Adam Gase – December 21, 2017
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Thursday, December 21, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We didn’t ask you about WR DeVante Parker yesterday.) – “Yes, at some point in the game, I don’t know when it was, he kind of got rolled up on and he just kind of kept playing. We thought he was going to be alright and we should be good for the game. We were just … I mean him going out there running around and just keep getting stiffened back up; but we should be alright.”
(Obviously as long as you’re in contention I’m sure we’ll see TE Anthony Fasano, TE MarQueis Gray on Sunday. Have you come to any conclusion just being able to watch TE A.J. Derby in practice or is that an evaluation that’s coming next spring?) – “No. I mean if we’ve got guys that are healthy, whoever’s healthy is going to play. It’s all about how fast he learns the playbook and how much he knows and I think he’s at a pretty good place right now. If things work out and he ends up being up, we’ll use him.”
(What is TE A.J. Derby’s skill there that you like that you’ve seen?) – “He can run, catch and block.”
(All three?) – “Yes.”
(The guys that do the scouting, they were great.) – “Yes.”
(C/G Ted Larsen since he’s come back, how would you assess how he’s done?) – “I think the longer he’s played, the better he’s felt. He kind of got thrown in there pretty quick coming off that injury. I think those first couple of games were … the speed of the game, I think we talked about that when he first came back, about him getting that back. You can see improvement every day, just even watching practice yesterday. You can see he’s more comfortable than he was last week at this time. I think we just, those guys are getting a chance to keep working together and we’ll just keep looking for improvement.”
(How much has C/G Ted Larsen’s presence helped T Laremy Tunsil?) – “I think any time you have a veteran player next to a younger player, I think that’s a good thing. Ted’s seen a lot of things over his career and he communicates well. I think those two guys are getting really used to playing with each other and I think it helps Laremy. I think Laremy’s really doing a good job of communication back and asking questions and trying to look at the fine details of what really the defense is doing over what we’re doing.”
(I know that DE Charles Harris going back home to Kansas City to play pretty much. Have you found that that makes a difference to players or maybe if you’re younger, does it make a bigger difference?) – “I think sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. I know when we played in Atlanta, if ‘20’ (Reshad Jones) can give more, whatever that was … We knew he was going to do something special in that game. He wanted to make sure he was felt and made some kind of play and he did. Every guy is not like that though. Every guy, each game is the same. Some guys get in a situation like that and maybe it does give them a little bit more of an adrenaline rush.”
(What went into the decision to activate T Eric Smith?) – “We’ve just had so many guys banged up and he’s looked good in practice, so he’s deserved a chance to get up. If we have an opportunity where he ends up having to play or be on the active (list) then it means he’s showing a lot of good things in practice.”
(Assuming RB Kenyan Drake is healthy the next two weeks, is it fair that he’s done enough that you expect him to start?) – “I don’t know. I mean I’ll worry about that (later). I don’t care who starts. I might just throw no backs out there just to piss you off. (laughter)”
(Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi told us that WR Jakeem Grant’s an arrow up kind of guy for you this year. Are there others that you might … I know RB Kenyan Drake obviously would be one, but are there arrow up guys …?) – “I think that these two draft classes have shown improvement. I think the last year’s guys, they didn’t get … a lot of those guys didn’t get opportunity. I think it can kind of … it makes it hard for the young guys sometimes because they’re so used to playing and then all of a sudden now you take a back seat to other guys and you have to understand you have to earn your role. You have to find your way into the lineup and whether it’s an injury, whether it’s you have a special skill set that can make you valuable on game day. I think Jakeem kind of just kept finding ways to get better and we noticed it different in the spring. We noticed all (of us) noticed a difference in the preseason, that he was different, a different guy as far as a receiver. As the season has gone on, he hasn’t fallen off. We just hadn’t been able to get to a lot of the stuff that we were talking about doing with him. Then the last few weeks, we’ve been able to get him in the game and find ways to get him the ball and he’s done a variety of things. I think it really is him understanding what to do and he’s not making mistakes, and that’s huge. When you’re a coach, that’s all you’re hoping for is when you put a guy in that doesn’t play 60 snaps a game, your margin for error is so little because you don’t want to be one-for-five that you screw up. You’ve got to hit every time you’re out there.”
(RB Kenyan Drake last week – 16 carries, 78 yards. I’m wondering how you look at that because he had the one 31-yard carry, the 19-yard carry. The big plays were good. Do you look at 14 for 50? Do you look at whether he was good on first and second down? How do you look at that?) – “Yes, I mean you have to look at it, what did they do? What did we do? What was called? All of those type of little things. There were a few times whether it was they beat us just on the play or if they called something that was really, really bad into what we called – they kind of got us on the second play of the game where we’re running a trap and they bring the safety. It’s just ideal for us. The biggest thing we talked to him about is when things like that happen of trying to make it, just get us back to the line of scrimmage, and he’s done a pretty good job of that. The only time that he really had some negative play is if there’s absolutely a free runner and there’s nothing he can do about it. I thought he was trying and did exactly what we were asking him to do and when we get guys covered up and he’s able to find some kind of crease, he’s making it worth his while.”
(How did RB Damien Williams look yesterday?) – “He’s still going through that process of trying to figure out where his strength is. There’s certain things that I feel like he looks normal doing. I think there’s some things that make him uncomfortable. We’re still going to keep going through that process and kind of see where it takes us for Sunday.”
(If I told you that RB Kenyan Drake is giving you 140 yards per game of total offense in the three games that he’s started, would you say that that’s a good level of production or what you expect from your backfield or?) – “I don’t know. What’s the league average? Then you tell me and compare it to that. I feel like he’s very productive when he’s in there. It feels like that to me. That’s why having both of those guys is just … If you look at the duration of the season, we’re talking about three games and what if this if Game 12 for him? That’s why both of those guys are valuable because they both have very similar traits to where they can do everything. If you mix those two guys up and it’s just a little bit of a change in each guy as far as whether it’s their running style, what they like to run, some of the routes that they run. I mean those two guys together are … it’s fun to call plays for (them) and they’re dangerous for the defense.”
(As a running back, everything is not always going to be ideal. Everything’s not going to be blocked up perfectly and the running back has to create. What have you seen as far as RB Kenyan Drake’s ability to create? Do you think that he’s done well in that past type of things?) – “Yes. We’ve had a few unblocked guys. He’s made them miss and made some big plays. You can see it. Anybody can see it when they do that. When a guy makes a play, you (can be) sitting at home and say that guy is unblocked and he didn’t make the play. He has a special ability to make a cut in a very small, small area. He has an incredible burst and changes speeds very quickly.”
(You’ve had three guys on IR all year. QB Ryan Tannehill, LB Raekwon McMillan and CB Tony Lippett. Do you get a chance during the season to interact with them much? What’s the process like?) – “Those guys are here all the time. They’re at practice and they’re in meetings. I think that’s just something that we’ve talked about of you kind of make that decision as an organization. I’ve been in places where they’re like when you go on IR, you’re not involved in that stuff. My experience going through some of the things that I’ve went through is I had a situation where I told myself after that I’m always going to make sure that the IR guys are still involved. It’s been good for our players. It’s been good for Raekwon because he’s around it all the time. He’s trying to get better mentally, which we need him to, because we’re going to count on him next year. Tony’s a guy that’s played but it still doesn’t hurt him to keep hearing these things over and over and seeing mistakes other guys make. Ryan, that’s just going to be him. If I told him he wasn’t allowed to be around, he’d still be around. He’s never going to be too far away. He kind of wants to hear what we’re doing and he knows how offenses go. It evolves during the season. He just wants to make sure that he’s staying with us.”
(In CB Tony Lippett’s case, his career was really on the ascent, wasn’t it?) – “Yes, he was doing … At the end of the year he was making plays. He had some good games. It was very obvious in some games where he wished he would have played better; but we thought things were going, trending upward for us with him.”
(What’s QB Ryan Tannehill been like?) – “He attends all the meetings, comes to practice, is at the games. Just suggestions, whether it would be in-game, practice, game-planning. He stays locked in.”
(Physically, what is QB Ryan Tannehill up to in his recovery?) – “He’s with the trainers, lifting. Any time I’ve ever seen him in the weight room, seeing his movement, his ability to do some of the things that he’s doing, it’s been impressive.”
(With T Laremy Tunsil, two things that have been said about him consistently this year is that the consistency needs to improve and then toughness considering he’s facing the best pass rusher of every team. How do you get to that point as a second-year player?) – “Yes, I don’t know if I agree with the toughness part, because to me, I feel like I’ve seen a lot of good things from him and I haven’t seen him shy away from anything. I’ve seen there’s been times where he’s been blocking guys for an extended period of time and done exactly what you look for a linemen to do. I do think it’s just the experience of being a young player at that position and it is one thing to play left tackle in the SEC. It’s a different animal all together to play it at this level and to be really good. When you watch the really, really good players there, you know it. When you watch Dallas, you watch ‘77’ (Tyron Smith). He’s dominant from the time the first play occurs until the last play. I know that’s something he wants to strive for is to be that type of player. A lot of guys … this whole league it’s inconsistency of good or bad, game to game or within a game or however it goes. I know he’s striving to be a consistent guy and we talk about it all the time. He tells me, ‘Don’t worry about my side. Don’t worry about my side.’ He has confidence in himself to get the job done one on one and I love that about him. He’s always trying to make sure that I never have to worry about that side. He’s like, ‘Go worry, go worry about the other side.’ You want that kind of confidence from your left tackle.”
(How’s LB Raekwon McMillan doing physically?) – “Good. He looks good. They’re always doing something. When you don’t have to practice and you’re not playing a game, (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Dave) Puloka’s going to keep you busy. He’s just going to keep getting stronger and hopefully we’ll be ready to go when we hit spring.”
