Adam Gase – January 4, 2017 (Conference Call)
Download PDF version
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Pittsburgh Media
(You guys have been thought of as the heavy underdog here. Do you guys feel that way?) – “When you’re the road team in a playoff situation, we understand the atmosphere we’re going into. We know the team we’re playing against from playing them earlier in the season, and we know how tough of an opponent we have. We have confidence in ourselves and what we’ve accomplished so far this year with getting better during the season, guys going down and guys stepping up. Our guys have done a good job of playing at a high level. We know the challenge we’re about to go through up there. We have to make sure we play our best ball, because we’re playing a very good team.”
(Do you have any more clarity on QB Ryan Tannehill’s situation than you had on Monday?) – “Right now, he won’t practice today, and we’re going through our process with his rehab. Every day, we keep seeing improvement. It’s going to be more about, ‘Where’s his movement at?’ Every day it gets a little bit better. So, today he won’t practice. We’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing with him, and we’ll make a decision on tomorrow as far as what we’re going to do at practice.”
(Have you seen more of a commitment from the Steelers to their running game since you played them the last time?) – “I feel like they’re always committed to the running game. Every game is different. Every game takes on a life of its own. Sometimes you feel like your best plan is to go in and throw the ball. When they feel like they have to throw the ball in the game, that’s what they do. When they feel like it calls for leaning heavily on the run game, that’s what they do. (Steelers Offensive Coordinator) Todd (Haley) is always going to do what’s best for that game. (Head) Coach (Mike) Tomlin, same thing with the approach of the overall team. They do a good job of playing complementary football. Whatever they think is best for them that week to win the game, that’s what they’re going to do.”
(You said you’ll see about QB Ryan Tannehill tomorrow. How many days of practice does he need for you to play him? If he doesn’t practice at all, would you still throw him out there on Sunday) – “I think that would be hard for us to do. I need to see him move around with traffic around him, how his escapability is. A lot of his game has been (based on) movement throughout his career and then all of a sudden to throw him back there and say, ‘Don’t move, and if anybody gets close to you, go down.’ That’s not really an option for us. It’s not his style of football. We have to make sure that we feel comfortable with the way that he’s moving around. Really, at the end of the day, you have to be able to protect yourself and so much of his game is movement.”
(What about the preparation? Would one day of practice be enough? If he can practice Friday, is that enough?) – “It would be for him. His knowledge of the offense is above everybody else’s. But really, for me, it’s all about, ‘How’s he going to move when he gets bodies around him and be able to be evasive?’”
(The Steelers have talked so much about how different they are since they saw you in Week 6. When you throw on their film, what do you see as the biggest difference in them?) – “I think every team can say the same thing. I think we’re different than what we were when we played them the first time. We were both at different spots in the season. They have been on a roll lately. We’ve had some good stretches here in the last two months, but we’ve had a couple low moments. They’ve been red hot for the last six, seven weeks. We all develop and we all morph into a different team as the season goes on. Certain guys start playing better than others. Right now, they’re playing as well as you could want to play heading into the playoffs. That’s why they play the game. It’s really (about) who’s going to be better that day.”
(What’s different about them in terms of how they play the run and how their defensive line works? I think that was the first game that they played without DE Cam Heyward when they played you guys. What’s different about how they’ve approached things up front?) – “Any time that you’re missing one of your better players, it’s tough to adjust, and you need guys to step up. When you do get those guys back, you usually notice a big difference with the attitude that a lot of teams play with. We’ve had some ups and downs when we’ve lost some guys and then we get our starters back and then all of a sudden, we’re having more success in what we’re trying to do. It’s no different with what they’re doing. That confidence goes up. You feel like you got all your bullets, and you’re ready to roll, and you’re playing physical. It’s that chemistry you have where when you can play together for a good stretch of time, everybody understands how to play off each other. That’s the whole key to playing great defense is you got 11 guys playing together and everybody is swarming to the football, you’re penetrating up front and you’re rallying to the ball. When you got a defense doing that, it makes it very difficult to move the ball.”
(How have you guys handled all the personnel losses on defense? What have you guys had to do to find cohesion there?) – “We really have a next-man-up mentality, and guys have done a good job of stepping up. Some of the guys that either weren’t on our roster earlier or had been on our practice squad that have moved up, they’ve stepped in and played with every ounce of ability and probably some of the guys have played above it. The good thing is our coaching staff has done a good job – especially on the defensive side of the ball with (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) and his group – really getting those guys to try to play together. I know a lot of the times the numbers don’t show that, but we’re making plays at the right time, we’re getting turnovers at the right time, and that’s what has kept us in the ball game until the fourth quarter, and then somebody is making a play that turns the game.”
(The Steelers have five different defensive starters since the last time you played them. Can you look at that film 10 weeks about and use that knowing that there’s so much different personnel?) – “A lot of times when you look at your past games, you take a peek at how they played you schematically and then you make your adjustments, because like I said earlier, you evolve as the season goes on. You start really leaning on things that you’re doing well. That’s why every year is different from the previous. One year you may be good at one thing, and then you try to do the same thing the next year and you’re not as successful at it, and you have to make adjustments, and then all of a sudden, you find something else that you’re better at and you start leaning on that. When you play early in the season, sometimes you’re still in that experimental phase. You think you’re one thing, and all of a sudden at the end of the season, you may be a completely different (team), leaning on a different coverage or different types of pressures. That’s why the whole year you’re working to get better towards the end of the year and try to figure out what you’re best at when you get to the playoffs.”
(Is there anything at all that you’re doing to prepare for the cold or will you guys just have to deal with it when you show up?) – “Yes, it’s never really bothered me, personally. When we went up to Buffalo I told our guys, ‘You guys are out there for about four or five minutes, then you’re on a heated bench.’ It’s really not that big of a deal. Our guys really didn’t seem to be bothered by it when we played in New York or Buffalo. I don’t know. I’ve coached in Chicago and Denver and it was never a discussion. It hadn’t been down here either. It seems like we’ve played in almost every condition from monsoons to when we went up to Buffalo, it was cold and windy. That’s football. These guys are all from different parts of the country. It really doesn’t matter that we’re in Miami right now. Most of these guys have played in cold weather in the past.”
(What does QB Matt Moore bring to the offense that maybe QB Ryan Tannehill doesn’t? Does he add anything or any dimensions?) – “The only difference that we really have is Ryan is really … We can implement a lot of the zone-read stuff when Ryan is in the game, and really that’s not something that Matt’s really done in the past or we’ve asked him to do. He’s an older quarterback. Ryan is (28) years old, a former wide receiver and quarterback in college that has a lot of experience doing the zone-read game. Matt is the traditional play-action, drop-back passer. Ryan has that element as well but Matt’s really not the on-the-move guy.”
(In the NFL playoff picture, there’s a lot of variety at quarterbacks, whether it’s backups or rookies or Patriots QB Tom Brady. What does that say about the old adage that unless you have a top, top guy it’s hard to win big?) – “I think a lot of teams are just playing really good team football. Adversity has struck a lot of teams that are involved in the playoffs right now. Guys have found ways to win games and win enough to where you get in the playoffs, and we’re no different than some of these other teams. We’ve had a lot of bumps in the road and really it’s about what teams are going to keep fighting to try to get in the tournament, and once you’re in the tournament, anything can happen.”
(What impresses you about RB Le’Veon Bell on film and is there anybody current or historical that he reminds you of as a runner in terms of style?) – “It’s hard for me to compare him to anybody else. Just seeing him really become the guy that he has become, I’ve obviously paid attention to him when he was in college being a Michigan State grad myself and seeing him go from what they did at Michigan State, where they were power football. I just remember him being a big guy that was downhill. Just seeing him transform his body and become a guy that can do everything in the run game and then becoming the weapon that he is out of the backfield and when he’s removed from the backfield and empty (sets) and all of the different things that they can do with him with the route tree he has. It’s been very impressive to just see how he’s grown as a player from the time he was drafted. If he’s not the best one in the league, he’s one of the top three. I just can’t think of a lot of guys that are better and as versatile as he is. He’s such a weapon for them and he’s a guy that obviously we have to make sure that if we want to be in this game in the fourth quarter, we have to do a great job of just making sure that he doesn’t have a ton of explosive plays.”
(Does that DT Ndamukong Suh, C Maurkice Pouncey matchup boil down to whoever wins that probably has a better chance of running the ball or stopping the run?) – “I don’t know how many times they’re actually going to be one-on-one with the scheme we run. There will probably be some times where they’re matched up; but that’s two really good players when they do go against each other, going against each other. I’m sure they’ll both have their fair share of wins against each other; but I don’t know if it’s really going to come down to one-on-one matchups up there.”
(How are you trying to give your defense to look at what WR Antonio Brown does and how he works with QB Ben Roethlisberger?) – “I don’t know if that really exists. It’s tough to match what he brings and practice against what it’s going to be on Sunday. He’s such a tough guy to go against and it’s hard to replicate that in practice. We have to do our best job of making sure that we keep our leverage and make sure that he can’t take over the game. You do everything you can and sometimes it’s tough because special players do bigger things when it’s the big time moments and when you’re in the playoffs and you have a player like that, he’s going to step up and we just have to do a great job of staying as tight as we can on him and trying to prevent him from making explosive plays. It’s just one of those things where if you’re slightly wrong against him, it’s going to be a problem.”
(What do you tell to the guys that you do have put a penny on and try to be WR Antonio Brown [on scout team]?) – “There is nothing you can tell them. You try to get the routes that he runs and see if you can at least give them – or try to give them – the speed that he possibly is going to play with; but your guys aren’t going to be ready until they hit game day. That’s when you’re going to realize how fast and how quick and how sharp he is on his routes.”
