Adam Gase – July 28, 2018
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Saturday, July 28, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We saw today CB Torry McTyer on the field when you started team drills. What about his skill set has you guys intrigued?) – “I think he’s had a good start to camp. For the way that we’ve operated over the last previous training camps and going into this one, I’ve told the defensive staff ‘let’s not wait around. If we feel like a guy is playing well, give him opportunities, especially with the first group.’ They feel like he’s played well enough to be put into that spot and compete with that first group.”
(Today was the first day in uppers. How did your offensive line look?) – “We have work to do, obviously. I think the challenge of going against our d-line probably magnifies it more, than maybe in the past. I feel like the way that they’re coming off the ball and the way that they’re rushing, it’s going to be a challenge for us all of training camp, which is a good thing for our team. I do think that as we go along, we’ll get better up front. I do like that these guys are getting some good continuity going to where they’re getting used to playing with each other. With today being the first day in uppers and being able to actually squeeze out some of these holes, I thought we did a good job of picking up pressures. It wasn’t perfect as far as being able to be firm, but we weren’t cutting guys free. We were doing a lot of good things. We’ve just got to clean a few things up.”
(Can you explain how it is that you guys came to the strategy of keeping those guys together, especially the starters?) – “Well, when we ended last season, we really thought that Jesse (Davis) played well enough to where he was going to be a starter. When we signed Josh (Sitton), that’s really kind of what bumped Ted (Larsen) out of his spot. We just kept talking about if we could get one group out there to where we weren’t always rotating, that would be ideal. We knew when we signed Sitton that we weren’t going to be able to practice him (all the time). If we were doing six-play period, we figured he was probably going to do four. With an older guy that’s played a lot of games in his career, we wanted to make sure that we did the right thing. We wanted him and (Laremy) Tunsil to work together but at the same time, we want to make sure that we’re not overusing him too early. Ted is still getting work with that first group, just not as many reps. It really helps Jesse. The more reps he gets with that first group, the better.”
(Who among the defensive tackles has really popped for you?) – “Well, if you take any of those four guys that are rotating in with that first group, it’s hard to pick just one. I think each day it seems like a different guy is the guy that’s penetrating and causing problems in the run game and then breaking through the line when it comes to any kind of pass and pass protection. It’s hard to single one guy out. I think you have different body types and you have different skill sets by all four guys; but the one thing that they’ve all four done very consistently is the way they’re getting off the ball, the way that they’re using their hands and the way that they’re striking the offensive lineman. It’s been impressive to watch but at the same time, it’s really been tough for an offensive lineman because these guys are getting shot out of a cannon. This is great work for us on the offensive side to really go against guys that are playing defense the right way.”
(When you put the pads on, does the evaluation process begin sort of for the linebackers and tight ends in terms of their physicality?) – “I would say that’s true. I would say you’re probably right with that. When we get the pads on, you really have a better sense because even though we’re not tackling to the ground, we’re thudding guys up. Who’s going to wrap up? You saw a couple of guys drop a shoulder and really reject the receiver or the tight end and our point of emphasis is we need you to wrap up because we’ve seen that enough over the last few years where a guy drops his shoulder and then the next thing you know, that guy doesn’t go to the ground. So we’re making a big point of emphasis of it’s not only making sure that you hit the offensive player correctly but that we’re wrapping up and we’re putting ourselves in position so when we do go live tackling, we’re actually getting guys down.”
(S Maurice Smith seems to be a guy who flashes every now and then at safety. What have you seen from him this camp?) – “He’s been a guy that’s improved since he’s been here. I think he had a really good camp last year. I don’t know if I want to use the word surprised but you normally don’t see a guy that is undrafted who really makes a move and then finds a way onto the roster and gets better throughout the year. I think his confidence level is extremely high right now. He understands the defense. It’s allowing him to play faster. He’s in unbelievable shape. He’s probably one of our best conditioned athletes that we have in the building. He’s really put himself in position to compete for a spot. He’s in one of those unusual positions as far as it’s a deep group and it’s really going to be ‘yes, you can play safety but can you contribute on special teams?’ Because that’s really where he’s at in his career right now where we need him to be able to do multiple things and we need him to be able to contribute on special teams.”
(A second interception today for LB Chase Allen. I know he’s working as an inside linebacker but at what point, if any, will he get an opportunity to push for that third starting spot?) – “Right now we’re trying not to move guys around too much. We want to get going a little bit before we completely make a change at that position, just because we want to kind of see how that group plays out, because you have to play a little more as a group at linebacker with the defensive line. I think it’s a little different in the secondary where those guys are kind of one-on-one so much that it becomes almost an individual game when you’re playing man-to-man coverage or any kind of middle of the field closed zone. I think at linebacker, we kind of want to see how it goes with the guys that we have out there right now. If he keeps doing what he’s really done since he got here – which is he keeps getting better, he keeps finding a way to be around the ball, he gets his hands on a lot of balls – you’re going to have to give him a strong look and really get him with that first group to see where he’s at. Last year he did a lot of good stuff. We’ll just kind of play it out. It’s so early that I think we’re going to have time to see how that group ends up panning out.”
(With RB Kalen Ballage, I think he had a long run today. How has his camp been and has the way he’s played made you rethink anything at all at running back?) – “It’s kind of like when I talk about the tight ends, we’re trying to get him as many reps as we can so he can see as many things as possible. We want to get him to the point where he can play as fast as possible. We don’t want him overthinking things. We want to be able to use his skill set to the team’s advantage and put him in great position. It really starts with his knowledge of the offense because at that position, there are a lot of moving parts. There are a lot of different spots you have to be at. There’s a lot of different things you have to do because you’re involved in all three phases of the offensive game. I think he is handling that pretty good. Every once in a while we’ll have a slight misstep here and there where his brain freezes up. That’s what happens with rookies sometimes; but we’ll keep pushing him along. We want him to be a guy that can contribute on special teams and be ready to go as a guy that we can stick in there on offense.”
(The other day you mentioned that QB Ryan Tannehill has got to learn … I think you said learn how to slide. I don’t know if it’s how to slide or when to slide but will you ever take him physically out there to work on sliding, like a baseball player? Or is it just watch film and it’s situational?) – “Well, he’s used to sliding on the leg his knee brace is on. I don’t know if you guys have ever seen a guy slide with a knee brace on and go with the knee brace first. I’ve witnessed it first hand and it’s not a pretty sight. You can get it stuck in the turf. It’s unusual to go the other way for some guys. We’ll get to a point where we’ll have to figure out how we’re going to do it; but I’m sure between (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) and (Quarterbacks Coach) Bo (Hardegree), one of us will think of something creative just to get him comfortable and try to make it natural.”
