Adam Gase – April 27, 2016
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Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On if he gets a better feel when he’s out on the field re-routing guys on plays and getting into player’s faces) – “For me, it’s … I kind of got a little bored standing by the defense so I went over and bugged the quarterbacks a little bit. (It’s) just my way to jump in there and get something going … For myself to get involved in what’s going on with their routes versus air.”
(On C Mike Pouncey not being at voluntary minicamp today) – “Yeah, I know where he is. But he’s fine.”
(On if C Mike Pouncey not being at voluntary minicamp is excused) – “It’s voluntary.”
(On if WR DeVante Parker looks like a rookie or if he’s had a year of seasoning) – “Yeah it looks like he’s … That year, just being in the program and getting to play some games, he seems to be a quick study. I know he was well coached in college. We did a lot of homework on him when we were in Chicago. I think I’ve said it before, we were looking at him and WR Kevin (White) and WR Amari (Cooper). So you can tell, I mean he’s pretty sharp. He’s picking up what we’re doing really, really quickly. I’ve been really impressed with the fact that it seems like every day he comes in, he’s on it and he knows what to do. And he’s very attentive in the meetings.”
(On the potential and the youth of the wide receivers group) – “I think our whole team’s young. I don’t know how many, what do we got… 35 guys that are under 25 right now? It’s fun. I told them the other day the great thing about receivers is you get paid to run. I don’t think I’m going to have anybody complaining about their legs are tired or anything. They’re too young to complain right now. It’s fun to watch those guys work and (Wide Receivers Coach) Shawn Jefferson and (Assistant Wide Receivers Coach) Ben (Johnson) have done a great job and Shawn’s (Jefferson) got an obstacle course out there every day so he’ll keep them engaged for the most part. It’s going to be awhile before they get tired of doing individuals. Those guys have really brought an energy level that’s exciting to be around.”
(On the analysis that WR DeVante Parker had trouble selling his routes last year and if that’s something that he has noticed) – “I haven’t noticed that. I mean its two days out there working, so we’ll see. You always try to keep an eye on all those type of things with offensive line. Same thing on defense to see if guys are tipping off what they’re doing. We’ve got so far to go. Once we get into OTAs and you have a chance to go back and look at things in the summer heading into camp, then you at least have a game plan of ‘Okay, when you run this certain route you may be tipping off what you’re doing.’ So you make those corrections going into training camp and then you give them a few tools to use to help them expose something else that a defender might be looking at.”
(On what he thinks of the cornerback group aside from CB Byron Maxwell) – “I think the guys are competing right now. And that’s all we can ask for. I just always look back in (2011 with the Broncos), we come out of the draft and no one knew who CB Chris Harris was. Everybody knows who he is now. He’s a $2,000 undrafted college free agent and now he’s one of the best corners in the league. So you let these guys go out, they compete, and then you’re going to find somebody that’s scrappy and figures out a way to get it done. And that’s what we’re looking for. And that’s why we have that large group out there. Somebody is going to step up. It’s the NFL. That’s the way it is. We’ll find somebody to play. I mean they’re not going to cancel a game. I know that.”
(On if he has had any conversations with RB Jay Ajayi about his role amidst speculation the team may draft a running back this week) – “I don’t think he’s worried about it. I think he’s focused on what he’s trying to do right now. I mean he looks out there right now and he knows he’s a starter. We’re going out there (and) he’s getting better every day. He’s showing me a lot of great things. I like his skill set. I liked him coming out (of college). He’s impressed me more both days, from the first day to the second day. We’ll just keep learning and we’ll just keep giving him opportunities.”
(On what he likes about RB Daniel Thomas) – “For me, I had a different exposure with him last year. He came in on a tryout and he impressed everybody there. We signed him and he was actually having a really good camp and then he got hurt. Right now, I think he feels really comfortable because he’s coming into this thing and he knows the terminology. He knows what we expect out of him and he’s playing fast. When I see him in meetings, he’s really engaged in those things because he’s a step ahead of everybody in those things. He knows what we’re doing. He knows how I like calling a preseason game, at least. And I feel like I know his strengths of what he likes to do and when he gets his opportunity in the preseason, we’re going to try to use those to his advantage.”
(On his early impressions of QB Ryan Tannehill on the field) – “I guess I’m still trying to figure out a few things; but, I guess I didn’t realize how live his arm was. The more I watch him throw, it’s effortless. That ball travels down the field pretty good and he’s hit some big plays, and then just underneath having some touch. It’s been good to kind of just get out here and see things live. When you watch it on tape, you don’t get a great feel for on tape compared to when you see a guy throw live.”
(On how he sees TE Jordan Cameron’s pass-catching potential) – “I feel like he does a really good job. I mean he’s done well, at least today. I know yesterday we walked off there and I was like, ‘How many balls did you catch?’ And it wasn’t a great answer. We peppered him in the walkthrough, though. So I feel like he felt better about it. But he did a good job today and got more involved. We had a lot of third down situations going on today so he was really involved in that and made a lot of plays.”
(On General Manager Chris Grier) – “I feel like our personalities, we’re different; but, I feel like every day it’s my job to make sure he’s laughing. He’s very serious and he’s grinding right now because of the draft, trying to make sure he goes through all the scenarios. I know there are a lot of people looking at what we’re doing right now and he’s making sure that we’re prepared and making sure that we’re all on the same page. I mean the communication with him has been off the charts and it’s easy in my position to be around a guy like that, that’s constantly communicating. (He’s) making sure we’re all on the same page and between him and (Executive Vice President, Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and myself, I just feel like every night when we finish up, we’re all on the same page when we leave the building.”
(On whether the returning starters will pick up his system quickly because of their experience) – “I said this yesterday, and the thing that people don’t understand about NFL players is since they’ve been playing football, you have no idea how many playbooks these guys have learned over time. This is kind of what they do. This is their profession. So, when you bring in a new playbook, the terminology changes, but nobody is running anything groundbreaking. And a lot of these guys have run all these same routes, they’ve used the same blocking schemes, they’ve played the same coverages, they’ve played the same front. It’s just a few different things that we do here and there. It’s not necessarily anything that’s out of this world. It’s just different terminology for them.”
(On motivating the players with intensity) – “I think it started more in Denver, when I was the wideout coach there. I had a group between Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Brandon Lloyd (and) Brandon Stokley. Those guys, they never stopped. I think they rubbed off on me. Once we got (CB Aqib) Talib and Chris Harris and those guys going, it was just a nonstop battle. It was fun. It made practice feel like it was so short, because it was just constantly … Everybody was talking, but everybody was working hard. When you have that kind of atmosphere, you love being out there, you love competing. Just get as many guys like that as possible on the field.”
(On whether keeping up the intensity is easier for a younger coach) – “I don’t know. I’ve never been old yet.” (laughter)
(On whether he relates to players because of his young age) – “I don’t know. I watch some of our other coaches that have been doing this a little longer than I have, and I’ve seen their interaction with players. Some guys are the same as what my personality is. The guy that I learned under a lot was Coach (Mike) Martz, and probably, people didn’t realize how much he talked in practice. He talked about as much trash as I’ve ever seen – as far as a coach goes – to defensive players. I think being around him, that kind of fueled my fire a little bit too to know that, ‘Hey, a coach can talk a little junk to opposing players.’”
