Ryan Tannehill – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(What challenges are there going out for 11 days – 10 or 11 days – and not returning here, or staying out on the road that long?) – “I think being away from home, obviously, is a challenge, especially for guys that have families. Maintaining focus. (You are) out of your normal element. To prepare and get your body and mind ready to go when you’re out of your normal routine. That’s going to be the challenge for this team is to keep our routine as much as we can although we’re not in this building and at home.”
(What do you see on the tape from the Chargers defense that’s a challenge?) – “I see a good defense. They’re playing really well. They’re a sound defense. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. Their secondary will make plays on the football. Up front, they’re doing a good job of stopping the run. You’re looking at a sound defense that, overall, that’s playing really well right now.”
(You’ve always said the only stat you care about is wins and losses, but with 149 passing yards last week, do you think that’s something that needs to grow for you guys to continue to play at this high level?) – “Whatever it takes. Obviously, that was plenty last week. If we need 300 this week, then that’s what we need. It’s just a matter of game by game (doing) whatever it takes to move the chains and put points on the board.”
(Is there a point in the game where you have a sense, ‘Maybe I need to carry this thing,’ or is it just kind of drive by drive?) – “I think as the game goes on, you get a feel for how the game is going. Drive by drive is different as well. We’ll figure that out as the game goes on.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked this week about how he does want to get WR Jarvis Landry more catches. Talk about how that happens. How important it is to make that happen and how does it actually get executed?) – “I think you can move him around a little bit to try to create the matchups you want. We’ve called plays to get him the football at times and whether it has been a protection or whatever, we haven’t been able to get him the football. It’s just a matter of as a unit, playing together as a group, getting the right defense, getting the right matchup when you’re looking for it. There were a few times last week where he got doubled whenever we were looking to give him the ball. It’s just a matter of how the game goes. Obviously, you want to get a player with capabilities like Jarvis the ball as much as you can – and get him involved as much as you can – but there’s a defensive element in there as well.”
(How well does WR Jarvis Landry express himself? Do you try to explain to him, ‘You’re doubled, so you’re opening up things for other people,’ when he comes off?) – “He gets frustrated at times, but he’s a competitor. I just think his drive to win is extremely high, and he’s very emotional. Sometimes he lets his emotions get up on him a little bit, but I think in the end, he just wants to win, wants to do everything he can to help this team win, and that’s what you want.”
(I see you go right over to WR Jarvis Landry. You guys sit and talk a lot during the game.) – “I think communication is key (and) being on the same page. (I) tell him what I’m seeing, what we’re seeing as an offense. Obviously, I have a little bit better seat of seeing exactly what’s going on out there. So, it is about being on the same page, communicating and finding answers, seeing what he likes and how he wants to get involved. It’s a two-way street.”
(Is that a fine line between being emotional but taking it a little too far? Is that ever something you’re concerned about?) – “You have to be careful. I think a guy like Jarvis (Landry) – when the guys are watching, people out in the stands are watching, the other team is watching – and you see body language, you see how guys are affected. So you always want to be uplifting to your teammates, to the guys around you and not ever pull away. I think there’s a constructive way to do that, and obviously, you don’t want to do it in a negative way.”
(Are you the only one that talks in the huddle or do guys sometimes lobby you in the huddle?) – “No. Once you step in the huddle, there’s no lobbying. You can lobby me on the sideline or in between plays, but once we’re in the huddle, then we’re on to the next play, and that’s what it is.”
(WR Kenny Stills comes out of the game in the second [quarter]. How important is he to the running game and as well as the passing game?) – “Kenny is big. He does a great job for us both in the run and pass game. Obviously, he opens a lot of things up for us in the pass game and does a great job of coming into the box and being physical. He understands what we’re trying to accomplish offensively. Having him in there, knowing exactly what to do is huge for our offense.”
(I assume you went to sleep early, but where you kind of tempted to stay up and see what Donald Trump had to say?) – “I was definitely interested in seeing what happened, but knew I wasn’t going to change it last night at 10 o’clock, so I went on bed.”
(Your thoughts after you woke up and heard about what happened?) – “I was surprised. I was very surprised that [Donald Trump] was elected. I don’t think many people saw this coming on either side, really. But here we are, and I guess we’re getting ready to experience a new regime.”
(What do you remember about Donald Trump? You met him at Doral for that Adidas thing. How did he seem to you? What do you recall about him?) – “(I had) just a brief interaction with him. He was very nice, very polite. But it was extremely brief – just a handshake and a quick hello.”
(You never thought at that moment he’d be the next President of the United States?) – “No, I didn’t think so. I remember after I went to that event, I came back and someone was like, ‘He’s running for president.’ I’m like, ‘No way.’ But here we are.”
(Can you talk about the importance of sustaining what you’ve done over the last three games moving forward?) – “I think it’s all in your preparation, all in how you handle your business throughout the week, keeping the drive, keeping the hunger alive on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday as you prepare for the game. If you do that, if you stay hungry, if you stay on top the details and keep improving, then you’re going to like what you see on Sundays. But it all comes down to attention to detail throughout the week.”
(You’ve been upright the last couple of games, the last few games. The running game we’ve seen in the last three games. How important was finally getting the projected five starting offensive linemen healthy and playing together?) – “It’s huge. I think you’ve seen the results of what can happen when they’re out there. When those five guys are in, I think we have a ton of confidence in our run game and our pass game as well, as well as being able to do play-actions off of the run. It’s huge having those guys in there. We just keep them healthy and keep them rolling.”
(What did the Chargers do to you guys last year and what do you remember about that? On defense what did they do?) – “They got a lot of pressure on us. I’d have to go back and watch the game. I’ve been studying this year’s tape, because they are playing a little bit differently this year than they did last year. I’ll go back and take a look, a quick look at that. I just remember getting a lot of pressure. We were banged up, up front. We had a bunch of guys in there that weren’t normally in there and they took advantage.”
(You guys are 0-3 on the road right now, but do you feel like you’re a different team than you were for those previous three road games?) – “Definitely. I think you just keep building as the season goes on. You keep learning, you keep growing as a team. I think right now this team has a mindset (of) we’re going to find a way to persevere (and do) whatever it takes to win. Last week it was a big play on special teams, a big stop on defense and then a big drive at the end with the offense to close out the game. As long as you have that mindset as a team of, ‘If things aren’t going well, we’re going to keep fighting, keep fighting and just find a way to win. Whatever it takes.’ That’s what you want.”
(Besides the confidence in winning, how much more has the confidence been increased going up against the No. 1 rush defense, taking them head on and go over 100 yards rushing?) – “It’s big. I think we faced three really good rush defenses in the past three weeks. At times it was tough against the Jets. We were having some tough yards there. We were getting 1, 0 yards a carry, and we just kept sticking with it, kept finding a way to move the ball. Eventually at the end of the game when we needed it, we got some big runs. I think it does build confidence for this team that we’ve rushed the ball well against three really good rush defenses. It’s just a matter of, like I said, staying on top of the details and keep improving and we should be able to run the football all year.”
(Is there a kind of a brotherly sense of getting on each other’s nerves between you and WR Jarvis Landry at different points? How often do you guys get frustrated with each other? I imagine that you get frustrated with him as well.) – “That’s part of the game. We’re both competitors. We’re both doing everything we can to win. There’s going to be times – just like you said, brothers – where he’s frustrated about something, I’m frustrated about something else. That’s just part of the game. You just have to find the way to keep working together and find ways to complete the ball and get the ball in the end zone.”
