Adam Gase – August 21, 2016
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Sunday, August 21, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On game planning for this Thursday’s game and at what point does he turn the page to Seattle) – “We are trying to give our guys a feel of how we are going to approach the season. Obviously, the practice time has changed. This is going to be more of our routine. We go through our normal game-planning procedures as we would in the regular season. You just don’t want to throw it out there on the first week when we play Seattle and everyone is kind of like, ‘What’s going on?’ This is a good dry run for us. It gives us a chance to make some adjustments if we need to, especially at this time of day, and practice out there in the heat. We have to make some adjustments to practice, also meeting times, as well.”
(On if today’s first-team offensive line was an experiment that he was working with) – “I think that’s just what we did today. We’re going to keep moving guys in and out and try to find out our best five at the end of the day. I trust (Offensive Line Coach) Chris (Foerster) to keep shuffling the lineup around until we feel like we’ve got the five we want.”
(On when he starts to worry about the chemistry of the offensive line) – “It’s always nice to be able to say, ‘Here’s our starting five and let’s roll.’ You just don’t want to put a timetable on it. You’d love for it to be this week and say, ‘This is what it’s going to be.’ But I think the way we are looking right now, it’s going to come up to that first game of the season. You never know, it could change during the season. I’ve been through a few instances of, we were eight games in I think in 2014 and we made a wholesale change – new center, new right guard and new right tackle. You’re going to do what’s best for the team that week.”
(On RB Arian Foster’s workload) – “We’re just trying to increase every day, as far as what he’s doing at practice. We’re trying to get him more and more game ready. We’re trying to get (the veterans) a little bit of a feel. That’s going back to the o-line thing, when you have that lineup set, then the (running) back and those guys learn how to work together. The quicker we can get set, great. But like I said we’re a work in progress on that. I think (Foster) got a couple of reps in (Friday’s) game. I don’t see him overdoing it this game, as far as how many reps Arian is going to get. I think we still need to be smart. With a guy with his experience and the amount of hits he has taken over his career, I don’t think in the third preseason game that we need to have too many more of those. We want to get him to the regular season.”
(On RB Arian Foster asking a lot of questions during practice and if he is trying to get mentally ready) – “I think a little bit of that. I think he’s been a guy for me, being a veteran guy, I just keep looking at the list and everybody is so young. He’s one of the older guys we got. He’s probably one of the guys with more experience with being in a few Pro Bowls and being in the playoffs before. For me, he is a great guy to have around because we constantly have that dialog about what we need to do better, what we can change and what we can do to help our team. For a guy that just got here before training camp, he has really taken a leadership role for us.”
(On how much CB Xavien Howard was able to do today and his timeline) – “We had him do individual. Conditioning and then going out there and practicing football, it’s just two different animals. It’s going to take a second for him to get back into the flow of things. When we start having him go against wide receivers, he’s going to have to get that feel back. It’s been since the spring and that’s a lot of time that has gone by. Hopefully we can get him in a game before we hit the regular season. We just don’t know yet. We have to see how his body feels, we have to see how his legs feel, we have to see how his movement skills are. There’s a lot of little check marks we have to make before we throw him into a game.”
(On the decision to rest DE Cameron Wake and if he has had any setbacks) – “He hasn’t had a setback. At first, I thought he was going to go and then we kept talking about it and seeing where he was at and we felt like it was in our best interest to not have him go that game. We’ll reevaluate this week. It really has to be 100 percent on this to where everybody feels really good. I don’t think he has anything to prove. I think we all know what caliber of player he is. I think the most important thing for us to make sure is, ‘How do we get him to play in 16-plus games?’ That’s got to be our number one goal.”
(On if the run fits are an area of concern) – “I think when we have opportunities to make plays, we have to make them. There were some plays left out on the field. It wasn’t all bad, it’s just when a run pops, there’s no doubt about it. Anybody knows – the guy sitting in the last row of the stadium knew. We have to do a better job as far as making sure we’re playing team football. Everybody has to do their responsibility correct. What happens sometimes is, especially with the front and the linebackers, sometimes somebody else’s house is burning down, so you’re trying to help him. Sometimes you just have to do your job because if you try to compensate for somebody else, then now we have two guys making mistakes. We have to make sure who is making the mistake, why did it happen (and) correct it. We’ve got to speed up our process as far as making sure we get it right.”
(On the evaluation of G/T Laremy Tunsil’s play on Friday night) – “I think he did a pretty good job. We have a few things that we have to clean up with him. When you look at him, pass pro is not going to be something that I think he’s really going to have an issue with. It’s just sometimes in the run game, when you’re in different parts of the field, there’s different angles you have to take, sometimes you have to come off quicker on some of the double teams. You’re in the red zone and a linebacker is two yards from you and he hits it because it’s a run, you’ve got to understand you can’t be as thick on a defender on the defensive line. It’s got to be hand and then move up to the second level, because it’s coming quick. Just little things like that. There are going to be errors. It just has to be a quick process of (if) you make the mistake, you have to move on (and you) can’t let it happen again.”
(On WR Kenny Stills making plays in the red zone area in a confined space) – “I think the speed makes a big difference as far as when he comes off the ball, he comes off with great stride length. He doesn’t really dance around at the line of scrimmage. He’s getting vertical right away. He seems to get DBs that they get turned a lot of times, and he’s very quick at the top of his routes, and he’s catching the ball well. When you put all of those things together – and being as detailed as he is in this offense and probably knowing it as good as anybody besides the quarterback – he’s a guy that is really putting himself in position to win a lot of the times. He’s getting open and the quarterback is seeing him.”
(On if C Mike Pouncey’s injury is a precautionary thing) – “No, it’s not. We’re going to be week-to-week right now. We’re still kind of feeling out what’s going on. We’re working with the doctors and trying to make sure when he comes back, he’s ready to go. Right now, he obviously won’t be playing in the Atlanta game. We most likely won’t see him the rest of the preseason. We need to keep evaluating as far as what’s going on with him. There’s going to be that constant communication of doctors, trainers, sports science, strength and conditioning. Like I said, we’re going to be week-to-week right now, and we’re trying to get him better as fast as possible.”
(On why G Anthony Steen at the center position as opposed to G Jamil Douglas) – “That’s why you go through training camp. That’s why you go through preseason games. Right now, that’s where we’re at, at that position. He’s worked his way in there and it was one of those things where you get in the spring, it’s hard to tell sometimes who your guys are. You’re giving everybody a shot and he’s come out there in training camp and really caught our eye a little bit, as far as doing everything right. He’s fit up on guys right. He’s been strong as far as at the point of attack. When you’re the center, there’s a lot going on for that guy. He’s done a good job.”
(On where G Anthony Steen is at with the line calls) – “He’s got them all. You don’t have a choice. The center’s really the starting point for us and then the quarterback really is the guy that can trump everything. It’s just going to be a little different for our guys right now because it’s a different voice. They’re so used to Mike (Pouncey) doing everything and he’s got that calmness about him and now (Anthony) Steen’s got to get in there and he’s got to be next man up.”
(On what it was about G Anthony Steen that caught his eye) – “I think at first, he’s got this toughness about him. He’s got that grit about him. When you get an offensive lineman like that, it’s hard not to like. You start appreciating that. The more we’ve all been around him, the more we’ve appreciated the way that he’s played, the way that he goes to work. He doesn’t say much. He gets after it every day. You never see him have a bad day because he comes out and he’s got something to prove every day.”
(On S Walt Aikens knee injury) – “That’s going to be another one that’s more of a day-to-day deal for us. We’ll see how that goes. We got to get him out of the training room first and allow him to feel a little better. I think at the end of the day, hopefully we can get him back out there sooner than later.”
(On how close RB Kenyan Drake is to returning) – “We’ll see here at the end of the week. Obviously for me, selfishly, I’d love for him to play this Thursday. I think we got to be a little smart on this. He’s had a couple issues there and it’s going to come down to getting him back in practice first before we just rush him on the field. I’d love for him to get some kind of game action before we get into the season. I think the rest of that group obviously has shown a lot of good stuff. He’s got an uphill battle right now.”
(On C Mike Pouncey’s injury and the possibility of missing the season opener) – “I don’t want to put a timetable on it, but there’s a possibility. If things change for us or if we get some kind of diagnosis where they tell us it’s a longer period time than we originally thought, it could happen. Right now, like I said, we got to be ‘next man up.’ We can’t hope for this to happen because we don’t know right now. That’s why we’re still working with the doctors as far as, ‘Where are we at? How long is this going to be?’ We’re taking our time as far as making sure we got the right evaluation and we make the right decision.”
