Ryan Tannehill – September 5, 2018
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Wednesday, September 5, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(There’s always a lot of excitement this time of year. Does this feel like always or is this year different for you?) – “There’s always excitement every year, right? So you come in with a certain level of excitement. For me, I feel more ready for this year than I’ve ever felt before. It’s tough to say the excitement feels different. I feel more confident, I would say, in the guys that we have and the path that we’re on. Are we there yet? No. But the standards that we have established in training camp, throughout the offseason, how guys come to work each and every day pushing to get better, that’s what excites me more, I think more than I’ve ever been.”
(Was there a moment over the last two years you thought, hmm, maybe this day won’t come? Or did you always know you would be back opening day 2018?) – “That was always the goal. I just stayed strong in believing that obviously. You never know what’s going to happen, but (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase was great along the way, just keeping me in the loop and informed on what he was thinking and where the team was headed. Yes, I always felt confident that this would be where we ended up. It’s finally here and I’m ready to go.”
(Were you a little charged up at practice today?) – “I was excited. It’s a big opportunity for us. I knew coming off of a big break that guys were going to need pushing a little bit. It was a warm day out there, a little tropical. We had to do everything we can to get better. It’s one of the few days of practice we get this week, so I really wanted to push the guys and make sure we were getting as much as we could out of each and every rep.”
(I’m assuming that you believe you’re going to show your best starting on Sunday, your best that you’ve ever shown. If that’s true, why do you believe that?) – “Because you’re constantly trying to get better. That’s the reason we’re here, right, is to build off of what we’ve done constantly and improve off of what you’ve done in the past. I feel more confident in fully playing the position than I ever have and everything it entails. It might not be each and every play you see it, but I know when certain situations come up, I’m going to be quicker to react and make the right decision and not have to think about it.”
(Because you’re more familiar with the offense? Because why?) – “Yes, more familiar with the offense; (I’m) more confident in all the things that we’re doing. It’s my third year, really, in the offense being around it and going through the mental side of things. When things break down, (I) know exactly where my outs are (and) how to save the play. It might be a throw-away and not taking the sack; it might be just getting the ball out. Little things like that, that aren’t going to really show up on the stat sheet, but can have a huge effect on the course of a game.”
(What will Sunday be like for you, 16 months in the making?) – “Sunday is going to be huge. I’m really looking forward to it. Obviously, I haven’t got to play a full game in a long, long time. To be able to do it at home in front of our fans and go out and do what I love, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
(This new-found confidence that you have with the playbook and things, has that kind of extended to you trying to maybe endear yourself with fans on social media like we’ve seen on videos recently?) – “I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. I haven’t spent a lot of time on social media in the past — I still don’t spend a lot of time on there — but I’m just trying to engage a little bit more with fans and give fans a little window into my life.”
(Why?) – “I just haven’t done it in the past. People are constantly asking me about it. I got a lot of positive attitude as I’ve kind of slowly got into it. (I) try to have some fun with it and just let that aspect of what my life out there a little bit.”
(You kind of left your son, Steel, hung out to dry a little bit with that throw.) – “(Laughs) It was actually a good throw. (My wife) Lauren is like, ‘He actually made a good throw, why did you have to trash him like that?’ I’m like, I guess for the price of comedy, right?”
(What do you like most about this group of receivers?) – “I think their work ethic. Every day those guys are coming to work. Obviously you have DeVante (Parker) out, so then Jakeem (Grant) and Albert (Wilson) are stepping up a little bit. Then Jakeem gets banged up a little bit and misses a little time. But (I’m) excited with how they’ve worked, how they’ve progressed. They come to work each and every day. They all bring something a little bit different to the table. We have a ton of fast guys, a ton of guys that can stretch the field, a lot of versatile guys. We’ve moved Albert around a lot, moved Jakeem around a lot, Kenny (Stills) can play both inside and outside. We have guys that can move all over the place and we can create the matchups we want.”
(With WR Albert Wilson and WR Kenny Stills on the field at the same time, the challenge that presents for defenses with the speed that those guys possess?) – “Yes, you have Albert, Kenny (Stills), Jakeem (Grant), you add in (Kenyan) Drake and (Mike) Gesicki, you have really five guys that can really go and create matchup problems for defenses, so you kind of have to pick your poison on defense on what you want to take away.”
(Is this the best offensive line you’ve played behind?) – “I’m more confident in this offensive line than I’ve ever been. They do a great job and have done a great job over the course of camp of jelling together and coming together as a unit. Starting all five individual guys and then really coming together as a unit and working as a unit, and once you start seeing that happen and they’re passing off twists in games up front, it gives you a lot of confidence as a passer to be able to stand in the pocket and make the throw.”
(What is the greatest challenge that the Titans defense poses?) – “They’re good. I think their back end is probably some of the strength of the defense. They have some good players back there. They do get good pressure up front. (Jurrell Casey) ‘99’ is a heck of a football player. He comes off the ball fast. He’s disruptive and can get after the passer. They have a lot of talented guys and we have to do our jobs and keep those guys accounted for.”
(When you’re facing a team that’s gone through a lot of changes, do you just focus on what you have to do? You’re going to see things that they haven’t shown on film yet.) – “Obviously, (Defensive Coordinator) Dean Pees coming over from Baltimore, facing him the past couple of years, they’ve done a lot of things with that defense. They haven’t really shown it so much with Tennessee, but it’s all on the table. So that’s kind of the wild card when you’re facing a team that changes, right? The coordinators. They’re showing a little bit more stuff than maybe they did with Houston in the past, but we’re preparing for all of it just in case they roll it out.”
(How much have you guys held back this preseason and not shown?) – “Yes, there’s always stuff you hold back. There were a few plays going into Week 3 that Gase wanted to run. I said, ‘Hey, those are great plays. Let’s save those.’ (laughter) We have some things that we haven’t shown, that we’re excited about and I think can help us, not only in this game but as we move forward.”
(Did you guys save those plays?) – “Yes, yes. (laughter) Thankfully we saved them.”
(Has QB Luke Falk been able to help you with anything as far as Tennessee is concerned?) – “I haven’t picked his brain too much yet so far. We’ll have him in the room and have those conversations.”
