Jarvis Landry – September 27, 2017
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Wednesday, September 27, 2017
WR Jarvis Landry
(There are a lot of gifted playmakers on this offense and it’s struggled so much – one touchdown in each of the first two games. Does that surprise you? Is it frustrating? How do you feel?) – “It’s definitely frustrating when you can’t put points on the board. I think the biggest thing for us, and we talked about it – Coach (Adam) Gase talked about it, we talked about it as an offense – is just finding a way to put points on the board, even if it’s 3 points. Eventually those add up and before you know it, we score a touchdown or two, and then that 3-point lead turns into 12, 15, and that’s the plan. So for us, just getting to the red zone is one step closer to getting points on the board.”
(How surprised were you that your offense was so off? It hasn’t been like that for a while.) – “I think there’s just things that we need to correct. I think there’s things we need to fix. We’re in the process of continuing to get guys in the right spot to make the plays that we need to make to allow this offense to go. It’s taken a little longer than expected, but I know that it’s on the way.”
(As crazy as the season’s been, with everything that’s happened, now you’ve got to go all the way to London. What’s it been like and mentally, has it been taxing?) – “Yes. One thing about us, we’re going to embrace whatever it is. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t control the weather and we were able to have a bye in the first week of the season, and the last three weeks have been on the road. It’s just something that we’ve got to do and we understand. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
(Every position group obviously makes their own corrections. For you, WR Kenny Stills and WR DeVante Parker, what’s been the emphasis on where you guys need to be better than Sunday? In what areas?) – “Just continue to make plays. When the ball’s thrown our way, regardless (of anything else), make plays. (We’ve got to) find a way to continue to try to get open for Jay (Cutler) and win our 1-on-1 matchups.”
(How about extending drives? You were 1-for-12 on third down? It’s bad for the offense but also the defense, having to get back on the field very early.) – “It doesn’t help when we’re in third-and-long on a lot of those possessions. I think eight out of the 12, we were in third-and-long. That’s tough (for) any team, any offense. It’s tough, but we’ve got to find a way to get better plays on first and second down to allow us to be in the position to convert on third (down).”
(How long does it take a quarterback and receivers to get familiar with each other, because we know QB Jay Cutler hasn’t been here for that long.) – “We’ve probably thrown about 50,000 balls now together. He’s a guy that anticipates well, so that helps us both and the (whole) receiving corps. Not only that, but he’s been making plays with his feet, scrambling. It’s definitely an adjustment, but he’s done a great job, thus far, finding a way to connect with all of us.”
(Obviously the goal is to win but how excited are the players to get RB Jay Ajayi going in this particular game?) – “It’s huge. I think our biggest thing is sometimes it may be the run game first. Sometimes it may be the pass game first. So understanding that it’s going to take a balance to do the things that we need to do to be a special offense (is important), but just as much as we need to throw the ball, we definitely have got to get Jay going.”
(It’s been only two games of course, but it’s been a 12 points per game offense so far. With the talent in this group, should it be a 20 points per game, 25 points per game offense do you think?) – “I don’t want to put a number on it. I think we’re capable of scoring a lot of points and we haven’t lived up to that so far. For us, we just want to score more points than the opponent, even if it’s 2 points. You know, 2-0, we’ll take it. A win is a win, and for us, that’s our goal.”
(I know Head Coach Adam Gase likes to get input from you guys during games. What are some of the things that you’ve been expressing when you talk to him. What do you prefer in certain situations?) – “It just depends on the team. The first week, we got a lot of zone coverage. Then we ended up playing the Jets this week and they did a good job of playing zone, making their zone look like man, so it was tough to get a beat on what they were really going to do. First and second down, they played pretty much zone, so we were trying to find ways to get the ball in our hands as fast as possible somewhere in between the holes, and make plays from there. We just weren’t able to do it fast enough.”
(As a player, do you like that kind of communication because you can probably see things that the coaches can’t from the sidelines?) – “Absolutely. It helps when you have a coach that’s that transparent, that’s willing to be open to suggestions, willing to be open to the things that we see out there. It is very good to have (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) being so transparent and all of the other coaches as well.”
(I know the players are frustrated so far about the offensive production. How frustrated does Head Coach Adam Gase seem to you?) – “I wouldn’t say that we’re frustrated. I think we’re just in a position that we know where we have to go. This is our floor and we haven’t really been playing up to our potential, and that’s not just on Adam, it’s on us as well, going out there and trying to execute these plays. For us, we’ve got a find a way to do a better job, to do our job.”
