Adam Gase – December 20, 2017
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Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(QB Jay Cutler coming out of retirement, obviously it was a challenging situation for him and for you. Do you feel like he ever really caught up or was it just too big of an ask to expect that every day out?) – “I think he did. Yes. We had some good games. We had some games that I wish we could have a few plays back here and there. It’s one of those things that would have been interesting to see what would have happened if we had more time; but being in the position we are right now, we’ll see what happens this week. We’re just focused on winning one game right now and just see how the cards fall.”
(TE Julius Thomas is a little surprising because I don’t remember hearing anything about that.) – “We got through the game and he did it early in the game and played through it, which was surprising once we found out how bad it was. So, for him to … I guess he got rolled up on early in the game and didn’t say anything. He just kept playing.”
(Do you feel like you guys just didn’t quite get where you wanted to with TE Julius Thomas this season?) – “You’re always going to wish that you had more production from every position, especially where we’re at right now. We wish everybody would maybe have done a little bit more up to this point. That’s what we’re really striving on this week is we’ve got two games to really make some strides here. Win this one and go from there and see what happens.”
(Do you feel like you could build momentum going into the offseason with what happens in these last two games?) – “I mean we’re still in this season. This thing’s not quite over yet.”
(Have you mentioned to the players that the playoffs have not been eliminated from consideration?) – “I mean they’re aware. They’re aware. You just keep telling them play until somebody tells you not to. Our job is to win one game.”
(What would you like to see from WR DeVante Parker in these final two weeks to finish strong?) – “Build off of the last game. He had some positive things that happened. Just keep … any time you get that one-on-one matchup, we’re just counting on him to win. I know Jay’s (Cutler) counting on him to, any time we have a jump ball, for him to go get it and make a play. I feel like we’re starting to have better practices and last game it was good to see him get an opportunity and go get one.”
(Is WR DeVante Parker the type of player that almost always translates good in practice to good in games or have you seen sometimes in practice and don’t see …?) – “I’d say a majority of time, it’s almost everybody. I haven’t been around too many guys that had a really bad week of practice and then played well in the game.”
(With S Reshad Jones coming off injury and having to work with a different safety back there, how has he evolved this season? What have you seen? Assess his year, his second Pro Bowl season.) – “I think he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. His flexibility helps us. His ability to cover guys one on one. Coming off that injury, he was ready to go. He’s excited. When it gets taken away from you, when you’ve never really … I don’t even know how many practices he’s really missed in his career. I don’t know if there were any. When it’s taken away from you and then you get another chance and you get healthy, he made the most of it and he did everything to try to help our defense be better this year. He had a lot of good games and obviously a lot of other people saw that.”
(What makes Kansas City a tough place to play?) – “It’s loud. It’s a great environment. It’s one of my favorite stadiums to go to, being in that division. To go play a team… Those fans, they’re into it. It’s hard to hear. When it becomes a tight game, they try to affect the other team.”
(You had several players who we thought were in consideration for the Pro Bowl who didn’t make it, namely DT Ndamukong Suh. What do you think about that? Was that a surprise to you?) – “Yes it is, because every team we play, there’s two to three guys on him. I don’t understand that one. I know we haven’t won enough games this year; but to me, that guy should be penciled in before they even start voting. He’s that dominant of a player. He causes that many problems for offenses. I know if we were playing him, it would be an issue. We’d do as many things as we possibly could to stop him. The thing that I’ve noticed is that you don’t see many teams (stopping him), and they put a lot of guys on him.”
(I know the Pro Bowl is not a top priority on your list, but it matters a lot to your players. Do you feel like there are other guys that were left out unfairly?) – “I’m sure there are a lot of guys; but there’s also a lot of good players in the league. Sometimes it’s perception that guys have of what somebody did in the past. It’s always hard to get that first round when you’ve been there a few times. That name’s a little bit easier to write down. The thing is when the voting’s gong on, you’re not paying attention to every team in the league. You’re worried about the team you’re playing. You’re not really always sure who is having a good season. You’re not watching every individual player.”
(Now that his season’s over, what kind of season did TE Julius Thomas have?) – “I thought he tried to do what we asked him to do. He’s a better run blocker than he was when I had him at a young age. If there’s one thing I think he took out of Jacksonville, it was he was put in that positon. It was either adapt or die and he got better in that area. I wish we would’ve got the matchups we were looking for more often. We just didn’t really get what we were hoping for. We didn’t have enough attempts in the red area to really utilize him. Last week were our first snaps in goal line. That was really where we made most of our money, where we’d spread everybody out and he’d get a one-on-one matchup with a linebacker. We didn’t get those matchups this year. That’s really where he was effective was when we’d get in the red zone and he’d get a safety or linebacker, and we could isolate him.”
(Is there anything that would lead you to believe that if he stays or wherever he plays, that he’d really get the matchups that are profitable for him?) – “Yes, if you get enough red zone opportunities. We’re probably on the lower half of just opportunities on the red zone. We had such a horrendous start to the season with the amount of plays we had, the way we moved the ball, scoring points and all of those type of things. We didn’t really get to use all of the things we worked on.”
(When you look at your road record, 2-5, is it possible for a team to be a bad road team, but not a bad team overall? Can you break it up as home and road, or is it all in one?) – “It depends. It’s where you’re playing, who you’re playing. What was your health status that week? Every week is so different. That’s why you’ve just got to reset it every week. Whoever you have, where you’re going and the opponent you’re playing, and the kind of matchup you have, all of those things come into play.”
(When you see a guy like Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill on film. What is it that you come away with?) – “Well, when you have the type of speed he does, it’s one of those things where you hear people say all the time, ‘You can’t coach it.’ It’s always hard to matchup with him. You have to understand where he’s at in the formation. You have to understand what type of routes can really cause some damage. You can’t miss tackles. If you really start letting him get free and give him green grass, that’s where he’ll do a lot of damage. That’s why he’s had success the last two years, no matter what he’s done – whether it be punt returns or receiver – he’ll cause a lot of problems.”
(I’m not sure if G/T Jermon Bushrod will play again; but having been around him on multiple teams, how would you describe some of the attributes he brought?) – “He’s one of those guys … We counted on him to be there every day. He pretty much was. I don’t think he missed a practice last year and this year he had a pretty good streak going. Guys were always giving him a hard time. We had a bunch of injuries so for a guy that we first talked about when he came back about vet days and things like that, he never got any, because we didn’t have enough guys. Everybody kept getting hurt. He had a good streak going there of no days off. He’s one of those guys, he was always great in the locker room. Guys respect him. He’s done a lot of different things. He played multiple positions for me in Chicago. Coming here basically in a sling and believing me when I said, ‘I’m going to move you to guard,’ and told him that he’d be able to do it. That meant a lot to me, the fact that he took a shot on that, because he could’ve easily went somewhere else. He’s always been one of those guys that has tried to show the young guys the right way to do things.”
(Given your history with G/T Jermon Bushrod and where he is in his career, how disappointing is it that his season has to end this way?) – “I’m sure any time you go on IR at the end of the season, it’s a disappointment, especially (because) you always want to finish what you started. He’s been out for a little bit. We just could never turn the corner. It was just to the point where we had to get some healthy bodies and we’ve had a lot of guys banged up here over the last couple weeks.”
(How would you evaluate G/T Jermon Bushrod’s play this year?) – “I’m going to have to … It’s a little harder for me with the o-line. It’s easier when you’re moving skill guys around and kind of know how you’re supposed to use them. We’re going to have to go back through this offseason. That’s really going to be kind of a big project for me, taking a look at how we either can get better or what we need to do different and how guys performed.”
(When you spoke the other day about evaluations, every week being an evaluation, especially now at the end here … LB Stephone Anthony, do you feel like you guys have a complete evaluation on him because of him being around a short time and not playing much or do you need to dig a little deeper into him?) – “I think we’re just going to keep going these last two games. Like I said, it’s hard to go through this whole evaluation thing that everybody wants us to do with two weeks left in the season. We’re playing to win. That’s what we’re going to do. Our guys’ jobs is to put out good tape and try to figure out a way to help our team win football games. That’s it.”
(Where is LB Stephone Anthony at right now then?) – “He’s got a good grasp of the defense and he’s in the mix of trying to make plays all the time. He’s involved in a lot of tackles. I feel like he brings really great energy to our defense. I love the way he practices. When he goes onto the field on Sundays, he’s a guy that you can tell he loves being out there and he’s excited to get to play.”
(So LB Stephone Anthony has been all business with you?) – “Yes, he’s been great.”
(What did you see out of DE Cameron Malveaux this last game?) – “He was so fired up when he got up on the active roster. He’s full throttle all the time. It doesn’t matter how many snaps he plays. Whatever he has, you’re going to get it. That’s a deep group so he knows when he gets on that field, he earned it. He tries to do every detail right that (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) is asking him to do. You never really hear his name come up when mistakes are talked about. He’s very sharp. He’s kind of one of those guys in that room that those guys respect him and know that he puts a lot of time into making sure that he does the right thing.”
(I know you don’t watch a lot of games on Saturdays but have your paths ever crossed with FAU Head Coach Lane Kiffin and do you have any opinions about what kind of coach he is?) – “Yes. I’ve known Lane for a few years with him going to Alabama and being down there with Coach (Nick) Saban – or I guess up there. Any time we’ve talked football, we’ve had some good conversations. I bump into him every once in a while. It’s good to see that he’s having the kind of success that he’s having. He’s a good coach. He’s one of those guys that he knows when things are going well for him in a game. He seems to really get a good feel for calling plays and knows how to pick a defense apart.”
(You’re smirking a lot like I would assume you and FAU Head Coach Lane Kiffin might get along pretty well.) – “He’s a good guy. (laughter)”
