Adam Gase – November 14, 2016
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Monday, November 14, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(How did DT Earl Mitchell grade out this first game?) – “I think for the most part he did a good job. I know the one thing we could count on was just the energy level. I think a lot of us were just surprised at the fact that his conditioning was really, really, really good. Sometimes when you get in those games, the anxiety shoots up and you can lock up because you’re so excited to get out there and you fatigue yourself; but it didn’t happen with him. When you have a veteran guy like that, he’s going to know his assignment. He’s kind of been in this situation before. He came out there and did exactly what we needed him to do.”
(Do you think fresh legs played this factor in helping him kind of have that boost? He hadn’t played since Week 1.) – “Yes, I’m sure that was … I mean this late in the season, he’s at a different level than everybody else as far as that goes. Guys are out there playing with banged up bodies, heavy legs and it’s like getting a brand new player out there flying around, completely healthy.”
(What do you think was the difference in terms of the run defense that you guys have had? You’ve struggled most of the season. This was one of the hottest backs in the NFL and you contained him to 70 yards.) – “I think the guys did a good job as far as the fits were really good. I thought the fact that we were swarming as well as we were, and guys were doing a good job, even in the times that he shook free, guys got him down. That’s the key. It could have been worse than what it was, and guys did a good job as far as when there was some one-on-one matchups, we got him to the ground.”
(The team is now 5-4, a four-game winning streak, what do you tell the players to keep them focused on the one game at a time angle?) – “We’ve been really focused on ignoring any kind of success and resetting on that Wednesday. That’s really been our biggest thing. We have our process. We know how we want to go about our business. We make a big focus on no one’s going to care if we lose the next one. Our biggest thing is focusing on that week and we know we’ve got a big challenge ahead of us this coming week, staying on the West Coast the entire week and making sure everybody does everything right.”
(What are the challenges of being out here, being away from your normal routine and your normal place?) – “I think once we get to Wednesday, we’re fine. Today’s our normal Monday. Tuesday, they have tomorrow off. They have tomorrow off and then just tonight, guys (need to be) making right decisions. We’re trying to treat this as though we were in Miami. We just need guys to just make sure they’re doing things right.”
(And as far as getting treatment and…?) – “Everything’s the same. Everything is set up the same. It’s really easier for them right now being their room’s right there and they come over here. We see a lot more guys than what we normally see because once they leave the building in Miami, you don’t see them. Here, guys just keep popping back and forth because there’s really nothing else for them to do except hang out and do football things.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill has now gone four games without a turnover. What, if anything in particular, is he doing particularly well lately?) – “I think it’s just been a combination of the entire group. I think he’s done a good job of decision making. We really feel like we’re in a decent group as far as what we’re doing from week to week. Receivers and him are on the same page, along with the tight ends. I think the protection, you know the line has done a really good job as far as keeping him fairly protected. I know he takes some shots but there are a couple of times where he knows he’s going to get hit because he’s holding onto it. He’s trying to take a shot down the field. But for the most part, I think they’ve gotten into a pretty good groove. They’re playing well together right now.”
(How refreshing was it to see WR DeVante Parker have sort of a breakout game and play up to his talent level?) – “That was big for us because we needed it bad, because the other two guys were banged up and they gave us everything they had. Jarvis (Landry) played well and Kenny (Stills) made some big plays and just having ‘11’ (DeVante Parker) out there, being able to go. You could feel that during the week that he was different than what he had been. Getting him out there and knowing that he was going to make some plays this game, it makes life a lot easier when all three of those guys play together because it’s hard to take just one of them away. You’ve got to account for all three.”
(What do you guys know about T Branden Albert?) – “We’re still going through a little bit of a medical process to figure out what exactly is going to happen as far as the exact diagnosis, what can we do as far as moving forward, are we going to be able to get him back this week? We have to go through some stuff still.”
(Have you ruled out some worse case scenarios? T Branden Albert said yesterday there’s nothing broken.) – “I have not. Everything’s out there right now for us. Obviously he’s very swollen right now so we have to just kind of see how this week progresses.”
(Were you comfortable with T Branden Albert playing with a brace?) – “Yes, I mean, when I saw him come back, I was … Once he said he can go … When you’re a guy that has his kind of experience, if he couldn’t go then he wouldn’t go. If he said, ‘I can’t function,’ he wouldn’t go out there. When he said that he was ready to go, I felt good about it.”
(Last night, you said the DBs just have to play the next play. But now you’ve had a day to look at the issues – the pass interference and holding calls – is it a technique thing that needs to be worked out or what’s your diagnosis on that?) – “I think we’ve just got to do a better job as far as when we’re in coverage, we just have to do the best job we can to not be as ‘hands-y’ as what we’ve been, and we have to trust our technique a lot of the times. I think if we do that, that’s going to help us. I think it’s tough sometimes when you’re playing a couple of the guys that we went against yesterday who were very savvy with their route-running and a quarterback that throws the ball very early a lot of the time to where you turn around and all of a sudden the ball’s on the receiver. You guys saw a couple of times where he throws a stop route, the ball’s in the air, the receivers are not even close to turning around. So it makes it tough sometimes when you go against a good quarterback that has really good timing. So we’ll make some strides there. I have a lot of faith in (Defensive Backs Coach) Lou (Anarumo), ‘V.J.’ (Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) and (Assistant Defensive Backs Coach) Daronte Jones to get some things cleaned up. That’s part of our deal. They did a good job. They turned the ball over. There are a lot of positives.”
(What did you see from Laremy Tunsil in terms of how he handled the challenge of going for left guard to left tackle?) – “He seemed good. He seemed good. I said something to him last night and he just gave me a look of … when he has to bounce back and forth, I think he likes being in one spot and not have to keep moving around, but he did a good job. It’s tough. It’s tough for him. When you’re a rookie and you kind of get in one spot and you feel comfortable and have to bounce back out, it’s not as easy as you’d think.”
(If T Branden Albert could come back and play yesterday, why wouldn’t he be able to play [moving forward]?) – “Well it’s just … Right now we’re going through the stages of having the hand specialist look at it just to make sure there’s no further damage can be done. If it’s anything that … there’s all these little steps you have to go through just to make sure we’re not hurting him for future or affecting his long-term career or anything like that. We have to go through all those little steps just to make sure that we handle everything the right way. So if he can go, it’s for the entire … the rest of the season.”
(The word ‘playoffs,’ is that sort of taboo around this resort right now?) – “I mean, I’ve never really been one to talk about it in my career. I’ve always just worried about the week that we’re involved in. I think if you do things right enough times then you get opportunities to keep playing. That’s how I look at it. Usually, more times than not, when you talk about it, that’s when it doesn’t happen.”
(You guys have been dealt a series of misfortunes, that a lot of them … most of them out of your control. What do you point to as the reason why you guys are able to go from 1-4 to now 5-4?) – “I think there are a lot of guys that just stuck with what we’ve been talking about since the beginning –really in the spring, just kind of the next man up mentality. Our older guys need to step up and lead. I think that’s been a big difference. I’ve seen a lot of veteran players take control of our team. I’ve seen some guys that maybe we did not think they were going to be huge contributors, just take leadership-type roles and all of a sudden now they’re involved and in positions to where they’re making plays and starting. It’s been great to see guys step forward and make plays and lead.”
(Specifically as it applies to your secondary as well, I don’t know if you’ve had one guy who has made it through the season without any injuries or playing-type issues, like CB Byron Maxwell had. How is that unit coming together?) – “I think they’re pretty tight. Obviously, when you lose the leader of that room, that’s tough. The fact that Reshad (Jones) has been around all the time and constantly talking to those guys; they’re very tight. They’ve been through a lot of adversity as a group, so I think they play off each other and they know, ‘What’s our next situation? What’s something that we can do to improve?’ They’re constantly working to try to get better.”
(What’s it like from a morale standpoint that they’ve had so many droughts? CB Bobby McCain last week gets his first interception, now CB Tony Lippett gets his first interception. They say it comes in waves, but is that much of a confidence builder?) – “It’s funny, we had actually talked about this about three or four weeks ago. We were talking about protecting the ball – and we had done a good job in that area – and the defense kept talking about turnovers. I heard a lot of players actually say that they were going to come in bunches. They worked on it in practice. We kept getting hands on balls in practice (with) scout team. You might not think it’s a big deal, but it’s one of those things where confidence starts going up and you get a couple one game and then all of a sudden it keeps coming.”
(Aside from the fact that he seems to be getting more opportunities, can you enlighten us as to why DE Cameron Wake seems to be playing better?) – “I don’t know if he’s playing better. The opportunity is obviously – when you’re trying to be smart earlier in the year … Obviously, he looks like he’s full-go, for sure, now. He has really made it tough on every (offensive) tackle he has gone against. The way he’s coming off the ball and how physical he’s playing, he is really … He has been impressive to watch. For a guy that has been playing as long as he has, he’s playing with great energy. You can see the passion for the game and the passion he has for this team (by) the way he plays.”
(Is DE Cameron Wake healthier now than he was earlier?) – “I think it’s just the whole coming off of injury last year, and then we were trying to progress (with) him. I feel like he is closer to whatever 100 percent can be in the NFL than what he was probably earlier in the year.”
(I know in preseason and training camp, you talked about it’ll take a while to get to know the team. Are you at a point now where you feel like you know everybody and know what they can do and know what you want them to do and they know you?) – “I think we’re pretty close to knowing each other as well as you can – coaches and players and front office and all those things, the whole building – knowing everybody’s tendencies. You kind of know what guys are psychopathic and crazy. (laughter) It’s probably with the coaching staff as well. (laughter) Everybody does know each other better. It’s easier to go to work, because you know what to expect, you know how to play off each other. With our players, it has really gotten to a point where we know what guys do really well and what maybe we stay away from certain guys.”
(This has nothing to do with today, but you’ve been a head coach for nine games. Play calling – a lot of guys that become head coaches abandon play calling. Are you comfortable … Are you happy with how it’s all working out?) – “That’s going to be a hard one for me to ever give up. I enjoy it.”
(Can you point to a specific moment, practice or game where you felt things really started to click, or has it been totally gradual?) – “I think that Pittsburgh week, we felt something different. I felt like the defense was really playing well. Offensively, we were struggling, obviously. But that week felt different. Especially at the end of the week, you felt there was some confidence there that we were going to play well.”
(How do you describe QB Ryan Tannehill’s toughness, and how much of an asset is it to have at that particular position?) – “I think what he does is rare. You don’t see too many guys taking some of the shots he takes and bounce back up. He’s as tough as they come. To be able to regroup and stand in there again, it has been really amazing to watch. The throw he made to Kenny (Stills) yesterday, I have no idea how he completed that, because I don’t know how he saw him, for one. And then he put it … Kenny never breaks stride. The pass he threw to DeVante (Parker) there with three minutes left, he never even saw him.”
(What was San Diego able to do against the run that other teams…) – “It’s a tough front. The movement that they have up front makes it very difficult. It’s one thing when you’re playing the Jets – they’re stout. It’s tough to move those guys off the ball. This group, they move around and start stunting, and they’re getting into different gaps. You have to be really … You’ve got to be on it. There were a few times where we had some things we had to clean up. It was a tough front. They played with great energy level. I think (Melvin) Ingram is playing about as well as I’ve ever seen him play. He was so disruptive yesterday. Going against him as many times as at least I have being in this division (with Denver), I don’t know if I ever remember him playing this well against the run and pass.”
(Have teams adjusted to you guys running the ball – defenses? There were some times it looked like on one of QB Ryan Tannehill’s deep passes there were 10 guys in the box it seemed like.) – “That’s how it feels like every time I’ve gone against (Chargers Defensive Coordinator John) Pagano, no matter if I was in Denver or here. I always feel like you never know where anything is coming from, because he does a good job of disguising things. There were a couple times where they had some things where I think the safeties were trying to figure out where they needed to be, and they held some looks late to make it tough.”
(DE Mario Williams. What is his [status]? ) – “We’re day-to-day right now, so we need to figure out what it’s going to be the rest of the week.”
