Adam Gase – November 29, 2017
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Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Are you expecting QB Jay Cutler to practice today?) – “Yes.”
(Is QB Jay Cutler still in the concussion protocol?) – “No.”
(Is QB Jay Cutler your starting quarterback?) – “Yes.”
(Any word on RB Damien Williams? Are you expecting him to practice today?) – “No, he won’t practice today.”
(RB Damien Williams’ outlook for the game on Sunday?) – “We’ll see. We’ll go day to day.”
(What about RB Senorise Perry? Did he practice today?) – “He’s in the concussion protocol.”
(G/T Jermon Bushrod? Anything on him? Will he practice today?) – “(He is) day to day.”
(What will you be looking for from QB Jay Cutler on Sunday with the time missed? What are your expectations?) – “I think he’ll be alright. We just need to have a good week of practice and clean up some stuff, get the timing down, get the ball out on time, get open quick. We have a tough d-line we’re going against. (They’re) well coached (and) relentless. (They have) probably one of the best pass rushers in football, so we’ve got to make sure it’s got to be 11 guys doing their job to make sure we get the ball out on time.”
(What do you make of the season that Denver has had? They’ve got some strange combinations of stats. They’re very good on defense, turnovers are obviously a huge problem. What’s your take on them?) – “It’s just similar to some of the things that we’ve gone through. (They have) a lot of talented players. Some things haven’t gone their way. They’re dangerous on defense though, I know that. They have a lot of skilled players on offense. They’re playing with a quarterback that those guys have played enough football with to where they can create some explosive plays and they can get the ball out. They have players. It’s just kind of getting things in line and guys executing and they can be a problem.”
(You said before that all coaches pick up stuff along the way – every stop. What was formative about the Denver experience for you?) – “There were a couple of different situations. Starting out, being with (Josh) McDaniels, going through that whole experience was probably good for me, becoming a head coach and kind of seeing how things changed – the good and the bad. I know offensively, I learned probably the majority of the things that I lean on, from him. I got to see that from the ground floor up with building a staff because I think I might have been the second or third guy in the building after he got hired. I actually got to see him go through that whole interview process with assistant coaches and kind of evaluating all kind of things within the building, and then just that change over with Coach (John) Fox. There were so many of us that stayed from the previous coaching staff, that I lost that little bit of experience from that; but then just kind of seeing how the roster got remodeled, changes in philosophy on the offensive side – especially because we went from drop-back option to drop back … Just seeing how you could change what you need to do to win. I think that was a great experience for me. I saw a 3-4 defense to a 4-3. I just saw a lot of pieces get moved around and was exposed to a lot of really good coaches.”
(Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re kind of closest to those players of your whole time. QB Peyton Manning obviously, WR Wes Welker. It seems like you have a whole lot of connection with those guys.) – “Yes. Some of these guys that are veteran players were rookies when I was there. Demaryius (Thomas), he was a rookie in 2010 and I was a wide receivers coach. I’ve known him his whole career and was with him at the very beginning. And Emmanuel (Sanders) and Virgil (Green), C.J Anderson – all of those guys – I saw Von (Miller) when he was rookie, kind of what he went through. When you remove yourself from that situation and you watch those guys, it’s interesting to see them now compared to what they were when they were younger. You can see the professionalism with those guys, as far as how they’ve grown up and really, you can tell on tape, those guys, how serious they take things and want to get right.”
(How important is quarterback mobility even like within the pocket to help your pass blocking, to help your offense?) – “It’s important. When you have a guy that can kind of feel where it’s getting a little loose and you can kind of avoid that guy because a lot of times a linemen might lose, but he hasn’t just lost cleanly and he can push him past you and if you can slide a little bit and find a softer spot in the pocket, that can save you a lot of the times. I think the best one that I ever saw was Peyton (Manning). He did it better than anybody I’ve ever been around. I’m sure Tom (Brady), they’re probably very similar; but I haven’t coached him. A lot of the guys that I’ve been around, the younger guys always tend to want to take off and run and don’t always have as much confidence; but the older guys, when they lose their legs a little bit, they kind of realize the best way to get the throw off and not get hit is to figure out a way to subtly slide in the pocket and find the soft spots.”
(You’ve got older guys at quarterback, so how have they done with that this year?) – “That’s one of the things that I think Jay’s (Cutler) really been … That was like his number one thing that he was trying to work on since he’s gotten here is really improving on that. I thought he was really good at it in 2015. He did have that element though. He would take off a little bit more and this year it hasn’t been … It’s been a few times that he’s done that. He’s been trying to just move and stay in the pocket. Matt (Moore) has a pretty good feel of when to do it and how to do it. Every once in a while he’ll bail and try to get to the edge. It’s a fine line. You’ve got to know when to do it and sometimes when you don’t have the speed to … I mean guys are so fast, they close the cushion really quickly.”
(Is there any kind of effect associated with the fact that Broncos Head Coach Vance Joseph obviously knows you very well in terms of what you want to call and, obviously, you know him and his defensive mindset?) – “I don’t know. We’ll see. I don’t have a good answer. I think we’ve both evolved even from last year.”
(Have you been in touch with Broncos Head Coach Vance Joseph this year? Do you guys call or text or anything during the year?) – “A little bit. Not a ton. It’s hard with the two-hour time difference. It’s hard to have long conversations with anybody. You’re just going nonstop from the start of the week to the end.”
(Aside from this week, Broncos Head Coach Vance Joseph is a guy you root for, I assume?) – “Vance?”
(Yes.) – “Yes, absolutely.”
(Can you talk about your relationship with Broncos Head Coach Vance Joseph a little bit?) – “Yes. We’ve known each other since 2008. He’s been a good friend of mine for a long time. We always wanted to hook back up after we left San Francisco. When I left San Francisco, we talked about getting on the same staff one day and we had an opportunity last year. I thought it was good experience, at least for me. I can’t speak for him, but I learned a lot. We had a lot of conversations just about how I would prepare for something and he would tell me how he would handle things or how he would coach DBs and how he would get ready for a game. We had a lot of good conversations and I think it helped both of us grow.”
(QB Jay Cutler has been injured twice. You’ve talked about how he’s a tough guy. Have you seen any indications that he’s lost faith in the offensive line at all or pass protection?) – “No. The one time we just lost on a block late and he was holding onto the ball and took a pretty good shot to the chest, with the ribs. The concussion, he was actually … He left the pocket, kind of snuck up the middle and it was a strange hit.”
(Do you know if QB Jay Cutler had a concussion before?) – “As far as before…?”
(If QB Jay Cutler had a concussion at a different point in his career or if this was the first.) – “I think he was … He might have been in the (concussion) protocol at some point a long time ago. I don’t know the exact year.”
(It can be pretty sobering. Did you and QB Jay Cutler have any conversations about long term with him?) – “He didn’t bring that to me. It was probably more me just making sure everything was good with him just because anytime guys get concussions, with what we know nowadays, (we’re) just making sure our players are taking the right steps and they feel good coming back out on the field.”
(I believe RB Kenyan Drake was on kickoff returns to close the game. Is that an option on Sunday or do you need him?) – “We’ll see how it plays out. We’re a little bit thin. We were a little bit thin that last game.”
(I was wondering if you have other guys that can play running back in a pinch?) – “Maybe. Yes, we do. We had contingency plans going into (last) game, actually.”
(Is it something those guys ever practice or do you just think that they have the skillset?) – “No, we’ve done some things to make sure that we know if we get in a bad situation, we know what to do.”
(DT Jordan Phillips?) – “He would be an interesting guy to put back there. (laughter)”
(Will the team need to add a running back today or tomorrow?) – “Yes, we’re going to bring ‘Smitty’ (De’Veon Smith) up here this afternoon. We’ve just got to go through the proper procedures; but he’ll be on the roster.”
(What do you mean bring somebody up, like from practice squad?) – “Yes”
