Ryan Tannehill – August 14, 2018
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Tuesday, August 14, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(Are you excited about breaking camp officially?) – “Yes and no. I love camp. I think it’s the best time of year to get better. The competition, the focus on football, the amount of time that you’re able to spend in the meeting room and on the practice field, I think you gain so much from it. Part of me is sad that it’s breaking and it’s over; but it’s the next step. I’m excited for what’s in front of us and the opportunities we have in front of us. This just means that we’re moving on to that.”
(Are you feeling the benefits of having an offensive line together for a whole camp?) – “Yes, of course. I think the offensive line is really doing a nice job. I think the past few days especially, the pass protection has been really good. I’m really excited about the way that they’re moving around, passing guys off and just giving me time back there. It started off back last week in the game, they did a great job and I think they’ve continued to build off of that.”
(What do you feel is the biggest benefit that you’ve noticed right away when you have a line together instead of shuffling guys in and out?) – “The consistency. I think they know how each other plays. There’s a trust factor that ‘okay, I’ve passed this twist off with this guy 200 times by now, so I know that he’s going to be there in the right spot.’ Just trust in the man beside you and the consistency of knowing the flow of the offensive line. It’s huge having that being the same over the course of several weeks.”
(I saw you had a little moment with Head Coach Adam Gase right before kickoff. You said ‘you can’t even imagine.’ What was that conversation like?) – “I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something to the effect of ‘I’m excited to have you back out here.’ I was like ‘You don’t even know. You don’t even know how excited I am to be here.’ To be on this field, do what I do, get play the game that I love … it was a long time coming. So it was great to get back under the lights and play some football.”
(You talked about the trust of the players and the trust of your own body. Having that one game and that one series, does that give you more confidence in yourself, your body, your knee?) – “I think the trust has been there for a while now. I think throughout the spring, that’s when I really got the 100 percent trust back, being able to do everything that I need to do out here and more throughout the training process and practices. Doing all of the running, cutting, the movements that I need to do, I think that’s what gave me confidence and the trust. Now, I don’t even think about it. It’s just going out there and playing.
(On if he’s going to play this week.) – “I have no idea. (Head Coach Adam) Gase hasn’t let me know anything yet.”
(You want to play a little more though, obviously. You want to get out there a little more.) – “Yes. I wanted to play more last week. Especially my first time playing in a long time, I got the juices flowing and got a taste of the action and I wanted more. But Gase has a plan, he does everything for a reason, and I’m sure I’ll get to play a little more this week.”
(Do your goals progress each week in the preseason? Do you have different things, more advanced things you want to try to get out of this week compared to last week?) – “Yes. There’s specific things that we’ll go into each preseason game. Last week, it was a sense of urgency to the line of scrimmage, tempo to the line of scrimmage, getting the guys up and going and I think that we did that. I think that we did a good job of that. Now, that’s one series, so we have to continue that and we’ll add something else this week that will be a focus.”
(What kind of a challenge is it to work with a new batch of wide receivers with WR Jakeem Grand and WR Albert Wilson in there, with WR Kenny Stills and WR DeVante Parker out?) – “Yes, it’s a little bit of a challenge. The benefit is they’re really talented guys. We have had throwing sessions in the summer. I was working with those guys out here. We’ve been trying to work them in. But it is an adjustment having different guys, different bodies, different body types. They’re both really talented guys and can play the position in a way that we need them to play. So, yes, it’s just a matter of getting the reps and getting comfortable with how each guy moves under duress, when he’s getting pushed and how he’s going to recover and little things like that. If you’re throwing and it’s free access then it’s like nothing, but it’s little things of alright, he’s getting pushed and one guy recovers a different way than another guy, but you have to throw it at the same time. Just knowing how each guy recovers a little differently is the adjustment.”
(You obviously have to pick your spots when it comes to – you had a moment I guess Sunday with RB Kalen Ballage – what goes into that as a leader, when is the right time to do something like that?) – “You don’t want to be an iron fist all the time, at least I don’t. I like to pick my spots like you said, and have a reason for everything that I do. I believe in Kalen. I know the talent that he has. He has every tool that we need him to have – he’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he catches the ball well, he can pass protect. I told Kalen after the fact, I just want him to have more urgency. We want him to help us, I know he can help us; but we have to know what we’re doing when we’re on the field, especially in pass protection. I think he’s picked it up. I think he’s doing a good job of pressing forward and he’s going to help us this year.”
(Can you talk a little bit about the red zone offense, do you feel like you have more options this year than you’ve had in the past?) – “Yes. I think when you add some new receivers, a couple of new tight ends that are really talented – especially Mike (Gesicki), a guy who’s long and athletic, rangy – you have more mismatch problems than we’ve had in the past. I’m excited about the opportunities we have and trying to find those matchups that are better for us and get them the ball.”
(What’s it been like to see RB Frank Gore run the way that he’s running at this stage of his career?) – “I don’t even know how old Frank is. He runs like he’s 25. I’m excited to play with Frank, I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, how he plays the game, how hard he plays. The (most fun) part for me has been seeing him get through these little tiny cracks. It looks like he’s going to run right into the back of an offensive lineman and somehow he does a subtle little cut, shifts his shoulders and he’s cutting through a tiny little crack. It’s really amazing. I sit back in the quarterback room and watch these cuts and I’m like ‘Holy crap, did you see that?’ I don’t think people realize how tough that is to do and the vision that you have to see, the anticipation that you have to have to make that type of cut. He’s really one of a kind and I’m excited to play with him.”
(Where do you guys stand with the no-huddle offense? How is it progressing?) – “It’s good. We’re constantly working on it. I think we have a few different tempos that we can play at. We can go in the huddle and we can go on the ball at a normal pace. Or we can go – we call it ludicrous speed – and really push the tempo. I think that’s going to help us and be a tool this year more than it has in the past. We can change those tempos up and try to keep the defense on their heels.”
(How often have you guys gone ludicrous speed?) – “We had a few plays today in the last team period that they were out of the blue. It was like normal tempo, normal tempo, boom and then we jump into it and go really fast. I love doing that. I love getting the defense of their heels. Our guys do a good job of getting up on the ball and keeping that pressure on the defense. It’s kind of on Gase to initiate that and call it, but I love when he incorporates it.”
(And what are you guys doing better as opposed to previous years in the no-huddle or whatever speed, up tempo?) – “I think in 2016, going back, (it was the) first year in the offense for a bunch of guys and it was just difficult to be as consistent as we wanted to be, so we ended up huddling more that year. Last year with all the changes, it made it more difficult. Going into this year, we’ve had consistency for several years with these guys. They know what to do, they know what spots to be in and now we’re able to press the tempo.”
(Your thoughts on training camp being over?) – “I’m a little sad that it’s over. I love training camp. I love the grind. I love the time that we’re able to spend together, spend out here on the practice field, spend in the meeting room. I think you get your biggest gains in this time of year. You gain all times of the year, but I think your biggest gains are made in training camp. So, part of me is sad, but the other part of me is excited, because it marks the next phase, the next chapter of this season and getting ready for game one.”
(What’s the hardest part about playing in the heat and how does it work to your advantage early in the season as opposed to later? Does it help?) – “Yes, I think it helps. We’re accustomed to it. We’re out here every single day grinding in the heat pretty much no matter what the temperature is or the index or anything like that. We should be accustomed to it more than any other team and we have to use it to our advantage, especially with what I was talking about the tempo and things like that of getting teams on their heels and grinding them down. They might stay with us in the first, second and third (quarters), but hopefully by the fourth quarter we grounded and pounded them enough to where we can use the heat and the whole home-field advantage to the fullest.”
(What’s your impression been of some of the rookies you’ve faced on first-team defense – S Minkah Fitzpatrick, LB Jerome Baker – and how they’ve looked out there?) – “They’re doing a good job. I think Minkah really flashed in the spring and has continued to get better. They’re moving him around a lot. He’s playing safety. He’s playing nickel. He’s doing a little bit of everything back there. He’s an extremely talented guy. You can tell he loves the game of football and he’s a football player. He works extremely hard. So, he has all the indicators that I love seeing in a defensive player. I think he’s going to be big time for us.”
(On feeling more comfortable being himself.)) – “I think it’s just been a progression throughout my career. I think the more confidence you get as far as games under your belt, time spent with the guys, time in an offense, dealing with all the bull crap that you deal with in this profession, I think at some point you’re kind of like, ‘Screw it. I’m going to be me and do everything I can to win and if they don’t like it, then oh well.’ I think that’s part of it. Part of it is Gase and the support he has for me and the confidence he gives me to go out and be me and lead the way I want to lead.”
(On using his voice more this year.) – “Like I said, it’s just a progression. I wouldn’t say it’s something I’m really focusing on or anything like that. Just going out, being me and trying to drive this team every single day to execute and hold our standard and win football games.”
(I know you addressed this in the past, but take us back through the injury with LB Raekwon McMillan and the rehab and how you guys challenged each other? You’ve seen him go down and challenged each other in the offseason.) – “It was terrible seeing Raekwon go down. It was the first preseason game, kickoff and I was up in the box having a little pity party myself, wishing I was out there. To see him go down, I wasn’t really sure what it was. As soon as I heard it was an ACL, my heart was broken, because I knew the emotions that he was dealing with – pain, disappointment, the anger, all of those things that overwhelm you in that moment. I really felt for him in that. We actually had surgery on the same day, so we were neck-and-neck the whole way through our rehab, pushing each other day in and day out. Little things that weren’t a competition, we’d find a way to make them a competition and to just push each other. We’re competitors. That’s why I love … I found that out about Raekwon during that time and I love it about him is he’s a competitor. He loves competing and loves the game of football. Just being able to compete with him each and every day, there were some things that were really difficult. We did some BFR (blood flow restriction), which was a grind. It’s basically a cuff they put and it squeezes 80 percent of the blood flow out of your legs and then we’d ride the bike. It started off as we’d ride and then we made it a competition. How far can you go in 10 minutes? Boom, boom, boom, boom. Pretty soon we were hitting four miles. It might not sound like a lot, but when you don’t have blood flowing into your legs, your legs feel like they’re going to explode after the first 45 seconds. It’s really just a mental grind. We found a way to push each other and make each other better and I think get mentally stronger through the whole process.”
