Adam Gase – December 23, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Postgame – Jacksonville
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase
It seemed like offensively you got off to a good start but there was no production after that. What would you say went wrong?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: They just dominated us up front and holes were closing quick. I know the backs were trying to get as much as possible but we were 2-3 yards a clip and then we just kept leaving ourselves in third-and-long. Penalties crushed us. We could not get in any kind of rhythm.
This is three games out of four you’re under 200 yards in production. Is there anything in bigger than just individual games or individual plays?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: We have so few plays. If we go through a game and we don’t have four or five, six, explosive plays, we’re not going to have yards.
From a blocking standpoint, you mentioned how you’re getting beat up front. Is that just individuals missing assignments?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I didn’t think there were missed assignments. They were just more physical than us, which we knew that coming into the game. We knew what that front was going to be. We knew what this defense was. We didn’t do a good job. We were bad.
Understanding that the game just ended, but you’re now officially out of playoff contention. Is there any kind of postmortem? It’s not over yet but things that you feel like from an overall standpoint things need to change in 2019?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I’m not there yet. We just got done with this. I’ve got to figure out why we can’t get guys covered up and why we can’t be more physical than what we were.
As far as your offense today, what was the main problem, do you think?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: They dominated us up front. We got sacked. We couldn’t run the ball. There were no holes. We were getting pushed back. We just didn’t do a good job.
What did you see on the pick-six?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: There was some pressure. Calais (Campbell) got through on the left side. We were supposed to have him double-teamed and then Ryan (Tannehill), he was late and probably should have just ate it. Once he got around his foot and threw it, it was too late. The guy had … ‘50’ (Telvin Smith) had caught up to him.
Defensively, you guys sacked them a lot. Does that only magnify your level of disappointment?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: It’s terrible. I mean, the offense was awful. It was brutal to watch, to be a part of.
When you look at QB Ryan Tannehill, did you see him hold the ball a little bit or just didn’t have time to get the ball out?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Probably both. There were probably times where he should have let it go and then other times, I don’t think he had much of a chance. But it was just a combination of everything.
There were scenes of you drawing things up on the sideline during the third quarter. Was that you trying to figure out…?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: No, I was just trying to get those guys to know what was coming. I wasn’t drawing anything up. I’m just trying to order up some series so everybody knew what was coming for that next series, so there was no gray (area). Everybody knew what plays we were going to run. I was just trying to give Ryan a heads-up on what we were doing and the skill guys. We’re just trying to get something positive going. We were just so … We just couldn’t get any explosive plays or anything to kind of swing the game.
It seemed like after the first drive, you just couldn’t get into sync. You get a first down, get a penalty, bring it back and that would stop the drive. The protection seemed like it was difficult all day long. You knew they were going to be a tough pass-rushing football team. What did you see as the biggest issue on the table?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I mean, I think it was a collective group. It starts with being able to at least get those guys slowed down up front, which we didn’t do. I mean, it just felt like it was collapsing fast, getting rid of the ball. We can’t be wrong on some of the decisions we make there. When we have a chance to make plays, we’ve got to make them. We’ve got to catch the ball. We probably only had one drop, but that’s a big play in the game. We can’t turn it over.
There was an even split, basically, between RB Kenyan Drake, RB Kalen Ballage and RB Brandon Boldon. Was that the plan going into the day?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: Well, how many plays did we … We probably didn’t have a lot of plays. We were really going to try to split Drake and Ballage and then Brandon had a few things in. A lot of them were situational. We happened to be in those probably too much. We wanted those guys to touch the ball more because they are two of our most explosive guys and Brandon is usually the guy that can at least make the first guy miss. But I mean, they were getting back there pretty quick and we couldn’t get away from them.
Are you getting winning football play from the quarterback position?
HEAD COACH ADAM GASE: I think sometimes we are. I think today was a rough day for him. I wish he would have played a little better. I wish he would have made a few more decisions that were different. I think there’s been games that he has – that he’s played really well – and there’s been some games where we haven’t played well. And it’s as much on me as it is on him. I have to do a better job of making sure that he’s doing the right things at the right time.
