Adam Gase – December 12, 2017
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Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(That was a signature win against sort of the gold standard of the NFL, certainly of the AFC and I’m just wondering if you will acknowledge that in the one game at a time scheme, that this means a little bit more to this organization even going forward?) – “It means a lot to probably first the players, because they have to go out there and they have the physical battle they’ve got to handle. They’ve got to handle the mental battle as well. Not everything’s quite gone right this year and guys have done a great job of just plugging along, figuring out a way to get better, find a way to win last week, find a way to win this week. That’s a tough team to play and they’re a well-coached team and they know that they have to execute and protect the football and get turnovers. They know the formula to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter and I felt like the players did a great job. The coaching staff did a great job getting these guys ready. It’s a good win for us because that was the most important game of that week. I know you want more than that but really, if you lose next week nobody really is going to give a (expletive).”
(How kind of uneasy is confidence at times because you guys lost five straight and it seemed like maybe some of these guys are hanging their head a little and then you do what you did the last two weeks and that locker room was completely transformed last night.) – “I mean that’s the NFL. They’ll hang their head for a day and then we’ll move on. Once we hit Wednesday, we’re on to the next one.”
(It seemed like there were a lot of plays where QB Jay Cutler had significant time. Did the offensive line play as well as they have all season yesterday?) – “I’m not sure if I can say that’s all season. If you go game by game, I think they did a good job with the fronts they were getting. New England makes it very difficult. You’re not really sure sometimes how they’re going to rush. You have an idea of who may be coming, but the way that they enter the line of scrimmage is very difficult because they do a lot of things where you have to pass the defensive linemen off. It can get tough. They do a really good job of making sure that if you’re not on the same page, you’re in trouble.”
(Speaking of offensive line. C Mike Pouncey’s played every game this year. He hasn’t played all 16 games since 2012.) – “I’m glad you’re bringing it up. (laughter)”
(What has the team done, what has C Mike Pouncey done to not have durability issues season?) – “I think he’s just worked extremely hard every day. I mean I don’t remember the last time I hadn’t seen him here trying to do something. He doesn’t need anybody to tell him what to do. He’s going to be in here on his own. This means a lot to him. He wants to be out there for his teammates every snap and he’s had the right mindset this year. Not that he hasn’t in the past, but I know he’s really locked in about focusing on one game at a time, one play at a time. He’s just trying to be a guy that we can count on every week. I’m sure he hasn’t felt 100 percent or great all of the time and he just keeps plugging along and trying to do everything he can to help us win.”
(I know you’ve always like RB Kenyan Drake’s potential but have you been surprised at all the last two games about his ability to handle a full work load as well as he has?) – “Not really. I mean that’s why we drafted him. We’d rather be able to … Like that combination of him and Damien (Williams) really caused a lot of problems because both of those guys have can do everything you want them to do. We’ve just got to keep working on cleaning up the ball security and make sure that he hangs onto that thing and keep putting two hands on it in traffic.”
(You’ve been thinking of getting WR Jakeem Grant involved on the outside. You’ve been talking about that for a while and last night we saw it.) – “It was … (you guys) kept bringing it up, so I had to keep putting it on the back shelf. (laughter) We kept working on these packages with him and it just never flowed right in the game, in a lot of the previous games, to where we weren’t getting the matchups we wanted. We were seeing coverages that were different than what we thought. This game I think it was more, we’re going to put it out there and we accidentally kind of fell into a couple of them the last time we played them because we lost all of the running backs. So we started putting them out there more and it just kind of got us thinking a little bit of maybe we just should put him out there and let’s just see what happens, (because) he can do so much. And it kind of lets us play around with some things with him and Jarvis (Landry), when you start doing the things where they’re in the backfield and then they’re all playing different positions and in different spots. Guys have fun with that. They like being able to do something a little creative, so we kind of started doing that stuff.”
(You’ve come a long way, obviously. You’ve talked a lot before about the offense being minimalist when you guys couldn’t do a lot right. Now you’re lining up guys in the backfield that have never played running back. Is it a matter of the team just figuring it out and you feel more comfortable opening it up?) – “No, I think it’s just (me) less angry when they make a mistake. Just let them figure it out and they’ve done a good job. You’ll see every once in a while we’ll have a little confusion, but they figure it out by the time the clock hits 0 on the shot clock. Sometimes it’s kind of messy because guys have to change what position they are. We try to keep everything as consistent as possible; but now, all of the sudden, you’ve got five wide outs in there or four wide outs. Somebody’s got to change. It’s tough sometimes; but guys have done a good job being right, for the most part.”
(You guys jumped out to a lead. How did that influence the game? How did it change it for both teams?) – “I’m sure our defense was happy. That was a first. We wanted to just keep trying to push the ball, whether it be in the run game, pass game, however we were doing it, just to put pressure on them and see if we could score some points to where if we could get up by 6, 7, 13, whatever it was, to just give our guys a chance to really put pressure on the quarterback. That’s what we wanted to do. We’ve been talking about it for a long time. Those guys have done a great job of hanging in there with us and yesterday, we finally got a little bit of a lead and they were able to go do what we want them to do. They put a lot of pressure on (Patriots QB Tom Brady).”
(Do you think the Denver game gave you guys something? I know Denver hasn’t been playing well but just the confidence of seeing the plan actually materialize on the field?) – “I think any time you get in a situation where you’ve lost five games in a row, no matter how you win that game, it’s nice to win a game. Confidence can really build throughout a week the next week, and I think that’s really what happened to us. Guys came in with a purpose in the Denver game, did a good job, and then when we went through practice last week, there was a different way about how even at practice we were. There was no change in effort or execution or anything like that; but it seemed like guys were walking around differently, like they felt good about what we had going on and how they were going to perform.”
(What’s gone into WR Jarvis Landry’s ability to find the end zone this season?) – “I don’t know. It just happens. We’ve called certain plays and there’s options, and sometimes it’s dictated by coverage. We just caught some teams in the right coverage.”
(With RB Kenyan Drake and CB Xavien Howard, you see these guys and you know what kind of talent is there. You’re trying to tap in and you’ve worked with them for a year and a half and now all of a sudden, it’s kind of blossoming, in our eyes anyway. What level of satisfaction is there for you when you see that happen?) – “It’s really been … I guess for both guys, I’ve enjoyed it just because, especially Drake, I give him a really hard time. Just to see him stick with it. When we traded Jay (Ajayi), we kind of put those two guys in a room and were like ‘Alright, both of you guys are going to get touches’ and they knew how I wanted to use them. Just to see his engagement in meetings and practice and how much you can see the effort he’s putting forth to try to make sure he does everything right. He wants to be a reliable guy. Just seeing that growth really fast, it’s been fun to experience. Then ‘X,’ he’s been confident since the spring. Just getting some success … Things happen like that for DBs. It snowballs for you. You get one, you get your hands on the ball and then all of a sudden it’s like three or four.”
(Speaking of snow balls, how do you prepare a team from South Florida to play in the snow?) – “It’s just mindset. It doesn’t matter. It’s three and a half hours. You get a 12-minute break.”
(But there’s no way to simulate anything.) – “I mean we can cool (the bubble) down if you want to but to a point, it’s not going to do anything.”
(It is winter though, right?) – “I know. It was cold yesterday.”
(I was curious your thoughts on, numbers aside, what you saw from WR DeVante Parker yesterday.) – “There was some good stuff. There was a couple of them I wish we could have back, that I thought were going to be some big plays. I can see him understanding the concepts so well to where he knows he has a lot of green grass and he wants to go; but he’s got to catch the ball first. That’s really what happened on that first play. He knew he had a chance for a big one. We just need him to focus on catching the ball first and then run after that. He just has to trust his speed. There were some good technique things he did on his routes. We just need the consistency. We have to just keep trying to get him going. He can be such a huge piece of the puzzle for us.”
(I was wondering about T Laremy Tunsil too in terms quality of play last night and just his disposition.) – “It’s always about consistency at this level. You can’t have four good and one bad, and that’s what you’re doing all of the time. You have to keep playing well for 60 minutes and when you play that spot, it’s the toughest spot because you’re usually going against their best pass rusher. A lot of times I know myself, in my head, I’m always thinking we’re good on the left, and I know Jay (Cutler) thinks the same way. So it’s a lot of pressure to make sure your guy is blocked every time because you get less help. A lot of the formations seem to be right-handed a lot of times. That’s a lot on a first-year left tackle. That’s a lot on his plate.”
(How was T Laremy Tunsil last night though?) – “He was pretty good. He did a pretty good job. There were a few things that I want to get cleaned up, which are easily correctable things.”
(DT Jordan Phillips is another player who is playing really well lately. What have you seen of him that makes a difference?) – “I think it just starts with the way that he’s been preparing. You notice in practice. His energy level, his attitude and the way his whole demeanor has been, for a long time now, you can see that’s why he’s having success. I don’t think any of us ever questioned his athletic ability or his ability to rush the passer. Just seeing him consistently do the same things over and over again, it’s been great to see. He’s been a huge part of that defensive line.”
(How did DT Jordan Phillips get through the night physically and did you have any issue with how he got dinged up? It seemed to be a play that wasn’t really a football play.) – “It’s hard to comment on anything like that but we’ll see how he is, when I get with those guys today. It’s always one of those ones you get a little nervous about because how is he going to be the next day? He seemed alright last night but we’ll kind of see as we go through the week.”
(The concussion protocol is back in the news after what happened to Texans QB Tom Savage. Your team has been through it a few times in the last couple years. What is your overall thoughts on the way the league has handled the new concussion protocol?) – “It’s hard for me to comment on it because we just follow the rules that they have in place. If a guy is down, we give him to the trainers, doctors and an NFL specialist. That’s it. I’m removed from it when that happens.”
(What’s the plan for RB Damien Williams this week? Are you going to test him out? – “Yes, we’re going to keep trying to get him ready to go and strengthen him up as much as we can. I know this has been frustrating for him. He wants to get out there, he wants to help us. We need him. He’s a valuable piece of this team, not only on the field but his attitude. We just have to keep getting him stronger and then when the trainers say he’s ready to go on the field, we’ll put him on the field.”
(Do you have a plan for RB Damien Williams to do anything though?) – “I don’t know. I’ll meet with the trainers later today and figure out what our plan is this week.”
