Adam Gase – February 28, 2018
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Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On the NFL Draft) – “I think for us, and we’re going to have to see kind of how free agency goes before we really narrow it down. We really have the philosophy of drafting the best player on the board. So we’ll kind of see how everything goes. Usually it works out the right way for us. It has the last couple of years.”
(On the philosophy in franchising Jarvis Landry) – “We were trying to figure out the best way. We knew (what) we were going to do. We weren’t sure when the best timing was for us. We just decided to do it on that first day. We felt like that was the best thing for us to really … For him to know that that’s there. We’ll just kind of see how this plays out.”
(Do you want WR Jarvis Landry to be part of team next season?) – “Yes, if it works out the way that we’ve kind of looked at things. Really, that’s why we franchised him. We’ll just kind of see how it goes.”
(Have things gone well between you guys and WR Jarvis Landry in the past few months?) –“I mean since the season has ended, you can’t do anything. You can’t really talk to your guys. If you see them in passing, you can’t talk any football.”
(Regarding WR Jarvis Landry’s contract) –“That’s (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (General Manager) Chris (Grier). (They) kind of handle that stuff. I stay out of that. We’ve got time for everything. We’re not going to get in a big rush just because everybody wants to figure out what’s going on.”
(How would you describe the void there would be if WR Jarvis Landry isn’t on the team next year? What would be missing?) – “I think anytime you have a player that’s really been elite at his spot, if that guy is not there – we found this out last year, at least we felt at the quarterback position – it makes a big difference and you have to make adjustments. That’s why we’re trying to make sure we put this team together the right way. Right now we’re at that standstill where we can’t do anything. We’ve got the next 14-15 days until we can actually do anything.”
(Have you talked to WR Jarvis Landry personally?) – “I have not since the end of the season.”
(If you did, what would you say to WR Jarvis Landry about his future with the Dolphins?) – “You guys know this about me. Any time I have a conversation with a player, that’s going to stay private. I’m not going to talk about anything publicly.”
(On starting the process of scouting players) – “Chris (Grier) does a good job of setting everything up for me personally, and then our coaching staff, to where they narrow down a list in free agency to start. Our guys go and become part of the evaluation process and then he narrows it down even tighter for me so I can really maximize my time. It’s the same thing with the draft. He narrows the list down and I’m able to sit in a lot of meetings to where they’ve already gone through it a couple of times before, and the scouts do a great job. Between the scouts, Chris and Mike, they do a good job to where when we do hit those meetings, those meetings are very effective and not really short, but our time is used well.”
(What is intriguing about this quarterback draft class?) – “I haven’t really dug into it as much as everybody wants you to at this point. For myself, I’m still evaluating last year, our scheme and free agency.”
(On RB Jay Ajayi going to Philadelphia, the way the Eagles used run-pass options, and if he looked at how his team could use that) – “We take a peak at a lot of different offenses. I know (Eagles Head Coach) Doug (Pederson) is somebody I have a lot of respect for. We practiced against them in training camp, so there were a few things we actually took from them for our season. We always do projects at the end of the season where we break things up to where guys can go back and look at schemes or the way that their run-pass options were throughout the season. That’s always going to be a team we’re going to take a peak at.”
(How would you evaluate your rookie class from last year and what kind of step do you expect them to take?) – “I thought they did a good job. It felt like we had a lot of guys play. I thought our college free agents, we had so many guys either make it at the beginning or ended up being on the roster toward the end of the year. And our draft picks, the ones that ended up staying healthy – we lost a couple of guys – but I felt like that group did a really good job. They were a good example of how we want to do it going forward.”
(Where’s QB Ryan Tannehill at in his rehab?) – “Well, as far as what the trainers and doctors have told me, everything has progressed extremely well. He’s always going to be ahead of where he’s supposed to be. He’s a physical freak and we’ll just kind of play this one as the week goes on, throughout the offseason. Really for me, I won’t personally know until we get into those stages to where we can be out at practice, throwing. All I can do is hear things are going good, he’s moving around well, he’s able to do what he needs to do to play quarterback.”
(How excited are you about the idea of having QB Ryan Tannehill back?) – “I’m extremely excited. I know really our entire roster is. The guys that I talk to at the end of the year, everybody appreciated what he brought to the table in years past. Sometimes you lose perspective of what somebody does for your team and what he did for us in 2016 when we lost him and going through an entire season without having him. I think the appreciation for him, not only for the coaching staff but other players, is very high.”
(On the transition going from coordinator to head coach and if he could explain what goes into that and what stands out about Lions Head Coach Matt Patricia?) – “I think the hardest thing in that first year is just managing your time because you want to be involved on the side of the ball that you’ve been working on for your entire career. You’re trying to manage your time between offense, defense and special teams. It depends on if you’re calling plays or calling a defense, that’s going to occupy more of your time. Then you’re more involved in personnel and more involved in so many decisions and then you’re dealing with a lot of managerial type things to do. You have to manage your time extremely well because next thing you know, you’re not hitting things you need to hit. Matt’s been in New England so long, he’s seen how it’s done at the highest level and I’m sure there’s a lot of things he’s going to take from that and those experiences and use those to his advantage.”
(On what Lions Head Coach Matt Patricia does defensively) – “I’ve had games where we’ve gotten yards and no points and I’ve had games where we haven’t gotten many yards and they’ve done a really good job to where we haven’t scored many points either. He’s always challenging to go against. There’s games where you feel like he knows what you’re calling before you’re calling your plays. It was always a fun game to call games against him because I knew, with him being a good friend of mine, it was kind of that rivalry to where you’re trying to beat one of your good friends. We get to play him again this year, so I guess it doesn’t end yet.”
(Is T Ja’Wuan James is healthy?) – “As far as medically, he’s healthy and we’ve got to make a decision here coming up. We’ve still got a couple weeks before we have to make any kind of decision.”
(On if the success of Minnesota and Philadelphia playing backup quarterbacks this year changes the premium placed on that position) – “For us, we felt like we were in a pretty good position with Ryan (Tannehill) and Matt (Moore) going into last season. We felt that way the year before and it really paid off for us the year before when Ryan went down and Matt was able to come in and finish that season off to where we got a playoff berth. Last year, when Ryan went down so early, that was one of the main reasons we felt like bringing Jay (Cutler) in was our best option because that gave us two guys in case something happened and Matt had to play. I think it’s really hard for quarterbacks to stay healthy for 16 games. It’s a physical game. These guys are taking some shots and a lot of times they don’t see them coming, and that’s when the injuries occur. If we can get into a situation where we have two guys that we feel confident about, that’s going to benefit us.”
(On if he wants to know where prospects stand on social issues as he gets to know them in the coming months) – “No. My biggest thing I’m always looking for is everything’s football-related to me. We support our guys when they do anything outside our building to try to help our community. In Kenny’s (Stills) case, he’s really branched out to (help) not only South Florida, but outside of there. We’re very supportive of trying to help as many people as our players can try to reach. I feel like our guys do a really good job of that.”
(On RB Matt Forte retiring) – “I just heard that walking over here. It surprises me a little bit. I thought he was going to keep going there for maybe another year; but he’s a great player. I’m very fortunate that I was able to be around him for one year, and the last two years with him being with the Jets and getting to see him play a few times. He hurt us when he played us. He had our number, it felt like. He’s a great player. He’s so versatile. He’s a great guy, a great locker room guy. He did it right. He’s what you look for when you talk about a pro.”
(On evaluating WR Jakeem Grant) – “Jakeem got some opportunities this year and made the most of them. We had high expectations going in, especially after training camp, that we felt like there was going to be a little bit of a jump there. I think it just got tough for him where he was getting beat up just a little bit on some of the kickoff returns and punt returns, and he lost a little juice there in the middle of the season. Then once he really got comfortable, he made an impact on our offense. We’re looking to build on that. I feel like we have a good idea of what’s the right amount for him and what he can do and what we can have success with him. We’ll kind of see how this year goes and what else we can do with him.”
(On WR Leonte Carroo) – “We’re still just bringing him along. I think he has a better feel for the offense. Sometimes it’s tough to find that role when you have those three guys really that we all trusted and didn’t want them off the field. We were doing a lot of ‘11’ personnel where all three wide outs were on the field, and when we go to our ‘12’ personnel package, it was Jarvis and one of those other two guys. It’s a tough, tough lineup to crack. His biggest thing is always just keep finding a way to get better, and when he gets his opportunity, he’s done a good job when we’ve thrown him in there and he’s made some plays when we needed him to.”
(On the importance of finding versatile guys on defense) – “We’re always looking for that just like everybody else is, especially this time of year. It’s just finding the right guys that fit what we’re looking to do. I know (Defensive Coordinator) Matt’s (Burke) always looking for ways to tighten down our defense. What do we do well? That’s really what we’ve been talking about. We’re just going to keep working on that as we go through the offseason.”
(On if G/T Jesse Davis is a tackle) – “We’ve had a lot of discussion about this. For him, really playing the majority of his snaps at right guard, I think he did a good job there. Him and Sam (Young) really developed something there toward the end. We’ll just see how everything kind of plays out. We have a lot of time here. We have to make decisions on so many players and kind of see how free agency goes and see how the draft goes. We’ll kind of sort through all this stuff. We want to just try to get as many guys as we can to compete in that room and try to find a way to make ourselves better.”
(On the philosophy of drafting a quarterback every year) – “I’d love to draft a quarterback every year. It doesn’t always work out that way. We’ll see how the board falls for us. That first year, we felt like Brandon (Doughty) was a guy that there were a lot of us that were very interested to see what we could do with him, and he had a lot of success in college. We’re still working through things to try to help him get better and we’ll see how this year goes. It’s hard to predict.”
(Can RB Kenyan Drake hold up at the same volume?) – “He’s one of those guys that hasn’t had a lot of wear and tear over his career. We’re really not ever looking to be a team where one guy has 20 to 25 carries. We kind of want to spread it out. We like using multiple backs. We started doing some things with other guys like moving Jakeem (Grant) into the backfield every once in a while. Kenyan has done a better job of taking care of his body and getting himself ready for games. A couple of those games where he had 20-plus carries, he’s walking in and acting like he didn’t play a game the night before. So I think youth plays a part in that a little bit. He’s put together well.”
(On if RB Kenyan Drake improved in pass protection) – “I don’t know that there was anything that really told me that he wasn’t good at pass protection. I think he’s had more opportunities. There have been a few times where I wish he would have done some different things; but I think for the most part, he’s going to stick his face right in there, take a linebacker on, and he’s going to do everything he can to make sure it’s stalemated at the line of scrimmage or he drives the guy out of the way of the quarterback. He knows who to get. It’s just sometimes he’s got to use the right technique, so we’re going to just keep working on that as we move forward.
(On evaluating himself and the offense the past season and what led to wanting to get more help running the offense) – “I think once (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) really became available … We’ve worked together in the past. Obviously we were running the same offense. He just did some different things because of personnel than what we did in 2015. We’ve evolved a little bit here. Dowell knows how I think and we’re able to communicate very easily. There is something about our connection that it works well for me and him.”
(On how he envisions that Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains will help him) – “I think Dowell can really jump ahead. He seems to have a good knack for knowing what I’m thinking before I say anything. That’s always something that is a good thing to have when you’re a head coach and you have a lot of things you have to accomplish.”
(On if QB Ryan Tannehill would be okay if the team drafted a quarterback in the first round) – “Ryan would never shy away from anybody coming in at that position. Ryan is going to be our starting quarterback and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I can’t wait to get back out there in the spring and get going. I just know it’s going to be really good to have him back.”
(On Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski) – “I don’t know what’s going on with all of that. I just know when he’s in there, it’s very difficult to handle their offense. He’s a game changer for sure. He makes plays that not many guys can make.”
(On rumors that Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski may retire) – “I don’t want to root for that quite yet because that will probably draw him back in if enough of us start rooting for that. (laughter)”
(On Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains) – “I think as soon as I heard that he was moving on and I knew that he was interviewing, when I was able to talk to him. We had a spot open and I knew that was really the fit that I was looking for. Being back around him has been great for me. When you’re around guys that you’ve work with before and they know your system, they know how you want to do things. He was able to walk right in. It felt like he never left. It’s been fun being around these guys I haven’t been around in the last couple of years.
(On if he likes the discussion of making defensive pass interference a 15-yard penalty) – “It probably changes for me if I’m on offense or defense. If I was on defense, I’d be excited about it. I’d tell them any time you get beat, just tackle the guy. It’s only going to be a 15-yard penalty. If I’m on offense, I’m probably not real happy.”
(On what RB Kenyan Drake needs to take the next step) – “Just keep growing. Just don’t get stagnant in his development. I think there’s a lot for him to still learn. He just needs to keep gaining knowledge. He’s been watching other guys. I know that was one of the things this offseason that he was going to try to do was watch more film on other guys to see other people’s running styles and how they do things. I think the longer he plays in this league, the more he’ll realize you just have to stay with it. You have to study. You have to find ways to learn. You just can’t stay the same every year.”
(What steps forward to you want to see from Charles Harris?) – “I’ll be excited to see him have a bigger role this year. We kind of tried to use him more in those passing situations and making him more of an every-down player. It’s always interesting that first year when d-ends come in from college, that transition from play-action passes or the run game, then have to transition to a pass. It’s not as easy as you think. When it’s third down, you can see that’s really where he’s more comfortable. The more football he plays, the better he’s going to get. I thought he had a pretty good year this year. He did a lot of good things and we’re excited about what he showed us.”
(Does DE Charles Harris get a chance to compete for a starting job this year, or do you see it as DE Cameron Wake and DE Andre Branch?) – “He’s going to be compete for a starting job.”
(On if he wants RB Kenyan Drake to develop more as a pass catcher) – “That was one of the big reasons we drafted him was his ability to run the ball inside and outside, run routes from the backfield and spread him out. He was one of those constant guys that would like to remind you of how good of a receiver he is outside and in empty (formations) and things like that. I always would tell him, ‘I know, we drafted you. I remember. We got some situations to put him in where we got some man coverage and we got linebackers out there on him and it’s a good matchup for us. When that happens, we’ve just got to make sure we hit our shots.”
(What are the characteristics in a running back, either in free agency or through the draft, that would complement RB Kenyan Drake?) – “I think anybody that can play all three downs. Really, that’s the biggest thing I look for, is a guy that can both run the ball, pass protection and catch the ball out of the backfield. I think that’s why Kenyan and Damien (Williams) were such a good … both of those guys, we never really looked at either one of them as the starters. It was kind of 1A and 1B. They both started games and we felt good about both of those guys being in there. I never looked up to say, ‘Who’s in the game?’ It didn’t matter because I felt like they both had complementary skill sets. Both those guys really did a good job. They fed off each other. They were happy for each other when they had success.”
(From our eyes, LB Kiko Alonso didn’t have as good a year in 2017 as he did in 2016; how did you see him play last year, and is he a Mike or a Will linebacker?) – “He had the same amount of tackles this year as last year, right?”
(There were some breakdowns in pass coverage…) – “Do you know who was supposed to cover who? Was it a safeties issue? Was it him? Was it man-to-man coverage?”
(Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said some things that indicated…) – “Everybody is going to have some issues every once in a while, but I don’t think it was as bad as everybody kind of portrayed it.”
(Do you think LB Kiko Alonso is good at covering tight ends?) – “When we put him in the right position and he gets up there and he’s aggressive on them, I think he does a really good job. I think when he plays off and kind of waits for that guy to make a move, that’s when we’d rather him be more aggressive and trust the fact that he’s faster than most of these guys. When he does that, that’s usually when he had the most success.”
(Is LB Kiko Alonso more of a Mike or Will?) –“He’s played both. Our linebackers are so interchangeable. We can put him at either one.”
(What do you want to see at the tight end position this season and does Jarvis’ presence raise or lower the importance of the tight end position?) – “That’s always going to be a position we look at and try to figure out what’s going to be best for us for this season. Any time that you can have a tight end that can be effective in the pass game and still be effective in the run game and pass protection, that’s what you want there. The last two years, we’ve had some movement where guys have been in and out. We’ll kind of see what happens this year. Picking up A.J. (Derby) late last year was good for us. He did some things that really impressed us in practice and we tried to get him involved a little bit in a game. It was good to kind of get … that last game was a good experience for us where we played a ton of guys that really hadn’t gotten to play all year, so we at least have a good idea of what those guys can bring to the table.”
(How anxious are you see to LB Raekwon McMillan back on the field and whether he can pick up where he left off last year?) – “I’m excited to see him get back on the field, along with our quarterback.”
(When you’re evaluating a quarterback prospect, how much do you get from watching them throw?) – “I think any time you can watch somebody throw live, it helps you because you can kind of see in between plays kind of the reaction to things. How do they come back from a throw that wasn’t really great? Those Pro Days are valuable. Private workouts, when you can get up in close and watch these guys, I think it’s very valuable.”
