Adam Gase – December 27, 2017
Download PDF version
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(What has RB Kenyan Drake showed you since he’s entered the starting lineup?) – Well I think he’s proven to us that he’s able to handle a bigger load than what we were giving him early in the season. I still think it’s in our best interest to have more than one guy. Just when you do get in a couple of those games where that back, with him being by himself, it starts getting into that 30-carry range – and we do use him a lot in the passing game – that it would probably be a lot over the long haul. I think he has confidence and he’s kind of conditioned himself to be able to do that; but at the same time, the way this league is, you’d love to have the guy for every game instead of 13 games.”
(With guys like RB Kenyan Drake finishing strong to end this season, how much confidence does he give the coaching staff in him, heading into next season?) – “A lot. You want guys to improve as the season goes on and when they get their opportunity, take full advantage of it. That was something that … He said it to me before we even really started the season. He said if I get another opportunity, he goes ‘I wasted it last year.’ He’s like ‘I started a game and I didn’t do anything with it.’ I thought he had the right mindset coming into this season.”
(With two guys going on IR, did DT Vincent Taylor prove to you guys that he’s a rotational NFL defensive tackle? And with WR Leonte Carroo, how difficult is it to judge improvement based mostly on practice? Obviously your top three vets took most of the snaps.) – “I think we gained a lot this season from seeing Vincent do all of the things we asked him to do, from special teams to defense. There were a few games where he was down and we still saw him every week. He practiced like it was a game. He was one of our high-energy guys. He practiced hard every day and he gave us value on special teams, which is great to get from a defensive linemen. I do think he’s a guy that we’re looking forward to keep developing and seeing how far we can help him grow as a football player. Then, as far as Carroo goes, we saw huge strides in practice, knowledge of the offense. He didn’t get a lot of opportunity; but I feel like the times that we put him in, there weren’t errors. He was doing the right things. Now it’s just going to be the next step of the confidence level, making plays and taking full advantage of any opportunity you get.”
(Have you talked to QB Jay Cutler about his future?) – “No, I haven’t talked to anybody about (that). I’ve told those guys there’s a time and a place for all of this, when it comes to the postseason, offseason type things, and right know isn’t that time. We have one game left and everybody needs to focus on that.”
(Do you want some clarity from guys like QB Jay Cutler and G/T Jermon Bushrod quickly after the season? Or are you going to give them some time?) – “We’ve got time. I’m not going to be in a rush.”
(After the last game, C Mike Pouncey said that he had his best season and to ask the coaches. I know you’ve only had him for two years, but how well has he performed?) – “Especially down the stretch, he’s been probably our most consistent guy and he’s probably played his best ball in the back half of the season. We’ve done some things to make sure that he feels good on Sunday, which I know is frustrating for him to watch. He’s not a big fan of watching practice. He’s right in the mix, even when he’s not practicing. Our whole goal was to make sure that we had him for Sunday. Especially in these last two games when we needed him to play well and we needed guys to play well, he was one of the few guys that really stepped up and did what he was supposed to do.”
(Do you intend to treat this as you have all of the other games and play all of the usual guys or are there some guys you want to give a chance now to, because there aren’t actual playoff stakes in this game for you?) – “First of all, we’ve got to figure out who’s going to be healthy. We do have some guys banged up and we’ve had to make some roster moves. If we can put certain guys in the game that we haven’t played yet, that’s always great. We’ve just got to see how the week goes, who’s available and we’ll go from there. I’m sure all of us would like to see certain guys play that haven’t had a chance to play, but at the same time, there’s other guys that earned those spots for a reason.”
(What’s your plan at quarterback this week?) – “Jay (Cutler) will start.”
(Do you intend for QB Jay Cutler to take the whole game?) – “We’ll see how the game goes. Jay hasn’t done anything to come out. There’s no reason for him to come out of the game right now.”
(DT Ndamukong Suh has been selected as the team MVP. What in particular did you see him do well this season?) – “I just think back to the spring when he came back before OTAs, of how he took the young guys and helped those guys develop and get better every day. He was working with those guys. He had an overall goal to help those guys be factors in the season because he knew for him to be as effective as he needed to be, he has to have multiple guys that are playing well with him. He took a lot of pride in making sure those guys were up to speed and those guys did a great job of listening to him and taking what he was giving them. Once we got into the season, it has to be frustrating for him because every game it’s double-team and triple-team, and he still finds ways to make plays. He still finds ways to create pressure on the quarterback, especially in critical situations. I just think of that Oakland game, we needed a huge play and that was straight effort. He’s got three guys on him, somehow wiggles free and then you see a guy 320 pounds diving in the air and knocking the ball out and then trying to recover it. He did everything he could this year to try to help us.”
(DE Cameron Wake said on Sunday that he felt the talent was here to make a run. Do you agree and does it make it all the more frustrating that you feel like you let an opportunity pass you by?) – “I think when we go back and revisit this season in the offseason, it’s probably going to be a lot of frustration. I feel like we’ve let a lot of things slip through our fingers and that’s where we’ve got to understand, when you’re a young player, sometimes you forget how valuable every game is. We do have a lot of young guys that have to learn how to prepare each week, because you never know when that’s going to be the week that changes your season one way or the other. We have to understand that we’re going to play in every kind of environment weather-wise: hot, cold, rain, snow. It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, we’ve got to figure out a way to play well in it. These last two weeks were a valuable lesson for us because we didn’t play as well as we needed to, it was a little bit cold and we have to play better in those situations.”
(Do personal records mean anything to you? The one that comes to mind is WR Jarvis Landry. I think he’s eight receptions away from a personal best. DE Cameron Wake, I don’t know what you can do to get him double-digit sacks; but would you try to help players achieve that or is it just the course of the game?) – “I think it usually just works out. Every time I’ve ever tried to do anything, it never works out the right way. I think you just let it happen. The one time that I tried to do something, it just totally backfired. I told myself I’d never do that again.”
(What was it?) – “I’m not telling you.”
(When is the last time you talked to Owner Stephen Ross and what has been his demeanor and opinion about the season?) – “The last time I talked to him was Saturday night. It’s been the same all season, just keep grinding and keep trying to find ways to get guys better. I know what his expectations were and they’ve always been the same where he wants to win. He wants to have a chance to play in the tournament and we didn’t really get that done this year. I’m sure that’s disappointing for him. He does everything he can to be supportive to us and give us everything we possibly need. For me, and I know (Executive VP of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (General Manager) Chris (Grier) feel the same, you feel like you let him down. He’s given us so much and we have to find a way to be more consistent throughout the season, and we have to find a way to put ourselves in position. We were lucky enough to be in position these last two weeks, to at least have a shot, and we didn’t get it done. We need to put ourselves in a better position to where we’re not fighting for our playoff lives, where we’re hoping eight teams lose, for us to have a chance.”
(There were several other players besides DE Cameron Wake on Sunday, who were saying they felt this team should have been better this year, even with some of the people you guys lost. There was a lot of ‘getting in your own way.’ Do you include yourself in that group? Do you feel like there were things that you did that didn’t fully maximize what you had?) – “I think we all feel that way. That’s why the offseason is a horrible experience to go through when you have a situation like this, where you start going back through and start telling yourself ‘I should have done this. I should have done this. Maybe I shouldn’t have called this.’ You have to be extremely hard on yourself so you make sure you don’t make those mistakes again. That’s why it’s the greatest team sport you can possibly be involved in because it’s not going to be one guy, it’s going to be everybody. That’s from top to bottom. We all have a hand in this and at the end of the day, we didn’t get it done.”
(Was it setting in for you at all the last two days, with the finality of Sunday knowing that the season is over?) – “Yes. You could say that.”
(DE Cameron Wake won the Don Shula Leadership Award. How would you describe his leadership?) – “You guys have been around him forever. He’s the ultimate lead-by-example guy. I do think he tried to do more (the) last two years, as far as speaking up. When Cam talks, everybody listens. We don’t need him to say something all the time; but when he does say something, guys listen to him. You’d love for young guys to really pay attention to the way he does things. He says it best when he talks about (how) he does everything he can to make sure that he’s in peak performance, because once it’s done … Once it’s over, it’s over, and he’s going to sell out and do everything he can to make sure that he’s the best he can be until it’s time to call it quits.”
(Has WR DeVante Parker offered you some encouraging moments in the last two weeks?) – “I think last week was … There were a couple of times where it was good to see him go up and get one. You’re right, the week before it was the same thing. We had a couple of situations where we needed to get something going and we went to him and he made a play. It might be something as little as catching a slant, but it was just things were not going well (and) he made a play to kind of at least get the ball rolling. We didn’t finish drives but he has shown us that … You can tell he’s feeling better. He’s doing a lot of the things we’ve been asking him to do all season. We just need to get to the point where we have that consistency game in, game out. If we get to that point, he should be a very good player.”
(If you look ahead, is G/T Jesse Davis better suited for guard or tackle?) – “I don’t know. I’ll get to that after the season. Right now he’s playing guard.”
