Adam Gase – June 14, 2018
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Thursday, June 14, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(What do you think you guys have accomplished the most over the last four weeks?) – “Probably fine-tuning a lot of things, working through some mistakes from earlier practices and we’re seeing a little more consistency and less mental errors, and see guys playing faster.”
(What do you think you can glean from these offseason practices?) – “Just a lot of mental. We figure out if we can compete the right way, stay off the ground, do the right things. There’s some decisions that you have to make with certain looks if you’re on the offensive side and the same thing on defense. It’s been productive for us.”
(What was your assessment in terms of how quickly and how well the rookies picked up things?) – “I thought they did a good job. Those guys put a lot of time into making sure that they knew what to do out here and were able to perform and were playing at a good speed. That’s really the thing that we’re trying to get them ready for, for training camp, to where they can play fast and they’re not slowed down because they’re thinking.”
(What’s the biggest thing that you learned in these four weeks practicing with your new team?) – “I think it’s just this group seems to … We’re gelling pretty good. They like to practice against each other, they like playing together. You can tell there’s a lot of energy out there. I think that’s really one of the things that’s going to be improvement for us. We kind of lost that a little bit last year. This year we’re looking like we’re headed in the right direction.”
(You’ve complained in the past about the processing speed the players have had in terms of their ability to grasp things in installs. Do you see a difference?) – “Yes. I really think there has been a big difference. We’ve thrown a lot of things at them. Guys have been able to take it from the meeting room to the practice field and execute it, play at a really good rate. That’s been a big improvement for us.”
(Is this a different rate of process?) – “I think we’re getting it quicker. It’s the third year in the offense too, so some of the guys that have been here are hearing it for the thousandth time. I like the way the guys are taking it from the meeting room to the practice field.”
(Has this been confirmation for you seeing how the offense works? You had said in March this was what you had in mind, that this was very close to the offensive roster that you had in mind when you took this job. Has it been confirmed for you in the last four weeks?) – “I think so. I see a lot of the guys doing things the way we need them done. I like the way that we’re handling the mental game of it as well, where things are moving fast. We’re reacting very quickly. Really, it’s going to come down to how do we handle training camp when it starts to get hot (and) the preseason games. You’re always going to have an injury. Who’s going to step up and fill those voids? We’ve still got a long ways to go. The season is a long ways away. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and we’ll just keep grinding.”
(We’ve seen some good moments from QB David Fales. When you looked at the list of available backup quarterbacks back in March, had you basically said, “I think David is as good as any of these guys or better than any of these guys?”) – “I think after that last game, I was feeling good and then by bringing (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) in, he had been with him before. I think he saw the improvement that a lot of us were talking about. We felt like that was a good first step for us, and really we wanted to see how everything played out, because between free agency and the draft, you just never know how things are going to shake out. By adding Brock (Osweiler) and then Bryce (Petty), I think it’s been a good competition. That’s really what we’re going to be doing going into training camp. We’re just going to let those guys compete and see who wins out.”
(This time last year, you were really confident and happy with what you saw in QB Ryan Tannehill. Twelve months later, how has he done this spring?) – “He’s gotten better and it’s good. I really think that both (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) and (Quarterbacks Coach) Bo (Hardegree) have done a good job. We’ve been working (on) a lot of pocket movement things and getting him comfortable in that aspect. It doesn’t seem like he’s really changed much as far as worrying about bodies around him. He’s out there playing. He’s throwing the ball well. You can tell he’s spent a lot of time with these skill guys in the offseason.”
(With the touchdown pass that QB David Fales threw to WR Jakeem Grant, was that a play that was called or something that he read?) – “He’s got to read coverage. He did a good job of really taking the alert on that one and saw the safety bite down on it and went over the top. Those two guys have been hooking up all spring. It’s really probably one of like five of those that those two guys have hit down the field.”
(Do you try to keep the receivers with the quarterbacks?) – “No, we’ve been moving them around and when we get into training camp we’ll be able to get Albert (Wilson) and Jakeem (Grant) in there with Ryan (Tannehill) a little more. Really, right now, what we were trying to do was make sure that Albert had the playbook down and he was ready to go for training camp. That was the most important thing. We wanted him to get reps. I didn’t want to hold him back because he was going with that first group. I wanted to make sure that he had as many reps as possible.”
(I know coaches are always looking for every little detail, but do you get a chance to relax here a little bit and not think about football?) – “Are you really asking that? (laughter) I’ll take some time off. The coaching staff will take some time off and kind of recharge and then we’ll be back at it before we know it.”
(You’ve been very positive about QB David Fales? Has he earned at this point that he’s at least the guy to beat for that job?) – “I think right now I don’t even want to go in that direction yet because I don’t have a great answer for it. I just know we’re competing right now for that spot. I want to see guys play in preseason games. I want to see kind of how training camp goes. That’s a lot of time there and there’s a lot of football to be played. I want those guys all competing. I’m hoping those guys all have the same mentality that they’re the guy to beat.”
(What can you tell us that we haven’t seen or don’t know about how TE Mike Gesicki has gone through training camp and what all he’s handled?) – “He’s had some really good days. Yesterday was a good example where we had a 2-minute drill and we had some things in the red zone where he was able to take advantage of a couple matchups that he had. He’s aggressive to the ball and he can make plays. He’s a big man that can run and has really good hands. It’s been fun to watch him kind of develop and trying to learn this offense. He puts a lot of time into it. He’s trying to be one of those guys that can play fast.”
(Mentally?) – “(Mike Gesicki’s) been good.”
(Speaking about tight ends, TE MarQueis Gray is one of two former quarterbacks that you have in this offense. What does that do? Has that helped them process the offense a little bit better?) – “I think so because he knows how quarterbacks think – how he’s thinking (and) what he can do to be quarterback-friendly. I know that term gets thrown around a lot, but when you’re a former quarterback, you understand that. And him being in the third year of the offense too, I think he sees the big picture now. He’s not thinking, he’s reacting. And he’s playing fast. He had a really good spring. It’s really going to be interesting just to see how training camp plays out because we’ve got a lot of guys right now. We’ve got to figure out who’s playing and who’s going to be doing what. We’re going to have a lot of decisions to make with what personnel groupings, who’s going to be with what.”
(Just your thoughts on CB Cordrea Tankersley and CB Tony Lippett. Obviously, there’s competition there and CB Bobby McCain as well. Any one of the three particularly impress you in coverage?) – “I think right now, Tony is just going to keep grinding to make sure that he’s as close to 100 percent as he can be for training camp. Every day is going to be a learning experience for all those guys because they’re all so young. I think it’s good competition. I think those guys are … They understand that it’s going to be that we’re going to play the best guy. We’ll see how everything shakes out.”
(Any concerns from a position standpoint on defense? There were questions about the third linebacker spot – obviously LB Stephone Anthony, LB Terence Garvin, LB Jerome Baker competing there – and defensive tackle. Do you have any concern roster-wise on defense? Do you feel good about all those groups?) – “I feel good. We’ll figure out the right personnel grouping for us once we get to training camp and preseason stuff. It’ll shake out the right way and we’ll put the best 11 players on the field.”
(What influence do you think that G Josh Sitton has had on T Laremy Tunsil? Not in terms of how they fit together on the field but in terms of maybe his demeanor or his mindset?) – “I think he’s a good guy (to have). The guy that you’re playing next to, you kind of see how he operates. You see how he works in meeting rooms and then comes on the field and works in individual. That’s the thing I’ve been most impressed with is to watch our individual and watching even our veteran players and how serious they take it and how they try to get better in those drills, because they know it’s going to apply so much during games. I think him seeing that and then I also just think him being able to talk to him every day as far as, ‘What do we want to do here? How do we want to set on this – these pass rushes?’ Those two guys working in tandem is going to be a big thing for us.”
(We haven’t seen the DE Robert Quinn bend.) – “I have. A lot.”
(Describe it please.) – “It’s very freakish. The way (Robert Quinn) turns the corner is unreal. I’ve only seen one guy really kind of do what he does and that was in Denver (Von Miller). He’s done a good job because he’s trying to stay away from the quarterback but when he turns that corner, it’s impressive. He’s very low to the ground.”
(Did you guys have any close calls with QB Ryan Tannehill at any point? In terms of someone getting too close to him?) – “I mean guys are going to get close; but no.”
