Adam Gase – September 26, 2018 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with New England Media
(I wanted to ask you about WR Danny Amendola. What’s it been like working with Danny this offseason and this season for the first time?) – “It’s been good. He picked up our offense quickly. It’s not too far off from what he’s used to. (It’s) a lot of the same things that he’s verbiage-wise probably heard before, or concepts that aren’t far apart from what he’s used to. He’s done a great job as far as rolling right in and fitting into that wide receiver room. The guys love having him here with his experience and being in as many big games as he’s been in and winning as much as he’s had. I think he’s been a positive influence for our guys.”
(Have you seen WR Danny Amendola and RB Brandon Bolden take on leadership roles?) – “Yes. I think they do it in different ways but I think both of those guys have a great sense of pride on their side of the ball. Danny, just seeing him every day in meetings and doing things the way that he does it and the intensity that he brings and everything he does has been great for our guys to witness. It just makes me feel a little bit like when we got Wes (Welker) in Denver, where our younger guys realize ‘Wow, this guy really goes all out every rep in practice.’ Danny is the same way. I think those young guys feed off of that and see him work and that’s really rubbed off on our guys. Brandon, he’s a true pro. He does everything right from meetings to on the field, games. It just seems like he’s been great for us.”
(It’s obviously still September but you guys are 3-0 and the Patriots are 1-2. Is this the biggest early-season game you remember in some time because if you win, you go up three games with a game to go in Miami.) – “I think it’s a little early for us to even worry about anything like that. We’re getting ready for a tough opponent at a place that we haven’t really won in a long time against a Hall of Fame quarterback and a Hall of Fame coach. We know that and understand that we have to play extremely well and we have to prepare the right way and do the right things on Sunday. Really, that’s all our focus is on right now. We’re not worried about anything besides that.”
(It is a challenge at all preparing for the Patriots right now because they have some different moving pieces? WR Josh Gordon is on their roster but he hasn’t played a game yet for the Patriots. Do you have to kind of try to envision how they might use certain players?) – “It’s a challenge, period, just dealing with anything that (Offensive Coordinator) Josh (McDaniels) has his hands on because he’s going to be multiple. You’re not going to have a great feel until … Once the game starts, you might have a little bit of an idea but he’s always going to have that next step ready to go. Usually that’s a step ahead. He’ll show you something before you really adjust to what the issues are. It’s hard to prepare. Our guys just have to do the best job they can to put themselves in position to understand concepts and schemes and possibly what we could see; but at the same time, be ready to adjust on game day.”
(Have you ever gone up against WR Josh Gordon before, one of your teams?) – “I’m trying to think. I don’t think so.”
(Is it hard to envision what WR Josh Gordon could bring to the table? Did you have to go back and look at old film on him?) – “No. The good thing is our offensive coordinator (Dowell Loggains) coached him in Cleveland. I forget what year it was but he’s always talked positive about him and talked about what kind of player he was and how much … I think he was actually there the season where he was really ripping it up pretty good. We know if he’s active, we have an idea of what his skillset is.”
(Your Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke, he grew up locally in the area. It’s the second year for him. What have you seen out of him developmentally and that first year, probably for anybody getting elevated to that job for the first time, there’s going to be some growing pains along the way.) – “Yes, I think it starts with you start to realize – and I’m just going off of my experience as well – you start to realize that your time management has to change a little bit. You have to do a good job of managing your staff and making sure that everybody is on the same page all of the time. You’re trying not to go be at the point where you’re micromanaging everything. Then just getting that game-day feel of it can get frustrating because you’re hoping for perfection all of the time. It just becomes a realization that it’s just battling to get your guys better and working to play as good of a game as you possibly can without one of those games slipping away on something you’ve covered a million times. It’s a challenge when you take that next step. There’s a lot of things that creep up that you never really thought of were part of the job.”
(What do you think about the job that Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke has been doing?) – “He’s done good. Between the time that we get to spend together on a weekly basis and the conversations we have are great. I really enjoy being able to pick his brain a little bit and figure out what he’s thinking sometimes.”
(Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke is obviously devoted to his job, but the world travel part?) – “Yes, I stay away from that. I just always tell him to come back in one piece. It makes me a little nervous when he’s like living with gorillas or chasing cheetahs or whatever he’s doing out there. (laughter) I think the bungee jumping kind of freaks me out a little bit. He’s come back in one piece every year, so that’s a positive.”
(You’re not going to go along with Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke, are you?) – “There’s no chance. (laughter)”
