Clyde Christensen – October 12, 2017
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Thursday, October 12, 2017
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(What positives do you have to bring us this week regarding the Dolphins offense?) – “What positives? We won a game and the first quarter is over. I think I told you, I thought it’d be huge if we could get out of the first quarter 2-2, with all that took place and all that went down. It just kind of gives you a chance to hit a reset button and I think that’s the positive. There were some drives in the second half that were what we hope to look like. We’ve just got to duplicate and do it more often, more consistently. I do think that there were two drives in that second half where it looked like you wanted it to look. Some guys made some plays, we drove the ball, we converted a couple of third downs, ran the ball – got the running game going a little bit. There were some positives but I think one of the big positives is just whatever reason, you just mentally see this thing in quarters and that’s the end of the first quarter and you’re in it. There’s not eight 5-0 teams. You probably can’t win anything in the first quarter but you sure can make it really, really hard for yourself coming out of that first quarter. So coming out 2-2, that’s in the middle of the pack and with a long way to go. I think that would be my positive.”
(I’m guessing you’ve been a part of a lot of teams where the offense has been playing very well and the defense has really been struggling, or vice versa. At what point does that become a strain on team chemistry and in the locker room?) – “It is a strain. I’ve been on both sides. In Tampa, when I first got into the league, we were spectacular on defense. Offensively, we were kind of a grind it out (team), probably by design – more of a Mike Alstott, a little Warrick Dunn. That defense was great. It does put a strain on it. It always puts a strain on it and I think always it comes down to the head guy because the outside forces are the outside forces and you just have to keep them out. Adam (Gase) does a great job with that. His is a little unique because he’s an offensive guy, but he does a great job of just calling it like it is and Coach (Tony) Dungy was a anyone who builds it … I’ve been around good places where you build it as a team. You pick each other up and you go. It’s not fun. It’s certainly not fun and you kind of feel like (the defense is) playing so well; but our time will come too. I probably have been on both sides. You strive for balance but the truth of the matter is that you have to find some way to win two phases of the three and give yourself a chance. Week after week, that will kind of change. You’re never quite as bad or as good as you think you are and you’re not quite as far as it feels like you are from turning the thing the other way. That was kind of the message today and you tunnel. You’re in a tunnel. You don’t see light. You just keep digging. I can’t guarantee them today that this is the week we break out. It may be three weeks from now. I can’t guarantee that the second quarter isn’t more eventful than the first quarter. Who can guarantee that? I certainly hope not and I don’t think so. It would be hard for it to be; but that’s the case. So you tunnel and that’s part of this job. That’s what we stress to them. If you’re a receiver, you run a thousand routes and hope you end up with 100 catches. If you’re blocking back side and convoying to the free safety, you do it 100 times and then one pops for you. You don’t know when that’s coming and that’s where the good pros – the mature pros – can keep doing it play after play after play. Then, when it happens, they’re ready and in position to do it. That’s hard to do. That’s hard for all of us to do, to just keep doing it when you don’t know when you’re going to have some success in doing it. That’s the challenge for me. That’s the challenge for Adam (Gase). You keep dialing up plays and all of a sudden, you get hot and the thing starts moving in chunks, but you don’t know when it’s going to happen. That’s why you just have to keep doing it and that’s why the word for the day is consistency. You just have to be able to keep doing it and not get tired of doing the right thing, not get tired of working, not get tired of practicing hard, not get tired of protecting the football, not get tired of coaching and teaching – don’t false step and all of the things that they get tired of hearing you say – and you keep your attitude right. There’s a lot of good examples. I think the year we won the whole thing in December, we got trounced. I think we went (2-3) in December. Then all of a sudden we got hot in the playoffs and won a Super Bowl. But if you looked at December, I think Jacksonville rushed for 300 (yards) on us. There was nothing that pointed to (winning a Super Bowl). That’s football. That’s part of this thing. You’ve got to keep the outside forces out. You can’t let anybody define what you are. You’ve just got to keep going with no guarantees. There are no guarantees that we don’t win every one of the rest of them and no guarantees that we win another one. That’s the deal and that’s what we signed on for.”
(How has your unit handled the Chris Foerster situation on the field and off of it?) – “Pretty amazingly. It’s hard. It’s hard but I would say this, ‘Bush’ (Jermon Bushrod) and ‘Pounce’ (Mike Pouncey), I put the hat on them. They’ve got to take ownership of the room and make it go. ‘Kup’ (Assistant Offensive Line Coach Chris Kuper) has done a yeoman’s job and worked triple overtime. (Tight Ends Coach) Shane Day, we’ve spread him, worked him to the bone on just having to overlap. He’s been an offensive line guy. He’s a tight end guy and tied into the run game. Everyone’s had to pitch in a little bit but ‘Kup’ and Shane Day and then ‘Pounce’ and ‘Bush,’ they’ll be the key. They’ll be the key to if we pull this thing off. That’s some responsibility maybe they weren’t counting on. The same thing, a little curve ball and they’ve got to step up and go. I believe they will. That’s the deal.”
(You’re known Chris Foerster professionally since the mid-90s. Did you see at all a change in his personality, his demeanor? Any warning signs over the course of the last 20 years that would suggest that it would end the way it did?) – “Let me give you a quick statement on that. The answer is no. I’ve been good friends with him and his family. I have a great love for him and his family for 25 years – for a long, long time. That hasn’t changed. Now it’s just a friend who is dealing with some struggles and will stay a friend and we’ll pray and keep pulling. There’s no other option but to overcome this thing for him. There’s no other good option. You don’t let that win. That’s the way it is. I would (also) say this: Mr. (Stephen) Ross, Mr. (Mike) Tannenbaum, Adam (Gase), just how this organization handles stuff like that. They do the best they can to take care of their people. I’m amazed at that. I said that to you through the storm (Hurricane Irma), how they handled the families. I don’t think anyone will kick (Foerster) to the curb. The other thing that I would say is any player, any ex-player, any ex-coach who would say something really derogatory about Coach Foerster would be an outlier. Not that we all don’t have people who are sour; but overall, (he was) a very popular player (and) a very popular coach. That’s the truth of the matter. Then lastly, my job is not … This is a unique job. You can’t take three personal days to deal with some grief or some hardship and stuff. You can’t take three personal days to deal with a storm. It’s just one of those jobs that it keeps coming and we just move on. We’ve got to go. That’s one of the hard things about this job. It’s one of the really hard things about it that the next game comes, you evacuate and you get ready for the next (one). You’ve just got to keep going, whether it’s missing a kid’s recital or something with your parents. It’s just one of those unique jobs. I owe it, all of us owe it to the team and the organization, that you keep going. That’s what you have to do. That makes it a little bit easier because you don’t have any other choice. That does make it easier because you don’t have to wrestle with it. I do think there’s a part of it that I’m kind of thankful for, that just keeps you busy, that you go back to work. I’m grateful that there’s a silver lining to that, that you just go back to work. I didn’t see anything coming and he’ll overcome it. He has to overcome it. He has to fight it.”
(Last year, the offensive line was credited for the turnaround at this point, to the rest of the season. This year, even with many of the same pieces, now they seem to be the anchor holding back the offense. Have they taken accountability for that and have they figured out what is the fix to address what’s going on?) – “Yes, I think so. I haven’t seen a bunch of finger-pointing around here. As a coach, that’s something that you’re proud of, that there’s not a bunch of finger pointing. I think probably you guys gave them credit for the turnaround. I probably give (Jay) Ajayi some of his and Jarvis (Landry) some for going in there and whacking safeties and whacking linebackers. Again, I try to not put it on component parts. I would say the same thing about our issues, which I’ve said to you, it would be a hard time for me to say it’s a pie-shaped deal and everyone’s got their share, including me. Mine is probably the biggest piece of the problem. I am proud as a coach that there isn’t a bunch of finger pointing. I’m proud of the organization that it’s not one of those ‘If he, this. If he did that, it’s his fault.’ It hasn’t been one of those and there’s still a long way to go. That’s the truth of the matter. We’re at the end of the first quarter here and there is an awful long way to go. I think the other thing is we’ve been so darn busy during these first four weeks handling everything that you haven’t had time for all of that. That’s therapeutic a little bit that you’re dealing with stuff. You’re evacuating your family, you’re moving your family back in, you’re moving shutters, you’re dealing with this, you’re figuring out how to get the run game plan in on a Tuesday with a curve ball. There’s a therapeutic part to busy-ness and that stuff keeps coming at you. I can’t even remember the question. (laughter) I do know this, it started if we gave (the offensive line) credit for the turnaround last year and I think that was you speaking, not me. (laughter)”
(Head Coach Adam Gase actually said it) – “Did he? Okay, they were a part of it. It must be true. If (Gase) said it, it has to be true. Then I agree 100 percent. (laughter) No, the truth of the matter is that running the ball certainly was a part of that, but we certainly say that it’s all 11 guys. We give the quarterback a trillion things to do in the run game. He’s got to get us in the right place. I’m going to give you the company coaching line that it is unit wide, but I think that’s the truth in our case.”
(Last week you were obviously playing TE Anthony Fasano a lot more and TE Julius Thomas a little less. What did that achieve in terms of what happened to the tight end during the game? Was the run blocking better? What happened?) – “I think we played a lot of different people a little bit more. I think before you read too much into it, some of it is because of that first quarter and we are tired. We’re tired so we played more people that kind of raises the energy level. If you know you’re going to play a couple of snaps – if Jakeem Grant knows he’s got a role in the game, he’s going to practice better. He’s going to be more focused in. Fasano, all of that. Then also, it just cuts the reps and spreads them out and you try to keep fresh legs in there. Don’t miss that that’s part of it. Coach (Adam Gase) wanted to get more people in because frankly, what we went through in those first four games and just the physical tiredness and the weariness of this thing. That was a part of it and then kind of by some tendencies, some self-scout stuff, that if Fasano comes in this, we try to break a couple of things self-scout wise. You’re always conscious of that, so there’s some of that that works itself in there. Then some of it is just strengths and weaknesses. Fasano has his set of traits that are unique and different from Julius, and Julius has some things that Fasano will never do. It’s a puzzle of putting the right piece at the right time and just keep mixing it up a little bit. Sometimes just to mix it up, I think that one thing Coach Gase has always done a good job of is to just not be afraid to change it up to see if he can find some extra energy or a winning combination. That isn’t a ding on anybody as much as it’s sometimes when things are flat, you have to go to the bullpen and just see if you can pick some energy or a big hit or something that helps turn the thing around.”
(How would you evaluate the play of T Laremy Tunsil so far this season?) – “I think it’s been okay. I think he would tell you just okay. I think he feels like he could play better and I think he will play better as it goes. I would evaluate his play as probably expected. It’s (his) first time at a high-profile position in this league and again, there’s a tendency to think of him as a veteran guy and that’s really not the case. He’s a second-year guy who’s really playing – he’s got four games under his belt playing left tackle, which is a tough position. You’re out there, you’re out on an island. I think it’s probably been expected. I think he’ll tell you that he’s going to play better and I think he will. The more games he gets under his belt, he’s going to keep getting better and better and better and better. He does work. He’s a pro. He’s a talented guy. I think it is coming and some things you only can learn through making a mistake and messing it up. He’s had his share of those. One good thing, one thing you look for as a coach, is that it doesn’t derail him. It doesn’t ruin him for the whole day. That’s what you don’t want. You can’t play left tackle in this league if you have a long memory and you can’t forget things. Bad stuff happens at that position. You’ve got to move on and keep going and he has been able to do that. I think you’re going to just see him keep ascending and again, I think like everybody, just getting into some form of a routine and a rhythm and a cadence on this thing will do wonders for us, especially if we can string a couple of wins together. That cures a lot of small ills. Hopefully we can do that.”
