Adam Gase – August 21, 2018
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We noticed former NFL Coach Mike Martz out there. Can you fill us in on why he’s here and what he’s meant to you?) – “I called him last week. We were just talking about some stuff. I always feel like he’s got a lot going on. He’ll say he doesn’t, but I know he does. I asked if he had any time this week – with us kind of getting into an in-season week of practice and game planning, things like that – so I asked him to come down. He was available, so he was able to come down this whole week and kind of spend some time with us. I thought it would be good. Some of our coaches know him; some of them don’t. It’s been great for me because I’ve been able to pick his brain on just some different things that we’ve never really talked about before.”
(How would you describe former NFL Coach Mike Martz’s influence in your career?) – “The majority of what I’ve learned is from him, especially about offensive football but also how to present in front of players, whether it be installing things. Just like those side conversations with guys and in front of the group. I don’t know if you really want to call it motivation, but I think maybe more confidence. He’s the best one I’ve ever been around as far as when he was in front of the group, you walked out of the room and you thought you were going to score 60 every game. You could feel that from him that he believed that. That was something I think just watching him as many times as I did, it just kind of rubbed off on me.”
(We saw DE Robert Quinn with two sacks against Carolina, but how many other plays was he a part of?) – “He’s one of those guys that’s going to have a lot of hidden plays that people won’t be able to look back and say, this is on the stat sheet. He’s very disruptive. The offense feels him out there all the time. It may have looked different the way that he kind of goes after the run game. A lot of times he can get a guy to stop his feet and redirect and that’s enough time for our guys to swarm and make a play. He’s definitely going to need to be accounted for in the pass rush.”
(How has DE Robert Quinn teamed with DE Cam Wake so far in the pass rush?) – “The pocket is collapsing quickly. That’s really what we’re looking for. It’s really going to come down for us to how many opportunities we can give those guys. That group is pretty deep. What’s valuable to us is guys are going to be fighting for playing time, so every time they’re in there and it’s a passing situation, I think we’re going to get great energy on the field of guys getting after the quarterback.”
(What are you guys having WR DeVante Parker do while he’s hurt?) – “A lot of conditioning. Just trying to make sure we don’t lose that. He still can’t catch a ball. He’s been very engaged in all the meetings. I know he doesn’t want to take any steps back mentally. If he wasn’t in our meetings, it’s just easy to get away from it and … You’re not going to forget everything, but just hearing the little details over and over again so it’s second nature, he doesn’t want to lose that. I know he had worked hard to make sure he was in great condition. He was able to run the entire training camp without having any kind of fatigue issues. I know he doesn’t want to lose that.”
(Does WR DeVante Parker run routes or anything without catching the ball?) – “Yes, we can do all of that stuff. We can work the cones, all those type of things. He’s doing it with the trainers.”
(What is your comfort level with the linebacker corps?) – “My confidence is growing with them. They’re young. We’re going to have mistakes. I think Kiko (Alonso) is … I almost feel like it’s two years ago. Last year the offseason was tough for him. He was coming off with the hand (injury). He couldn’t do what he wanted to do in the offseason. I know when he came to training camp, he was lighter and he was still trying to get used to using his hand and not worrying about it. He’s really been performing the way we need him to perform. Then we just need those two young guys to keep growing and keep learning. We know there’s going to be mistakes. We’re going to be all right with that because we feel like it’s important to those guys and they work really hard to correct those mistakes.”
(What did you see from WR Kenny Stills in his first day back and how far is he from being 100 percent?) – “I don’t know if anybody is ever really going to be 100 percent, but it amazes me that he can come back out there and run the amount he does. He missed a healthy amount of time, but today it was more mental for him than anything of just pushing through. It gets a little hot and (you have to) just keep fighting through the whole heat element of everything. It seemed like he was fine.”
(Where are you guys in terms of QB Ryan Tannehill’s pocket presence and how comfortable he’s been in the pocket? He says he hasn’t been hit so far in the first two games. Is that because of the chemistry they’re developing or his timing and footwork?) – “I think he’s doing a good job getting the ball out, but I also think he’s got a lot of space. I don’t know if he’s really used to this. Our guys up front have taken a lot of pride in making sure he hasn’t gotten touched. The two times he has actually been knocked down have been almost like … not late hits, but just like those late grabs where he’s a little bit off balance and it was almost like he fell. The line has done a great job, not only in pass protection but in the run game. We have things to clean up but I like where we’re trending.”
(You guys haven’t taken a lot of shots downfield with the ones in games. Is that just how the game has gone?) – “It’s who we’re playing. It’s hard to take shots when they’re 10 to 15 yards off. That’s why Carolina was (No.) 1 or 2 in every category. They let you get those yards and they just say, you’re not going to get in the end zone. That’s why they were a top red-zone defense. They didn’t give up a whole bunch of balls over 20 yards last year. And I remembered that going into the game. The thing that we needed to do different that last game was when we got in the red zone, we needed to execute and put it in the end zone. We didn’t do that.”
(I don’t know if you have a secret of the 53 players that are going to be Miami Dolphins this year but how many jobs legitimately would you say are open?) – “I don’t know. I don’t think that way. We’re just going to keep playing and when we get time and it’s time to make those cut downs, we’ll sit in a room and deal with that. It’s hard for me to even really put a number to anything. I could go in there right now and look at a roster and probably have an idea of where those position battles are, but we’re going to play this thing out. That’s the beauty of what we’re going through right now and being able to keep as many guys as we can to just keep competing because you just never know what’s going to happen.”
(Does QB Bryce Petty have a legitimate shot to be the backup quarterback?) – “I think everybody right now in that room, we’re just going to keep competing and get reps. Really, this game it’s going to be so much about the ones and how is it going to turn out when those guys go out? How many plays are going to be available? We’ve got three guys who want to play in the game. We’ve just got to kind of see how it goes.”
(Is there a difference between a free safety and a strong safety between mentalities? Does the free safety choose to keep things in front of him more and the strong safety goes for the kill shot more?) – “Every defense is different. For us, our guys are pretty much interchangeable, but at the same time we’ve got a pretty good idea that when we have 20 down in the box, it’s really good for us because the guy is a tackling machine. I don’t think our other guys are really afraid to mix it up, either, between T.J. (McDonald) and Minkah (Fitzpatrick). Those guys come up pretty quick. That’s why Minkah has extra value with being able to play nickel. That helps us in the run game because those receivers can’t block him.”
(Did S Reshad Jones and S T.J. McDonald have the, I guess, free safety mentality of keeping everything in front of them? Was that an issue last year?) – “Last year was so different than what it was. When T.J. missed eight weeks, that just kind of threw us … I mean, he was trying to come back and do everything he could to help us. He was playing well in training camp and then just leaving and then trying to jump right back into it; this year I notice even growth from last training camp, especially knowing when he can come down, take his shots and maybe cut across or whatever they’re doing in the passing game to where he can be effective. I do think he has that ability to keep things in front of him; but at the same time, I don’t think he’s really going to lose that aggression that he has naturally.”
(With the defensive tackle position, now that you’re facing the Ravens this week, what do you expect from that unit?) – “I think our defensive tackles have actually done a decent job. We just have to fit these things right. When we do get these guys covered up up front, and we have our linebackers running free, we’ve got to make those plays. We’ve got to fit the gaps right. I think (Akeem) Spence has done a good job. It’s amazing to me to watch him attack an offensive lineman. He must have some strong hands because when he hits those guys, you see movement. You see some pop there. He’s not a huge guy, but he’s one of those guys who just has some kind of strength you just can’t teach. Getting Jordan (Phillips) kind of going again, and (Davon) Godchaux and Vince (Taylor) have been very productive. As soon as we put pads on, Vince shows up. We just need to keep getting better at that spot. I know (Defensive Line Coach) Kris (Kocurek) is really working on getting those guys attacking the way he wants and causing chaos.”
(How have you seen RB Frank Gore help RB Kenyan Drake, and help this team?) – “Frank is one of those guys, you just watch what he does. That’s what makes him different. He’s not afraid to say something if he needs to. Kenyan has done a good job of just watching what he does. Frank is such a pro. Just watch him get ready for practice. He’s always out there early. He’s always doing something. It’s hard to keep him off the field in practice. If you try to rest him, you’ll be like, ‘Hey, you’re 35 now.’ He doesn’t care. He acts like he’s 23, which I love. And then when you watch him run, you get even more excited. I’m ready to get him on the field and get this thing rolling.”
