Adam Gase – October 17, 2018
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Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Did QB Ryan Tannehill throw today?) – “No.”
(What’s the status with QB Ryan Tannehill right now?) – “He’ll be out this week. He’ll be out this week and we’re taking it really day-to-day. Like every week, hopefully we’ll see progress.”
(If he’s not playing this week, what did you want to see from QB Ryan Tannehill and what he did today?) – “We’re working on anything that has to do with pocket movements, footwork and things like that. Basically he can do everything; he just can’t throw.”
(You’re facing a stretch where you’re going to play two games in eight days. I know you’re not looking ahead but is there a chance he could return for that Thursday night game?) – “I don’t know. Legitimately, reading all of the stuff that they gave me and all of the opinions we got the other day, it’s just an unknown for us.”
(Is there any update on DE Cameron Wake? We saw him doing some individual stuff out there.) – “Yeah, I’ll be interested to see how he felt. Just seeing him back out there is a good thing for us. I’ll probably get with him either tonight or tomorrow. Probably more tomorrow just because it’s the day after (practice and) see how he felt. Hopefully we’ll know by the end of the week how he feels and whether or not he can go.”
(How about CB Bobby McCain?) – “(It’s the) same thing.”
(Not that it’s huge in the grand scheme of things but is there any reason or thought process behind moving practice an hour later today?) – “We had some extended meeting time, so we moved some things around.”
(When you reviewed the film from the last game, can you tell me some of the things that T Laremy Tunsil and T Ja’Wuan James specifically did well that made you very pleased?) – “I think they did a good job of one: executing what we asked them to do. We had some things that we did a little different protection-wise. And then Laremy was one-on-one quite a bit. It didn’t matter which guy he was going against, that’s always a tough ask of any player of basically saying ‘Hey, you’re on an island all day and we need you to win.’ He did that and I thought Ja’Wuan did a good job. He had quite a few one-on-ones. He did a good job of getting hands on the defender and just stymying him at the line to where we were getting the ball out pretty quick.”
(How much do you think it will help QB Brock Osweiler to get all of the reps this week?) – “I think any time that you can really dial into the game plan and make some adjustments as the week goes on for that guy, that always helps. He knows the offense really well. Guys are used to kind of the way that he operates. He’s extremely loud. When he calls out plays at the line of scrimmage, it’s hard to miss it.”
(Was getting DT Akeem Spence from Detroit, did that initiate or start with Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek when he came in? Or had you guys targeted him?) – “I think it started with Kris. I’m trying to remember the whole…”
(I’m just curious what the process was there leading up to getting DT Akeem Spence. Was that a guy that Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek came in and said this guy is probably going to be available and you need to get him?) – “I’m trying to remember what the exact actual steps were because we talked to them early in the offseason and then it kind of was like a dead period to where we had the draft, free agency and all of those types of things. We didn’t really have as many guys as we were looking for and then we kind of went back to those guys again. Then they were interested. They were already kind of in their offseason program. We finally got it to a point to where we figured out what we were good with, with them, and what they were good with. That’s how it ended up happening. It was a long, drawn out process it felt like.”
(Why did you want DT Akeem Spence?) – “I mean any time that you can help a d-line coach, especially get some of his guys in there that know how he operates and knows how he likes to do things, it benefits the entire team. We thought he was a really good player. We really felt like he was a great fit for us.”
(One more question on QB Ryan Tannehill. There’s been nothing in the last 48 hours to change your optimism long term for him?) – “No. What are you asking? Are you talking about…”
(QB Ryan Tannehill will be back this year and all of that?) – “Yeah, as far as I know.”
(Did QB Ryan Tannehill have a setback in the last couple of days?) – “No.”
(Back to T Laremy Tunsil, how high of a level is he playing at in general?) – “It’s pretty high. The confidence level is extremely high right now with him. I think he’s showing it on tape. I think that Cincinnati game showed everybody else how valuable he is to us and what he can do. When we lost him, that hurt us.”
(Was the interior of the line last Sunday as good as you could have expected with the two major losses at that position?) – “Yeah, I think the guys did a good job. They execute what we ask them to do and played physical, played long. They played through the whistle. It was good.”
(How is C Travis Swanson doing?) – “He’s doing good.”
(The two players that you all have designated that can return, obviously we saw them on the practice field for the first time today. Is your expectation that they’ll be ready to go in November, the first time they’re eligible? And what can they add – LB Mike Hull in particular.) – “You just focus on one week at a time and just make sure that those guys are good to go. You don’t want to do anything crazy and throw them out there too early and they’re not ready. I mean they’ve been out for a while.”
(RB Frank Gore came here with a well-established reputation. What about him has surprised you?) – “Nothing. I mean he’s the same guy I remember. He’s an old-school warrior. The other day he gave us everything he had. He laid it all on the field and he went all the way as far as he could.”
(Lions Head Coach Matt Patricia referenced this today and I think you’ve said this before about your battles with him. You guys sometime get into this thought process of what does he think I think he thinks I think he’s going to call. Do you do that more with him than anybody else that you’ve battled over the years?) – “Probably just because it feels like we’ve played each other a lot since 2013. It’s always a tough matchup just schematically. We both know each other (and) what we’ve done in the past. It’s like, is somebody going to reach back to something we did before or something new? It’s just there’s a little bit of that going on.”
(Do you enjoy it any more so than any other week? Do you like going against Matt Patricia specifically?) – “Yeah. When you go against people that you’ve known for a long time and that you’re friends with, it’s always a fun battle. The only problem is he’s had probably the bragging rights a little too much. It’s a challenge. When you’re dealing with somebody that’s extremely smart and does a really good job and prepares and you know is working extremely hard to get his group right, you know you need to do a great job and you have to make sure you work as hard as you can to make sure your guys are prepared.”
(Was there ever a time where you feel like you got too caught up and got too bogged down in trying to predict what Matt Patricia thought you thought he was going to do or something like that?) – “No. I feel like a lot of times we reign ourselves in by the end of the week. It might start out like that early but by the end of the week, you get everything kind of tied down. Players will let you know if they feel like you’re going off the reservation a little bit.”
(Could you call Matt Patricia’s defense for a game?) – “No.”
(You’re not familiar with it enough?) – “That’s the other side of the ball. It’s different. The way that I look at things and the way that defensive guys will look at things, there is a little bit of difference when you have those conversations. Even in our building, when I say this is what we’re trying to do, they kind of sometimes can see it a little different.”
(What’s the staple of Matt Patricia’s defense?) – “He’s going to do what he needs to do to win the game. It could be whatever he’s shown, it could be new stuff, it could be something that they ran in 2008 in New England. It could be a lot of different things.”
(With someone you’ve battled as often as you’ve gone back and forth with Matt Patricia – without revealing state secrets – are you more likely to try something new or pull out something from a bag of tricks or throw a curveball in there that maybe you wouldn’t with someone who is less familiar with what you do?) – “I feel like I’ve tried everything with him so I don’t know how much is … I think we’re close to maxing out on that aspect.”
(With QB Brock Osweiler, is there anything from Sunday that you saw that surprised you that you can build on?) – “That’s about what I expected. I think there’s a few things that we just need to make sure that we’re all on the same page. When I was with him before in Denver, he was ready to go by my last year there. So that would have been his third season. When I left he was going into his fourth season. It was just a matter of time before he started playing.”
(We know how you handle QB Ryan Tannehill but when you get into the backups, with QB Brock Osweiler, is it Brock’s game no matter what? Or do you evaluate it during the game as far as whether you might go to QB David Fales if it’s not going well?) – “I’m good with where we’re at right now. I know what Brock brings to the table. I know what his strengths are and what he likes to do. I’m real comfortable with where we’re at right now.”
(We saw QB Brock Osweiler throw it away a few times to avoid a sack or avoid forcing a bad throw. That’s something that he’s talked about since training camp and he actually executes that. Does that come easy for him or is that something that he’s had to learn over the years?) – “It’s probably something that he’s developed over time. It’s hard to remember exactly if he’s always been like that. There was a lot of practices and preseason games, so you’re talking about a lot of stuff that’s probably been erased from my memory. But he learned from the best guy you could possibly learn from. That guy, Peyton (Manning), never took a lot of sacks. When you get to sit behind a guy like that for as long as he did, be in meetings every day and hear him talk through games afterwards, that’s valuable.”
(You talked about waiting behind QB Peyton Manning. There were a lot of times where QB Brock Osweiler could have gotten frustrated during that time. Do you remember having conversations with him about that?) – “No. He never worried about it. He just kept working. He knew what the deal was. He knew that any year could be the year because I know there was … My last two years in Denver, both seasons when they ended, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with what (Manning) was going to do, if he was done or if he was coming back another year. We were all in the same boat. We stayed present and we knew what it was at the time. Then something changed and we would adjust.”
(You left before QB Brock Osweiler was actually able to start being the starter. Did anything change between that time and him?) – “He’s been the same guy since I’ve known him. I think he was like 20 when we drafted him. He was young. But he’s always been the same guy. He’s always been a vocal guy. He’s been a hard worker. That was the thing that we loved about him. They always described him as a gym rat. He had almost like that basketball work ethic where he was always in the gym. That’s kind of what he was with football. He was always in the building. He was always doing something, whether it be in the weight room, throwing, studying tape. He did a lot of things on his own.”
(With TE Nick O’Leary, you were able to do a number of things very competently. Has that expanded what you’re able to do and what you’re comfortable doing in your playbook?) – “I mean we’re always going to keep trying to grow through the season. We kind of try to use the guys’ strengths to our advantage and avoid any kind of … something that they’re not as good at and stay away from it. I feel like he’s done a good job with some of the things that we’ve asked him to do. There’s a couple of things that I know he’d like to improve on. I think that group has done a good job. They all have strengths that we really like.”
(For you and QB Brock Osweiler, working together again, is this kind of a sense of unfinished business maybe? Getting to do something that you guys couldn’t do…) – “I mean it was fun calling the game for him. It’s something that we never really got to experience. There were a couple of games where he got in there and it was like mop-up duty. It wasn’t for him because it was the only opportunity. But the calls change. It’s so different when you’re up and he’s in there and we’re running the ball more than not, more times than not. This was good. I forget how many games he said … He told me it’s been 58 games I’ve heard you call and this will be the first one that’s real.”
