Adam Gase – December 28, 2016
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Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Can you give us a little more insight on the decision to put S Isa Abdul-Quddus on IR?) – “He wasn’t going to be able to play the rest of the season. So we just felt like we needed to get another guy up and right now we’re still figuring out what the time table is going to be, but it wasn’t going to be close to being able to go any time soon.”
(Last time you had to put S Michael Thomas into a starting role, it paid a price on special teams. What do you guys need to do to address that and how prepared is he to start at safety?) – “He’s prepared to start. I have no doubt in my mind on that. The special teams aspect, we’re going to need some guys to step up. We’re going to have to limit his role. Obviously there are certain things we still need him do; but we’re going to need some of these guys that have either been added to the roster or haven’t done a whole bunch in that area to really be the next man up.”
(How much has S Michael Thomas played safety? I know he’s in that nickel package but how much has he actually played safety?) – “Quite a bit. Usually it’s a little more than half the snaps during the game. There have been a few games where it’s been heavy base (package), but we’re getting 14-18 snaps on third down and then a lot of teams play those sub-packages on offense to where he’s getting enough action.”
(Both you and the Patriots obviously have lost key players, injuries, suspension with QB Tom Brady in there, TE Rob Gronkowski, C Mike Pouncey, S Reshad Jones. How have you both overcome it? Do you think quality depth? What factors do you think go into being able to still win despite that?) – “Some of it has to do … I think we probably have similar styles of practice to where it’s competitive, which helps guys develop, especially younger players. Just my time with (Patriots Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach) Josh (McDaniels), I can’t say it was exactly the way they did it, but it was very similar to what we do as far as how competitive it is. That’s how you get younger players to get better, and then at the same time, you do need some guys that are in backup positions that have experience playing. A lot of times when their number’s called, they make the most of it and play well enough for you to win. I’m sure they feel the same way. They’ve had a lot of guys step up in roles where at the beginning of the year, they probably didn’t think they were going to have to do that, and the same with us. Guys have done a good job of filling in for guys that we thought were going to be starters for the entire year.”
(The Patriots have 452 rushing attempts, which seems like a lot for a QB Tom Brady led team. Just curious what you’ve seen on tape, particularly with their power run game.) – “I don’t think it’s anything different then what they’ve really done in the past. I think it’s really what’s best for that game. I know last year they didn’t have the success they wanted to running the football, but this year they seem to have found a good groove. When you get leads in a game, that’s when your rushing attempts go up because they can finish the game the way they want to and account for everybody in the box with some of the personnel groupings that they’re going with, and the physical mindset that they’ve had and the way that they’ve been running the ball. They’ve done a good job. They’ve implemented a power run game and they’ve been successful with it.”
(We saw RB Jay Ajayi out there today doing individual stuff. Does it seem like he’s okay from the shoulder injury?) – “Yes.”
(Are you expecting him to play?) – “We’ll see. But I mean I don’t see why we’d have … unless we have a setback.”
(How difficult is it to prepare for their backs? I mean they all seem to be doing a different sort of thing?) – “You have to be very aware of who’s in the game and understand what each guy brings to the table – how they’ll do enough to where they’ll change it up to where it’s not always one thing. But you do need to be aware of the differences in those backs because they’re different sizes, they have different strengths. One guy comes at you with some power. One guy’s got a little more quickness. So ‘V.J.’ (Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) has got to do a good job, and the defensive staff has to do a good job, of communicating to (Joseph) so he can communicate to our guys who are in the game. That makes it difficult. It’s almost like receiver. When you’ve got different types of guys, you have to defend a lot of things.”
(What type of difference to the Patriots offense do you think that TE Martellus Bennett has made for that team?) – “I know when they had both those guys (Bennett and TE Rob Gronkowski), that was a scary combination and ‘Marty’ (Martellus Bennett) is a tough guy to defend, because he’s a big body. He understands coverage. He’s very smart and when he gets the ball in his hands, he’s a very physical runner. He has the ability to make guys miss. You always forget how big he is until you get right next to him. I’ve seen him play a lot of games last year where he catches the ball and a guy tries to square him up, he can either make you miss or he can go through you. He’s a very, very hard player to bring down.”
(How much work did CB Byron Maxwell do in practice today?) – “We’re trying to work him through and moving him around more. We’ll kind of see how this goes through the week. I’m just not sure where we’re going to end up on Sunday.”
(What would you say is the toughest challenge about playing a Bill Belichick coached team?) – “They’re going to know … They’re going to know your tendencies. They’re going to understand what you’re trying to accomplish in the games they watch. They can get multiple. They can give you some different looks. You just never really know what you’re exactly going to get going into the game. It can change very quickly. They’re very sound; they’re very disciplined. They tackle about as good as anybody in the league. It makes it very difficult, because you’re not really sure … Are you going to be able to get the explosive plays? Are you going to be able to catch them in the right coverage? It makes it very difficult to predict what they’re going to be in.”
(How difficult do you think it is to sustain this type of level of success for this many years?) – “I don’t know how many guys have actually done it. It just seems like they consistently restart every year, and it’s a new year. And whatever their roster is, they get the most out of every guy on that roster. It’s just that consistency. I think the way they go about their business is probably what every team is trying to do the same thing, trying to mimic that, and trying to figure out a way to maintain that long term success, which is tough. We all see it every year where three, four, six, seven coaches go down and you can’t maintain it. They’ve done a great job of consistently, no matter who’s been in the game, getting the best out of all of their players.”
(Have they told you any new information about QB Ryan Tannehill?) – “I haven’t asked.”
(Are you certain that you’re going forward with QB Matt Moore on Sunday?) – “Unless somebody tells me different.”
(With your running game, what was the difference in Buffalo that you hadn’t seen for the previous month?) – “I think it helped that we were a little healthier than what we’ve been. I think that ‘B.A.’ (Branden Albert) and (Laremy) Tunsil felt better this game. Those guys were out there playing pretty banged up, and pushing through some injuries. We had the change in center. I thought that some of the teams we were playing, they were loading up the box. That’s why we had success in the passing game and basically teams were saying ‘You’re not going to run it on us.’ Fine. We have to throw it and we feel pretty good about the three wide receivers that we have. We feel pretty good about what our tight ends are bringing to the package. We feel good about what our quarterbacks do. If teams want to take that away, we’ll just throw it and win a different way.”
(With your receivers, each of them sort of have a different strength, and bring something different to the table. How much do they help balance each other out, and balance the offense out?) – “We’ve been talking about this since the spring. They really complement each other very well. They all have different strengths, and they bring a different element to our passing game and it works well when all three are together. Take one guy away, it changes a lot, and you guys have seen it where we’ve lost DeVante (Parker); Kenny (Stills) started a game and then he goes out of a game. It becomes hard on the play caller because you’re trying to figure out a way, ‘Well how do I fix this? Or how do I get us back in rhythm?’ When all three of those guys are out there, you don’t think about anything. They all know they’re all going to do what exactly they’re supposed to do. They’ll be in the right spot, they’re going to make plays, you have no worries of what they’re going to do. There is something about that group, they’re very tight, and they play off of each other very well.”
(You guys have had a great deal of success – going back to the run game – in the zone-blocking scheme, also in the gap scheme. What does it say about this offensive line and this unit to be able to execute both the way that they’ve been able to?) – “They’re very flexible. They’re an intelligent group. They work very hard. It’s hard to get all the reps you want and looks you want in practice. So you have to get some of those looks, whether it be off of tape or walkthrough, and those guys take those walkthrough periods very serious. They get their techniques down and they make sure they’re on the right guy. They’re trying to get Jay (Ajayi) and the other back the right look, even though it’s not full speed, of what it should look like in a game, which helps them, because now they know exactly what they should expect when we get in the game. Those guys have taken a lot of pride. I know they were frustrated because we didn’t have the numbers they were hoping for a lot of times; but I think we got a little spoiled when you have back-to-back 200-yard games. They really should take a lot of pride in the games that we really didn’t have all the numbers. Yards per carry were great, they were doing a great job as far as assignment-wise and trying to play physical. Even though we were banged up a little bit, we got everything that they had. Last week was a great indication that you can get back to it. They were putting a linebacker in at safety last week, and we still figured out a way to run the ball. It was good to see our guys really embrace that challenge of going on the road. We knew they were going to try to stop the run, and it didn’t matter to them.”
(Two games in, do you feel like you have a good enough play calling feel for QB Matt Moore now, and how is that process coming along?) – “Every game that we go we learn something different about each other, as far as what either I need to remind him, or his communication to me of something he didn’t like or he does like. The good thing about having a guy that’s been around for some time is that he’s not going to be shy about anything. He’s going to tell you exactly what he thinks and he’s always going to be prepared. I never have to worry about anything with the game plan. If he doesn’t like something, he’s going to tell me quickly, which he never says he doesn’t like anything. (laughter) He’s exactly what you hope guys will try to become at all positions – just that professionalism, always being ready to go. You go four-and-a-half, five years without playing, and then jump in a game and go and win it, and then come and start two other games on the road in the division, it’s been impressive.”
