like I told Brock (Osweiler), you’ve always got to stay ready.”
(Is QB Ryan Tannehill pain free?) – “If he wasn’t then he’s not telling me.”
(When did you tell the guys of your decision?) – “We talked to both of those guys last night or yesterday before whatever time it was – before we had our walkthrough.”
(You said you needed QB Ryan Tannehill to shoot straight with you about where he’s at. Did you hook him up to a polygraph or anything like that?) – “(laughter) No. I trust him. Kind of. (laughter)”
(Moving forward, how do you guys manage QB Ryan Tannehill’s shoulder after weeks, after this first game?) – “That’s something that I’ve talked to him about, making sure that he’s doing all of the things that the training staff needs him to do. The strength staff is involved as well. We need him to spend the amount of time that he needs to spend, whether it be post-practice, before practice or whatever he needs to do to make sure that he’s good to go for practice or a game. That’s really his number one focus. I think he does a good job preparing for the game as it is. We can take some off of him and really do a better job as a coaching staff of making sure that he has everything he needs to do without him having to go search for anything that he’s concerned about.”
(You guys obviously had high hopes for QB Ryan Tannehill going into the season. Is everything there still, all of the goals that he’s had and you have, are they still in front of you?) – “I don’t think he cares about anything individually statistic-wise. The only thing he’s ever said to me is that he just wants to make sure that we’re winning. I know he felt like him coming back, he can help be a part of that.”
(Did the receivers today in practice look 100 percent to you?) – “Yeah. I thought (Ryan Tannehill) looked good. I think it’s just always going to take time. I think it’s a little different receiving corps that was out there today than when he left.”
(How big of an impact does it have on the game plan and how much of the playbook does that open up to you?) – “I think really, it’s not anything drastic. We have to do some different things just because of the personnel we have. We’ve lost a couple of guys that were kind of key to us at the wide receiver spot and really we have guys with different skillsets than what we’ve had in the past. It’s really going to be about … Every game is going to be different in how we want to go about it, what we want to do, what he can do – whether it be passing or running – and those types of things.”
(Following up on that, what are you seeing out of WR Leonte Carroo? Obviously he’s having to step into a bigger role now.) – “Yeah, I mean he’s been ready for this. He’s been here for a while. He’s doing a lot for us in special teams right now and that’s big for our team because any time you can get somebody that steps in and does personal protector on punt and has a whole bunch of other roles, and is a wide out, that’s critical for us because that saves us a spot somewhere else and it gives us another number at that position.”
(Are there things that QB Ryan Tannehll does to maintain or keep the shoulder capsule good, like as far as ice?) – “Yeah. They’ve got a whole routine or whatever they do. I don’t sit there and take notes on it.”
(What was QB Ryan Tannehill’s reaction when you told him he was starting?) – “We had a discussion, just kind of went through a few things and it probably took about one second too long to just tell him that’s what we were doing. He was ready to go. He’s been waiting for this week to come for a while. The whole thing was us just making sure he stayed patient and with the program we had him on instead of if things didn’t go right leading up to this game and we had to take another week, he needed to understand that’s what it was. But that wasn’t the case. We had a good week last week and today was a good start for us of him practicing the whole practice.”
(What’s the status of the two offensive tackles – T Laremy Tunsil and T Ja’Wuan James?) – “Well, getting them out there and getting them to practice, that’s …”
(Did they take full part today?) – “I don’t want to say if they were full or limited. Matt will make that decision. I’m not doing that anymore. (laughter)”
(With WR Jakeem Grant going to injured reserve, does that open up or make it a necessity that you add another receiver to the 53-man roster or is that just a spot that you can be flexible on?) – “Well, we added Brice (Butler). That was … We weren’t really sure where DeVante (Parker) was going to be leading into this week and then (with) Jakeem going down. We’ll just keep looking at what’s the best thing for us to do, whether it’s another spot somewhere else or … I feel like we’ve got a good group there that knows what to do. Having Isaiah (Ford) basically ready to go at all times, he has some flexibility to move outside if we needed him too. Ideally I like him in the slot but he does have the ability for us to … If we needed him to come (we could) move him outside and he’ll still find a way to get open.”
(With C/G Ted Larsen, we never got an update on how that injury happened and where he is right now in the process.) – “Yeah, you saw a couple of games where he came out of the game a couple of times for a decent amount of time and then he’d go back in. Really, it got to the point where we needed to rest him and just see how his body recovers. Getting through the bye week, we’ve got him on a little program right now to build him back up and really see where he is when it comes Sunday.”
(With C Jake Brendel, how did he perform?) – “He did well. He played very aggressive. He finished as well as anybody that was playing on Sunday. You could tell he was excited to be out there. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go because he’s played center mostly for us and we kind of got put in a weird situation where we needed him to play guard, and he did a great job.”
(You’re playing a team that scores a ton of points, at least they have the last month. Does that change how you call a game as opposed to if you were playing like Buffalo, who is the least-scoring team in the league?) – “It depends how we have been doing. The last few games, it’s changed the way I’ve called plays as far how we’re doing on defense, how we’re moving the ball on offense, if we’re running the ball well, if we’re completing balls. You have an idea going into the game of how you’re going to play. We’ve been talking about this, everything we do has to be focused on we’re going to do this as a team because we’ve lost some guys where if you throw a check down, Albert (Wilson) would go 70 (yards). That’s not a planned deal. We’ve lost some of those guys that can do that. So we have to make sure that everything we do is kind of grouped together with the defense, offense and special teams. Then the game flow kind of dictates a little bit of it too. If all of a sudden you’re moving the ball up and down the field, now you can be a little bit more aggressive and you can do some other things.”
(A follow up to that about last night, did you ever think you’d see a game where a team scoring 50 points loses?) – “No. Close. I saw it. Close. I saw Dallas score 48 (points) and lose.”
(What game was that?) – “Against somebody. Somebody in this room. (laughter)”
(You got your starting quarterback back. Did you see a perceivable lift over the team with that?) – “I don’t know if I was really looking for it. I know (Ryan Tannehill) was excited to get back out there. I could tell yesterday when he got in that huddle, he was juiced up like we were practicing. I can’t speak for those other guys. I just know they haven’t seen him in a while. For him to go out there and be just turning it loose, you don’t look at him and go ‘is he trying to feel his way in this?’ I don’t see that. I see a guy that’s just confident in where he’s at right now and he’s doing a good job of just turning the ball loose and putting it where it needs to be.”
(How do you go about managing QB Ryan Tannehill during the game? Is it going to be consulting after every series, ‘How did you feel on that one?’) – “I mean once we get going, we’re going to go. The last thing he wants is me checking him every 10 minutes and wondering how he’s doing. If there’s an issue, he’ll let me know.”
(Does QB Ryan Tannehill’s return loosen things up for you as a play-caller?) – “We’ll kind of see how it goes. Once again, he’s playing with a different group of guys. So we’ve just got to kind of see what’s either working, what’s not working (and) how this week goes as far as what we have in. It’s different.”
(WR DeVante Parker and RB Kenyan Drake, how encouraged are you about those red-jersey guys?) – “I think the fact … You’re going to get me in trouble with this because they’re not happy about wearing the red jerseys. The fact that they’re out there and they’re working is good. We just wanted to make sure that nobody … with them practicing, somebody thuds them up and it just sets us back. I think going through individual and then getting some team snaps, that was good.”
(Looking at the bye week considering how injured this roster is, is this where optimally you wanted to be with what you’re seeing out there on the field with those players?) – “I mean I like the group we’ve got. Guys are working hard and it seems like guys … We needed a bye week. Guys were beat up and they seem, I don’t want to say fresh but energized and ready to go and know that we’ve got six (games) left. We’ll see what we put together.”
(With CB Bobby McCain, is he still in the concussion protocol?) – “Correct.”
(Is CB Bobby McCain close to being out?) – “I don’t know. (It’s the) concussion protocol.”
Danny Amendola – November 20, 2018
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
WR Danny Amendola
(QB Ryan Tannehill is going to start Sunday’s game. What do you think that does for this team moving forward knowing that this is a guy that wanted to come back and he’s finally getting a chance to?) – “We’ve got a lot of good football players on this team, especially at that position, so we’re excited to have Ryan back. If Brock (Osweiler) was in there, we’re excited to play with Brock. We’ve got a bunch of good football players, so we’re excited to get moving, get up to Indy and prepare the rest of the week and try to play good football this week.”
(After the bye, you guys are still 5-5 and you’re in the thick of the playoff hunt with a playoff berth at stake, how do you guys kind of go about this?) – “Just one game at a time. Focus on getting better, focus on getting a win this week and go from there. Let everything else kind of take care of itself.”
(How has the season gone for you? You’ve kind of creeped up to being the leading receiver now with your chemistry with QB Brock Osweiler the last couple weeks. How are things going for you? How are you feeling?) – “Just focus on winning. Whatever I can do to help the team win, that’s what I’m focused on.”
(How big was the bye week considering all of the injuries that the team has had to be able to get a full week off?) – “It’s in the past and we’re focused on preparation this week, practice this week, running, getting in shape, feeling good, playing good football. We’re all excited to be here and that’s it.”
Adam Gase – November 20, 2018 (Conference Call)
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Tuesday, November 7, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Indianapolis Media
(What have you seen from this Colts defense so far this season?) – “I’ve seen a group as the year has gone on that you can see they’re more comfortable with what they’re doing. They’re playing really fast right now. They’re causing a lot of disruption. They’re causing a lot of turnovers. You see a lot of different guys being involved in that. I think they have 10 guys that have an interception. It’s just a lot of different guys making plays at the right time and they’re playing good team defense.”
(Flipping sides of the ball, from a scheme standpoint, what makes Colts Head Coach Frank Reich’s offense hard to defend?) – “It’s multiple. You have … You’ve got the whole, really, history of his career involved in the offense between there’s probably some things he did as a player, there’s things that you see that when he was with Peyton (Manning), there’s things being at San Diego and then the Philly stuff. He’s just got a lot of different things that he can lean on. He can adjust during a game and get to certain things that can cause problems for our defense.”
(Going over to your team, what has impressed you about RB Frank Gore? He was here for a few years. Does he seem to enjoy mentorship and mentoring the young guys?) – “I think he enjoys first, playing. Just in general, he loves everything from the time he gets in the building to practice. He enjoys all the little things that some guys, they don’t understand how valuable it is when you’re young. The thing that Frank brings besides doing what he does on Sunday is our guys watch him practice and it’s almost like you forget where he’s at in his career and he treats it like he’s an undrafted free agent almost. He practices extremely hard. He finishes everything he does. There’s a lot of pride there as far as what he does during a practice. Seeing him 10 years ago and then seeing him now, there’s just not a lot of differences in how he plays and what he can do. It’s been really fun being around him again.”
(There’s a lot of teams in the AFC right now tied at 5-5 and in the playoff hunt. Does that add any importance to this game seeing that both teams are 5-5 entering Sunday?) – “I’m sure people outside of this profession will say that, but we’re all thinking the same thing. Everybody is just trying to win one game for that week. You do everything you can, put everything in for that one game and at the end of the season, the chips fall where they may and you just try to make sure you win as many games as possible.”
