Adam Gase – August 14, 2017
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Monday, August 14, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Have you talked to your DBs about leaving your running backs alone? It seems like twice now that the running backs have gotten dinged up from a hit.) – “I mean, it’s football. It happens. That’s why they’ve got pads on.”
(Do you have an update on RB Kenyan Drake?) – “No I haven’t even (seen him). I just swung by real quick to see (Tony) Lippett and I haven’t seen Kenyan yet.”
(With TE Julius Thomas do you think missing practice is a one-day deal?) – “Yes, he should be alright. His back tightened up. We had a couple of guys’ backs tighten up, so we’re just a little precautionary (with) some of our veteran guys.”
(With CB Xavien Howard, what have you noticed about him? In what areas has he grown since last season?) – “I think his confidence is really the number one thing I’ve noticed, where he’s recognizing certain formations, route stems, things that when you’re a rookie, you’re just trying to figure out what you actually have to do and now he’s been able to take that next step. It helps him really tighten up the coverage and jump a few routes every once in a while. That’s kind of the progression that you want young DBs to go through to where, let’s say you have a really good feel of what their job responsibility is, being able to play the route concept very tight.”
(As far as progression for CB Xavien Howard, I guess health would be number one; but after that, what do you want to see from Xavien?) – “I think it’s just to keep expanding on what he’s been doing. We see a lot of good things in practice. We see tight coverage, which (makes it) really hard to throw the ball on him. I just want it to transfer over to the game. He’s just got to trust his training and what he’s been doing every day and then when we get in a game and he sees the same thing, I want him to play the same.”
(One week in, where is QB Jay Cutler’s progression at this point and what do you want to see from him at this very early stage?) – “He’s pretty much got the offense down, it’s just more about timing. It’s more mental, just kind of that feel of when to turn the ball loose, getting used to the receivers, the d-line rushing. I guess (our d-line) is a good d-line to get used to getting in your face a little bit. It’s happening fast, so it’s probably going to be good for him at the end of the day when we start playing some other teams. Our d-line is tough to go against. They get back there quick.”
(Do you have a feel for whether QB Jay Cutler will play Thursday?) – “I’m trending in the area of yes; but we’ll see what happens the next few days.”
(Are you feeling good with the routine you’re getting into with C Mike Pouncey?) – “Yes, every time I see him that he’s out there, I can see how excited he’s getting. I just want him to follow what our plan is and I want him to try to sneak in two extra reps, because you guys have been around him long enough to know, he’s not one for just standing on the sidelines and watching. He likes being out there and he wants to keep getting better. I just think (he has to) stay on track with what we’re doing. I think he’s followed that to the exact detail that (medical staff) got planned for him and if he keeps doing that, I think we’ll have good results.”
(Is it unlikely that C Mike Pouncey will participate Thursday in the second preseason game?) – “You know what? I can’t say that. I still haven’t had that conversation with him. I know at some point, we want to get him out there in one of these preseason games, and it’s more (that) he wanted to do it just because that’s that final step for him. I’m not sure if it’s this week or next, so I’ll start having those conversations here in the next day or so.”
(What do you believe or hope will be the identity of your defense this year?) – “I believe we’re going to be a defense that’s going to be tough, relentless. The one thing that I would say that I want to see us do more is get our hands on balls and get balls out, get turnovers, turn into an opportunistic defense. I feel like we’ve done a lot of good things. We’re playing tight coverage in practice. We’re making it really hard on the wide receivers. I do feel like that front can cause a lot of problems, and the linebackers, the way that they run right now and what I’m seeing between Kiko (Alonso) and (Lawrence) Timmons, if we give them some opportunities, they’ve got great ball skills. They’ve got great ball skills for linebackers and if we can get some more picks and fumbles, that’s really what I’d love to see us take off on.”
(With the secondary, we haven’t really seen … there’s usually, especially in games, a breakdown where receivers are running free downfield. We haven’t seen that many breakdowns this training camp. Is it just chemistry developing or is it that you’re not calling for those offensive plays?) – “I think that second year in the system (is beneficial). Just remember, when you first come in a lot of the concepts are the same, it’s just the terminology and the words you’re using for certain calls in the back end. You’re thinking, and that is when you have those kinds of busts. I think year two in the system, these guys have been together longer than (us coaches) have been here, and I think they’ve picked it up and now we’re getting consistent communication. We’re not having those types of breakdowns. We’re not just having free runners. (The offense) has to work, whether the receiver has to or the tight end has to get open on (his) own, or if we pop a guy free, we really had to do something to almost fool them in that linebacker, safety area, to pop a guy free. It doesn’t happen a lot. I think it’s just that continuity of the system staying in tact and guys understanding what their job is.”
(How much growth have you seen from this time last year to this year from TE Thomas Duarte?) – “Once again, it’s a year one, year two (thing). When you see the same thing over and over again, when it’s like the seventh time he’s seen the install, you get it. You start to be able to kind of visualize it. (You) know what it looks like on a piece of paper, but now you’ve got to go do it, and you see more and more looks every day. One day it’s middle of the field open, one day it’s middle of the field closed, one day it’s man, so you just keep banking those types of coverages in your brain and then next time you see it, you know exactly what you should do. That’s experience for you.”
(WR Kenny Stills was third in yards per catch last year in the league. Obviously, if you would up the attempts, that might go down. Is there a fine line between getting him the ball more or just using him as that home run hitter?) – “I just think the ball finds guys that just run hard. In my experience, any time I’ve tried to get a guy a ball or get a guy involved, it usually doesn’t work out right, so we just keep telling our guys, let’s just get five guys running as hard as they can, do your job and the ball will find you.”
(How did Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke’s first try at calling plays go in the first preseason game against Atlanta?) – I thought it was smooth. ‘V.J.’ (Former Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) kept him very involved last year. I felt like he had kind of done it before. It just didn’t seem like a problem for him and his energy level, positivity, the way he can think and correct, I think it was good for our guys. It was the first time out with those guys. They’re all trying to get used to each other and it’ll happen fast.
(With the offensive line, what’s your number? What’s your magic number in terms of where your comfort level is, how many guys you think you need on the 53-man roster heading into a game?) – “I’m not there yet. We’ll see. It’ll probably be different than last year. I’m assuming we’ll probably have some pieces move around, just because some guys surprised us a little bit in some other areas, so we have to figure out how we keep certain guys. (It may) look a little different. We probably have to be smart because how much is (Mike) Pouncey going to practice and it trickles down. I know (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (General Manager) Chris (Grier) are already kind of working that area. They’ve let me kind of stay focused on what my job is right now and that’s practice and corrections and working with the coaching staff, and they handle the personnel side right now. When we get to that point, we can make some decisions.”
