Adam Gase – December 6, 2018
Download PDF version
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Just to clarify something, did CB Xavien Howard have a surgical procedure on his knee this week?) – “Any of that stuff we always keep in house. I’m not getting into all of that stuff.”
(Is the prognosis still week to week for CB Xavien Howard?) – “Yeah. It is. We just have to see how fast of a healer he is. We have to make sure we do the right thing for him. When he’s ready to go, he’ll be ready to go. We can’t put him in a bad position to where his movement isn’t what it needs to be to play at the level that he wants to play at.”
(Is CB Xavien Howard here in the building?) – “Mhm. He came out and watched practice (and was) just making sure he knows everything.”
(Was CB Xavien Howard on crutches?) – “No. He was not on crutches.”
(The Patriots use RB James White a variety of ways. Is he like a RB Dion Lewis type of player? How do you approach defending him?) – “It’s hard because he can do everything. He can come out of the backfield, empty (sets), run it, pass protect, catch the ball. He’s got all of the traits you want at running back. Obviously he gets a lot of touches, both in the passing game and in the running game. He’s a tough guy to really know where he’s going to be and what they’re going to do with him from play to play.”
(What’s the latest on C Jake Brendel?) – “I’d say week to week but we’re almost done with the week. In practice yesterday, we just had one of those situations where he was running and felt something. We’re just going to see how he progresses through the rest of the week.”
(Is this the same calf or a different calf for C Jake Brendel?) – “I think it’s the same one.”
(When you said CB Xavien Howard was kind of watching things to see he’s on par with everything, is there a likelihood he could play this week?) – “Yeah, that’s what these guys do. They want to make sure that whether the guy ends up playing one week or not, it’s still gaining knowledge. It’s football. Guys like being around it and even though he can’t practice, he still wants to take it all in. I don’t know how this is going to go. Like I said earlier, we’re going to do what’s best for him and to make sure that he – the physical ability that he has – can maximize that.”
(Would CB Xavien Howard be a player that you could foresee yourself playing if he didn’t practice all week or do you need him to test out the knee?) – “If that point came about, we’d want to make sure that he’s good.”
(How is WR Danny Amendola doing?) – “He seems like he’s doing well. Him going out there and being able to run routes and practice, that’s encouraging. We’ll just keep an eye on it and see how he feels tomorrow. It’s the same thing. We’ll just progress through the week and see where we’re at on Sunday.”
(With the interior of the offensive line having a rough game last week, how much of that is chemistry versus the players that you have in there or all of the mismatching of…) – “I think some of it was we played a good defense. Their d-line has played well this year. That’s one of the highest ranked defenses that we’ve gone against. We let those guys loose a couple of times and they made some plays. The thing about it is you just have to keep battling, clean up technique, get your hands on those guys, use our size to our advantage. We just didn’t do a very good job of that last week.”
(With C Travis Swanson, is he looking better? Healthier?) – “Yeah, he is. So that’s a positive for us.”
(Patriots RB Sony Michel went for over 100 yards the first time you faced. What made him so effective?) – “He’s a tough runner physically. He has really good vision. He picked up their system very quickly for a young guy. Usually it takes time, but he was able to just jump right in there. That was one of the reasons that we had him here and visited with him and took a hard look at him. Obviously they loved him too. He’s been a huge part of what they’re doing this year.”
(I was talking to LB Kiko Alonso a couple of weeks ago and I asked him about that play against Detroit where he bats down the pass and an offensive line knocks him on his back. I asked him if that pissed him off and he said ‘No. We got off the field on third down.’ I said ‘But you were kind of an unprotected player,’ and Kiko goes ‘I want football to be a blood bath.’ Does that kind of square with your understanding of his attitude?) – “Is that how he said it? (laughter) Yeah, probably. I just can’t picture him saying it like that. (laughter)”
(LB Kiko Alonso’s success this year, do you attribute it more to an attitude like that or physical gifts such as speed and things like that?) – “I think it’s both. His ability to run, hit, tackle. He’s sharp with what’s going on within the game and what we’re doing on defense. Sometimes he has to find that right place where it’s that emotion amped up for the game and being able to kind of hyper-focus on his job. That’s where sometimes he puts himself in a bad position. It’s almost like he’s too emotional and he’s going so fast. That’s where he’s made mistakes in the past. It’s like finding that fine line. You see a lot of top tier guys over time that could do both. He’s working to get there and trying to control the emotion and keep his focus, but it’s always great to have a guy with that kind of intensity and emotion throughout the game.”
Ryan Tannehill – December 5, 2018
Download PDF version
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(How are you feeling?) – “Good. Physically, I’m good. I got hit a few times but nothing got dinged up or anything like that. I’m feeling really good.”
(Any discomfort you had the first couple of weeks, has that even gone away further, or about the same as when you returned against Indy?) – “The shoulder is definitely feeling better. It’s still not 100 percent, but it’s definitely trending in the right direction. Every day that goes by, it just feels a little better. A week goes by, it feels a little better. So I’m really excited about how things are progressing there.”
(There was a play during the game where we all kind of cringed a little bit. It looked similar to the Bengals game when you got hurt. I know you were trying to make the play, but were you kind of cognizant of it? Did you see a replay show that it was eerily similar to the play in Cincinnati?) – “Yeah. Someone mentioned it to me on the sideline after it happened. When it happened, I didn’t even think about it. I kind of stepped up through the contact and tried to get the ball to DeVante (Parker). Honestly, I didn’t really think about it too much during the play, and I don’t think you can. I think if you’re thinking about that in the pocket then you’re going to have a tough time finding an open receiver downfield. Thankfully, nothing happened and I was able to kind of shrug off the contact.”
(How is this Patriot defense similar or different than the Patriot defenses you’ve seen three, four, five years ago?) – “They’re playing physical right now, which you see every year. They still do some of the same stuff, mixing up their pressures. I think over the past five weeks compared to the last time we played them and in years past, they’re bringing a lot more Cover 0 pressures – bringing everyone and trying to get a guy free up front. I would say that’s probably the biggest change-up from what I’ve seen as opposed to what we’ve seen in the past and even earlier this year.”
(Does it seem like you always see something new from them when you play them?) – “Yes. I think they play their defense but they’re always going to throw some wrinkles at you. Whether it’s a pressure or playing a little more Bear Cover 2 than they show on tape or whatever it may be, they’re always going to throw some sort of wrinkle at you. They’re going to have a wrinkle on first and second down. They’re going to have a wrinkle on third down, changing up the pressure. Maybe it’s personnel. They throw a lot of different personnel at you, whether it’s dime, dollar, nickel, nickel big. They’re going to throw everything at you and try to make you take all of that into account and figure out what they’re doing. I think they do a good job of that, of just mixing things up and trying to make it harder on the offense.”
(How difficult is it to gauge how long you’re holding the ball when you’re looking for an open receiver and trying to make that connection?) – “You have a clock in your head. I think that’s just something that’s ingrained over time, whether you’re playing in the backyard or you’re playing out here on Sundays. You have a clock in your head. You have a rhythm of when guys are supposed to be open, when they should be breaking and all of those types of things. All of that comes into account of the clock in your head. Sometimes the clock happens faster because the routes should happen faster. Sometimes it’s a little more longer developing because the routes are further downfield. Every play has a different clock. You just kind of have to match that up with what you’re doing.”
(Do you feel like the buzzer may be going off in your head, at some point it says ‘I have to get rid of the ball?’ It looked like on two of those sacks, you might have been holding the ball a little bit too long or a receiver wasn’t open.) – “Yeah, of course. There’s always situations where the clock is going off. Sometimes you’re waiting on a receiver to get to his spot and get it out there. Sometimes the rush gets there a little faster than you want it to and you can’t get the ball out.”
(Every game and every season is different, I get it; but it so happens that you’ve won your last three games against the Patriots here with seven touchdown passes. Thinking back to those games – I know they were a couple years ago – but do you recall any sort of common denominator for you and the offense?) – “You’re going back years now. (laughter)”
(You’ve found success against the Patriots’ defense. Why is that?) – “I think first and foremost, when you play this team, you have to play smart football. You can’t have penalties. You can’t have turnovers. You can’t put your defense in a bad spot. I think that’s all where it starts and then all the other things, we look for each and every game. You convert on third downs, score in the red zone, get explosive plays – all that is something we look for every game. I think this team, more than any other team, they’re not going to beat themselves. They’re not going to give you cheap flags, cheap penalties, cheap anything, really. So you can’t give them any. You have to play clean football and everyone has to do their job.”
(The Patriots have had more trouble down here than just about any place else. Do you have any thoughts as to why you think they’ve lost four of their last five games?) – “I don’t know why. I think we’ve played good football against them. I think that’s one thing that we want to establish and we’ve been establishing is we play well at home. It’s our home field, we have home-field advantage and we need to take advantage of it and win the games at home.”
(You’ve been back for two games since the injury. What would you say would be your self-evaluation over that time?) – “Some good, some bad. I think we’re heading in the right direction. Obviously, some plays I would like to have back. Some plays I’m really happy with. I think that’s the continuous evolvement of playing the position is you’re always going to find some things that you do well, some plays you’d like to have back. As long as you’re improving and not making the same mistake twice, I think you’re heading in the right direction.”
(Do you know what your quarterback rating is in those two games?) – “I don’t know exactly.”
(112.) – “I think that’s a good start. Quarterback rating doesn’t tell you the whole picture, obviously. It means something. If you have a high rating, you’re obviously playing decent football. But I think I’ve done some things well and some things that I’d like to improve upon and get better at.”
(Are you ripping yourself?) – “(laughter) No. I like to be honest with myself of where I’m at. You’re not going to have the perfect game, but that’s what I’m striving for. I’m striving to go out and play the perfect game. I think if you’re happy where you’re at then you’re going to be in a bad spot moving forward. You’re not going to get any better. Obviously, I have a long way to go to get where I want to be. I think I’m doing alright, but (there are) a lot of plays that I’d like to be better at. I think we have a lot better football in front of us as an offense.”
(The one thing that hasn’t been showing up a lot is yardage. How important is that? 170, 160 yards a game, I’m sure you want more, but is that important?) – “Points are important. I think that’s ultimately what my job is, is to get the offense in the end zone. Usually to do that, you have to get yards and move the ball down the field, so it kind of goes hand in hand. Ultimately, we’re trying to get points and however many yards it takes to do that then that’s great.”
(The read option in years past has been part of your game. I know Head Coach Adam Gase has said there have been some situations in the last couple weeks where it’s been called and it just hasn’t really materialized. What are your thoughts on running the ball and tucking a little bit more?) – “I’m game for that. I think that’s something we have in the game plan almost every week, if not every week. Some games it comes up more than others. You think back to the Jets game early on. It came up a lot. It depends kind of on how teams are playing us, how we’re going to call it whether it’s a hand off or a keep. It really all just depends on the look that you’re getting from the defense. It’s not something that you call it more and you’re going to have more quarterback runs. You might call it more and end up handing the ball off every single time. It’s just something that we have to evaluate as the game goes on and how it fits in our plan.”
(With the shoulder, though, you’re not at all concerned about tucking and running?) – “No. I’m not concerned at all with the shoulder.”
(There’s a lot made of the heat and humidity down here. How as a quarterback does that affect you versus maybe playing in a cold weather area?) – “I wouldn’t say it affects the quarterback position more than any other position. I think conditioning is always important. We train in this heat and humidity every day so we’re pretty accustomed to it. I think that’s probably the advantage of teams from the north coming down here is they don’t have the luxury of practicing in the heat and humidity. They have to be able to adapt and keep their conditioning high in other ways.”
T.J. McDonald – December 5, 2018
Download PDF version
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
S T.J. McDonald
(What did you guys learn from the first game against New England?) – “You can’t kill yourself. You can’t make mental errors. When you have opportunities to make plays, you have to make them. It’s the same stuff. We have to be on our details and make sure we do our job.”
(How much is the front important against a guy like that?) – “It’s very important. They try to get the ball out quick. For us, once we’re sticking on them and we make him hitch or go to a second read, it’s important to get pressure on him.”
(Now that they seem to be at full strength at this point, how difficult is that offense, especially if you do lose a player like CB Xavien Howard?) – “It’s just matchups. I don’t know if ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is actually out or not; but it’s just matchups. Everybody has to win their one-on-one. Everybody just has to do their job.”
(What’s the challenge of facing Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski like?) – “He’s a big body. He’s tough. He has great hands. You have to kind of disrupt him. If he gets going, he can get hot. Tom Brady is going to put the ball where it needs to be, so you have to be sticking (to your receiver) and try to disrupt the timing of their routes.”
(This place has been kind of a house of horrors for the Patriots over the last couple of years. Five of six games the Dolphins have won. Is there something about this building even for a team like the Patriots to come in here?) – “I think that’s just at home in general. We’re a good team here. We’re comfortable. I think that’s kind of the story of the NFL right now. Teams are winning at home and losing on the road. For us, we want to protect home field as much as possible.”
Frank Gore – December 5, 2018
Download PDF version
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
RB Frank Gore
(Obviously you go against the Patriots this week. What’s kind of your thoughts, because standings-wise, I know you guys don’t pay attention to them, but is this a must win?) – “I think every game is a must win. It’s towards the end of the year and we’re looking at it like it’s a playoff game. Take one game at a time and just stay together and stay as one and go out and try to get a win.”
(This place has been a house of horrors for the Patriots the last couple of years. The Dolphins have won five of six. Is there something about playing in the heat here in December?) – “It was tough for me when I first got here, when I got back here. It’s tough playing in this heat. We’re just going to go out and believe in ourselves and our coaches and try to get us a win. We’re looking at this like a playoff game, from here on out.”
(Have you ever seen a team suffer this many injuries and stay in the hunt?) – “That’s tough. No. That just lets you know how hard and tough we are as a team. Our coaches are doing a great job and we’re fighting. As long as we keep fighting and believing in ourselves and in our coaches, we can probably get this win, try to get this win.”
Adam Gase – December 5, 2018 (Conference Call)
Download PDF version
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with New England Media
(Watching the Patriots defense, what, since you last played them in Week 4 about eight weeks ago, what improvements have you noticed?) – “I think it really started in our game. They did a great job shutting down the run and basically eliminating any kind of threat we had in the passing game. I think they just kept climbing from there. They make it difficult. They give you so many multiple looks. Every week is a different week for them to where what they did last week is most likely not the same thing we’re going to see this week.”
(The Patriots running backs combined for 45 touches last week against the Vikings. Has that become a foundation of your offense and what are your thoughts on the personnel they have back there?) – “I think they’re doing what they need to do to move the ball and doing what’s best against what the defense is doing. The way that they went about it last week was the right way and put them in the best position on third downs and to get conversions and keep drives alive. They find multiple different ways to get a whole bunch of different guys the ball.”
(What sort of challenge is it when you’re talking about defending a quarterback with a quick release like QB Tom Brady?) – “It’s not an easy task. Guys have to do a great job of understanding how they’re being attacked and figure out a way to take the number one read away to where he has to hold onto it longer. That’s probably the hardest part because as soon as you start … The tighter you start playing, then they’re going to go to something else and take advantage of a different matchup. That’s what (Offensive Coordinator) Josh (McDaniels) has always done well. He adjusts really well during a game. I watched it for two years working for him and since I’ve been back here, I’ve gotten to see it multiple times.”
(We saw them on third down use RB Rex Burkhead and RB James White together quite often. What are the challenges to defending the two running backs that they threw at the Vikings last week?) – “It’s just trying to figure out who you want matching up with who and how you see it, especially when you get in third-and-shorter distances. Then all of a sudden they start running the ball and you don’t have enough guys in the box or you’ve got smaller players out there and they can take advantage of it. They just have so much available to them in their playbook that you do one thing and you think you’re able to stop them doing that thing and then all of a sudden they expose that. By the time you catch up to them, they move onto something else.”
(If I remember correctly, you spoke after the game up here about being surprised at being out-physicaled is I think the way you put it. Is that physicality on your part an extra emphasis this week?) – “I think it was an emphasis that week. It just kind of surprised me that … We didn’t fight back the way that I thought that we would. I think we’ve had some weeks where we’ve done a lot of things right to where we showed what we needed to show as far as playing like that. We just need to be more consistent with it. This is always a tough game, a tough team. The scheme they play and the way that they’re coached, it makes it very difficult and our guys have got to be on what we’re doing and then they’ve got to understand that it’s going to come down to the will on each play and can they win their matchup individually.”
(If the Patriots win Sunday, they win the AFC East. Obviously, you want to beat a division opponent, but is there any extra motivation you don’t want to let them celebrate an AFC East title on your home field?) – “Nobody here is even going to worry about that. We’re worried about winning this week. That’s the last thing on our mind.”
(I believe the Patriots are 1-4 in their last five trips to Miami. Are there any common factors that you can pinpoint to why the Dolphins have had so much success at home versus this Patriots team?) – “Every year is different. Every game, the time of year, all of those type of things. It’s been different every year. This year is different than last year. This year is different than when we played up there. Every week is a one-week season almost. You can’t even … What happened last year is irrelevant.”
(Is there anything that’s relevant to this year in terms of your record, home versus road?) – “I think if you look across the league, that’s the majority of teams. Most teams that play at home, the percentages go up. You’re not traveling. There’s a lot of little tiny things that can cause disruption. Crowd noise, communication becomes an issue on offense. It’s real difficult to go on the road, especially in a hostile environment, and be able to play as smooth as you want to play. I think sometimes when (it is) home versus away, when you’re home, you don’t have the extra challenges to face.”
(Getting back to the physical element for a second, how do you rate the Patriots offensive line?) – “They’re well-coached. They’re disciplined. You don’t see them making many errors where guys are turning free. You see those guys fight until the very end. It hasn’t changed. Obviously, there’s a good reason why. (Offensive Line) Coach (Dante) Scarnecchia does a great job. He prepares those guys. When they show up on Sunday, you know you’re in for a dog fight for 60 minutes.”
(Do you expect WR Danny Amendola to be able to play this weekend?) – “Getting him out at practice today was good, being able to do some of the things he did. We’ll see how the week goes. I’m pretty sure you know what he’s already saying. I’m just trying to make sure that we go through the week the right way to where he doesn’t put himself in a worse position. This is the first time that I would say that he’s not being very compliant with me. (laughter) He wants to play in this game as bad as anybody. I’m trying to give him a little bit of the ability to show that he can go, but at the same time trying to make sure that get through the week the right way and we don’t lose him for any longer than what we already have.”
(Thirteen weeks in now, what has WR Danny Amendola added to the team, to your offense overall?) – “I think the fact that he’s a veteran player, the way he practices, the way that he prepares for a game whether it be meetings, how he is in the locker room, how he operates day in and day out and then when we get to game day, the intensity he brings. It seems like he always makes the play when it’s a tight game and we need somebody to step up and do something, he always seems to be that guy. I think the guys respect him around here. I know the receiver room is really close and he’s a big part of that. He has just been one of those guys I think everybody just leans on. When it gets tough, he’s the first guy up and he wants to be a part of the solution.”
(Back in Week 4, you got really the first glimpse of what WR Josh Gordon looked like as a Patriot. What difference have you seen from the guy you saw on the field in Week 4 as opposed to the guy who is going to be on the field this upcoming week?) – “He’s more comfortable. He knows the offense better than what he knew at that week. He seems like he’s healthy. I don’t know … I’m sure everybody in the NFL is banged up a little bit, but I know he was coming off an injury at that time. He’s a tough guy to defend. He can catch the ball at all levels. He can stretch the field. He can work underneath. He can win in the quick game. He makes some incredible catches. He’s a tough guy to deal with.”
(Along the lines of CB Xavien Howard, what happened to him and how significant would that be if he’s not there for you Sunday?) – “His second interception, he just got hit awkwardly around his knee. We’re going to go through the week and kind of see what it brings. It’s tough to say, ‘Is he going? Is he not?’ I’m not going to know until we get closer to the end. If he’s not our best player, he’s one of our best players. We just have to make sure that we have contingency plans for whatever the scenario calls for.”
(I was curious your thoughts on one Patriots player. Does anything stand out to you when you look at their defense and see LB Kyle Van Noy the linebacker? What stands out to you when you’re watching him?) – “He’s been a nightmare for us, I know that. He does a great job. He disrupts. He does a great job setting the edge. He always does a great job any time we … If we ever try to run the ball to the edge, it’s getting to the point where it’s kind of pointless. He shuts down the run to his side. That whole defensive line does a great job as far as when they’re working their stunts and you got the TEs and the ETs, they set each other up so well. There’s a lot of unselfish football going on along the defensive front. He plays a big part of it. He causes all kinds of problems.”
(What’s your assessment been of TE Rob Gronkowski from what you’ve seen of him over the last couple weeks here?) – “Every year, he seems to take the brunt of the blows when it comes to anytime he gets a ball thrown to him. No one wants to tackle him high. Everybody goes for his legs. He’s getting pulled in every which direction. Just because he’s bigger than everybody else, it’s hard to tell who’s really getting pushed around or not. He’s got to fight a lot of factors. He’s getting double-teamed all the time. I’m sure that takes a toll on his body, but he shows up every Sunday and he competes extremely hard. He’s a good run blocker. He’s a good pass protector. He does a great job any time the ball is thrown to him. He’s a hard guy for any defense to defend, because it’s like a grown man playing with a bunch of kids. He’s such a big target. He’s one of those guys that when you go to face him, you try to do everything you can to contain him. You know he’s going to get his catches. When he gets in the red zone, you just have to try to keep him out of there.”
(TE Rob Gronkowski has been beat up. He’s been on and off the injury report a little bit. Is he still someone who requires extra attention in your opinion?) – “Oh, yeah. If you want to look strictly at numbers, then you can get caught up into something else. When you watch the tape, you see there might be times where he’s open and for whatever reason the ball goes somewhere else or there’s some kind of pressure and something didn’t work out the right way. But a lot of times, you know when he’s either supposed to get the ball or some kind of penalty occurs. He’s still a major force in their offense. I know this, we have to make sure we do a good job with him with however we do it, because he’s one of those guys when all of a sudden you think he’s being quiet and the next thing you know he has two or three touchdowns and 100-plus yards and just absolutely cuts your heart out on the defensive side.”
Adam Gase – December 5, 2018
Download PDF version
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(What can you tell us about CB Xavien Howard?) – “He’ll be week to week. We’re going to have to see how it goes the rest of the week. I’ll probably know more towards the end of the week whether or not he’s got a shot or not.”
(Is it CB Xavien Howard’s ankle?) – “No. It’s his knee.”
(Is this a result of when CB Xavien Howard went down in the game?) – “Yeah, I think it was on the second interception.”
(So are you not counting on CB Xavien Howard for this Sunday?) – “I don’t know yet.”
(What intrigued the front office and the scouts who have seen CB Dee Delaney, about his skillset?) – “We’re always looking for corners, especially with the way things have been going lately. We’re losing guys left and right and any time our guys have anybody that they really see as somebody that we can get our hands on and see for ourselves and see what they can bring to the table, we had the opportunity to do that. We thought it was a good guy for us to bring in.”
(And then if the two young guys already here need to play more on Sunday – CB Torry McTyer and CB Cornell Armstrong – what have each shown you this year?) – “We’ve had some good stuff happen usually in practice. They’ve gone through some experiences where they’ve learned a lot quickly. When you get thrown into the fire, there’s a lot of good receivers out there and good quarterbacks. They learn quick what they can do and what they can’t.”
(You talked Monday about how important takeaways have been for this team. What would be the challenges of going forward without CB Xavien Howard, particularly facing the Patriots?) – “What does he have, seven interceptions right now? I mean you have a guy that if you throw the ball at him and you’re inaccurate, he’s not just going to knock it down; he’s going to pick it off. He’s extremely valuable. He’s one of our best players, if not our best player on that side of the ball. It’s hard to say. That’s what this game is and that’s what the league is. We’ve got to make some adjustments on defense and be smart with that. Our guys have to step up. If he can’t go, you’re not going to replace him; but we have to shuffle some things around and put ourselves in good position.”
(When did it become evident that there was an issue with CB Xavien Howard?) – “He didn’t really say anything. You know after the game … I found out later that night and then you just kind of see how he feels the next day. Most of the time we wait until the next day to see how the guys feel.”
(CB Xavien Howard won’t need surgery will he?) – “We’ve got to see what’s going on. I think he’ll be back at some point this season. If it’s this week, next week or the week after that, I don’t know.”
(With CB Torry McTyer, do you expect the experiences he’s gone through to sort of help him and speed up his development?) – “Yes. I think it’s good that he’s played. He played in this game last year. All of those guys … Any time we get guys on the field, no matter what part of the season it is – last year or this year – if it’s a live game, you’re going to learn from that real fast.”
(With CB Cornell Armstrong, is his knee injury going to keep him limited?) – “I think we’re going to be all right there.”
(I wanted to ask you about T Laremy Tunsil. Obviously he’s having a good season based on what the numbers are showing and the fact that you guys are allowing him to have one-on-one assignments against some of the best pass rushers. When did you see the growth or the switch come on for him?) – “I think in the spring. It was really noticeable and it helped that every day he was going against Robert (Quinn). When you don’t have pads on – you guys watched in training camp – Robert has incredible get-off and speed and can cause some issues if you don’t get on him quick enough and figure out a way to get him past the quarterback. When you don’t have any pads on, it’s just times that by 10. Right away, you could see that Laremy was at a different level. He was doing a great job in the spring and then when we hit training camp, it just kept getting better. Now, when we hit the regular season, it’s slower for him. It really does look like that he’s setting for quick game almost all of the time. He’s just so good at getting his hands on guys, his movement, if a guy redirects he easily puts his foot in the ground and go the other way. He’s slowed himself down or the game has slowed down for him for some reason.”
(When you have a player or an offensive lineman that can do what T Laremy Tunsil has done, which is basically handle somebody’s best pass rusher one-on-one, what does that do for you as a play caller?) – “It lets me help all of the other guys. When you can just say ‘he’s got him,’ we can double … We can help the left guard. We’ve got the center and the guard doubling a guy and then we can use a tight end and a tackle to double the other guy. You can get double teams across the board if you can leave him on an island.”
(Is it possible to say if CB Xavien Howard’s knee problem now is in any way related to any previous knee issue?) – “No. It was just he got hit funky on that.”
(Beyond WR Brice Butler obviously being a big receiver, what other skills do you like about him that he’s added?) – “I like his route-running (and) his ability to go up and get balls when it’s outside of his range. We’ve seen more than probably what you guys have gotten to see in practice. We haven’t been able to get him too much going in a game. We called a couple of things and it just didn’t happen to go his way. He’s done a really good job of learning this fast and developing a little bit of chemistry with Ryan (Tannehill) and being able to be a guy that you can easily throw it up to him and let him go get it.”
(When you look at this Patriots defense, how much different is it than the defense you saw last year and the year before?) – “It’s always going to be different. There’s always going to be some moving pieces. They’re going to do a good job of mixing things up and making it hard. Even from us playing them when we did until now, it makes it difficult to try to game plan because there’s so much stuff that they’ve done. You’ve just got to be careful about overdoing it, because you’ll start preparing them for a whole bunch of stuff that they might not do against you. You’ve got to be smart in how you game plan this.”
(It seems like no matter what the Dolphins record is, whether things are going well or not so well, when the Patriots come down here, you give them a lot of trouble. Why do you think that is?) – “I mean we’ve got to play the game. Last year doesn’t mean anything. The year before doesn’t mean anything. Every year is a different game. You’ve got to treat it as the next week of the season. It’s still Tom Brady and still a Coach (Bill) Belichick-coached team. We’ll be ready to go.”
(How much was WR Danny Amendola able to do today?) – “He ran some routes and did punt return. I just try to keep him from running around too much but he’s not very compliant.”
(How happy are you with the way you’ve been able to establish home-field advantage?) – “That was something that we’ve been talking about. It really came to light probably last season. We’ve been talking about it all year about how we need to do a great job of winning our home games. We had a slip-up against Detroit. We haven’t fared too well on the road. We need to improve that and figure that one out; but being able to play at home, the weather is always good for us because we’re down here all of the time. I think sometimes it hits some of these teams pretty hard, especially now. Last Sunday, you looked at those guys at the end of the game and everybody was exhausted. We just need to keep that going and any time we play a home game, we need to figure out a way to win a game.”
(Do you plan for that – the heat or humidity being a factor on an opposing team?) – “I want to say yes, but you just never know how the flow of the game is going to go. If it’s lopsided – one side or the other – it can hurt us. If our defense is out there 80 plays, they’re going to get tired. That’s just what’s going to happen.”
(How successful do you think you’ve been this season in your war on penalties?) – “I think we’ve been … There’s been some good games and there’s been some games that have been just brutal to witness. We’re kind of like right in the middle of the pack as far as accepted penalties. I’m going to lean on that since the actual penalties haven’t been great. We’ve had probably too many called. The biggest thing for me is if we have penalties that are within the action of the game, it is what it is. The pre-snap, post-snap stuff, that’s where, to me, we have to keep those clean. That gives us our best shot.”
(How much is it affecting what you’re trying to do on offense at this point?) – “Well it hurts you when you’re second-and-20 and all of those long distances because you’re putting yourself in a really bad spot. It’s hard to get back from those.”
(Would you say the Patriots defense is trying to be more aggressive of late or are they playing about the same as they were earlier this season?) – “It depends who they play. I think they’ve played … A couple of the quarterbacks they’ve played the last few games, guys like Aaron Rodgers, they brought some pressure and tried to get them to get the ball out and tried to do a good job of staying in tight coverage and going up to tackle. I think it’s just who they play and kind of what they have up for that week. Every game is so different. They do a great job of just really game-planning for that game and doing what they have to do to win it.”
(Are they trying to pressure better quarterbacks more?) – “Sometimes they do. Sometimes they go all out on the rookies. Sometimes they don’t and let them throw picks or see if they can get them to hold onto the ball a little longer to where he makes a bad decision. It’s varied on the quarterbacks that are the elite guys. Sometimes you see them bring everybody and then sometimes they don’t. It changes. Every quarterback, they treat it different.”
(TE Nick O’Leary has gone from being a free agent to practice squad and now he has an extension. What has he done to earn that extension in your eyes?) – “I think he just comes to work every day and grinds. You guys know, he doesn’t say anything. (laughter) He just tries to do right. Whatever he’s got, he sells out every Sunday and really every day in practice. We like guys like that, that just give everything they have.”
Adam Gase – December 3, 2018
Download PDF version
Monday, December 3, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(What’s the overall message that you tell the team this week now that you guys are back at .500 and pretty much face the cream of the crop in terms of the AFC East?) – “Just prepare for that week’s game. That’s all we can do. Every game at this point in the season is going to be meaningful no matter who you’re playing. We have to just focus on preparing, correcting the things we need to correct and just focus on our guys doing their jobs.”
(The first possession of games has not been kind to you for quite a long time. Now, you’ve gone a couple games in a row where you’ve been able to get things going. Did you change up anything other than the results?) – “No. Nothing is different. We executed those plays. It’s hard to explain.”
(Do you guys script?) – “I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. (laughter)”
(Did you script yesterday?) – “I don’t remember. (laughter)”
(Overall after scoring first, you guys are, I believe, 7-2 when you score first under you. Just having the first play, getting up early, what does that do for the rest of your team?) – “I think any time that you can get a lead, it helps the defense a little bit. If you could ever get a big lead, that really is ideal because then the other team becomes one-dimensional. All of these games are going to be close from here on out. We just have to do a good job of playing complementary football. We can’t turn the ball over. We need to get points when our defense gets turnovers, which we haven’t done lately, and have a play or two that are impactful on special teams.”
(The struggles that G/T Jesse Davis had in the first half – was that uncharacteristic of how he’s played at guard this year?) – “I think they had some tough matchups yesterday. Kyle (Williams) is … When you have a veteran player like that and he sees any kind of weakness, he’ll expose it quickly. You better figure it out and make some adjustments in-game because he’ll expose you as fast as possible. He’ll use everything he knows to his advantage. That’s what makes him as difficult of a player to go against as there is.”
(How do you think CB Cornell Armstrong came out of the game yesterday?) – “We’ll see how this week goes. It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be something that’s going to be a long-term thing.”
(You’ve now been outgained by 1,168 yards including 240 yesterday. How has this team won six games?) – “Turnover margin. The amount of turnovers that our defense is getting is what we need, and then we don’t turn it over a whole bunch. I think the guys have done a good job ball security-wise of making sure we don’t have fumbles. The quarterbacks have both, for the most part, done their part. Yesterday, I can live with that (interception). We took a shot. I’d like to see either Kenny (Stills) break it up or (Ryan Tannehill) maybe just put it out a little further. I don’t know. There’s nobody really to blame on that, it’s just you wish the result would have been different.”
(Everybody talks about how turnover margin is important. Do we maybe even underrate it?) – “It’s just one of those things that you just look at records off of that. It’s insane probably with us. I think New England is probably – that’s crazy, their plus-minus. Just the wins that they get. When they end up winning the turnover margin, they’re not going to lose a whole bunch.”
(What did you think about how your offense played yesterday?) – “I feel like we had some good. The penalties that we had, they were just the wrong timing for us. I think we overcame a couple of things that were critical. It was the right time. We missed an opportunity there in the 4-minute situation to get a first down to try to keep our defense off the field. We made it probably a little more exciting than what we needed to. We just have to keep correcting our mistakes and figure out a way to execute at a higher level.”
(I think it seems like you used the Wildcat more yesterday than what we’ve seen. Why is that?) – “It was just the situations we were in. We had a couple plays that we really liked and that’s just how the game plan was. There’s been other weeks where we’ve had it up, but then something happened to where we didn’t get to it or we got down or it just wasn’t the right time.”
(What makes them good at that?) – “I think it just makes it very difficult for the defense. The number count is a little off for them. (Kalen Ballage) is aggressive when he runs and he’s downhill. You have guys moving all over the place because you’re trying to make sure that they handle (Kenyan) Drake with the way they’re running that zone-read stuff. Guys kind of get out of position and then he hits it so hard and the angles are poor for the guys trying to tackle, and he just runs through arm tackles.”
(Any rhyme or reason to why you guys struggled to run the ball yesterday? Was it just the defensive line of the Bills?) – “I think their defensive line did a good job. I think there was some good opportunities for us in a couple of the plays that we had called and we just didn’t finish the right way. We fell off a block late and they just got a hand on whether it be Frank (Gore) or (Kenyan) Drake’s foot or Kalen’s (Ballage). We just didn’t maximize the yardage that we possibly could’ve had on a couple of the runs.”
(WR Kenny Stills was able to take advantage of his opportunities and WR DeVante Parker as well. How important were those two guys for you guys yesterday?) – “It was good. It was good to finally get DeVante in the end zone. I feel like we’ve had some stuff, some plays for him and we just haven’t either gotten them called or it was the wrong coverage when we called them. The same thing with Kenny. It was (good to) kind of get him going. It was good to finally throw him the ball and he didn’t have to do it himself. (laughter)”
(What did you see on tape of that final play to Bills TE Charles Clay and how was he able to get as open as he did?) – “The longer the play extends, the harder it is for everybody because everybody is trying to kind of see where he’s going. We were in a zone, guys start moving and he kind of shook free. I think we just lost him. When I saw that ball go up and then I turned around and I saw who it was, I started thinking about what I was calling in 2-minute. That’s a rare thing to see.”
(What’s your take on the standings today?) – “We have a long ways to go. I know that.”
(What led to the RB Brandon Bolden carry? Was it something that you saw last week?) – “I’ve been waiting for a while to get Brandon involved. He knows what we’re doing. The thing I’ve always liked about Brandon offensively is he runs hard. He was a good running back when he came out of college. They used him a lot in New England early in his career. He had been so special teams-oriented the last few years in New England. They were pretty deep at that spot. So are we. We’ve got some pretty good players that are playing a lot and we haven’t had a ton of plays. It’s hard to get all those guys touches. It just felt like it was the right timing for us.”
(Who do you want to rely on on offense? I know you have a bunch of different options, but who do you want to be your guys?) – “I like all our guys. Our skill guys, they do a lot of good stuff. Explosive-wise, you look at the way that (Kenyan) Drake is, and Kalen (Ballage), Kenny (Stills), DeVante (Parker). Those guys are guys that can create explosive plays. I think you just need the mix of that and consistency, and who are the guys that can grind out the yards for you. It’s hard to say there’s one guy you want to do that with.”
(Have you gotten the level of production that you want out of the tight end position?) – “There’s some things that we’ve done better than what we were doing earlier in the year, especially run blocking and the pass protection stuff. Passing game wise, there’s been times when we’ve been open and we haven’t got them or we’ve had some kind of protection issue. There’s been times where I wish we could get open faster. We’ve kind of moved directions due to who we have available. It’s really not fair to them to say … Especially early in the year, it was hard to get everybody the ball when you had Albert (Wilson), Jakeem (Grant) and Danny (Amendola). I mean, you’ve just got a lot of people you’re trying to get the ball to. I think Mike (Gesicki) is pretty much on pace with the rest of the rookie tight ends around the league. If you look at all their numbers, they’re all the same. They’re 18, 19, 20 catches. That position is tough to kind of be impactful right out of the gate and be great at everything because they do so much. There’s just a lot of information. It’s probably the next-hardest position to play next to quarterback.”
(In your mind, is CB Xavien Howard playing at a Pro Bowl level?) – “Yeah, probably. I mean, he’s pretty good. (laughter)”
(With New England, how much of this is a rematch and how much is a completely different kind of test because your team is so different now?) – “Yeah, I mean, it’s a different game at this point, us playing so far apart. Last year, I think it was basically one game in between when we played them. They’re different. We’re different. We’re both trying to do the same thing and figure out a way to win one game. That’s really what it comes down to.”
(How do you hold up at defensive tackle? Obviously you lost DT Vincent Taylor and brought in DT Sylvester Williams and DT Ziggy Hood to complement DT Akeem Spence and DT Davon Godchaux.) – “I think those guys have done a good job of learning our system and coming in and trying to help us the best way they can and be effective, whether it be the run game or pass rush. I think they’ve done a good job of moving guys around. You see (Andre) Branch and Charles (Harris) doing a lot of different type of things. That’s the thing. (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) is just going to keep trying to find ways with who’s available to him and trying to find ways to be disruptive, whether it be in the pass rush or run game. When you had issues early in the season where you’re trying to figure out what’s going on and then how to fix it, you start trying to maybe tweak some things here and there. We’ve done some different stuff to try to help us and stop the bleeding in the run game. I hate to say that we had good success against the actual run game when they were handing the ball off to the running back. It was just being able to contain the quarterback yesterday.”
(How did QB Ryan Tannehill get through the game? I know he got hit pretty good early.) – “Yeah, I mean, he’s as tough as they come.”
(How optimistic might you be regarding WR Danny Amendola and C Travis Swanson for this week?) – “We’ll see how the week goes. Hopefully by Thursday we can get a gauge. Both of those guys, they want to be out there. They want to be able to help us. I’m sure Danny is going to want to do everything he can to be ready to go. I don’t know how realistic anything is until Thursday, maybe even Friday.”
(How difficult has that been in terms of building an offense or coming up with a game plan when you have to go into a game with, like, WR Brice Butler, who’s been here for two weeks, as your starting receiver and figuring out what works at the slot?) – “It’s just more … When you get a new guy you’re trying to figure out … Like, you watch as much film as you can. With Brice, the good thing is he’s played a lot of football. So at least you can go back, watch his targets, watch maybe a game or two to say, ‘Okay, here’s what he does well. Here’s what we can emphasize with him. How fast can he learn the whole offense?’ Which he’s done a phenomenal job with that. That helps us because now he’s played two different positions. We’ve been able to move some guys around, then we can go out there and Ryan (Tannehill) is not just telling him what to do. He knows what to do, which is great. Just keep trying to get him to the point to where he can play fast. He fits in with those other guys. They do a great job working together. The chemistry with that group has come together pretty quick, which is good to see, because I think that’s rare to get a guy in that fast. It gets a little hard when … Really, like our body types have changed because you had Albert (Wilson) and Jakeem (Grant), who we were kind of using in a different way but now we’re taller guys. Everybody is like a tall, fast guy now. So we’ve kind of lost that element of different body types because everybody is kind of the same right now, but that’s where we’re at. There’s nothing … We can’t go back in time and change that right now. We’ve just got to kind of use those guys and use their strengths to our advantage.”
(One question out of left field: I don’t know how well you know Mike McCarthy. Any reaction? Were you surprised at the news yesterday?) –“Any time anything happens mid-season, you’re surprised; but that’s the NFL. That’s all I’ve got.”
Kiko Alonso – December 2, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Postgame – Buffalo
Miami Dolphins LB Kiko Alonso (transcribed by Savanna Bell-Stevens)
(What were your thoughts on the last play of the half and of the game?) – “What’s the saying? It’s better to be lucky than good.”
(What’s it say about this team to win the way you did today?) – “I think it shows that we have a lot of fight. I think that’s what we showed today. I think it also shows we had a great week of practice. When you have a great week of practice, you come out here and no one is surprised about the effort we get because we see it all week. That’s it.”
(Defensively sometimes you need to put the game on your back. I know you guys say it’s a team game, but defensively sometimes…) – “Whatever it is. If the defense needs to make a play, we’re like ‘Alright, we need to make a play.’ Likewise for offense and special teams. It’s a three-phase game. Everybody needs to go.”
