Adam Gase – September 22, 2017
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Friday, September 22, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We saw RB Jay Ajayi, WR Jarvis Landry and WR DeVante Parker all practice, but DT Jordan Phillips was in a boot from what we saw. Your optimism on all four, I guess?) – “The guys that practiced, I feel a lot better about. Jordan at this time, we’re trying to see where he’s at. It has been a little rougher week than what we anticipated.”
(What needs to be done in the red zone? You were 0-for-3 last week.) – “We probably have a couple of better selections. We wasted a couple plays on some bad calls versus some of what they did on defense. We had a couple opportunities to hit some things, whether it be hit Jarvis (Landry) on the 1(-yard line). I know we ran an end-around pass, (and we could have) possibly hit that. Who knows? Just clean up a few things. We’ve worked a lot on it. Our guys have been pretty successful at it. Usually when we get down there, we find a way to get in the end zone. The biggest thing for us, we just keep talking about getting points, getting down there as much as possible. That’s really where we struggled last year was we didn’t have a lot of opportunities. I think I was just more excited that we got in the red zone that much. We’re just going to keep working at it. We’ll get better. We’ve just got to kind of find our rhythm.”
(Are we likely to see both C/G Anthony Steen and G/T Jesse Davis at left guard again?) – “We’ll talk about it more this afternoon. Nobody has really separated themselves. I think both those guys did a good job last week and play hard. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us playing two guys.”
(Would you be alright with three defensive tackles going into the game or would you rotate somebody else in there?) – “I mean we’re going to have to … What are our options? We’ll figure it out. We’ve got some contingency plans; we always do. We’ve got multiple guys playing multiple positions. You’ve got different fronts you can run, so there are ways around it.”
(What do you want to see from LB Chase Allen in his second NFL game?) – “Just keep getting better. He seems more comfortable than what he was when we first started back in the spring. I know this, the guy can run and hit and tackle. It’s not real hard sometimes. Sometimes it’s just see ball, get ball.
(Is DE Terrence Fede a guy who can play inside?) – “Yes, he has done that. We’ve got him and (William) Hayes and those guys. Basically everybody has played inside at some point.”
(RB Jay Ajayi got 28 of the 29 carries for running backs last week. That’s a little bit different than last year where RB Kenyan Drake and RB Damien Williams got more in the mix. How do you determine that? Is it just the flow of the game?) – “A lot of times you try to do it by series; but we had three series over 10 plays. We only had eight (possessions) for the game. It felt shorter than what it was probably. You also don’t want to take (Ajayi) out of his rhythm. We’ve just got to see how the game goes. I think we have a pretty good plan – kind of feel – of how we want to do this, this week. We like having those other two guys on the field, too. It’s just it’s hard to take out the guy that’s really, really good.”
(To piggyback off that, how did you see the time of possession advantage paid off for you guys?) – “I think it’s something that we enjoy on the offensive side being able to do, because it gives us our defense a rest, which we really didn’t do that for them last year. This year, having three drives over 10-plays was nice for them to be able to go back over to the sideline, get things squared away and then get fresh and get ready to go. If we can avoid the three-and-outs and getting crushed on time of possession, that’s ideal. Sometimes in preseason, I think we had a couple drives where we’re scoring in four plays or something and we have the ball for a minute; but when the defense sees us score touchdowns, they don’t really care at that point.”
(Do you have a feel right now for how you’ll use LB Stephone Anthony on Sunday, if you’re using Anthony?) – “Not really. We’re going to talk about it this afternoon.”
(How much does it help to have familiarity like you do with Jets QB Josh McCown?) – “It’s been a while. It’s been 10 years since we were together. He’s developed a little bit over the years. I saw him in July, so I don’t know if that really counts for anything. When you get game experience in this league and you’ve been on multiple teams and different systems, you grow. He’s a different player than when I had him. You can tell the game has slowed down for him a lot. He can see things. When you pressure him, he can see it and he can react and make a throw and turn it loose. That’s a thing you always have to be a little cautious with a veteran quarterback because they know how to get out of it.”
(How do you view WR Jarvis Landry’s 13 receptions for 78 yards. You would think he would have more yards, but understand the routes that he was being hit on. How do you view it overall?) – “My thing with Jarvis is he does so much of the dirty work. A lot of those catches are not easy plays because he’s got a lot of guys running at him. He did a great job getting us first downs. There were a lot of situations where he caught balls that were 7 or 8 yards that were huge plays because we got another first down. That’s really what we’ve been talking about all spring and all of training camp is we have to find ways to accumulate these first down conversations instead of waiting until third down and then someone’s trying to make a great play. It gets tough on third down. It becomes multiple and everybody knows what you’re doing, especially once you get past third-and-5. The fact that he was able to move the chains consistently, he did a great job of catching the ball and getting north and really being aware of where the sticks were. If we can keep that up, that’s ideal for us. I think it’s going to be hard to get him that many catches every game. I didn’t even realize it. It just kind of happened. We want to keep spreading the ball out because we have a lot of different guys. We never want them to be able to just target one guy.”
(I’m curious on your philosophy on 50/50 balls. The guy’s covered obviously, it could be an interception it could be a big play. It’s been working for you at least in the preseason and last week. But what’s your philosophy on that?) – “I think I’m good with it when it’s a completion. I think with DeVante (Parker), you feel like the percentages go up. It’s just not everybody’s forte. When you got guys that will fight for the ball, at worst you’re hoping for an incompletion. I think Jay (Cutler) has done a good job of understanding what everybody does well, when he can do that and when he might think twice about doing it. With ‘11’ (Parker), it’s tough not to do, because he is a big guy that can go up and get it. I think there’s a time and a place for it, and there will be some times where we won’t do it.”
(Your overall feelings about that Jets defense so far and the challenges for this week?) – “They had two hard matchups those first two games. Anytime you’ve got to go against ‘Shady’ (RB LeSean McCoy) and then you get Marshawn (Lynch), all of a sudden Derek Carr and those guys, it becomes very tough. Historically their run defense has been top five, and statistically right now, it’s not what they want it, obviously; but they’ve been playing two good teams. We know it’s going to be a challenge to run the ball because we’ve gone down this road with them before. We have to be very good in everything we do. They have youth in that secondary and they have linebackers that can run. Upfront is still tough and we have to do a good job and make sure we get guys covered up, and then we have to hit the holes when they’re there. That’s the problem with these guys. There’s not a lot of holes. You have to try to create them and see if you can find them and poke through there and then try to break a tackle, which is not easy to do against these guys.”
(Is there any danger of your players – I don’t want to say taking the Jets lightly but kind of – the talk about the Jets tanking and I’m sure they’ve seen it on social media?) – “I think our guys are excited to play a football game. To them its … We get to the point where it’s the second game of the season and we’re in the third week of the season. I think our guys are just excited that we’re going to get an opportunity to play on Sunday. I think they’re focused on themselves and doing their job and making sure they execute the right way. I haven’t heard our guys really talk about what anything is going on outside of here. They’re focused on what they’re doing.”
Cameron Wake – September 22, 2017
Friday, September 122, 2017
DE Cameron Wake
(Regardless of the situation – how good one team’s doing or how bad one team’s doing – talk about being a veteran taking on the Jets and how, no matter what, it just always seems like that game sometimes might be the toughest one on the schedule because of the rivalry?) – “Any given Sunday. It doesn’t really matter. This is the NFL. You look around sometimes in college football and you see such-and-such blowing out this other team. It doesn’t happen like that (in the NFL). Every game, you’re going to be in the thick of it. You’re playing against the best players in the world. It doesn’t matter how their season’s going. We were 0-2 last year and we know how bad they want to turn their season in the proper direction, so I know they’re going to come out there and give us their best shot, and we’ve got to be ready for it.”
(What is it about the Jets, more than teams like even the Patriots or other teams, that you dislike so much? Anywhere you go, to the barber shop, everywhere, ‘Jets suck.’ What is it about that?) – “From the moment I got here, obviously, a division rival, New York, Miami, whatever it may be, it’s always been a big game, a game circled on your calendar. Again, they’ve had great teams, I think we’ve had great teams. We’ve had great games together, both ways. You just want to make sure that when you come out of that game, that you put a win in your column, because down the line, whether it’s for playoff standings, whatever it may be, you want to make sure that you can grab a win now when it’s early on in the season.”
(Do you still consider the Jets and the Dolphins a rivalry?) – “As far as I’m concerned, it is.”
(Do things feel a little bit more back to normal now that you’re back in South Florida, back into the routine a little bit more?) – “LA’s not normal? (Laughter) It’s back to our routine, things that we know, the familiarity. (We’re) obviously getting back on our normal schedule. It definitely feels good. I’m getting ready and I’m excited to go out and play.”
(When DE Andre Branch re-signed here, what was your level of excitement to have him back long term, because you guys obviously worked together pretty well last year?) – “We had a lot of fun last year, and obviously I enjoy playing with him. I think I was probably one of the guys pounding the table to make sure that we did whatever we could to make sure that he stayed. I think if you speak to him, this organization, the coaching staff, the city as a whole fits and he’s enjoyed being here. I’m pretty sure he had opportunities to look other places; but Miami is his home. I know going forward he’s going to give us everything he has, play hard, and be the player that got him into the situation he’s in. So I’m looking forward to bigger and better things, and I’m happy that I’m playing on his side.”
(Whose table did you pound to keep DE Andre Branch?) – “Pounding all tables that are presented.”
(How much did you know about DE William Hayes before he signed with the Dolphins and has anything about him stood out to you?) – “Oh boy, Hayes. (Laughter) He’s a tough football player, obviously. To be very honest, I didn’t know a whole lot about him. I knew of him. I had never met him personally; but going over his play style and the way he does his business, we complement each other so well, so it seemed to be a perfect fit and I’m glad that when he’s on the field, there’s no let down, there’s no falloff. He’s a firecracker and he’s going to give it to you every play. Again, they did a great job of making sure that room is going to be a pretty solid room to deal with, so I’m happy about that.”
(I noticed you started smiling when I mentioned DE William Hayes’ name. Funny guy?) – “Funny’s a good word to use, I’ll use that one, funny. (laughter) He’s a funny guy. A great guy. He’s funny.”
(Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said Chargers QB Philip Rivers averaged 2.1 seconds per release in the last game. Obviously that’s a respect to the defensive line trying to get rid of the ball quickly. How hard is it, or how frustrating is it, to play against when teams are scheming against the defensive line that way to get rid of the ball so quickly?) – “Well, it’d be frustrating if you didn’t prepare mentally to know that that’s the situation. The NFL, again, is made up of the greatest football players, but also the greatest coaching staffs all over the league, of course. I don’t know if you … If you put yourself as an (offensive) coordinator, would you sit back and pat the ball with the (Andre) Branchs and the (William) Hayeses and the (Ndamukong) Suhs and the (Charles) Harrises of the world coming after you? But again, you know that going into the game that that might be a possible game plan, and you have to adjust accordingly. If you allow it to frustrate you, then you’re letting them win. You have to go out there and play every play like this is the play, that it may be 3.2 or 4 (seconds), or whatever it may be, because the moment when you concede and say, ‘Alright, well the ball’s going to be gone,’ that’s the moment when he’s going to hold the ball and that’s when the big play goes. I’ve said it many times, every single play I’m getting a sack. I don’t care (if I’m) double-teamed, 2.1 (seconds), a run play. I’m going to go out there and have that mentality and that’s the only way you can play, because when that play does come, again, you never know when it’s going to be. You have to be ready.”
(How is DE Charles Harris progressing, and how is he to work with?) – “Actually, very pleasant. Every so often, you hear stories around the league about first-rounders coming in with their chests out and their blank doesn’t stink and all that. It was none of that (with Harris). He’s a guy (that’s) humble, a hard worker. He’s eager to take on more, do more and perfect his craft. He has a lot of veteran guys in the group that he can go to and figure out different aspects of football. He’s definitely been a guy who’s taken on his role and approaches it with fire and fury, and I’m actually getting excited and looking forward to him going out and producing things on the football field.”
(I’ve had a few fans say that they enjoy using the phrase, ‘First-place Miami Dolphins.’ Does that phrase have significance to you, and if so what is it?) – “It would have significance for me in December, but there’s a long way to go. We’ve had one game. We (had one but) everybody else (had two). It’s a long season. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. If you’re in first place at 10 yards and you’ve got a 100 yard dash, what difference does that make? See me at the finish line.”
Jay Ajayi – September 22, 2017
Friday, September 22, 2017
RB Jay Ajayi
(How’s the body feeling this week after the heavy load last week?) – “I’m feeling good today. I’ve been talking with the coaches and I think we have a good plan leading up to this game.”
(What do you remember about the Jets game from December?) – “Yes, the second one? It was cold. I remember that. I remember their defense did a good job stopping us on the ground that game – better than they had done the previous time, and so our passing game really was able to be explosive that game. For the running backs, it was a tough one; but for the team, it was great to get that win.”
(What did they do defensively? Why were they effective against the run?) – “I think just during that game they made it their mission to kind of try and make us one-dimensional a little bit, and that year they were doing really well with their run defense. I think they just played us a good game that day on the ground.”
(Regardless of what the situation is going with one team doing well and one team doing bad, or whatever the case may be; this rivalry’s always fierce. Everybody’s got you guys going there and blowing them out but football doesn’t really work like that, especially at this level. Just talk about that.) – “Yes, I mean I think that this game … I mean every one of our divisional games, I think we kind of have a little bit of a rivalry with each one, where all of those games are intense and we don’t really like any of those guys. I think that whenever we play the Jets, it’s always been kind of intense out there. They always like to talk smack. That’s just what it’s been with my experiences playing against them and it’s been fun going against those guys, and I think it will be nice to go up there in New York and get a win.”
(You talked in the offseason about your goal of being a three-down back and always being on the field, so how satisfying was it that you were pretty much on the field the entire game against the Chargers?) – “Yes, I mean I looked at the play count and everything. It was like ‘Wow, I was almost out there like all of the plays,’ and I felt good. It felt good to be out there in all the plays and be dependable and be counted upon, and that’s just how the game plan went against the Chargers. We’ll see how it goes this week.”
(You’ve been dealing with a knee injury I guess for a minute. I think you were on the injury report last week with it too, is that right?) – “Yes, I mean (Head) Coach (Adam Gase) put it on there; but it’s just a little bit of rest and just keeping me feeling fresh for the game.”
(How much does staying on the field help your rhythm and how many carries do you feel is a good amount for you to be in rhythm?) – “I think anywhere from that 20-25 range is a good (number of) carries for a running back in a game. However the game goes, game flow, all of that stuff, can affect how many carries you get. It’s all about just taking what you get with the opportunities that you get, and that’s always my mentality is how many times we run ball, how many times (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase calls my number, whether it’s running the ball or catching it. Just take advantage of every opportunity and with every touch, just make it count and try to put points on the board.”
(Can you talk a little bit about your offensive line and how they effective they are in conjunction with you?) – “Just from the start of that game, they were pushing guys off the ball. It was really exciting for me just because we’ve been trying to see what’s going to happen with our o-Line and who’s going to be those five. To be able to start our year off with a 100-yard rushing game and then realizing that the (Los Angeles) Chargers team hadn’t given up 100-yard rushing (game) for like 17 weeks, I think that was definitely gratifying for us to know that we started our season on the right foot with a physical mentality, running the ball, we got a victory and just kind of setting that tone for the season.”
(When you look at the Jets defense, what stands out to you?) – “It’s kind of the same guys. There are a little bit of some new faces out there, so they’re a little bit young; but there’s still some of those same guys up there on the front. They’ve got my boy ‘Leo’ (DL Leonard Williams) – ‘Big 92’ – he’s going to always make it tough inside, and they’ve got some other great players on there. So it’s going to be a fun one for us on Sunday.”
Jarvis Landry – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
WR Jarvis Landry
(One of the things I asked WR Kenny Stills about … When I asked T Ja’Wuan James the other day about RB Jay Ajayi rushing for 100 yards, he was very quick to praise the wide receivers saying the critical part of this was not just us, it was the downfield blocking. How critical is that? How much pride do you guys place in that?) – “A lot. The first sign you see when you walk into the receiver is ‘No block, no rock.’ And that’s something that (Wide Receivers) Coach ‘J’ (Shawn Jefferson), he stresses a lot. Obviously having a guy back there like Jay (Ajayi) and the whole collection of running backs that we have, and the ability they have to make big plays when they get space, so when they get to the second and third level, that obviously starts with the o-line; but to get them to the third level, they need us. I would say we do a great job – better than a lot of other teams – as far as just blocking down the field to get Jay (Ajayi) to the third level to have an opportunity to make big plays.”
(When it comes to closing games late in games, you guys have done that well the last couple of years. How big is experience? You’re faced with those situations and you can say we’ve been through this before, we know what to do.) – “Just score more points than they do. That’s the mindset.”
(But is the mindset we’ve done this before we can do it again?) – “I mean every week is different. Any given Sunday, anybody can win. Just score more points than they do.”
(Hearing from some of the new people new on this team this year, they’re surprised by the amount of energy on the sideline throughout the whole game. Where does that come from?) – “It’s just all of us buying into each other, buying into what we’ve got going here in Miami. I say for us, we just, as a whole, we’re just so excited to see the success of each other. I think when you have that inside of our organization, you’re going to have the sideline pumped up about any play, especially a big play. So for us, we believe so much in each other and to have the opportunity to go out there and make plays and do it for each other, that’s what it’s about.”
(Is anything about QB Jay Cutler surprise you about something he does that you didn’t expect or anything like that? Maybe moving around in the pocket or anything like that?) – “I have always known him to be a guy that makes plays. That’s always something that we’ve seen. To have an opportunity to see him get out of the pocket and still make plays down field, I think he prefers that to running. I think he had a couple of opportunities where he could have took off; but, he decided to not cross the line of scrimmage and throw the ball downfield, which I appreciate. Us as receivers really appreciate it a lot. So that’s something.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said that you woke up Friday with some swelling in your knee or something like that?) – “Yes.”
(Were you kind of – that doesn’t seem like something that has been mentioned before with you – were you a little spooked by that?) – “No, I wasn’t spooked. I think the biggest thing for me was just trying to get it to the attention of the trainers and figure out what was going on. From there, come up with a plan that helps me get to Sunday, and that was really it.”
(As far as your locker, you’ve got the last two rankings of the NFL Network – your ranking – on there. Does that motivate you and what number would satisfy you?) – “One.”
(Just one? Just being number one?) – “One. Period.”
(Do you feel like everything you’ve got going on right now, the knee and ankle, that you can play through that?) – “Absolutely.”
(Do you have any concerns about that?) – “No concerns. I can play through that, yes.”
Kiko Alonso – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
LB Kiko Alonso
(Puerto Rico has been leveled by the hurricane. You have ties to the island. What are your thoughts on that?) – “My dad’s side of the family lives there and just seeing the pictures of what happened is devastating. My heart goes out to them and I’m trying to get something done to raise some money for (them). Obviously they’ve got all kinds of issues, so that should be up and running soon.”
(Does it make it, not tough to concentrate, but is it going to be occupying your mind a little bit?) – “Yes, definitely. Just seeing the photos is crazy, just the damage that’s been done.”
(And you were there this summer doing a clinic, correct?) – “Yes, we were there in April. So, yes it’s crazy. We were just there and now just seeing what happened. Mother Nature is a beast.”
(Do you have people actually living there?) – “Yes, they’re all, just about all of them are there: my cousins, aunts, uncle. They’re all over there. I still haven’t talked to them yet; but it sounds like they’re okay.”
(Did anything stand out to you during the clinic that you did over there? What was that week like?) – “Yes, those kids love playing football. It’s obviously not the biggest sport, you’ve got baseball, you’ve got boxing, volleyball, basketball, but there’s a lot of kids that play and there’s a lot of talent. Football’s all about passion and pride and they’ve got a lot of that.”
(Both Head Coach Adam Gase and Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke today were talking about your leadership among the linebackers. Did you feel, coming in, that it was your place to lead the way because you’ve got a lot of young guys around you?) – “Yes, this is my fifth year. We’ve got a lot of young guys, so I’m just going to use that as (motivation) to be a leader on the team.”
Adam Gase – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Every season is different, every team is different. How reasonable is it to expect some carry over from last year to this year in the team’s ability to close?) – “I think we have enough guys that have been through those type of situations. That’s kind of the learning aspect of the game. When you’re trying to keep a core of guys together – which we were able to really do for the most part from last year – I think that is something that can carry over. When you get to the fourth quarter and there’s that belief that guys are going to make plays, you’re counting on the guy next to you to do his job so you can do yours instead of worrying about, ‘Can I trust this guy to do this?’ Just watching that fourth quarter, when you watch it from special teams, offense and defense, you see a lot of good things. You see a lot of different guys stepping up and making plays.”
(And where does the belief come from? Is it talent, leadership, coaching, experience?) – “I think a lot of it is experience. Sometimes it takes one guy to make one play that gets guys believing. Thinking back, as interesting as the Cleveland game was, (we) found a way to get into overtime and then Jarvis (Landry) makes a play. Jay (Ajayi) ends up scoring. And then going into the Jets game last year at home, where a guy like (Kenyan) Drake who’s a rookie, takes a kickoff return back. It might take one or two guys that do something special at the right time that gets everybody thinking that you can win those games in the fourth quarter.”
(Any serious injury concerns about RB Jay Ajayi or WR Jarvis Landry?) – “No, I wouldn’t say serious. They both got banged up a little bit in that last game. I know Jay … There was a couple where he was off his feet one time where he got spun around in the air there and took a pretty vicious hit. Jarvis had a couple where he took some shots. It’s probably a little more preventative than anything.”
(With this, obviously, losing the bye – or taking your bye in the first week, let’s put it that way – as a challenge, do you have to have a game plan as a coach to sneak those extra days of rest in?) – “Yes. That was probably the first thing we started doing was looking at the calendar, kind of seeing where we can make some adjustments. We might lose some of these Mondays where you’re used to meeting and going through the game. It might be, ‘Let’s get in here, let’s get our lift in, let’s get our run in,’ and then send them off and maybe you make Wednesday a little longer just so we can cover what we need to from the game. You try to steal some days here and there if you can. There are ways to do it. You’ve just got to try and figure out what’s the right way for us.”
(A couple of unrelated questions: he asked about WR Jarvis Landry and RB Jay Ajayi. Do you expect them to practice today?) – “I think right now, we’re just going to … I know Jarvis is going through individual. I’m not sure where Jay (Ajayi) is at right now. And then we’ll see how he feels. It’s really just more of, ‘Is he still stiff? Does he feel like he can really get going?’ Plus with us being on the turf, I don’t know if that’s going to affect him at all. I’m going to wait and see for myself, as well.”
(I asked this to Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen: In the red zone, do you have a go-to guy in the red zone and should you have a go-to guy?) – “I’ve never really had a go-to guy in the red zone. Spread the ball out and make it tough. You want them to have to cover everybody – run, pass, whatever we decide to do, different formations. You want everybody to be effective down there. Everybody has got a little, probably, a little something that they’re better (at) than the other guy is. You lean on the things you know they’re really good at. We had some opportunities. I had some bad play calls. They did a good job.”
(Speaking of that, you’ve been hard on yourself about the play calling. Have you figured out why you might’ve been off according to you?) – “It was one of those situations, it was almost like I wasn’t believing how they were playing us. I was waiting for (Chargers Defensive Coordinator) Gus (Bradley) to take the next step and he stuck with what he was doing. That probably really … I should’ve just believed what I was seeing and just got to the things that we could attack, the coverages they were playing. I think I was just waiting for him to take whatever he had off of that, if it didn’t work. I think it wasn’t … I wasn’t giving our guys good chances. I was doing things in the first half that were … Just didn’t let them just go play and win one-on-one matchups. We were doing too schematical crap instead of just saying, ‘Alright, DeVante (Parker), go win. Jarvis (Landry), go win. Kenny (Stills), go win.’ I think we got to that in the second half. That’s really probably the biggest thing was I felt like I held our guys back.”
(As a follow up to that, you have two hats that you wear. You’re also the head coach. A lot of things were happening to this team in the days prior to the game. And in the hours prior to the game, you had a player go AWOL. Is it possible that, that stuff was also on your plate and you were juggling all these things?) – “I think the one thing about this profession is you’ve got to be able to compartmentalize things and focus on what you’re doing at the time. I felt like the play-calling was more not necessarily from that. It was more trying to be too cute after that first drive. We had some success and then kicked a field goal and stuck with some of the other things that we had game planned, that maybe they hadn’t seen yet, instead of just letting our guys go win their one-on-one matchups. That’s really where I felt like I wasn’t very good at, to where in the second half, it was more allow them to go play and get the one-on-ones and win.”
(I’d like to get your assessment in two areas: the hurry-up offense or up-tempo offense and the pass defense. What do you think about how you guys did?) – “I think in the second quarter, we were a little fatigued there for a second; but they got their second wind there, especially late in the second quarter. I thought the tempo was good. Time of possession was good. I don’t remember the last time we won time of possession, so that was kind of nice. I thought they executed it … The guys did a good job and the communication was great. They were passing things along. We didn’t have to signal. They operated well. Our pass defense, we’ve been talking about it for a long time about tightening things up and helping our pass rush out by making the quarterback get off the first progression. We feel like if we make that happen, our rush is going to get there. That’s why we’ve invested so much in that front, whether it be the starters or the guys behind them, to where if we stop the run and we make it a one-phase type game, where they’ve got to throw it all the time, we have to be tight on the outside so our pass rush can get there.”
(When you were selecting this organization to become the head coach, how important was the whole set up – the ownership, the GM – in terms of factoring in that you can be successful?) – “I think looking at the roster, I felt good about that. You had a young quarterback, wide receivers. I felt like there were some good pieces on defense. Once you get past that part of it, then you start … It’s really about meeting everybody, because I didn’t know (Owner) Mr. (Stephen) Ross. I knew (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum). I didn’t know (General Manager) Chris (Grier). It was more about getting in front of them and seeing how it worked and seeing the chemistry there. It’s hard to do, because it’s fast. You better make a quick assessment and be right. I felt good about … When I was going through that whole process, the longer I was around everybody, the better I felt about it. It was probably good that I didn’t know Chris, because it was somebody that I could sit down with and talk to and hear his opinion about what he has seen from teams I’ve been on and vice versa. That was really the biggest part of the job interview that you go through is seeing if you’re compatible with everybody that’s in the front office or ownership.”
(Earlier today, Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said about LB Lawrence Timmons, ‘I’ll be there for him whenever Adam decides he’s back on our team.’ Timing aside, is the decision already made that at some point he will be back on this team?) – “I haven’t made any decision. I’m going one day at a time right now. I know there are steps that are being made with what’s going on with him. (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) is really taking the lead on that. I’m getting updates as we go. My biggest thing is I’m trying to focus. My sole focus is this week, guys that are here, focusing on the Jets, making sure that we’re ready to go. These weeks come quick. There’s more downtime when you get to that Friday, Saturday to where if I needed to look at something, research something, talk to somebody, it’s better for me to do towards the end of the week than right now.”
(It’s interesting sometimes when you talk about players in the sense of being different behind the scenes than what we might see. You talked about WR DeVante Parker before. With LB Kiko Alonso, he’s another guy that seems very quiet in media sessions. What’s he actually like behind closed doors and on the practice field?) – “He’s fairly quiet if you’re speaking English to him. If you’re speaking Spanish to him, he changes a little bit. (laughter) He’s not too talkative. I always try to mess with him and he looks at me like I’m crazy, so I don’t do it too much.”
(You should try in Spanish then.) – “I’m not fluent right now.”
(Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said he’s the alpha dog of the group, but LB Kiko Alonso does that in maybe a non-conventional approach?) – “I think a lot of it has to do with the way he prepares and the way he practices. If you ever watch him practice – and you guys have seen enough between OTAs and training camp – it looks exactly like he plays in a game. There is no three-quarter speed. There is no half speed. When we do walkthroughs, you’re a little nervous, because you’re not sure what speed he’s going to go. Watching him prepare … Like when you walk downstairs and everybody else has been gone for two hours, he might still be down there. He spends a lot of time in this building. He prepares about as good as any player that I’ve been around that’s not a quarterback. He is the ultimate lead by example guy. I think he says things when he needs to say something. It’s not really what he likes to do. He doesn’t like to talk a lot. He’d just rather go for it.”
(From a conditioning standpoint and from a hamstring standpoint, how close is LB Rey Maualuga to being able to help you?) – “I don’t know the exacts on that. Every once and a while I’ll just stop down and be like, ‘Good day or bad day?’ My biggest thing for him is I just want to make sure he’s healthy. The few times that we’ve had him out there, I was a little nervous for him. The linebackers are working on wrapping up and things and he’s popping guys pretty good. I’m excited to see when he does get out there and he’s healthy and ready to go, just a good piece to the puzzle.
(What did you like about what you saw in T Ja’Wuan James’ tape from Game 1?) – “Probably the best game that he’s played since we’ve been here. I can’t speak for before that. I thought he was physical in the run game. He did an outstanding job in the run game. That’s why we had a lot of those big runs (that) came on his side. He did really well in pass protection. He fought. He was battling the entire game. He was very sound execution-wise. As far as things that he has been working on technique-wise, things went really well. If we get that from him game-in, game-out, I’ll feel really good about our tackles.”
Darren Rizzi – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(It’s a small sample size, but 6-for-6 for K Cody Parkey in his career beyond 50, that’s got to give you guys a great deal of comfort.) – “Yes, I mean the one thing about Cody, just looking at his career, the word ‘consistency,’ I think I mentioned that last week, comes to mind. I know Dolphins fans and all of us in this room, remembered him before last week, remembered him from the one game he played against us (with Cleveland in 2016), but the one thing people have to remember about that game is I think he might have met the holder and snapper at the game in warmups and it was the first time he had ever kicked with them. I can promise you that the nuances of holding and snapping and all that stuff, the lean of the ball, the spin, the tilt, all of those things are definitely a factor. So I think (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) (and I) might have told you the same thing, we kind of scratched that game out of the equation when we were evaluating him; and when you look at his overall body of work, he’s been a consistent guy. He was a Pro Bowler his first year in Philadelphia and then got hurt, and then ironically (former Dolphins K) Caleb Sturgis ends up there and he ends up in a battle with ‘Sturge’ the next year and gets beat out. Then he goes to (Cleveland), where they drafted a kicker, and gets beat out, so sometimes the best 32 kickers in the league, you end up with two on one team. I feel like we had that situation with our punters this year. I feel like Matt Darr is going to end up finding a home (in the NFL) at some point, because I think he’s one of the best 32 punters. So it’s my job, one of my jobs is to make sure I have a really good beat and a really good feeling for the rest of the NFL with who’s where and the specialists deal. Listen, I travel to free agent workouts in the offseason. There’s a couple big ones they have every offseason, and I’m always surprised at some of the talent that’s at those. You’re always asking yourself, ‘Okay is this guy a guy that we can get an upgrade on.’ So again, just always had an eye on Cody. I knew him as a college kicker. I actually knew him as a high school kicker, believe it or not, and kind of followed his path all along. He’s just always been a really consistent guy and I’m really, really happy for him and certainly proud of the effort he had last week.”
(The team has this amazing record in close games now for two seasons, and special teams is a big part of making that happen, but if Chargers K Younghoe Koo makes the kick at the end on Sunday, it’s a different conversation. How much do you feel like you’re testing the law of averages here? How much of it really is the culture of the team and the ability to close and that kind of thing?) – “I will say this, there’s no doubt about the belief on the sideline. I will start with that. There’s a belief and you’re down there and we go in at halftime, and (Koo) misses the (field goal) right before halftime, which (when) you look back at the game (that) was obviously a big one too. I thought that (missed field goal) gave us a little bit and our guys were a little fired up at halftime. We came out with a different sense of urgency, in that particular game; but there’s always a belief on our sideline. Since (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) has gotten here, I’ve never been part of a team that really feels like they’re going to win every week. We’ve definitely won a variety of ways. Listen, if you’re going to win, you’re going to have fortune along the way somewhere. I’ve had plenty of bad fortune in my time here too. So we’ve definitely had some good fortune; but if you look at the sequence of events from last week, and I tried to explain this when we watched the film with our guys yesterday, is it’s cumulative effect because one play leads to the next. We had the kickoff cover – great kickoff coverage – which leads to a punt by them, which leads to a good return by Jakeem (Grant), which leads to a 54-yard field goal, just to talk about the special teams. We needed every one of those yards that Jakeem Grant got on that return. Maybe if he gets tackled right away, now we’re 14 or 15 yards deeper and we’re not trying a 54-yard field goal. I’ve got to give credit to our field goal rush team. Our field goal rush unit puts a lot of pressure on opposing kickers and has done that for the last four or five years, and I’m proud of that, because the effort they put forth on film. I know the kicker felt Bobby McCain coming off the edge, and whether or not that made him push it right or not, I certainly don’t have the magic answer on that; but I will say this, our effort there (was great). If (Koo) kicked a straighter ball, Bobby had a chance to block it. So I hope our luck doesn’t run out. We definitely have some fortune; but there’s a sense of belief on our sideline and I think the variety of different ways that we’ve won says a lot about our team. It’s not a 2-minute drill with a quarterback leading the team down the field every time, we score and kick a short field goal; we haven’t won that way every time. We’ve had a defensive touchdown, special teams plays, offensive plays, so the variety of the ways that we’ve won I think says a lot about our team, the culture, and the belief, and I think all of that kind of parlays together.”
(You had a fourth-and-5 at, whatever it was, the 38- or 39-yard line. Was there a moment when you thought, ‘Okay, go for it, get a first down and get a little closer’?) – “No, I felt like at that point in the game, I knew if he hit a good ball he had the distance. From watching him practice and play, I knew. I thought 54 yards and obviously the weather was decent. I think in different circumstances, maybe; but not in that game. In that game, I thought … There was a conversation on the headset that (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) had asked me, ‘If we don’t get another yard here.’ I said, ‘No, at this point, if we don’t lose yards, we’re going to try this one.”
(With CB Cordrea Tankersley, is he yet a competent special teams player? How much improvement does there need to be there for him to be a viable candidate to be active?) – “The good thing is that right now, we have some really good discussions every week, because we have a lot of options and I like that. I like that as a special teams coach. We’ve got a lot of young players that are right on the cusp, and every week those guys come up. So those guys are in the equation every week. (We) kind of wipe the slate clean after game one, everybody’s back in the pool, we go back to practice, we see how guys are practicing and feel like when they’re ready, so certainly ‘Tank’ is right in the mix every week. The same with Torry McTyer. He’s in the conversation. All of those guys that were inactive last week, they’re all part of the conversation, so I would say that they’re all close.”
(How much at Clemson had CB Cordrea Tankersley done special teams-wise?) – “More than most. Actually that was one of the reasons, one of the things we liked about him coming out, is he actually played more special teams than a lot of defensive backs have in the past.”
(On the final field goal by Los Angeles, if you had not called timeout, you would have just been trying to stop that with your base defense. How prepared are those guys for what happened there?) – “What happened there is, if you look back and watch the game, I know there’s been a lot of conversation about that. So obviously, (Los Angeles) ran a play where they centered the ball on purpose. Then (Chargers QB) Philip Rivers is going to get up and he’s going to clock the ball probably with about 3 seconds left. There’s no doubt their specialists started to run out; but, if you watch Rivers, and I’m watching him live, he’s waving those guys off. Then he’s going to go back and spike the ball and then try to make the field goal the last play of the game. I think (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) may have talked to you about this, so our philosophy in that situation is that we don’t want that field goal to be the last play of the game. We’re calling timeout there to make sure that if he does hit it, we get a desperation kick return, an offensive play, whatever it might be. We’re trying for that not to be the last play of the game. So we would’ve, if (Rivers) went up – to answer your question directly – if he went up and did spike it with less than 5 (seconds left), now there’s going to be time where we are going to get our field goal block unit out there, if that makes sense. I know there’s some conversation that it looked like they were trying to run the field goal team out, but if you watch Rivers, he’s waving them off.”
(I’m not trying to debate the timeout in this particular question…) – “Yes, but we would have gotten the field goal block team out there. If we didn’t call time out, they would have went up, they would have spiked it with under 5 (seconds left) and then the play would have stopped and we would have had a new 40-second clock and we would have ran our field goal block team out. Then we would have had a timeout to either ice him, if we wanted to, or not ice him or whatever.”
(You said you’ve known K Cody Parkey since high school. That’s some pretty in depth scouting.) – “Yes, so when I was a college coach, I was very, very (good friends with) – he’s still good a good friend of mine – this guy named Chris Sailer who does this Chris Sailer kicking thing national deal. So I had recruited a lot of kickers from that, and Cody actually had gone to that and I remember getting him on a watch list. South Florida was my recruiting area for Rutgers and so you start tracking guys when they’re freshmen and sophomores, so I think – if I’m not mistaken – Cody was a freshman or sophomore my last year at Rutgers or the one year I was the head coach at Rhode Island. So I remembered him from the Chris Sailer thing.”
(Did K Cody Parkey remember you?) – “No. (laughter) I was at Rutgers and the head coach at Rhode Island, he was SEC and all that.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase took, not blame, but responsibility for being a little off with his play-calling this week, and yesterday he said the sack was on him. You work with him very closely on the sideline on game day. Did you notice anything different about him that he was struggling at all?) – “It’s a good question. He’s actually funny in those regards, because as you guys know, he’s not afraid to make fun of himself and criticize himself, which I love. I think it’s a great characteristic of him. He mentioned that to me afterwards. During the game, I’m handling the management and the special teams, so sometimes I don’t even hear the play call to be honest with you, so it’s not until after the fact that we had these conversations. During the game, I’d be lying to you if I told you. Now I did hear him say a couple of times those same things that you just said, but I really didn’t notice it as the game was going on.”
(He didn’t like kick somebody or something like that?) – “No. He’s actually got a really good demeanor during the game, kind of like me. I never get excited during the game either. (laughter) Talk about polar opposites right? So sometimes he’s obviously telling me to relax; but no, he’s got a really calm, cool demeanor when he’s calling plays, and I think that’s one of the things that’s one of his strongest assets and attributes is that, even when maybe it’s not going great sometimes, he stays really calm and I think he does a great job with that, with the quarterbacks and everybody else.”
(Did you say anything to P Matt Haack after his 19-yard punt or did you let him go?) – “Let it go. Just let it go. It’s one of those situation where thankfully we weren’t backed up. It was one of those Aussie kicks. We call it a flip flop. It’s those inside-the-50 type of punts and he just dropped it too far inside and chased it with his foot. It wasn’t one of those deals … If we were backed up – hopefully we don’t get one of those – but in the position that we were in, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. We probably lost a little bit of yardage there, obviously; but no, I’ve seen Matt do it enough in here. He didn’t do that one time in warmups or anything like that, so I just said let that one go and go to the next one. He actually had punted three times, two of his punts were darn good and he had the one bad one.”
(Can you tell us all of the different kinds of punts?) – “Sure. Yes, there’s a bunch. There’s obviously the ones where you have the plus-50 punts where most guys in the league now are working the end-over-end. Some guys call it an Aussie kick – we call it a flip-flop – where you try to make the ball get a little spin back when you drop it inside the 10, so that ball has a different rotation. It’s more like a kickoff rotation. Then you have directional punts. You have directional right, directional left. A lot of people call it a sky ball when you try to get more hang time, depending on the situation. There’s a bunch of different kicks, believe it or not. And the punters, not to get too technical, but their angle to the ball and things like that, their drops are going to be different depending on which way they’re trying to go or if they’re trying to drive it. For example, if a guy is standing in the end zone, he may try to hit a drive ball, most punters will call it a drive ball, where you’re trying to flip the field, maybe get a line drive, maybe get a little extra roll, whereas if you’re out in the middle of the field 20-, 30-yard line, now you’re trying to work more hang time or direction.“
(How is RB Kenyan Drake’s overall special teams contribution? How has he done since his arrival until now?) – “Yes, I think the one thing he’s gotten a lot better at is coverage. He obviously made the big play on kickoff; but we’ve got him working on the punt cover as well. He’s been working a little bit of gunner for us. He obviously has great speed. Kenyan would be the first one to tell you, he didn’t tackle many people before he got to the Miami Dolphins; so that part of it, the defensive part of it, if you will, taking on blocks, getting guys on the ground, he’s really dramatically improved from this time last year to now. His speed is obviously a huge asset and attribute to us, so we’re trying to get him to … Obviously he used it the other day. That was a huge kickoff tackle inside the 10, and then we tacked on the penalty and that brought them back even further. So he’s really improved on that part. He’s always been good with the ball in his hands, so when he gets the ball in his hands, he’s good. It’s the other part that I think he’s really improved on – the blocking, tackling, shedding, things like that.
(Obviously K Cody Parkey coming up with the game winner was huge for the team, but was that even more considering it was his first game with the team, in building confidence with the coaches and his new teammates?) – “Yes, no question. I literally, I won’t tell you who it is; but I got on the bus after the game and a staff member said to me, ‘What’s our kicker’s name again?’ (laughter) So I think everybody knows his name now, so that was a good thing; but yes. Listen, when you make a change like that, Andrew Franks has a lot of friends in that locker room, because he’s a great person and a great kicker. So when a guy unseats a guy like that, there’s certainly going to be a little bit of a feeling out process. As far as the feeling out process goes, it certainly helped (Cody) to have such a good game; but I think our guys saw it in practice as well. (They) saw the quality player that he is, but it certainly doesn’t hurt his status with the guys.”
Matt Burke – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(It’s always next man up but you find out the day before the game that LB Lawrence Timmons isn’t there. What does that mean to you? Are you scrambling? What’s going through your … take us through that time?) – “Yes, I mean I know it is cliché guys, but I always say with (Head Coach) Adam (Gase), our process is we’ve got to put … We’ve got to make the best decisions in the moment at who’s available and what I’m doing. So there was a little bit of adjustment game plan-wise the night before the game. I don’t know, maybe about midnight or so I was up to, just changing some things and again like knowing ‘Okay, hey, we’re going to play Chase (Allen) a little bit,’ and what I felt comfortable calling with him in the game. So we took some stuff out and readjusted some things and then had some contingency plans because then obviously we’re going to be a little bit thin at linebacker. So I had to kind of put together some other packages, just again, in case we got even thinner at linebacker, if something happened in the game. So we had some other guys ready to go. I’ll tell you, the players responded great. We had about three or four guys that we kind of grabbed Saturday night and talked to them about ‘Hey, this may be a situation we’re going to put you in. We kind of had all different guys. Literally from Terrence Fede to ‘Mike T’ (Michael Thomas) to obviously with Chase (Allen). So there were about three or four guys that we kind of had some contingencies based on and again, they put the ball down. I mean it kind of got out about what Cam (Wake) said to the team on Saturday night – no one cares. They’re kicking the ball off at one o’clock on Sunday and so we put our best plan together with the guys that were going to play for us.”
(Who else can play linebacker?) – “It’s more just … We had contingency plans again, playing some sub or some nickel in different spots, to certain personnel groups; or again, if we had to go big. I mean that’s really sort of where you start getting down. We had four linebackers active. So it was more like okay, well if we have less then that playing, for whatever reason, who can kind of fill those roles? So really it was a matter of what we could play out of sort of our nickel packages versus certain groups and what we could play with say an extra guy like Will Hayes or Terrence Fede or one of those guys playing as a big sort of Sam (linebacker) or something. Those were kind of the thoughts we went through when we had everything in place, depending on kind of what came out in the game.”
(How did LB Chase Allen respond to the challenge and did he earn himself more playing time?) – “Chase was great. Chase was great. I’ve dog-cussed him pretty much since the day he walked into this building. I’ve been all over him and been in his ear and killing him and then I walked passed him – I was all amped up on game day – on stretch line, I walked past Chase, and he’s kneeling down, stretching or whatever and I grabbed him by the shirt, by the jersey, and I was like this is why I’ve been MF’ing you all year and this is why you’re here. I probably said some other stuff I can’t say live here. (laughter) And he’s just looking at me and he goes – I yelled at him for about two minutes – and he looks at me and he goes ‘Okay, coach.’ I mean literally that was it. (laughter) I was like, ‘Alright, we’re good.’ The first call of the game, I blitzed him just because I was like I don’t want him thinking. I want to get him out there and I’m going to send him. (He had a) TFL (tackle for loss). I think he only played like 10 snaps or something. He had four tackles. I mean he was great. He didn’t bat an eye. Literally, that’s kind of how he was, just ‘Alright, coach. I’m good,’ and kind of handled my manic attitude. So he was great. He did a good job and we feel comfortable playing him.”
(It’s unusual for a fifth-round pick – DT Davon Godchaux – to play right away. How is he different? How has he evolved to the point where he can have a significant role in the opener?) – “Again, one of the first things I tell the guys when we have like the rookie camp or whatever it is, when we bring those players in, is it doesn’t matter where you’re drafted. The best players going to play. I think (Head Coach) Adam’s (Gase) proved that since he’s been here. So we pitched that to those guys as a starting point, like no one’s putting your draft number on the back of your jersey, so he’s been here. He’s worked his balls off. I don’t know if I can say that. Sorry. (laughter)”
(Change it in the transcript.) – “Yes, I know. (laughter) He’s worked hard. He’s a very mature kid. He’s a tough kid. The one thing I appreciate about him is he knows his role like in terms of, he talked to me on Sunday and he was just like ‘Hey, I know maybe I’m not necessarily part of the rush plan and third downs. I know what I’m here to do. I’m here to stop the run and set the tone and be physical and tough,’ and he’s done that since he’s been here. He did it in the game. He’s never given us pause to think he can’t do what we’re asking him to do. So he’s been great from the start.”
(What’s your vision for LB Stephone Anthony now that he’s here?) – “We’re still trying to get to know him. Obviously he just came in yesterday. We weren’t actually expecting him to even practice yesterday and he did, which was good, just to see him run around. We’re going to put him in the mix. My thought with him is really just to try to put him in one spot and let him learn. It’s hard anytime coming into a new system in the middle of a season – one game in, I guess. So we’re going to get a feel for just kind of what we do with every guy we bring in: the process of getting a feel for what he can handle and where his best fit is. And then kind of once – probably by the end of this week – we get a feel of what we think his best role is, and then put him in there, throw him in the deep end and let him get working a little bit.”
(How do you decide if a guy’s got what it takes to be a middle linebacker as opposed to being maybe a Sam linebacker?) – “Well it’s really more just … It’s really more athletically for him and partly for us, he’s a little different case for us in terms of we’re just trying to look at our depth and see where we can overlap guys and where the best … where we can cover all of our spots. I mean obviously we feel like it’s every year right? It was last year and this year where we get thin and so we’re trying to just see more like where he fits in with the puzzle, and I mean that sort of thing for him. It’s not necessary that … I think physically he can play every spot, to be honest with you. Most of our linebackers are pseudo-interchangeable in terms of being stacked players and off the ball. It’s more of like ‘Okay, what’s our best…?’ Chase (Allen) and Mike Hull for example have had crossover reps. Mike helped play some, dime, Will (linebacker), Mike (linebacker). Chase (Allen) has played Mike and Sam now and those things, so just trying to find out, ‘Okay, where do we kind of overlap and cover our bases with everything so we’re not getting to a point the night before a game where we have to maybe play a d-end at some position or what not. So his fit will be more like … Okay, I think physically, from what I’ve seen, he’s a big kid. He can run. He can hit. So for us, it’s going to be more of what’s the best puzzle that we can overlap spots and cover all our bases moving forward.”
(From a personal level, when a player goes missing like LB Lawrence Timmons, how concerned were you and what was going through your head it was …?) – “Obviously, there’s a level of concern. We care for all of our players deeply. We’re around them a lot. So, you went through a lot of stuff obviously. We were concerned for him. I know (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) wants to keep sort of all of the details in-house and we’ll just … I’ll be there for him whenever Adam decides he’s back on the team.”
(About your pass defense, what did you think of it?) – “I think … Here’s what I told the guys, and I think this is moving forward this is sort of a big picture thing for us. Opposing offenses are not going to want to deal with our pass rush. I think the message to the back end guys, that’s linebackers and DB’s, is that we have to challenge throws better on the outside part of the field and match-up our underneath progressions just a little bit tighter. I think it was pretty clear. I mean I think – he’s a great quarterback, (Philip) Rivers is – I think his average release point was like 2.1 seconds or something. He was not going to give a chance for our guys to get going. He was catching the ball, throwing it and our d-line was still almost there. I think that’s just going to be a theme moving forward, so our job, again, the defense always works together. So our job on the outside part of the field is to be tighter and to challenge some of those throws to give those guys that extra second to work. I thought I was wanting a little bit more, again, from both spots – some tighter coverage and just getting hands on stuff sooner, so to give our d-line a chance. I mean if we’re allowing those guys to just … They were neutralizing our rush by just getting the ball out so quick. I mean they really didn’t have a chance to get going so I think that’s something we have to just address moving forward.”
(Four days after the fact, how would describe your first game as an NFL defensive coordinator?) – “It was great. A win, a big win on the road, after all of that stuff. I mean it was cool. A win is a win. These things are hard. It’s hard, hard, hard to win in this league. I was excited. It was … From top to bottom, from the week before to the end of the game, it’s probably not how we might have scripted it; but you guys have been around this team now for a couple of years. It’s kind of what we do. So it was fun.”
(There was play I noticed where they ran at DE Charles Harris and an offensive tackle just kind pushed him really wide of the play. Take me inside Xs and Os a little bit. What does Charles Harris need to do in terms of the run. Remember that one? They ran towards him and he took a wide rush trying to get to the quarterback and the tackle just kind of pushed him out the play? – “Specifically, I’m not sure but I mean our d-end’s … We’re an aggressive team. We’re an attacking front. We want them to obviously rush the passer; but their angles in terms of … I don’t remember the specific play to be honest with you, but last year one of our issues was our ends going too vertical up the field and creating running lanes underneath. So we work on our aiming points in terms of having a sharper angle, so if a tackle tries to turn out on one of our d-ends, they need to close that gap down so it’s not just creating that large space out there. I don’t remember specifically on Charles’s play.
(How did DE Charles Harris do in general?) — He did good. Again, it was hard. They weren’t giving him a chance to rush. He had a big hit on the one he did (get in the backfield on). We had trouble getting into third-and-long because of all of the quick throws and stuff. We only had eight third downs I think in the game. So again, we limited rush opportunities. The one that we did have a third-and-12 on, he got a big hit on the quarterback. I think the more opportunities that we provide, again, not just for him, but for all those guys up front, the production will come.”
(Regardless of what has happened or what we might say, I doubt that your linebacker group thinks that they’re undermanned.) – “No. Why would they?”
(What’s the attitude or kind of the mentality of the linebackers group?) – “They’re all football players. Like I said, it was cool. You always worry about a rookie, an undrafted free agent rookie starting. I mean those guys, that’s what they do. We practice all these guys. They go through the work. We went through it last year. The same thing, we played a bunch of different guys. I mean it’s like old hat for us now. Those guys are confident. Kiko (Alonso) does a great job. Kiko’s really grown into his role, obviously, knowing he’s going to be here long term and that he’s part of what we’re doing. He takes those guys and Kiko’s level of communication and sort of direction has been awesome, so he’s really helped kind of … Again, he’s the alpha dog in the room so his attitude sort of, whatever gets the rest of those guys, they feed off of his energy; and he does a good job of getting everybody lined up and we go play ball. That’s a confident group. They should be.”
(Keeping in mind the cornerback play was not sterling last week, do you expect to give CB Alterraun Verner snaps Sunday?) – “Again, I don’t know. That’s a week-to-week thing. ‘Vern’ is ready to go. He’s done a good job. Again, part of that’s on me to determine whether it’s a fit or schematically, whether we feel, ‘Max’ (Byron Maxwell) and ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) and Bobby (McCain) and ‘Vern,’ who kind of matches up and what we’re trying to ask them to do week-to-week. All of those guys are ready to play. Again, I’m not opposed to playing anybody that’s going to help us win ball games, rotating them, playing them, starting different guys. I’m not ready to make those determinations today; but ‘Vern’ will be ready to go if we call on him, for sure.”
