Ryan Tannehill – September 14, 2016
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Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(On how important this game is) – “Division games are huge. You always want to start out strong and really play strong the whole year against your division so (it’s) a big game for us, on the road, against a tough team. It will be fun.”
(On what the team needs to do to get a win in Gillette Stadium) – “You have to play well for 60 minutes. I think that’s the biggest key for us and probably the part where we’ve failed in the past. We’ve had good halves there but just haven’t put a full game together up there. I think that’s the biggest key for us – playing strong for 60 minutes straight.”
(On the different challenge of playing New England’s defense opposed to Seattle’s) – “I think that’s what you get when you face New England, you really never know. They like to play their man coverage but they’re always going to throw something at you that they haven’t shown much of on tape and try to make you stumble a little bit – whether it’s in protection, a stunt up front, a blitz or a coverage that they haven’t shown. You never really know until the game gets going and it could be a couple of different things throughout the game. That’s one thing they do a good job of and we just have to stay on our toes and be ready and make the adjustment when it happens.”
(On how he feels when Head Coach Adam Gase says that Gase should listen to him more during a game) – “That’s the NFL. That’s football. You’re trying to make adjustments throughout the game. He sees things; I see things. We just have to be open with each other and communicate and get to those things that hopefully can work. He saw some things that worked as well, so it wasn’t like he was swinging and missing up there. He had a lot of good thoughts and good things that we went to, as well.”
(On if it makes him feel good that Head Coach Adam Gase said that Gase should listen to him more in a game) – “Of course it is nice. I didn’t know that he said that, but it’s nice. The more that we can communicate and be on the same page – not just myself but the other guys that are out there, (we can) communicate what we are seeing and what we are facing from the defense – we can make the adjustments on the sideline and get the ball in the right spot.”
(On what he was pushing for when he was talking to Head Coach Adam Gase during the game about that go-ahead drive in Seattle) – “Just concepts and things that I thought would be good, and they ended up working out.”
(On how much of a challenge it is to learn how to win games at the end consistently) – “It takes everyone. I think that (it’s about) finding a way to make plays when it counts. We saw some good things last week. I think the offense really hurt the defense in the fact that we couldn’t get them off the field enough throughout the game so (the defense) was tired at the end. That’s on the offense. (We have to) increase our play count, decrease their play count and keep our defense fresh so that way if we do get a situation where the defense is on the field at the end of the game, they’re fresh and they can get their pass rush and have the energy they need to stop the offense.”
(On if they can expect him to run more this year) – “I don’t know. I think it’s a week-by-week thing for us. If it can help us, I’m more than willing to do it and we’ll have it in the game plan. I can’t say that it will be every week but we’ll definitely evaluate it week by week if we think it can help us.”
(On the reaction to Head Coach Adam Gase saying that the team is going for it on fourth downs and to get used to it) – “It’s great. He’s had that mindset since he came here. He’s said, ‘Hey, early in games especially, if we’re inside the 50 and it’s fourth-and-short, we’re probably going to go for it.’ Just that mindset that we’re going to have another shot and four downs to make 10 yards is huge for a quarterback, knowing we can check it down and have another shot at it. Or if we run it on third-and-short and don’t get it, we’re going to have another shot, whether it’s a run or a pass. As an offense, we just have to come through. When we get into those situations, when it is fourth-and-1, when it is fourth-and-2, when it is fourth-and-3, and he gives us another opportunity to go out and have a shot at it, we just have to come through and make that play.”
(On how much of a building block that go-ahead score in Seattle was) – “It was big. We didn’t have much going all day; we had a lot of tough drives. But it came down to it at the end of the game, we needed a score. As an offense, we came together and marched the ball down the field and got it into the end zone. I saw a lot of things from guys that … You know, Kenny Stills and the receivers on the screen to Damien (Williams), they ran off full speed just like it was a pass. Kenny ended up taking two guys – the corner ended up chasing him from Damien’s side of the field across to get (Stills). That opened up the space for Damien to make that big play. Just the details like that – at a key situation in the game when (Stills) had no chance to get the ball and is not going to get much credit for it; but he’s a guy who really made that play go. That’s just one example of guys fighting for ways to make us go and get in the end zone. It was encouraging to see that happen at the end of the game when we really needed it.”
(On if playing complementary football between the offense and the defense is a point of emphasis this week) – “Yes. The defense played great last week. I think the offense really has to step it up. We have to stay on the field and keep ourselves in third and manageable. We got into too many third-and-long situations. We knew going in that if you get into a third-and-long against that team, your chance of converting is slim to none. That’s going to be every week. It’s tough to convert third-and-15s in the NFL. We have to keep ourselves in third and manageable and when we get into those situations, be clean in our communication, be able to get the ball off and complete the ball for a first down.”
(On what it meant to him to be elected a team captain by his teammates) – “It’s huge. I don’t overlook it; I don’t take it lightly. It’s an honor to represent these guys and the men that are in this locker room and the belief that they have in me as a leader of this team. It’s definitely an honor and now it’s a responsibility to lead this team and find ways to win.”
(On why it is challenging to put two halves together at New England) – “They’re a good team. They’re going to come out and they’re going to make second-half adjustments. I think there’s been a couple of times where we’ve been up at half and they’ve come out and made a few adjustments and we just haven’t hung in there like we should have. We haven’t made plays. We’ve turned the ball over and let them get back into the game and eventually take the lead. We have to take care of the football up there. They’re going to take care of the football. They’re not going to give you any cheap ones so as an offense, we have to take care of the football, and then make the plays when they are there. We’re going to have opportunities and we have to hit them when they count.”
