Adam Gase – September 30, 2018 (Postgame)
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Sunday, September 30, 2018
Postgame – New England Patriots
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase (transcribed by New England Patriots)
(What do you tell your team after this loss?) – “It is what it is. They beat us. They beat us in every phase of the game. They out-physicaled us, but at the same time we have to put things into perspective, one game. We have to go back to work. We have to find a way to win another game on the road.”
(Adam, so not a lot went right. What did you think coming in that you could do?) – “Well, we really didn’t anticipate getting out-physicaled like the way we did. We had been good all year; the first three games, as far up front and our run game. You know last week was tough, they did some things different than what we had seen and we were trying to make some adjustments and the passing game kind of came alive, so we hung on that. This game, we just couldn’t get anything going. We were getting pushed back, a lot of pressure on Ryan [Tannehill] even though they weren’t pressuring with blitzes. So when you are getting pressured on three, four-man rushes that’s going to be an issue and that’s really what happened, we could not get anything going on offense and then it just kind of trickles down to the defense because now they’re on the field and we had a couple of chances to get off and we had some penalties and it just affects everybody.”
(So T Ja’Wuan James wasn’t in the game late in there. Was that a coach’s decision?) – “I think he may have something going on. I’m not even sure the exact situation; I haven’t met with the trainers yet, but I think it was more a possible injury issue for us.”
(How serious was CB Bobby McCain’s injury?) – “I don’t know the details yet. So I’ll know more tonight, but obviously him not coming back into the game wasn’t really a great sign.”
(CB Xavien Howard had played well up until today. And then today it was almost like they were picking on him.) – “Yeah, I mean it happens sometimes where it depends on coverage and call and what they call. It’s just every game you’ve got to start over. You can’t, it doesn’t matter what you did last time, nobody cares. I mean Tom Brady’s not going to care. So we’ve just got a lot of things to clean up.”
(Coach, you talked about being out-physicaled. This was a game that it certainly looked like they won both sides at the line of scrimmage. It’s tough, I think it took you until QB Brock Osweiler went in before you guys were able to get past your own 45-yard line offensively. What was going on that made your offense so inept throughout the majority of the game?) – “Just too much penetration. In the running game and pass game, they did some good stuff to where they challenged our receivers and we didn’t get open fast enough. When we did have opportunities we didn’t hit them, which there wasn’t a lot of them. We could just never get a first down to really get things going. We lived in third-and-10-plus and that’s never going to be good.”
(Defensively it looked like you guys were getting up field and they were kind of finding the gaps in there …) – “We didn’t do anything good today. So every question you ask can be the same thing.”
(Adam, so I know it’s early, but you had a chance today to put your foot on their [Patriots] neck. And it didn’t happen. How does that make you feel?) – “Anytime you play a game or you have a chance to pull away from somebody in the division or go 4-0, I mean, there’s not a lot times that opportunity comes about. There’s a reason they [the Patriots] haven’t lost three games in you know, 20 years, or whatever it’s been. Probably since Coach [Bill] Belichick’s been here. We had an opportunity. We came into a place that’s tough to win and we didn’t do a good job in any aspect of the game.”
(How do you get this thing turned around in one week’s time?) – “Get back to work on Wednesday. Clean up a lot of stuff. That’s why we were trying to do some of the things we were doing there at the end of the game and make sure we can put something together and get into some kind of rhythm and carry it over to the next week.”
(How concerned are you with that offensive line? You lost G Josh Sitton, now C Daniel Kilgore for the duration. You’re having problems. What do you do going forward?) – “Well, we’ll reevaluate everything when we get back. Probably on the plane tonight we’ll start talking about it. We’ll get more information on Tuesday when guys get back in and we get doctors and all of that stuff going on so we’ll find out what the extent of everything is and then we’ll adjust.”
(Is Kilgore out for the year?) – “I don’t know what he is.”
(Did you think you had a game like this in you after the past three weeks?) – “No, I didn’t see this coming. I didn’t think that we would get out-physicaled. That surprised me. I knew it was going to be tough because that’s just what it is. You come here, I mean I didn’t see too many teams walk out of here [with a win] against a Hall of Fame quarterback. It’s just not going to happen. We’ve got a lot of things to clean up, but it’s fixable.”
(You can correct mistakes like you mentioned, but how do you correct lack of physicality?) – “Well, I mean we’re talking about one game. One game that we got out-physicaled. It’s just disappointing more than anything and we just have to go back to work and clean some things up.”
(How well did they play some of the short passing game that you guys had been really successful with?) – “Well, we really didn’t try it. We pushed the ball down the field and that’s what happens when you do that and you don’t complete it. That’s what you get today.”
(They were using seven defensive backs early, I don’t know if they continued it, but a lot early. Did that take away…) – “We knew that was coming. I mean, we knew that was the best way for them to match our speed. It didn’t matter. They were still getting to their fronts that they needed to and they were putting their two linebackers on the edge in line secure, too, when they were in dime. They did a good job of just stopping the run. It’s a better number count for us, but you have to take advantage of it and we didn’t do it.”
(Second week in a row the running game hasn’t done anything. What do you think the cause of that has been?) – “I just think we have to get into a better rhythm. I’ve got to do a better job of making sure we’re giving the backs more touches and just be more consistent. I’ve got some ideas on what we’re going to do.”
(Kenyan Drake I think had three rushes today.) – “There were some runs called in there that ended up getting flipped out to one of the receivers because of the number count, but that’s football.”
(You guys were rolling confidence-wise. How do you prevent this from being deflating?) – “We’re going to have to work, that’s what the NFL is. Trust me, by Wednesday they’ll forget about it.”
(Do you buy into the idea that this is a measuring stick because of who New England is?) – “I think it’s one game in a 16-game season.”
Cameron Wake – September 28, 2018
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Friday, September 28, 2018
DE Cameron Wake
(Do you get any idea … Obviously you’ve gone from five defensive ends to four. Did you get any idea from Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke or Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek whether your snaps will be impacted by it?) – “I think that’s kind of one of those things that depends on how the game goes. We’ll see which way the wind blows and we’ll take it from there.”
(What do you think of DE Jonathan Woodard? He’s been around for a while and you know a lot more about him than we would. We haven’t actually seen him out there.) – “I like him. (He’s a) hard worker, great player, pass rush, play the run, play different positions on both sides. He’s what you want and I think that’s why he’ll be successful.”
(What would a win mean to you guys this week?) – “The same thing it did last week and the week before that and the week before that.”
(What would a win in New England do for you specifically?) – “The same thing a win in New York did for me. It’s just another game. It’s the most important game of the year because it’s the next game. Next week will be the next most important game of the year and the week after that and two weeks ago and so on and so forth. It’s just another game, another opponent. Go out there and do what you’re supposed to do and get another win.”
(You came into Miami after 2008, the last time you guys won there. They had the Wildcat on that team. What do you remember about that team coming in there?) – “Was that 2009? That was a long time ago. Not too many specifics. I don’t even think about last week let along 10 years ago.”
(Do you think you guys have played the Patriots well the last two years with Head Coach Adam Gase?) – “Was it split?”
(Split last year, lost both in 2016. One was the game up there in 2016 you guys lost by a touchdown.) – “You guys are making me go into my memory banks. If we win, we played well; if we didn’t, we didn’t. To be honest, I couldn’t care less and I’m sure they don’t care about what happened 10 years ago or three years ago. It’s going to be Sunday afternoon is what matters or doesn’t matter. What happened two years ago, five or 10 or 20 … It’s play by play. You’ve got to win the play. You’ve got to win the day. That’s all I’m focused on.”
(Have you talked much with the guys you got form them? WR Danny Amendola and RB Brandon Bolden, have you gotten any insight from them?) – “No, not really. To be honest, maybe the DBs, maybe some coaches want to figure out some philosophies or scheme; but where I play, there’s a guy between me and my destination. He’s going to do his best to stop me from getting there. Aside from maybe wondering which way he’s going or how he might change a play or whatever, that doesn’t help me as much as doing my job. I always feel like I don’t care what you’re going to do, if I come punch you in the mouth, I win. I’m not reacting to you. You should be reacting to me. If I come off and I’m aggressive and I attack, now you have to respond. If I do it the other way around, I feel like I’m at a disadvantage. Big picture, sure. I’d love to get the philosophy on that; but at the end of the day, his hand’s in the ground and so is mine, and I’m going to attack you and let you figure out what the hell to do about it instead of me trying to figure out what you’re going to do.”
(What are your thought on the NFL’s emphasis on these roughing calls?) – “How much time do we have? We don’t have enough time. I can do a whole monologue on that. It’s sad, obviously. I don’t think it’s a secret that the league is concerned about player safety. It just depends on what players. As a defensive player, there is so much that’s available for someone to do to me that I cannot do to someone else. If it’s player safety, everybody should be safe, not just certain players. It should be everyone.”
(I know you guys just came for an NFLPA meeting. Is there anything they can do to emphasize that defensive linemen are just as important?) – “No. My knees don’t mean anything. My helmet, my head doesn’t mean anything. If you look at football, you obviously see what happens. I think it’s silly for anybody to say we care about all players, but you can do certain thing to certain players at certain times. It’s almost silly if a quarterback is running the ball, how the rules change. Now he’s a running back and you can do anything you want, but now he’s a quarterback and you have to stop doing certain things. It’s not fair, but life isn’t fair right?”
(How much are you thinking at this point as you approach the quarterback of how do I land on this guy?) – “Just play football and let them figure it out.”
(So you’re just going to do the same thing? If you smash the guy with all of your body weight, if it happens that way then so be it?) – “If it happens, it’s football. At that point, then I … In the history of football, as a defender, I’m assuming you’re trying to provide energy to that player. Now I’m supposed to sacrifice myself in other to save or protect him.”
(At a bare minimum, hesitate to consider…) – “I land on myself, don’t land on the player. Because I’m running. The ground is there. The ground’s not going to move. I haven’t seen that happen yet. (laughter) So somebody is going to hit the ground. Either I’m going to land on him or I’m going to land on myself. It’s just don’t hurt the quarterback. You? Whatever. But the quarterback, leave them alone.”
(Do you think it’s a lost cause to try to make football safer in general?) – “Well, I think it’s an uphill battle. I think the crowd likes the violence. You see plays on TV, you see big hits, you see the ooo’s and the ahh’s and they like that. That’s what I’m sure helps drive ratings. So do touchdowns (and) scoring.”
(Everything except what you do.) – “Right. (laughter) So if I’m … How do you make a violent sport not violent if that’s what puts people in the seats and so on and so forth? I don’t know. Do people want to watch flag football? You’d have to ask the masses. But I play defense and from the day I touched the football field, it was to punish whoever has the ball – quarterbacks included. But now, that’s not part of the game. It’s gently assist him to the ground. But the running back, you can just destroy him. Receivers, if they’re not defenseless, you can destroy them too. But everybody else? I’m getting cut and rolled up and hit late.”
(Beyond any improvements to what players wear, should efforts just stop to try to make the game safer because it takes something out of the game?) – “Well that (question) would go to the fan base. You as a football (fan), would you want to see a big hit? The human body is not made for big hits. I can guarantee you that. It’s not. So if you take two human beings and smash them into each other, something’s going to give. That’s unsafe. If NFL fans don’t want to see big hits, sure. We could make it a very different game. If they don’t want to see a quarterback on the ground, it could be a very different game. But I just feel like – and it’s not just football – just tell me. Excuse my language, but don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining. Just tell me, ‘Listen, we’re going to protect quarterbacks differently. We’re going to protect running backs or receivers or defensive players.’ Just be blunt about it. Not ‘we care about your safety,’ because you don’t care about my safety. You care about some people’s safety. My knees mean just as much to my family and my ability to play and provide just as (Ryan) Tannehill’s does. I can’t understand that his are more important than mine.”
(Is this especially on your mind because you lost somebody to this rule? That you’ve seen a guy – another veteran in the league – that might not only be season-ending but to have that kind of injury means that could be it for DE William Hayes.) – “I hope not. I had a season-ending injury a few years ago.”
(It’s serious though.) – “Oh, it is. I’ve been there and I’ve had the same thing said about me, so I hope to see (Hayes) again. It’s just that overall theme of saying one thing and not necessarily doing it. It’s an interesting time that we live in. That’s what it is and you try to do your best to conform, but at the end of the day, it’s football. There’s only so much that you can change. Even speaking to some of the guys in the back end, that’s even more of a thin line. You have receivers running 20 miles per hour and you’ve got safeties running 20 miles per hour. Literally, a millisecond or a nanosecond is probably more realistic that angles change, things happen and you’re trying to make a play just like he is. But we’re defenders, so we’re the ones who are wrong, not the offensive players.”
(This might sound funny but does there need to be a subdivision union of defensive players to make this case to the league? Someone to speak for defensive players and say ‘Look, a quarterback should not be valued above defensive players when it comes to health.’) – “That would be great but name someone who would agree with you that’s not a defensive player. (laughter)”
(It would take a lot of big-name defensives players like yourself making that case publicly.) – “I see your Ace and I raise you the entire quarterback brigade and owner brigade. At what point, how many defensive players do you need to trump a quarterback and an owner?”
(It’s a helpless cause.) – “It is, but at the same (time), I’m still trying to get a sack. We’re just an unstoppable force (meets) an immovable object, because trust me, we’re trying to get there. (When I say) we, I’m talking about all defensive players. What do you do? Quarterbacks are defenseless all of the time. When am I defenseless? A league rule, when is a defensive end defenseless? I get cut, I get hit, I get chipped, I get hit in the head. It doesn’t matter. But as a quarterback, don’t hit him in the knee, don’t hit him in the head, don’t hit him too early, don’t hit him too late, don’t lay on him, don’t land on him. Flags, I guess.”
Adam Gase – September 28, 2018
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Friday, September 28, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Is S Reshad Jones still a full-go?) – “He practiced again today, so we’ll wait until game day and really kind of figure out where we’re at.”
(I know you mentioned that Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains had reminded you about the play before WR Albert Wilson’s long touchdown. How much do you want guys talking in your ear? You have so much to deal with as head coach and play caller, do you encourage your coordinators to do it? What’s your philosophy on that?) – “A lot of times, there is discussion before the series. He’s somebody that we have a good chemistry with. He knows when to suggest things, he knows the right timing, he knows the right opening. We talk about a lot of things in between series to make sure that we’re both on the same page, which most of the time we are.”
(I had a question about the practice music out there today. It’s what New England plays. The first couple songs – Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne and the classical song – how does that help a team? Does that build animosity in a good way? Is that just getting you familiar with the surroundings? What does that do for you?) – “I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention.”
(You don’t ever notice that?) – “I don’t do the music selection.”
(You don’t even notice what’s playing or associated with it?) – “Not really.”
(It just so happens the first two songs are played before the Patriots game.) – “I guess I didn’t notice it.”
(But you have to pay attention, right?) – “I have other things going on. I’m not picking iPod songs. (laughter)”
(Are you willing to go in with two tight ends if you have to?) – “We’ll see. We have time to kind of make the final decisions. That’s why we have our meeting today, to kind of clean everything up and see where we’re at.”
(You mentioned briefly that TE Nick O’Leary has just done a good job. Can you elaborate?) – “He’s trying to learn things as fast as possible. He has game experience, obviously. I remember him scoring a touchdown against us. That was the first thing that came to mind. I remember when he came out, I remember evaluating him and really liking him as a pass catcher. He’s impressed me as a run blocker as well. We’ll figure out what we’re going to do here. It’s a large volume to learn really fast when you play that position. There’s just a lot of moving parts, so we just have to assess where we’re at.”
(Does TE Nick O’Leary know it? In two weeks…) – “I think he has a pretty good grasp of it, but there’s always these little things that come up that can make you a little nervous.”
(How much do you guys look at an opponent’s injury report each week and does Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, who is known for listing everybody, is that an extra hurdle?) – “I don’t really take much stock into that. I just get ready for the game. If somebody is out, then they’re out. We don’t spend too much time concerned with who’s in, who’s out. We know that if their guys are healthy, they’ll roll and if they’re not, they’ll make them inactive.”
(Does that affect strategy and game preparation?) – “It can sometimes. There’s certain teams where guys are out, where you’re either trying to avoid them or you’re assuming somebody is going to be playing a certain position and then they’re playing a different position. That can change some things.”
(Do you ever, for lack of a better term, play games with the injury report? S Reshad Jones, for instance, one day last week he’s catching passes while we’re out there, while he’s warming up. Do you ever use us to send a message to an opponent?) – “I don’t think so. Maybe Matt does, I don’t know. (laughter) Not that I know if.”
(You don’t take it that seriously then?) – “No. Unless somebody says that they’re out early in the week, then you can make adjustments. You just never know.”
(How much of a challenge, when you have natural attrition with injuries, is it going to be to maintain the four quarterbacks? Obviously a lot will depend on injuries going forward, but was that a discussion you guys even have among you, Executive Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum and General Manager Chris Grier this week?) – “No. It just is what it is. Nobody likes it, but I do. (laughter)”
(You’ve mentioned before that DE Andre Branch is kind of a guy that gets everybody going on that unit. Now, he’s not really part of things for a little bit, so who takes on that role?) – “I think the good thing is that we do have multiple guys. Two years ago, he was big time as far as an emotional leader-type guy, where he was really setting things ablaze where guys really fed off of that. I think we have more guys like that. We have so many young guys now, where they still have that college kind of feel to them where they’re really amped up for the game and excited, and it’s not just another game for them. Every week, they’re excited to be playing an NFL football game. I think the longer you go in your career, some guys, it turns into almost business to where ‘this is what I do for a living’ and it’s not as emotional for them. The intensity is there, but it’s just not high emotionally. I think a lot of our young guys that we brought on board, they kind of help fuel that fire and other guys feed off of it.”
(When you talk about getting to quarterbacks and moving them off of their spot, we know Patriots QB Tom Brady gets rid of the ball pretty quickly. Is it more of a coverage game against him, not to say you don’t want to get to him, but do you have to kind of approach it like that?) – “I think it’s really just the front coverage being tied together. Whether you’re pressuring, you’re covering, however it is, everybody just has to be on the same page. That gives you the best chance. Even when those are tied together, sometimes when you’re playing an elite quarterback, sometimes it just doesn’t matter. You have to do a good job of just keep coming and staying tight in coverage and trying to make things hard for him.”
(What would a win mean for you guys?) – “It’s the fourth game of the year. I know everybody wants to make it bigger than that, but that’s what it is. It’s the first quarter of the season. There’s a long ways to go. Every game is important and that’s the one we’re focused on right now. Anytime you can get a win and you keep stacking them on top of each other, it’s a positive.”
Dowell Loggains – September 27, 2018
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Thursday, September 27, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(Head Coach Adam Gase was mentioning on the play to WR Albert Wilson that you were egging him on to make that call. What’s that sound like on the headset? When you’re egging him on, what’s that sound like?) – “In that moment, we wanted to get that play called. We’d been talking about it for a couple series. It just popped up and I was able to remind him in the moment.”
(You spent a season – or part of a season – working with WR Josh Gordon during your time in Cleveland. What do you remember of his physical skills and what do you tell Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke or any of the defensive players about covering Gordon?) – “What the tape says: extremely talented player. Great size, great speed, intelligent (and a) good football player.”
(With the run game, some of the struggles that we’ve seen – at least last week, it was obviously good in the opener – would you say combination of lack of blocking at the level you want from the offensive line, some tight ends, some backs, mixture of the three?) – “Some credit to them, as well. It’s something I think we talked about it in here a couple weeks ago that there’s going to be games like that, when you guys asked about the success the first two weeks. There’s going to be some games where it just doesn’t match up as well and they’re doing stuff schematically that’s advantageous, so now the ball needs to go up in the air. It was a combination of all those things. We didn’t block as well as we could at any position. You have to give those guys credit, they did a good job. So we were able to do some different stuff in the passing game.”
(What’s your confidence level in the two rookie tight ends if TE A.J. Derby can’t go?) – “It’s high. I think both those guys will step in and do well if they’re needed, if their role gets expanded because of injury or because they’ve earned time. I expect both those guys to go in and play and play well.”
(Do you also expect the Patriots to kind of attack them considering they’re young rookies?) – “I can’t speak on that. I expect those guys when they’re in there to do their jobs.”
(You guys are 11th in scoring but 30th in time of possession. How do you explain that?) – “I think it’s a lot of different things. It’s not being good enough on third down is an area we need to improve on. It’s a credit to some of the other offenses. The Raiders did a good job staying on the field and kept us off. The most important thing is we score one more point than those guys. To this point, we’ve scored more points than our opponent. It’s so early in the season. I don’t think stats are really relevant. You start to figure out more as it goes on but it’s too early to talk about stuff like that right now.”
(What are things that need to happen for the jet sweep to work?) – “You’ve got to call it at the right time versus the right defense. We actually hit the long touchdown – the 74 yarder – it was into a double-corner blitz, so the guys executed it well. It’s something that … We’ve been a good outside zone team to this point, the first two weeks especially. It’s really just a chance for us to get our playmakers the ball in space.”
(How often do you talk to Head Coach Adam Gase about run-pass balance in game?) – “It really depends on the flow of the game. As that game was going on, we weren’t running the ball the way we wanted to. You could feel like the pass protection was good and Ryan (Tannehill), he had a good feel on what was going on in that game. And I do believe each game is played differently. Sometimes you can run it 35, 40 times a game, and sometimes you have to throw it. When we had discussions during the game, I felt really good about where Ryan was at, what he was seeing and the pass protection. I felt very confident about having the ball in his hands.”
(Do you recall the first time when you guys asked WR Albert Wilson to throw, thinking in the back of your mind and Head Coach Adam Gase’s mind this could be something you go to? Was it back in May where off to the side you said, “Let’s see you throw it?”) – “As soon as we made the decision we were going to go after him, we started diving into stuff. Adam started watching Georgia State tape. We started watching all the stuff he’d done in his career to that point. As soon as we got here, it was like, ‘Let’s figure out what this guy can’t do and how far we can push these limits.’ Obviously, he’s thrown a touchdown, he’s caught touchdowns, he’s played running back, he’s done a lot of different stuff. It’s a credit to him, because not only is he a good playmaker, but he’s very intelligent. You have to work really hard to understand every position to be moved around that much.”
(How much tape did you have of WR Albert Wilson throwing?) – “There wasn’t much, but there’s a trick play here and there. But it was mainly getting him here and finding out what he could do.”
(What did you think when you first saw WR Albert Wilson throw the ball?) – “That he was able to do that stuff. It’s just one more weapon that we could utilize at the right time.”
(What was this offense missing that you thought WR Albert Wilson could help fill that need?) – “I don’t know what it was missing, but what we saw when we watched him on tape was a dynamic playmaker that could help us score points.”
(What’s the best way for a receiver to not get called for offensive pass interference when there’s a chance he could?) – “Execute the play with the proper fundamentals. Understanding the distribution and having a great understanding of the roles.”
(There are guys like with WR Albert Wilson’s situation – they can throw it, they obviously have the arm, but since he hadn’t done it in an NFL game, you don’t know what’s going to happen when the time comes. You start reading into the personnel, what about that part of it? How much is your gut churning wondering whether he would underthrow it by 20 yards?) – “That’s a great question. I think that’s the key to it all, because there’s a lot of talented players in the NFL that have multiple sets of skills, but it’s (about) trust and it’s earned from demonstrating ability on the practice field. He’s executed plays, everything we’ve asked. Nothing has been too big for him, whether it was playing running back, slot, outside, quarterback in a Wildcat situation and he’s just built trust among his teammates and coaches. Everything we ask him to do, we have faith in him that he’s going to execute the play. The other thing is when you ask someone to do that, you also have to play through the scenarios of what if it’s not the exact look or will he make the proper decision in space if it wasn’t the defense we were expecting or anticipating and we trust Albert to do that stuff.”
(I guess there are many head coaches that are adamant on not doing trick plays. Is it pleasant for you to have a head coach that attacks and says, ‘Let’s do this,’ or be open to this sort of thing?) – “Yes, that part, it’s awesome having an offensive head coach that’s willing to try anything, willing to be aggressive and do those things and has a big part in coming up with those creative ideas.”
(Does QB Ryan Tannehill run faster than you realized he could? He seems fast, pretty fast.) – “I think he’s fast. He’s fast for a quarterback. Having a big part of his game is being able to extend and make plays with his legs, the zone-read stuff, all of those things he can do. That skillset makes it tough on defenses.”
(Besides getting the touchdowns off those trick plays, how much do you think you might benefit this Sunday as well as down the road in giving defensive coordinators something to think about?) – “That’s a great question, a great point. Every time you do those things and every time you use all these personnel groupings that we’ve been using, those guys have to go and they have to prepare for them and they have to prepare not just (for) what you’ve done, but they have to rep every one of their blitzes, every one of their coverages into five wides into 20 personnel to 10 personnel to 11 personnel to 12 personnel and all those different groupings we’ve been doing. It takes away time that they have to work on your core concepts and they have to make sure they can fit every one of the runs, everyone of their blitzes versus each one of those of those personnel groupings.”
(Is there anything about WR Danny Amendola that you’ve learned that you didn’t realize since you’ve met him?) – “I don’t know if there’s anything I’ve learned. I would say I’ve really come to have a great appreciation for his competitive spirit and just the way he works. You guys hear him at practice, in training camp and OTAs, how intense he is and how important every rep is. I think our receiver group has done a really good job to this point of the season and I give Danny some of that credit too of helping some of these younger guys develop and become pros and showing what it’s supposed to be like to work. That little chip on his shoulder, he has a competitive spirit that is infectious.”
(Do you have a series of trick plays in mind that you remind Head Coach Adam Gase? Obviously, there are some non-trick plays in there too, but how often is it for you to remind him during the course of a game, ‘Maybe we want to get to that.’) – “Those things happen as far as trick plays, run game, pass game, as we design stuff during the week. ‘We have a play off this or a play off that.’ The constant communication going back and forth of when’s the right time to use it. That’s the most important thing as the play caller is that he calls it at the right time to make sure you get the look you want, because most times you only get one shot at those things and if it doesn’t work and you have to have tremendous trust in the guy doing them. But the timing is a very critical thing and make sure for two or three series we’re talking to our guys about a play like, ‘If this comes up, be prepared.’”
Darren Rizzi – September 27, 2018
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Thursday, September 27, 2018
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(You had obviously for the first two games WR Tanner McEvoy involved in a lot of special teams. Who replaced him on Sunday and who do you move forward with now that he’s no longer on the roster in that role?) – “It wasn’t one specific person. It was kind of a combination of guys. I’ve always said that we’re kind of getting a bunch of guys ready, so we kind of made the decision that Tanner was going to be inactive last week. It was kind of a bunch of different people going through the different squads in my head, the different phases in my head. It wasn’t one person that was plugged in. Obviously, the roster spot with DeVante (Parker not being) active the first couple of weeks was really the spot that Tanner had, and so we were able to use him. So, with DeVante back now, it kind of shuffled the deck a little bit differently. It wasn’t one specific person. Obviously, you guys know my job as special teams coach is to always make sure there could be a different combination every week. (It’s) no different this week. It could be a different combination of guys, so it really wasn’t one particular person. Again, I’m going through the phases in my head. That will be kind of the case every week. Once we make the final decisions on who the actives are, then it’s my job to make sure obviously that we’re kind of plugging in the right holes. You guys know last week, we had some injuries in-game. It’s no different, when we have injuries like that in the game, all of the sudden some guys who maybe have not had a lot of reps in the past on special teams, all of a sudden have to jump forward. With the injuries last week in the game, that same situation came up.”
(You obviously have a full grasp of what New England does on special teams, playing them many times and watching tape; but does RB Brandon Bolden give you anything extra as far as intel?) – “It’s a really good question. Obviously we have Danny (Amendola) here and Brandon here. The Patriots, much like other teams, do a good job of changing things up in terms of calls and cadences and maybe tips and things like that. It’s hard to go wholesale on one particular thing. I have no greater respect for any organization than theirs and they do a great job. Coach (Bill) Belichick has a special teams background. Their special teams coach, Joe Judge, and I, we were both on the kickoff return committee together. I spent a lot of time with him as well and have a lot of respect for what they do. It’s really just one individual game, just this particular game and getting the game plan ready for this one. I’ve certainly picked Brandon’s brain about some players and maybe some things like that about personnel; but when you get into the scheme stuff, it’s very easy to change some different things. So, we’re not getting about wholesale and that stuff.”
(How would you describe RB Brandon Bolden’s personality and leadership style?) – “I would call it A-plus. I think I mentioned before that I kind of knew Brandon Bolden as the player, but getting to know Brandon Bolden the person, the leader, that kind of thing has been kind of neat for me. A really mature guy (with) really good football IQ. He’s been really good, to be honest with you, with some of our younger players. We have a lot of younger guys playing on special teams. He’s been in a role in New England in the six years he was there where he had to work with some younger players and be a mentor. He’s kind of been doing that. That’s been really cool to watch in the few weeks he’s been here is watching some of the younger players kind of gravitate towards him, knowing that he has a really good background in special teams. (He’s) a guy that right away kind of earned the players’ trust and the coaches’ trust when he got here just by his work ethic, his preparation. You watch this guy walk around the building, you watch him in meetings, things like that. He has a really good professional mentality, if you will. He prepares like a pro and he’s a really good role model to have around, not only on the field because I think he does a great job between the lines, but watching the guy and watching what he does outside the lines has been really good for our younger guys as well.”
(You’ve had two field goal attempts and made them both, but not a ton of opportunities with K Jason Sanders.) – “It’s just the way the games play out. There’s going to be three-game stretches where you have maybe 10 and three-game stretches where you have two. That’s cyclical. You look around the league and there’s a lot of those situations. There was one time we decided to go for it on fourth down down there. It was more of a game plan decision. There was a couple times where we were on the fringe of a short punt, long field goal. He just really hasn’t had the opportunities; but he obviously has to stay ready because again, we could have a three-game stretch where all of a sudden he’s called on a lot”
(Do you have a sense of K Jason Sanders’ range?) – “He has a long range. Leg strength is certainly not his issue. You guys saw in the preseason, he had a couple attempts in the 50s. We’ve stretched him out before. I’ve seen him make really long field goals. Again, it’s really situational – where we are in the game, score, all of the field position things. The one thing you always worry about on really long field goals is if you miss it, obviously your opponent gets the ball at that spot. But I’m certainly not worried about his strength. His leg strength is very good.”
(It seems like P Matt Haack has had a really strong first three games. Do you see anything different in him?) – “The only thing I’ve seen with Matt, I think a lot of times, everybody overuses the analogy about Year 1 to Year 2 with players and that big jump the players make. I really think in this instance, for a specialist, there really is a correlation there because you learn a lot on the run. You’re going through it for the first time last year and everything is brand new. Now, you get to kind of press the reset button a little bit and go back, watch last year’s film, say ‘what didn’t I do well, what could I do better?’ All of those kinds of things. I think Matt’s a really intelligent guy, so not only does the talent come into it, but I think he’s gotten better at our situational punting. I think the directional stuff, the situational stuff, obviously he has a decent amount of punts inside the 20, which has helped our field position. So, I think after going through it after a year, especially for a guy like him and his football IQ and kind of his mentality, getting the second go at it has really helped him. It’s not a surprise to me, because as I’ve said before, I think he’s still really just getting started. I really think this guy has a brilliant career ahead of him. He has a really good mindset, really good temperament, a really good work ethic and the talent is there, so that’s a pretty good combination.”
(What do you see with LB Martrell Spaight?) – “Just getting to know him a little bit. Obviously, I had a chance to watch him on film a little bit and got a chance to talk to their special teams coach a little bit in Washington, a guy that I know well. I was just trying to get a feel for what he’s … I have an idea of what he’s played positionally. Just getting to know the guy a little bit, I’ve really liked what he’s done the last couple of days just in terms of jumping right in and catching up. I told him yesterday when he came out to practice ‘This is a baptism by fire.’ So we’re kind of learning on the run as we go. As a special teams coach, it’s just one of our deals. You have to get guys ready to play. We’re going through and getting him as much work as we can here and kind of getting caught up on all the mental stuff, but so far so good. We’ll see how the rest of the week plays out with him.”
(You’ve been a part of so many different regimes here, so many different Dolphins teams, but nobody has had success since 2008 in Foxborough. What is it that makes playing up there so challenging and so difficult?) – “That’s a really good question. Obviously, it’s a tough road environment. They’ve obviously had a lot of success at home. I think a lot of the reasons are you look at statistically what they do. They don’t turn the ball over a lot as a team altogether, but they don’t turn the ball over a lot at home. They do a really good job of situational football there. You take the crowd and all of that stuff, the weather – there’s a lot of factors. But more importantly, they’re as good of a situational football team as any in the league in terms of winning the situations and not self-destructing, or we call it unforced errors, if you will. That’s one of the things they do really well. I’ve been part of teams here where we’ve gone up there, as you guys know, and we’ve jumped on them early and gotten early leads and somehow, someway, they came back. By the same token, I’ve been on teams that have gone up there and dug a hole early and we’ve battled back. So, we’ve had a little bit of everything up there, kind of a mixed bag. I do think the beginning of the game there is important. They have a knack of jumping on teams early there and kind of getting the snowball rolling downhill, if you will. I think it’s importantly for us every week to do that, but certainly on the road. When you get on the road, your start to the game is going to be very important. I think that will be the case this week.”
(Who, so far, this season has stood out on special teams in areas that don’t show up on the stat sheet?) – “There’s a lot of those. I like talking about this, this is kind of my avenue right here. Special teams is obviously sometimes not the focal point of the game. There’s been a lot of little things that guys have done a good job. Walt Aikens has really played a significant role on our punt, not only with Matt Haack punting the ball but covering the ball. The last couple of weeks, Cornell Armstrong has done a really good job for us in terms of coverage, a guy that may not be a household name but certainly a guy that is kind of an ascending player. Guys like (Senorise) Perry and (Brandon) Bolden, those kind of guys have been really solid for us in the game. Stephone Anthony is a guy that last week really played a very solid game all the way around. (It was) probably his best game on special teams since he’s been here. So, little things like that. There’s been some younger players that have been thrust into some roles because of where we are in terms of the roster, and some of those young guys have been a little bit hot and cold. For the most part, we’ve been pretty consistent, and that’s what we have to continue to be, to play a team like we’re playing this week. As I’ve said to our guys many times, you have to be really on top of your stuff. They do a really good job of film study, kind of know what you put out there and that’s going to be important for us this week.”
(Do you call them a flyer or a gunner?) – “Gunners. When we’re punting the ball, we call them gunners. Some people call them flyers. It’s just special teams lingo. Some people call it a split end and some people call it an X receiver, some people call it a flanker. On punt team, we call the wide guys gunners and then the guys that are blocking them jammers.”
(How difficult is it for S Walt Aikens in particular to take on two jammers and consistently win?) – “It’s a very unique technique. We call that a vice technique when two jammers go out and block one gunner, which you see a lot in this league. Sometimes you see that on one side and not the other, but obviously Walt has been really productive, so he draws a lot of attention. A lot of times, he’ll get the vice in particular.”
(So you call that a vice?) – “We call that a vice. When there’s two players, two DBs usually, go out and play on the jammer, we call that a vice technique. If there’s one guy and one guy shows up late, we call that a crunch technique; but essentially it’s a two-on-one, whether you’re on the line of scrimmage or whether one is on the line and one is off the line. That’s a technique we spend an awful amount of time on. You go back to OTAs, it’s one of the things we start working on right away because it’s a very difficult task. There’s a lot of little nuances that go into that, a lot of fundamentals and techniques. Knowing how to use the sideline, knowing when you can use the sideline, your re-entry onto the field. You see a lot of penalty flags thrown. Sometimes a guy goes out of bounds and doesn’t re-enter the right way and stays in the paint, so to speak. Knowing when to release inside, outside, hand placement, leverage – there’s a lot of little things that we spend a crazy amount of time on, because two good jammers can take away a gunner in a heartbeat. We want everybody, whether they get two-on-one or one-on-one, obviously to be down by the ball. Walt (Aikens) is a guy that’s gotten better and better. He’s a physically strong guy and he can run, but that technique sometimes – it doesn’t matter how strong you are. If you get two-on-one, if you’re not technique-savvy, you’re going to lose that battle. So, that’s something that we spend a lot of time on. I could clinic for a long time on that. Just little things, your flat release, your hand placement, your speed, your angle, all of those things. Your re-enter, your finish, your pad level – a bunch of terms that we use. So, it’s a really unique technique and Walt has really improved as we’ve gone on. He’s worked with some of our younger guys – Torry (McTyer), Cornell (Armstrong), ‘Mo’ (Maurice) Smith – some of these younger guys that go out there and try and speed them up along as well.”
Matt Burke – September 27, 2018
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Thursday, September 27, 2018
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(On Tuesday, you brought in a couple of established veteran ends who had more than 40 career sacks between them for a work out, but you go with DE Jonathan Woodard. What put Woodard over the edge among that group? What did he do in preseason and camp that impressed you guys?) – “I think obviously we picked him up late at the end of the year last year. Probably more from a physical standpoint, from a size standpoint, was why initially we brought him in. But we had him through the whole offseason and I thought he had a very successful preseason. I thought he had some production. I just think organizationally, we just felt his familiarity with the system … I think (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) just believes in that guys on the practice squad, they’re not just here to practice. They’re developmental players and they’re guys that we’re training in the system day to day to fill those roles for. I think at the end of the day, he’s worked hard to get to where he is and to earn his spot on the team through the preseason and through the whole offseason really. Personally, I didn’t have a ton of familiarity with him when we first signed him at the end of last season. I think since he’s been in the building, he’s done everything right. He’s worked hard. He’s a big body. He’s kind of slippery. He’s got a little knack for finding things. He had some production, like I said, in the preseason. I think he’s earned that opportunity to have a shot.”
(We’ve heard a lot going back to March about rotation and playing in waves on the defensive line. Will the rotation have to change now or do you still want to have an even distribution of snaps?) – “Both. The rotation changes week to week. There’s certain times you like better matchups or guys you want to play more or less. Sometimes the flow of the game dictates. This is obviously a week where you have to be careful substituting anyways with this offense. They’re going to try to catch you with too many guys on the field and some of those things they like to do. Even if we had the same number of people we had last week going into the game, we would have to change our substitution strategy this week because they make it difficult to do some things like that. We train all of our guys to play. That’s an ideal world, sort of the way we can do it, if we can get quick subs and to roll in groups; but if they get stuck out there, they’re going to have to play ball for us. Week to week, that strategy changes. Again, sometimes it’s about matchups and who we want to get a little bit maybe higher of a workload. Sometimes, like this week, it’s just a matter of we may not have a chance to do that. You can’t sub unless they sub, so we’ve got to be on top of that anyway. Guys may have to be in there for some extended drives and we’ll just try to get the best matchups for us when we can.”
(I know you’ve talked about DE Cameron Wake not looking 36 years old, but are there some concerns that his snaps might add up?) – “Nope.”
(What has been different about LB Kiko Alonso’s game that we’ve seen that pretty much explains why he’s second in the NFL in tackles right now?) – “Is he? I didn’t know that. Kiko has been playing well for us. I would say last year, there was probably … I’m not sure if he was as comfortable in a big picture thing. He was flopping some positions. The guys around him, he had some new faces. He was dealing with some residual injuries with the hand thing from the year before and those sorts of things. I feel like a lot of that stuff he’s kind of put behind him. He’s kind of had, at least with Raekwon (McMillan) in particular, they’ve been working together throughout the whole offseason as sort of a unit and with Chase (Allen) and ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) and some of those guys we’ve been working in. I think there’s just been that longer familiarity and comfort level with those guys and what they’re doing together as a unit. He’s probably a little bit healthier coming into it. I felt like he had a pretty good season our first year here (2016) as well. He obviously had a lot of production for us. I think he’s probably just getting back to those flying-around ways. He’s covered a lot of ground on the field. He’s going sideline to sideline and getting to the ball a lot and showing up. I think he’s probably just feeling healthier and feeling a little bit more comfortable with everything that’s going on around him.”
(Is there a strategy to getting the best out of LB Kiko Alonso?) – “(laughter) No, I don’t think so. I think he’s self-driven. Kiko, he’s sneaky … I don’t know how to word that. He’s stupid like a fox. When you talk to him, sometimes he seems goofy and aloof and you guys are around him and have spent some time around him, but he’s really smart and he’s really dedicated to preparing. When you walk by that linebacker room at all times of the day and night – off days – and he’s in there watching tape. He doesn’t really talk about it. He’s kind of a goofy personality to some extent but he’s a committed preparer. He probably watches more film than anybody on our defense, I would say. So I don’t think it’s anything about getting him to play his best. I think he’s committed to doing that. He takes pride in it. Like I said, I think for him it’s a level of comfort with the people around him and with his body and being physically healthy. I think he’s kind of in a flow right now, in a rhythm.”
(What did you know about LB Martrell Spaight before this week and what have you seen these past two days?) – “He’s similar to some of the guys we were bringing in. He’s a young veteran. He’s still a young-ish guy but he’s played some football in the league. He’s a physical … He brings a little physical presence to him. He had a lot of tackles the last couple of years when he got a chance to play. We liked that he had some experience in the league. We liked his physical play. He’s done it. He’s played special teams. He’s played linebacker. He’s played a couple spots and those sorts of things. When we brought him in for the workout, we just felt he was the best option. He’s been great. All of our reports of everybody we talked to from Washington and other places say, ‘(He’s a) great kid, great personality. (He’s) a team guy,’ and all of that stuff. He just stepped right in and done whatever we asked. We’re trying to get him caught up to speed as quickly as possible and he’s taken to that. He’s been a gym rat in the building the last couple of days trying to get everything right. Again, we like the level of experience, where he’s still kind of a younger player but has some playing experience in the league. And we like sort of his physical play.”
(We’ve seen S Minkah Fitzpatrick do so many things right. It’s almost surprising when he doesn’t. There were a couple of missed tackles on Sunday. How hard is he on himself when that happens and was it just a technique issue there or just a missed tackle because of physical reasons?) – “He’s probably not as hard on himself as I am on him. Some of it (is) he has to wrap up better. He’s trying to get … A couple of times he’s trying to cut tackle and just throw his shoulder in there and he can’t do that. Over the long haul, that’s going to lead to more missed tackles, so he was to correct that part of it in terms of his technique. He took one bad angle on one of them. I think with Minkah, we’re asking him to do a lot. Especially with Reshad (Jones) being down last week and trying to move him into some different spots, we’re putting a lot on his plate. I think – don’t print this and I won’t say this to him – but that’s sort of built into the fact that there’s going to be a mistake or two here or there because we’re doing a lot with him. We’re asking him to do a lot of things right now. He’s shown a pretty good capacity to handle that, but there’s going to be some (mistakes). He’s still a rookie and there’s some stuff that he hasn’t seen that, again, maybe he hasn’t repped because we’re moving him to different spots and things. I’m not going to tell him that I’m accepting of that, but there’s sort of an innate level of understanding that he’s going to make some mistakes. He’s another guy that is very correctable on the sideline. When something happens, it’s a one time ‘Hey, this is what we’re looking for in this’ or ‘Here’s what happened and here’s what you should do’ and it’s okay and we move on. He’s another guy that the more he plays and the more we keep giving him those reps, hopefully those kind of go down.”
(When I asked Head Coach Adam Gase about time of possession, he obviously mentioned things on offense; but he also mentioned third-down defense. What do you see there?) – “We stink right now. We do. Last week was probably similar to the first week (against) Tennessee. Some of them don’t count as official stats but I think we had 15 third downs last week and like 10 of them were less than 5 yards, like third-and-4 or less or something. There were a couple of those drives (where) we didn’t even get to third down, so that’s a whole (different) story if you want to talk about it. We’re not … That’s a good offensive team we played last week, but we’re giving up leaky yardage in the run game. Our stats aren’t horrible and all of that, but we’re side-tackling guys and we’re giving up 4 or 5 yards on a rush here and there, then it’s 3 yards on the next rush and its third-and-2. That’s hard living. We haven’t been good on third downs but we haven’t put ourselves in a spot to have success on those third downs because … I don’t know overall but the majority of our third downs have been probably 5 (yards) or less to go. That’s tough living. That’s hard to do. We have to do a better job earlier on the chains to give us a chance. Some of the stuff we want to do and get our guys rushing and give those guys opportunities to do those things, we have to get them to do those situations to where we can cut those guys loose a little bit. It’s hard to rush the quarterback when it’s third-and-3 and the ball is going to be out in 2 seconds. We have not been good on third downs and we have to do better. If it’s third-and-4, we have to get a stop. We have to get off the field. Last week we obviously didn’t help ourselves with a couple penalties and some stuff that kept drives alive also, when we did get third-down stops. We can’t do that either. We have to be better on third downs. That’s definitely an area of emphasis this week. But we have to help ourselves by trying to give us a little … put us in some better spots earlier in the chains.”
Kenny Stills – September 27, 2018
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Thursday, September 27, 2018
WR Kenny Stills
(We saw that S Eric Reid had signed today with Carolina. Your thoughts on that?) – “I was happy for him. I’m excited to see him get out there on the field and be the impact player that we all know that he is. Obviously, I feel like he should’ve been signed the first day of free agency. It’s a long time coming, but I’m excited for him and I can’t wait to see him ball.”
(Obviously, the sense was that because of S Eric Reid’s stance, it was hurting his job opportunities. Do you think that changes the dynamic that maybe teams are open now to the idea?) – “Honestly, I don’t … I don’t really know. I haven’t had that much time to process and think about it. I just came off the field and as I was coming off the field, I found out that he was signed. Initially, like I said, I’m happy for him. I can’t wait to see him ball and I think he should’ve been signed a long time ago.”
(Did you think this day would come this season for him S Eric Reid?) – “It’s something … I was definitely surprised, for sure.”
(As far as games in regular season, do you believe in the concept of a big game? Is this just Game 4 or is this a big game this week?) – “I think for this team, we just try to go week by week and every week is a big game for us. It’s something that the head coach really instills in us and we hammer it home every week, so that’s how we feel. Every game is a big game for us. We feel like we have a ton to prove, so we have to go out there and earn respect every week, so the next game is the biggest game.”
(This team has never been more explosive; but on the flip side, time of possession has been skewed. Is that something that you guys know to help your defense out you have to hold onto the ball a little bit more?) – “Yes, we understand that; but we also realize that if we put points on the board, then the defense can get out there and play to their advantage. The defensive line and the pass rush, I know they’ll be happy. We just have to focus on putting points on the board, playing clean football, no penalties, no turnovers and we’ll continue to do what we do.”
(How would you describe the role WR Danny Amendola has in this offense?) – “For us, his leadership here in the locker room and then his play on the field, we know that any time the ball comes his way, he’s going to make a big catch for us and make a play for us. That’s something that you can’t overlook. It takes a lot of heart and courage to go across the middle and take some of the hits he’s taken so far and throughout his career. That energizes our group. That makes our group stronger. That’s a high bar that he sets for the rest of us to go out there and make plays and be accountable to our team.”
(With the way you guys like to spread it around on offense, is there some patience involved by players knowing, “I’m not getting it now or this last drive, but I know maybe next quarter or next game it could be me?”) – “We talk all the time about just doing your job, expecting the ball to come to you every play and when it does, make it your play. For us, that’s something that coach hammers home for us every day: go out there, do your job, handle your business and when the ball comes, make your play. Sometimes it’s going to be the receivers, tight ends, running backs; but as long as we’re winning, we’re happy and that’s what we’re focused on.”
(One more question about S Eric Reid. Do you think the fact that he’s back there might be a path for QB Colin Kaepernick to come back to football?) – “I guess you can say that, but we’ll see. We’ll see.”
(Your understanding is that QB Colin Kaepernick wants to play?) – “Oh, yeah. I spoke to him earlier today just before I came in here. He just came from a workout as we were on the phone. ‘What were you doing?’ ‘I just came from a workout. I’m ready to go.’ He wants to play. He’s good enough to play. He deserves to play. I don’t see why a team won’t sign him or hasn’t signed him.”
(Have you ever played on an offense with this kind of speed at the skill positions, and what does that do for an offense in terms of opening up all sorts of possibilities?) – “We talked about it in the offseason, knowing how much speed and explosiveness we have, and what that does to a defense. For us, really, it’s just going out there and executing. We know we have the guys that are going to make plays, but how consistent can we be with that? That’s the challenge for us every week.”
(Is this the fastest group you’ve been a part of?) – “Fastest? Probably so. But I spoke earlier in the week about the talent level, being I played with Jimmy Graham, (Marques) Colston, Lance Moore, (Darren) Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram all on the same team. I’ve played with skilled players. We had a lot of skill. That’s similar here; but as far as explosiveness and speed, it’s hard to match what we have.”
(How did you like that high-five celebration that WR Jakeem Grant and WR Albert Wilson had Sunday?) – “That was sweet. That’s something special. I feel like we’ll be able to look back at that moment forever. I think Tyreek Hill and those guys did it in Kansas City when Albert was there, so it was kind of a remake; but that’s cool to see. We’re having fun out there.”
(We were talking to WR Albert Wilson on Monday. He says he wants to change … culture isn’t the right word, but inject fun into the team. Have you sensed that with him?) – “Yeah. I mean, every time Albert touches the ball, good things happen. That sparks the offense. Similar to what I said about Danny (Amendola), I think that kind of sets the bar high as far as what we want to be as a team and leading by example. When we see Albert have the ball in his hands, make somebody miss and go make a play, that’s something like, ‘I’ve got to add that to my game.’ We think, ‘All right, how can we match that? How can we do more than that?’ It adds something to our offense.”
(You mentioned how WR Danny Amendola has added a leadership element. Can you think of an example or two of how that leadership has come through?) – “For us, like I always talk about, leadership is just leading by example. And the way he comes into work, he’s one of the first guys here in the morning and he’s got his film study. He’s got a routine of everything that he’s doing here, so all the guys, even myself, being here and seeing that every day is something that, ‘All right, well, if he’s doing that and he’s had success at the highest level, then I should probably be doing that too.’”
(A lot of people have admired QB Ryan Tannehill’s accuracy on the two touchdown passes to you – the 75-yarder, the 34-yarder. Anything stand out about the placement of those passes or Ryan’s improvement and how it showed in those passes this season?) – “I said something earlier too about that: we work on that stuff all the time, so it doesn’t surprise us. We see him every day and we get the repetitions. So when the ball is in the air, it’s up for us to go out there and make a play. We know our landmarks, we know where the ball is going to be. We practice it every day and so we go out there and just execute. Nothing really surprises me. I think the outside world is kind of like, ‘That’s a nice play, that’s a nice throw.’ For me, that’s like, ‘All right, that’s what we’re supposed to do. We’re professionals, we play at the highest level, and that’s what we expect.’ I don’t expect anything different.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill has been hitting those landmarks consistently all year?) – “Oh, yeah. Other than the one that we didn’t connect on in the end zone earlier in the game, for the most part, he’s been spot on.”
(I wanted to ask you about Foxborough and playing at Gillette Stadium. Obviously, you guys have had success beating them here – three of the last five – but up there, you haven’t won since 2008. Is there a mental aspect to that?) – “I don’t think it’s a mental thing. We had an opportunity a couple of years ago when we were down big on that last drive to go out there and potentially win the game or tie it and go to overtime. It’s football at the end of the day, regardless if it’s here or there or at a neutral site. We just have to go out there and execute and play our game. If you turn the ball over and you have penalties and you let them get out to an early lead, you’re not going to win. That’s what we’ve done when we’ve gone there. We haven’t played as well as we should, and we need to to win the game.”
(Is there a thing where you feel like you have to play a perfect game against them?) – “I think teams in the past have felt like, ‘Yeah, if you don’t play perfect against them, you’re not going to have a chance to win.’ Obviously you strive for perfection, and so do they; but it never really happens that way. But, yes, you need to be on top of your game to beat somebody at their home stadium. That’s just how it goes.”
(With the tight end position, you guys have had a bunch of injuries now. It may be the two rookies you’re relying on Sunday. What is your level of confidence in both those guys?) – “We always have that next-man-up mentality here. I wouldn’t second-guess those guys being out there doing their job, playing hard and helping us execute. They did a great job last week and they’re good players. The rookies get thrown in the fire sometimes and that’s the best way to grow up. I’m excited to see what they do. I had a feeling last week that (Mike) Gesicki was going to get in the end zone and I just keep looking for that. I’m excited for him and I want to see him celebrate and have fun.”
Jakeem Grant – September 27, 2018
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Thursday, September 27, 2018
WR Jakeem Grant
(I hate to use the term ‘trick play,’ but I talk to people who say ‘don’t use them all, save some.’ How many of those unique plays are there? Are you guys going to run out any time soon?) – “That’s all up to (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase. He’s the mastermind.”
(With Head Coach Adam Gase, is it something that he presents to you during the week of practice, like ‘Hey, this is something we want to work on, and then you guys just run it a couple of times and see if it works and then use it in a game?’) – “Whatever he has planned for us, we definitely go out there and work on it. Sometimes he’s adjusting the things that we’ve been doing and we haven’t pulled it out yet. A lot of people think it’s just a play that we worked on during the week; but no, we’ve been doing it for months now.”
(Why are you guys just taking this as another game and not making anything bigger than what it is?) – “At the end of the day, (everyone) is a nameless, faceless opponent. New England is a great team, but at the end of the day we’re striving to be 1-0 after every week. Like I said, we’re not making it out to be this Super Bowl game or anything like that. We’re just going out there and just playing and going out there and competing.”
(How difficult is that because you have people in your ear saying ‘you go 4-0’ and they try to get you to look ahead?) – “That’s the thing about it. We’re not thinking about what we did last week, the previous week. We’re only thinking about getting better this week and becoming 1-0 at the end of the week. All we feel like is we’re all we have. We’re going to continue to stay level-headed and stay humble.”
(Is there some patience with this offense? You guys have shown to move the ball around to a lot of different weapons that ‘I’m not getting the touches now, but I know that can change in a quarter or next game.’ How do you kind of approach that?) – “The thing about it is we love to see each other shine. We’re not selfish. We love to see each other go out there and make big plays, and we know if we just continue to play for each other, keep blocking for each other, the next thing you know, the ball swings our way and one of us will make a big play when our number is called. Coach (Gase) does a good job with spreading the ball around. It’s not like he’s just up there like ‘let me get him the ball, let me get him the ball.’ If the guy is open at that time, that’s who’s going to get the ball. That’s the thing about it. We have so many weapons that any guy can get the ball at any time.”
(Piggybacking on that, a lot of people love that high five. Did you get any feedback from that, what’s that been like?) – “I haven’t gotten the feedback, it was all credit to my boy Albert (Wilson). I saw him reach up and I was like ‘I’m going to give him a high five.’ A lot of people loved it. We’re thinking about coming up with something new, so just stay tuned.”
(It’s on an elevator, it’s on the front of the media guide this week. That image, why do you think it resonated with so many people?) – “I don’t know. Some people see it as we were disrespecting them; but no, it wasn’t that. We were basically just having fun out there. That shows you that we’re actually truly going out there and having fun and playing for each other.”
(On that run, were you at all thinking ‘maybe I should wait until we get in the end zone?’ Did that ever cross your mind?) – “Not at all.”
(You were asked about New England as just any other game. When you go up there, some people do get caught up in the mystique. I don’t get the sense this current team feels that way. Why do you feel like you have that confidence in yourself? What’s kind of sparked it a little bit this year?) – “From the offseason standpoint of just working hard, just staying together and just being focused on everything Coach (Gase) has been talking about – the fundamentals, the details, everything about it. Just not going out there and making the game bigger than what it is. It’s just another game at the end of the week. Yes, we’re playing against the Patriots, a very good team; but we’re a good team as well. They’re going to give us their best shot and we’re going to give them our best shot.”
(I didn’t mean it just in the framework of playing against them. As a team right now, is it about another year under Head Coach Adam Gase too? Is it that experience of everybody getting to know him and him getting to know you?) – “I would say just the brotherhood of this team. We hang out with each other outside of this locker room and we continue to just care about each other. So when we go out there and play, we look to the left and the right of each other and just say ‘I’m not going to let you down. I’m going to do whatever I can to do my job.’ I think that’s what it’s been. We truly care about each other.”
(On the jet sweep, we were asking Head Coach Adam Gase why QB Ryan Tannehill tosses the ball rather than handing it off.) – “Those are passing yards. (laughter)”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said it’s up to you guys, so tell me what’s going on there.) – “It is up to us; but the soft toss, you can catch it on the run and continue to move. (You can do that) also with a handoff, but we’re just used to the soft toss and also, like I said, it’s receiving yards instead of rushing yards. (laughter)”
(Is there ever any joking from QB Ryan Tannehill about that, that he gets credit for it? Were receivers joking with him? Has that ever come up?) – “Not at all. Those are easy passing yards for him. Effortless and all it is is just a soft toss and just make a play.”
(But you don’t see that as any more risky than a handoff because it’s basically just putting the ball right in your path, right?) – “Not at all. Not risky at all. He’s basically just putting it right there in your lap. It’s just like the center hiking the ball to Ryan (Tannehill). I feel like it’s the same thing.”
