Clyde Christensen – October 7, 2016
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Friday, October 7, 2016
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(On Head Coach Adam Gase talking about restricting the running back rotation and how he thinks that’s going to affect the offense and if it is to get one guy into a rhythm) – “Yes, I think that’s what he’s hoping. I’ve told you every week kind of the same thing. We keep rotating through the guys and hoping someone just grabs hold of that position and takes it. I think he’s got a plan; I know he talked to you guys about it. So I think in the back of his mind, he has some thoughts; but again, it’s really just been keep trying guys and hopefully someone jumps up and goes.”
(On why nobody has taken hold of that running back position yet) – “I don’t know. That’s a good question. A lot of things – a trillion things – some self-inflicted by them, some game situations. I talked to you a lot about just a lack of snaps. There hasn’t been enough for anyone to get into a rhythm. I do think that some of that is (the) circumstances. So Arian’s (Foster) injury, maybe it was going to be Arian and all of a sudden he gets hurt. I think there are probably 10 reasons you could give why it hasn’t or that could be possible explanations, but it hasn’t.”
(On if he’s talking about the running back rotation in game situations because the team is averaging 4.2 yards per carry, which is above the league average, but has the fewest amount of carries in the NFL) – “That’s right. And I think we’re darn close to the least amount of snaps (in the NFL). I think that they are all tied together, sure. I think the third downs affected everything. The poor performance on third downs affected everything and then you kind of invest in Arian (Foster) and then he had an injury and now you’re going with the next guy. So it really has been kind of a musical chairs and a different reason each time that the chair opens back up.”
(On how tough these last four weeks have been on him) – “Yes. I think it’s frustrating. One thing, and we talked to the team, you contract for 16 weeks. I don’t let myself go get too high or too low; but you want to see it go well. You want to see it go well for the guys. I want to see one of the backs have 450 yards right now. You want more snaps. You want more balls. You want all those things. I think there is a frustration level that is kind of a personal hurt if you will. As far as just going up and down, I just have refused to do that and hope the unit has refused to do that. Just keep playing. Just keep playing and then let’s look up at the end of 16 weeks and see what we’ve done. That has to be the mentality. If you’re looking at the scoreboard … It’s the same thing. If we were 4-0, I’d be saying the same thing, ‘Hey, steady as she goes.’ We’ve just got to keep improving and go from there. On a personal level, it’s been frustrating. You just want it to go well for the guys, and for the unit, for the city, for the team, for the whole deal, for Mr. Ross. And it hasn’t so far; but it’s a long ways to go. We just finished the first quarter. We put ourselves in a hole. The reminder is … The two facts of the matter are this: It is only the end of the first quarter and we’ve got 12 to play and a lot can still be written differently. Right? We’re not anywhere near through with this chapter of the book, if you will – the story. But the other fact is we’re not playing very good football on offense and we have to play better. So those are two facts. We are only at the end of the first quarter, but there’s no guarantee it just turns around just because you want it to either. You’ve got to play better football. That’s the emphasis. We’ve got to play better football and who knows? The examples from last year – if it’s Kansas City or Houston. There are a trillion turnaround stories that 1-3 is not fatal in any stretch of the imagination in this league, which we all know. But playing bad football is fatal. It doesn’t turn when you’re playing bad football. We have to play better football.”
(On what gives him confidence that this is the week it will turn around for the team) – “Every week is the week for coaches. Every week is the week. This is the week. I haven’t gone into any of them thinking we weren’t going to win the darn thing. I go into this one thinking, ‘Let’s go play good football and win this thing. Let’s look up at the end of 60 minutes and … (Let’s) play good football for 60 minutes and look up and see what happens.’ There are no guarantees in this league – no guarantees whatsoever – which is one of the fun things about it. But the one thing that’s encouraging to me is that the guys keep working, that we have been steady, that there haven’t been big dips in effort. There haven’t been those things. They’ve come out to practice and work. It hasn’t been one of those where you just fold it up (and are) not in the games. They had a chance to fold up at halftime of New England. They’ve had some chances to fold up, and it hasn’t even come close yet. They just keep playing, and that’s the encouraging thing. Now, we’ve got to fix the things like third down, turnovers and those things, and we’ll see if they do that – see if we do that. If we do that, I think this thing will turn. If we don’t, then it’s going to be tough sledding.”
(On whether having all five starting offensive lineman this week changes play calling or personnel packages) – “I don’t think it has. You do just feel like there’ll be some continuity. (Mike) Pouncey is one of the best at his position. (Anthony) Steen did a good job. I really haven’t felt like … I haven’t felt one of those, ‘Gosh, we have no chance until we get Pouncey back.’ Any time you get your leader back – any time you get one of the heartbeats of this thing back – it’s big. Even beyond the play – even more than the play in my mind – is the presence, the veteran presence. (If) we’re shaky, that gives us a veteran presence right down the middle of our offense. That’s really important, and he is a veteran guy. He’ll give us some enthusiasm. He’ll give us some confidence. He’ll give us a little bit of swagger. We got a lot of young guys and a lot of young guys have to worry about themselves. It’s hard for them to influence the unit, because they have to take care of their own mess. Pouncey is a guy who can do his job and encourage some other guys to do theirs and lead in that way. I think it’s a big … It’s big getting him back. If everything keeps going the way it’s going and we get him back for this ball game, I think it’ll be big (for) not even just the football – not how well we block their nose guard or something like that – but more in the blood of this thing and the lifeline of this thing.”
(On the best way to utilize RB Kenyan Drake) – “The best way would be for him to earn the starting job and get 40 snaps a game, getting himself in shape and do everything right. That would be the best way. We have to keep understanding that he’s a rookie, and we got to keep feeding him. He’s a talented kid. He’s a good kid. He’s going to be a good player. We just got to find ways (to use him). We’ve used a little two-back stuff. We can continue to do that a little bit. We can use some bits and pieces to try and showcase his ability to come out of the backfield and catch the football. We’ll continue to do those things. We’re always looking for ways to get him in there and give him a chance to show what he can do. He is a special talent. Yes, he’s in shape, but there’s no way to prepare for this league, especially for a guy like him (on) special teams. Special teams for a rookie who hasn’t been here all year-round and hasn’t been through it, I think it takes a little time to play yourself into shape. All of a sudden, you’re covering a kick and all of a sudden it’s first down, you’re handed the ball and then (it is) third down and here comes a big ‘backer off the edge and you got to block him and all of a sudden you don’t convert the third (down), you’re on punt team, you’ve got to cover the punt. I do think that … I think by average standards, he’s in good shape, but in the role that he’s in right now, you’ve got to be in great shape. I think every week he gets closer and closer to that. To give an impression he is in bad shape would be a … That would not be the situation. It would not be that. It would be more that he’s fulfilling a bunch of roles and all of a sudden those run together when you’re in there on third down, fourth down, first down.”
(On if there is enough information to have a sense that RB Kenyan Drake could be an NFL starter) – “My sense would be, ‘Yes.’ My sense would be that the more we see him I think that he could be a really good pass protector. I think he could be a third-down (running back). I think he could be a special teams guy. I think he could be a returner, and I think he could be a first and second down guy. He has been very, very impressive. If he does it, we’ll see. I’m really encouraged with what you see talent-wise. It’s hard to do it week in and week out, day after day after day. That takes a special guy. There are a lot of talented guys that have come and gone through this league. We talk a lot about just being a pro. There are a lot of NFL players; there are not that many NFL pros. There’s a big difference – big, big difference. A lot of guys got the sweat suit and the shield on their arm. That don’t make you a pro. That just makes you an employee of the NFL. That just makes you an NFL player. But (being) a pro, that’s hard to do. That’s hard to do. That’s why there aren’t that many of them.”
(On how he would assess QB Ryan Tannehill’s play this year and where he would like to see improvement) – “I would say this: I would say … He would be the same dido as the unit. At times he has done things really, really well. At times I think he’d love to have a do over, if you would. Just like the offense, we’ve done some things really, really well, and then there’d be a lot of times you where you’d love to have a do over, which don’t exist. We all know they don’t exist. The answer would probably be not as well as he would hope, not as well as we would hope. The same as the unit. We haven’t played as well as we would hope or they would hope. I wouldn’t put him any further above or below the unit. I put him with the unit. This year has been one of those where everyone is taking their turn. Everyone is taking their turn jumping offsides, missing a throw, dropping a pass, calling a bad play. I include myself in all that, too. Everyone has taken their chance (like) giving up a sack-fumble. We’ve all taken our turns. That’s what I’m talking to you about, that level of really playing good pro football. To really play at a high level of football, you got to do it play in and play out. That’s what the teams that get in the tournament do, and the ones that win do it longer and harder than everybody else. We got to get into that group. We’re not in it, yet.”
(On what would be the area of improvement for QB Ryan Tannehill) – “I think he has been really, really good on his deep throws. I think when I came here everyone said that it was a deficiency, and I haven’t seen that. I think he has done a good job with his deep throws. I think probably (it is) just the consistency. I think there are probably some third down throws … You probably measure a quarterback by third down and red zone and two minute. That’s what I put a double weight on – those three areas. (With) third down, we’ve had a couple where we got to convert it, where him and Jarvis (Landry) have to be on the same page. We took a look at them, and they ought to be conversations (where) someone makes a play – someone makes a catch, someone makes a throw. Again, it’s harder to assess blame as much as … There are a lot of plays in this league that happen. I don’t know who, but someone has to make that play. It has to be a better throw, it has to be a better catch. Somehow we get the situation right, (and) we have to be able to convert those third downs. That’s what we haven’t been able to do. So, I would say probably – if you pinned me down and say I got to say one – then it would be that (we) just convert third downs, somehow find a way to convert them. I think we got to use his legs a little bit on third down, too. Every week you look up and there’s a third-and-12 and the quarterback takes off running and converts a third down where everyone was covered or something. Those things aren’t as clean and pretty as the way you draw them up once that pass rush tees off on third down. We got to find some way to make those plays.”
