Adam Gase – December 22, 2016
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Thursday, December 22, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Did Chad Ochocinco tell you he’s still available?) – “I heard him say it. I did hear him say it. I think he told Matt (Moore) that.” (laughter)
(What’s the connection? Why was he here today?) – “Him being down here and I’m not sure exactly who he knew. I’ve never been able to talk to him before; but I’ve met him over the years in the NFL, just being on other teams, just saying hi to him after a game. But today was the first day I ever really got to talk to him. So I’m not really sure who exactly … I think him and (Wide Receivers Coach) Shawn (Jefferson) might know each other.”
(With CB Byron Maxwell, how comfortable could you be with him playing after not practicing all week?) – “Normally I feel pretty good about a guy that’s going out there – especially a veteran player – performing after not practicing all week. We still need to figure out where he’s really at. I’m not going to put him out there unless I feel like he feels really good. I don’t want to have a setback. We’re still going through a process. Right now it’s just not … he hasn’t gotten as well as we thought he would this late in the week.”
(With now CB Xavien Howard, CB Tony Lippett and CB Bobby McCain, these are young first- and second-year guys at corner back. How much growth have you seen from them and are you worried about communication issues considering they’re all relatively young?) — “No issues with the communication. I think the longer they’ve practiced together and played in games, and I know ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is just coming back; but he has been out there. He has been in meetings to where that comes back pretty quick. I feel confident about those guys doing a good job within a game, making sure that we’re all on the same page. If we do have any kind of errors, those are things we’re going to have to learn from and we have to learn quickly. We have to minimize those as much as possible.”
(With CB Xavien Howard having success against a guy like Brandon Marshall, how much do think that’s a confidence booster?) – “Anytime that you play a player at the level that Brandon’s (Marshall) at and you’re able to challenge him and do a good job of staying with him … and I know there was a couple of times where Brandon (Marshall) won and the ball might have not necessarily have gone to him or the throw wasn’t exactly where it was supposed to be, it’s just that back and forth battle that you can recover from when you do get beat, lining up the next snap and putting that last play behind you. I know the numbers weren’t really there for Brandon (Marshall), what he’s used to. I know he had some really good routes, really good releases, and ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) will learn from that through time; but anytime that you do play a player of that caliber, you have to maintain a confidence you had in going into the game and then you have to learn from those experiences. And I feel like he does. It probably gave him a little bit of confidence boost that he is feeling as good as he looked.”
(WR Jarvis Landry’s yards per catch has improved by about two yards this season. I know you didn’t have him last year, but do you think that’s a system approach or anything you may have seen in his game that has contributed to that?) – “That’s a tough one for me to answer because I don’t know exactly or I can’t recall exactly all the routes that he was running last year. I know we’ve done a few things different, but every system’s pretty close to being the same. I think he’s created some explosive plays on his own. We’ve tried to free him up in that intermediate route down the field every once in a while but for the most part, a lot of his things have come off of just his determination to not be tackled. That’s something that’s … He just has that ability to just fight through that initial contact and create yards after catch, after contact.”
(Beyond QB Ryan Tannehill, CB Byron Maxwell and LB Jelani Jenkins do you feel good about everyone else being available Saturday?) – “I think so, unless something comes up that … this afternoon or tomorrow. We’re probably as healthy as you can ask for, for this late in the season. I know a lot of guys are on IR, but the guys that are practicing … I’m sure there are guys that feel sore, but that’s really what this game is – just fighting through those type of nagging injuries, or not necessarily injuries, but those bumps and bruises.”
(I know you try to take every game as its own individual challenge. But the fact is that by the time this weekend ends, this team could conceivably have clinched a playoff berth. Where do you see the mindset of this team? Has it changed anything for you this week?) – “I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen guys focused on the challenge that we have on Saturday, and they know what they’re in for. They understand where we’re going. It’s a place that is tough to win and we know we’re playing a team that is looking to beat us and looking to play a very good game. They’re well coached. They’re playing extremely hard. They’re playing extremely well right now and we know this is going to be one of those games where it’s going to come down to probably whoever has the ball last. I wouldn’t expect anything less for this being a division game late in the year.”
(With Bills Head Coach Rex Ryan and his exotic blitzes, how much do you have to worry about QB Matt Moore falling for a trap or misidentifying something? Every quarterback faces the same thing, but Matt generally likes to see it and throw it.) – “Yes, it’s a tough task we have. Any time that you play Rex’s defense, you know it can come from anywhere, anytime, any part of the field, any down or distance. You have to have your mind right through the entire … You cannot relax. The first second you relax, no matter if it’s first, second or third down, that’s when you find yourself in trouble, and he’ll get you. He does a great job keeping his scheme to where he can disguise things. He gives you a lot of different looks and right when you think that you’re not going to get something, something comes. That’s what makes him so hard to go against. I’ve never experienced a game where I’ve walked out of a game saying, ‘That wasn’t that hard.’ Every game I’ve ever played against him, there are at least two or three things where I almost can say, ‘Well that was something completely different than I’ve seen.’ Those guys are very creative. They do a lot of things that cause problems for quarterbacks, especially. Everyone has to be on the same page – o-line, receivers, backs, tight ends. If you slip up a little bit against these guys, it’s a turnover. We have to do a great job as far as our communication goes and that’s what makes it difficult when you’re going on the road against a defense that does show you a lot of different looks.”
(CB Byron Maxwell is the only corner I believe that you’ve had shadow opponents this year. Why are there a limited number of corners that do that?) – “I think the number of guys that want or willing to do it is probably a lot less than guys speak of it. I’m sure a lot of guys say they can do it, but for the most part it’s not the easiest thing to do. A lot of guys … The league has kind of gotten to this whole right, left corner deal because what happens is when you do travel with a guy, all of a sudden now you’re in the slot. You might have the nickel responsibilities. If you’re just playing man and you only travel with him on man and in zone you don’t, you kind of give away what you’re doing. So there’s a lot of moving pieces that go on, especially when you have these receivers that are really talented that can go inside and outside. Then all of a sudden they’re a No. 3 in a 3×1. It causes a lot of problems. You have to have a guy that understands the entire defense if you want to travel a guy because he has to play multiple spots.”
(LB Neville Hewitt, he played nickel last year for LB Jelani Jenkins when he went down. Has there been any thought as to why not him in that nickel package?) – “I think that a lot of the teams that we’ve seen have been more base-oriented. We feel like he’s getting a good amount of snaps in base defense. We like playing ‘Spence’ (Spencer Paysinger) as well. We want to give him time on the field. We kind of look at it as what fits what we want him to do, and he does do a great job in base defense. He can do both as far as defending the pass, but he’s a really good run stopper as well. We like him in our blitz packages when we are out of base, and you can see the results of some of those. He’s had some TFLs (tackles for loss) and he’s had some sacks. We feel like the package we have him in fits what we want to do with him. Down the road, I’m sure it’s going to expand, but we were just trying to compartmentalize everything as far as, ‘Hey, this is your role. This is what you’re doing. Spence, here’s your role. Jelani, here is your role when you’re healthy.’ So we’re not trying to put it all on his plate as a young player.”
