Adam Gase – December 4, 2017
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Monday, December 4, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(How is C Mike Pouncey?) – “He’s alright. I think a little bit of it was precautionary. I think I was a little surprised when he came out, but we checked him. He could have went back in the game but we just thought it was probably better for us not to do that.”
(Was it C Mike Pouncey a hamstring?) – “Yes.”
(So it was nothing hip related?) – “No.”
(CB Cordrea Tankersley, how’s he?) – “He’s okay. He was hurting a little bit but we’ll probably take it slow with him this week. We’ll see how quickly we can get him back out there.”
(Why did CB Bobby McCain went to the boundary? I think CB Alterraun Verner went out there first and then Bobby went to the boundary. Alterraun came back in for the nickel. Why Bobby on the boundary?) – “Bobby, I know not a lot of people have seen him play corner too much but he does a really good job out there. We’ve seen him in games play nickel mostly; but he plays corner in practice quite a bit and he’s a challenge for our guys to get open and he does a good job, especially in any of the zone coverages. He has a really good feel there, which obviously with his ability to play nickel, it kind of goes hand and hand when we’re playing zone coverages.”
(I know it’s never easy preparing for the Patriots but how does it change the dynamics playing them so soon after the first game?) – “It’s really you are adding two games – our game versus them and their last one – to really what we already had cut up wise (before the first meeting). A lot of your game plan you can revisit, that you haven’t run, which is nice in the fact that you’ve repped it, so you’re getting reps at the same plays you’ve already been working on versus what they do. The hardest thing is I think it’s hard for either team really to change too much, playing each other so close together, because sometimes when you go the third game and then the 12th game, you can kind of evolve over time. It’s always interesting to kind of play in these games of what each side comes up with as far as scheme-wise.”
(Do you plan on them having TE Rob Gronkowski?) – “I don’t know.”
(Do you game plan?) – “That’s out of my hands. We’re going like he’s going to be there until somebody tells us different.”
(Is there anything with WR Kenny Stills that has clicked or been going better? Is it health?) – “He’s been consistent all year as far as what he’s done. We haven’t always been able to get him the ball. I think some of the issues that we were having earlier as far as pushing the ball down the field, we just didn’t get … Some of the fronts didn’t match up with what we wanted to do protection-wise. We were trying to get the ball out quick early in the season. His game is pushing the ball down the field and trying to get behind defenses and letting him kind of use his speed to his advantage. I think probably the last month or so, we’ve been able to do that just a little bit more.”
(On the flip side, WR Devante Parker has kind of gone the opposite direction.) – “I think we just haven’t been able to get him back in that rhythm, like we had him earlier in the season when he got injured. We’re going to keep working to get his confidence back to where it was. I thought he had a really good week at practice. I was a little bit surprised that we really couldn’t get him going this last game because I really felt going into the game that we had all three guys in a good place, plus the tight ends and the backs. I was really feeling good about it. We just couldn’t get anything to DeVante this last game.”
(There have been times where you said he was doing the right things or maybe he’s not doing the right things. So right now it sounds like you’re saying…?) – “He’s doing the right things. It just didn’t happen for us this last game with him.”
(Was it in the game plan to get RB Kenyan Drake 23 carries? We had gotten the sense during the week that the distribution for that positon may be…) – “We were always going to go in there thinking that we’re not going to have one guy just carry the load. We had some other packages that we were going to try to take a little off him. We weren’t 100 percent on what Senorise (Perry) … You can say a guy is going to be ready to go after coming off a concussion; but once you’re in the protocol, you don’t know how long (it could be) and we have to prepare as though he might not be there. We just made sure that we had a whole bunch of different ways we could get some runs and quick passing game and things like that to try to take a little bit off of Drake. That’s what we were thinking with Jakeem (Grant) was to just try to take one off of Drake in that situation and use some other personnel groupings that we put in there. It was good to really just get Drake going a little bit and let him … He had the safety one-on-one unblocked a couple of times and made him miss and created some explosive plays.”
(You guys are averaging like 23 points over the least five games that correlates with the trade. Is there a connection there that maybe it was a jump start for the offense?) – “It’s hard for me to say. I just know that we’ve been doing things better than what we were doing them earlier. The turnovers we have to minimize. Really, that’s hurting our team probably more than anything. Any kind of fumble we need to prevent. It’s hard for me to get upset about the one interception Chris Harris made. I thought that was just a really good play. Him and Kenny (Stills) … I thought he did a good job on coverage and Jay (Cutler) gave one of our better players a chance and Chris made a great play on the ball.”
(Quick follow up: I guess two years in a row now it took a while for the offense to get going and now it is going. Can you take anything to 2018 how to start quicker?) – “I’m so far away from thinking about 2018; but I understand what you’re saying. Yes, you’re confirming something that I do know. (laughter)”
(You may not have heard, but last night on NBC, Tony Dungy was critical of the onside kick saying it’s not something he would do as a coach in that situation that late with that big of a lead. How do you decide when it’s appropriate and is there a time when it’s not appropriate?) – “You guys have been into … You guys have seen every game we’ve played. It’s not like we’ve been dominating, and we haven’t had big leads. I think the whole point of that was for our guys to understand that we have to play 60 minutes every week and we have to play that game like it is 0-0 for 60 minutes. That was the biggest point that I wanted to make to our guys, that we’re going to be aggressive the entire time. That’s the mentality I want our guys to have. That’s why those guys on the other sideline – those offensive players – they know where my mind is at for an entire game. They’ve been through it with me before.”
(Two things about T Laremy Tunsil: What did the tape show on his block on the 42-yard run? And generally, has he been picking up his game the last few weeks?) – “I think he has played better. He has had … His practice habits keep getting better each week. I think he’s understanding the bigger picture, which is really for a young player, you’re looking for that improvement week in and week out. He is one of those guys where you can really see what we have as far as talent-wise. We just need to keep bringing him along. He needs to keep maturing as a player. I think he’s heading in that direction. The sooner that he gets to a level to where we consistently see a dominant player, that’s really what we’re striving to do. I know he’s trying to do the same thing. I’ve seen a different look in his eye the last three or four weeks of kind of lightbulbs going off as far as understanding everything as a whole. It’s not always easy. You get into that trend of, ‘I’m supposed to block this guy,’ instead of conceptually thinking, and I think it’s really making sense to him more as the season is going on.”
(DE Terrence Fede showed you stuff inside, outside and special teams. Why does it take the DT Davon Godchaux and DE William Hayes injuries for him to …?) – “We’ve been trying to mix him in, really … Any game he has ever been up, he has been effective in all of our special teams stuff. He has caused a lot of teams problems, especially when they’re punting. There are a lot of times where you see him getting dragged to the ground and we either get a call or we don’t; but he’s causing problems where guys are really … He’s affecting multiple guys on the punt team. It was good to see him get through and get one. And on defense, especially this last month, he has really been all over the place and done a good job. Any time he steps on the field, it’s max effort. Really, that’s kind of his role. It’s to be the guy that can go inside, outside, play special teams, be energy on the sideline. He has embraced his role for what he has to do for us. That group is really deep. It’s not easy to get on the field, and I think he just keeps doing what we ask him to do.”
(Was DT Davon Godchaux close to playing on Sunday?) – “Yes, that was a little, we kind of got surprised on that one heading into Friday. I think it just got to the point where we wanted to have a clear picture of what we were going to do on Sunday. That’s a big deal when we didn’t have him, basically giving ‘T’ (Defensive Line Coach Terrell Willliams) a chance to figure out how we’re going to play this game.”
(Is TE Julius Thomas having a good season or not having a good season, and why?) – “I see it differently than it seems like everybody else does. He’s done everything I’ve asked him to do. There’s been situations where I’ve called plays for him and we haven’t been able to get the ball to him, whether it be by coverage or the ball didn’t go there for whatever reason. When we’ve asked him to do things in the running game, he’s given me max effort. He’s been there every day for us in practice and in games. Would I love him to have 12 touchdowns? Sure. We haven’t really had that many (red zone) snaps until the last five games That’s where he’s made his money. I think he’s had the third most touchdown catches in the NFL in the last, since 2013 or something like that. He’s done exactly what we’ve asked. Yesterday was a good example. That’s a big play. We wanted to get up. He’s the first guy I went to.”
(When you watch the film on TE Julius Thomas from yesterday, that touchdown celebration, I don’t know man. Did you sign off on that like that was good?) – “If there’s any touchdown celebration practice going on, I’m not seeing it. I haven’t seen them do it around me.”
(It was there on the film on display. You couldn’t have missed it.) – “No, I know. I saw it. I’m not really sure what it was. (laughter) I just always look for flags, if there’s any flags that are going to come out.”
(DE Cameron Malveaux got a lot of snaps yesterday. I’m not sure if he ended up with a tackle, but a lot of snaps. He must have done something right, I guess?) – “Just to get him up was great. He’s been a guy that has helped us get better on offense. The way that he’s gone about practicing on scout team, it’s game day for him every day he’s out there. He’s really pushed those offensive linemen, that’s what you want guys to do. That whole defense – that scout team defense – they make it challenging for the offense. I feel like that’s one of the reasons why we’ve at least made some strides in the positive direction. He’s caught the eye of a lot of coaches. When we had a chance to bring him up, I don’t think there was anybody in disagreement. We were all excited to see him play.”
(Since you have stopped by the training room today, RB Damien Williams and G/T Jermon Bushrod, are those looking like more long-term issues?) – “I think ‘Bush’ has got, we’ve got a chance to get him out there and maybe see where he’s at, possibly in practice and we’ll see how deep it goes into the week. Damien, we’ll see. It’s really getting to a point of how much pain he’s going to be in and how much range of motion does he have? We’re just going to keep working into the week and we’ll wait until closer to game day to figure out where they are, status-wise. I know they’re both getting better. It’d be great to get them both back, but I just don’t know, realistically, what our chances are. It’s got to get deeper in the week.”
(Is RB Damien Williams medically cleared to play if he feels like he can function?) – “If you ask him, he’ll say yes; but I think we’re going to be careful, because the last thing we need is something else to happen or he’s not completely ready to go to where he takes one hit and now we’re right back where we started.”
(With G/T Jermon Bushrod’s injury situation, would it be hard to get G/T Jesse Davis out of the lineup because he’s been playing well?) – “Yes, I feel like both of those guys (Davis and Sam Young) have been playing well on the right side. They did a good job yesterday. We’ve got some chemistry there. ‘Bush’ had done a lot of good things leading up to his injury. Some games we’ve had good matchups for him and some games it’s been tough. If you play a team like Tampa, it becomes difficult. First of all, I want to get him healthy before we make any kind of decision. That’s just one of those things. We tell our guys, ‘You just keep playing until somebody tells you different. Don’t worry about who could possibly replace (you).’ If you start thinking down that road, it does you no good.”
(If I could take you back to TE Julius Thomas for a second, his speed has never been quick speed. It’s been this locomotive speed that takes a while. Does he still reach that same speed at the end of that long run?) – “Yes, because we see it in practice. There will be times where we do stretch him down the field when we’re outside the red zone. A lot of times DBs think they have him covered and all of a sudden he pulls away and then he really pulls away. That’s kind of been one of his things where people don’t think he’s very fast and then he builds up his speed and he’s a tough guy to bring down and he’s a tough guy to catch.”
(So TE Julius Thomas hasn’t dropped off the table?) – “I haven’t seen that. I haven’t seen that. We haven’t really had that … A couple of those opportunities that we’ve had, it’s been on a corner and then the quarterback goes somewhere else with the ball. I wish I could get him more in space and see if we could get him turned loose a little bit and some green grass but we haven’t had those opportunities.”
(One more thing on TE Julius Thomas, he could get the second-highest receptions and second-highest yards in his career this year. He could challenge those. Do stats mean anything to you when you look at his season, his performance?) – “No. I don’t even know where stats are the majority of the time. I think 2013 is the only time where anybody kept updating me every week on what was going on. This year, if you told me what everybody had, I’d have no clue. I just keep trying to spread it out to as many guys as possible and make it tough for the defense to figure out where the ball is going. Jarvis (Landry) is a magnet. It just seems like the ball finds him more than anything. We just keep trying to keep as many guys mixed into the equation as possible.”
(How competitive do you think things have been in the three games against New England? The first game last year was kind of interesting and then they won pretty decisively here. Last game, it’s kind of up for interpretation I think.) – “We’ve spotted them … We’ve started slow in all three games. I think it’s really hard to challenge them the way you need to challenge them if you’re down 21, 14, 20 (points) before you even get going. They’re a hard enough team to play when it’s close; and now all of a sudden you give them a big lead and you’re trying to say ‘Hey, we’ve got to score every drive and then we have to stop them.’ That’s a tough thing to do. We need to do a better job of being competitive early and try to see how long we stay tight with them. That’s when you have to go try and win in the fourth quarter. There’s not too many times where you see teams get a lead and keep a lead for the entirety of the game. To beat them, it’s going to be close; and you’ve got to keep it close and then in the fourth quarter you have to make plays to beat them.”
(So you feel like you guys have competed well against them?) – “I feel like we’ve made some mistakes that have hurt us – extremely hurt us – especially early in the game; and then I think once we get into the game, we compete better with them and put ourselves in some positions where at least we have a chance. That first one would be a good example. This last one, we’re down by 11 and our defense does a good job of getting the ball back and there’s a lot of time left in the fourth quarter and that first play, we let up a sack. We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to see what could have happened on that drive.”
(Based on what you said about starting … not falling behind. Why do so many teams, including your team, give Patriots QB Tom Brady the ball first?) – “Well, if we take the ball, you know what’s going to happen at the end of the half right? They’re going to have six minutes left, they’re going to use all of the clock, and then they’re going to get the ball (again) and we’ll be on the sideline and they’ve got a chance to have two scores without us touching the ball. Our defense went three-and-out last time, and we got caught on a fake punt. That’s a prime example of everybody has to do their job. We’ve got to be where we’re supposed to be and when we do have a … It’s complementary football. It’s what they do best. We have to do a better job of it. If we get a three-and-out, we can’t allow a fake punt. That’s where we need to be better.”
(Eight hits on Patriots QB Tom Brady two weeks ago and seven on Broncos QB Trevor Siemian yesterday. What is the pass rush showing you and what is it doing?) – “I think they’re really trying to work together instead of one guy just trying to make a play. I think that’s really … They’ve kind of gone back to how we started the season where that whole group is just trying to play team defense. I think that’s helped us a lot. Tom is a tough guy to get around. You have to do a great job in coverage to give the line a chance and you better win quickly. It doesn’t work, especially if it’s a four-man rush, if those four guys aren’t working together. I think they’re trying to do a better job. I know they’ve been practicing the way we need them to practice to give us a chance on Sunday and the good thing is we’ve got another opportunity on Monday to try to play the right way against New England.”
