Adam Gase – January 4, 2017
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Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We saw, obviously, QB Ryan Tannehill out there not practicing. What did the doctors tell you about what he can do and what he can’t do?) – “A little bit of what we’re going through right now is we have to … He has to tell us how it feels. It’s really a big gray area right now for us, because they can’t necessarily say, ‘Okay, we’re good to go, and see how he goes along through the week.’ He has to tell us, ‘How does it feel? How do you feel moving around?’ It’s a big gray area, because for him to articulate a lot of these things of how he feels and what our doctors think he should be feeling, it’s a very complex process we’re going through here, because he’s trying to figure out, ‘What am I supposed to be feeling like?’ That’s where we’re at a crossroads there of trying to figure out what’s the best thing for him. He’s trying to tell us how he feels, and we’re trying to look at him, how he’s moving around and how it’s supposed to look compared to something doesn’t look right. We’re trying to figure that out. It’s not as easy as probably we all want it to be. That’s really where we’re at right now.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill is a competitive guy. He’s probably going to tell you he can do more.) – “Absolutely. He’s frustrated, because he wants to try to help. He wants to do anything he can to be a part of this. But at the same time, I have to be smart with what we’re doing moving forward. I don’t want any setbacks. I don’t want to jeopardize – whether it be – his career, next season, put him in a position to where he can’t defend himself on the field against a defense that’s playing really well right now. We have to be smart as an organization.”
(Structurally though there’s no concern, it’s just a matter of pain management? Is that what it is?) – “It’s more about the way he moves, can he fire off the way he wants, can he move laterally the way he wants. It’s tough, because you don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like. He can only tell us that, and the doctors can only say, ‘It’s at this strength right now.’ Some of these things, you keep going back and forth asking those questions (like), ‘What does this mean? How many days is it? How many weeks is it?’ We have a big gray area right now.”
(How late are you willing to take this decision?) – “Right now, it’s day-to-day. I don’t even know. We’ll see how the week progresses, see what he keeps telling me and how he feels. I’m going off a little bit of the eye test for myself of how he looks when he moves around. We’ve done some things to where I can see him dropping and moving and doing things like that. He’s making progress in that area. I have to go off of what I see.”
(Do you have updates on CB Byron Maxwell and S Bacarri Rambo?) – “Byron didn’t practice today neither did Bacarri. Right now, we’re day-to-day again.”
(That was the next question, how does QB Ryan Tannehill know how he feels if he doesn’t practice, if he doesn’t work?) – “We’re taking steps to where we’re doing certain things when we both have time to go out there and move around. That’s really our first step. The next step is getting him into individual (drills) and seeing how he feels there and then actually getting him in practice to where he has bodies around him. How’s he going to move when somebody flashes? If we miss a block, can he escape from the pocket? We’re trying to take these steps. We may run out of time this week.”
(Does any of this affect QB Matt Moore, or does it not affect Matt until QB Ryan Tannehill starts taking first-team reps?) – “Matt is preparing (for) the game. He’s the starter. Unless something changes drastically here in the next two days or three days, he’s going into this thing. He’s the starter. We’ve got a little ways to go. I don’t want to rule him out yet, because I want to see him try to get out there and do something; but if he’s not ready to go, we’re not just going to put him out there and put him in harm’s way.”
(From a competitive standpoint, QB Ryan Tannehill hasn’t taken a snap in a month. Are you comfortable with two practices throwing him into a playoff game?) – “When you’re a quarterback and you know our system probably better than anybody, at some point the natural instincts take over. He knows our game plan in and out. I have a lot of confidence in him being able to tell me, ‘I can’t do it this week.’ When he hits that point, he’ll tell me that. We’ll see how tomorrow … I want to see what happens tomorrow if we end up getting him out there. If we don’t, then we move on to the next day. Matt has done a good job. He keeps preparing and getting ready for this game.”
(Have you ever been in this situation going into the playoffs where a quarterback’s health is a concern?) – “No, I haven’t been in this situation.”
(Your team is a big underdog. Little respect from the national media. Little confidence from the national media. Is that a topic of conversation at all amongst the players?) – “It’s like every other week. I don’t know how many games we’ve really been favored to actually win. I don’t know if our guys really pay attention to that. They’re focused on what they have to do.”
(It has been a while since you went full pads in practice. Just curious what your thought process was?) – “After watching what we put out there last week, we needed to do something different. We’re not going to stay the same.”
(CB Byron Maxwell was a big part of holding WR Antonio Brown to four receptions last time around. What would it mean to get him back for this particular game?) – “Anytime you get one of your better players … We feel good about our secondary. Adding him to the mix, we’d feel better. But he only can do what he’s able to do right now. That’s why he’s day-to-day. Some days he feels good, and we feel like we’re looking good for him to go and then some days he doesn’t feel so good. We have to see, really, how the rest of this week goes. It has been a couple weeks now. I’m not really sure how that one is going to turn out.”
(Where does playoff experience show the most? Is it in preparation, actual games, tight situations in games?) – “I think once you get in the game, you’re really not thinking that way. I think it’s really the preparation (and) how much more are you going to do, how are you going to practice, are you going to bring it every day and get ready for this game even though it’s late in the year? You’ve already played 16 games. You’ve played a whole preseason. Do you have the ability to go out in a full-padded practice on a Wednesday and compete the way you need to compete, or are you going to be frustrated that it’s hot out and you have full pads on? That’s really what it comes down to. That’s where experience always comes in handy right there, because the guys that know how to do it, they go out, they prepare the right way, and they’re ready to go on Sunday or Saturday.”
