Adam Gase – May 31, 2017
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Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(One thing on your defensive backs. I know General Manager Chris Grier mentioned at the draft that some of your outside corners could move to slot. He mentioned the possibility of CB Xavien Howard doing it. Howard said yesterday that he hasn’t. What other options do you have there that you want to look at beyond CB Bobby McCain for depth reasons or competition in nickel?) – “There are a few guys we’re trying to give reps. You start off the year thinking ‘Here’s the first three we want to work through.’ You want the other guys to get comfortable playing the primary. We don’t want to start hitting the contingency plans quite yet, if something happened to Bobby. We’ll keep moving through that but we have a little bit of a progression with how we want to go about it with our outside guys right now. We’ll get to the point where we’ll try some guys inside and kind of figure out where we stand there but we don’t want to do that too quickly. We want those other guys to work on their outside stuff.”
(As a follow up, did CB Bobby McCain do enough last year in your mind for you to feel good about him being your likely nickel guy this year?) – “Bobby improved a lot through the year. He started to understand what we were asking him to do. We always kind of have that discussion of ‘We’ve got the leverages down, now let’s be tighter. Let’s make some more plays on the ball.’ He’s done that in this camp. He’s had some PBUs (pass breakups) and getting tight on some coverage. He’s got a tough challenge every day going against Jarvis (Landry), which is good for him. When you’re playing one of the top guys in the league at his position, it’s hard not to get better.”
(DE Charles Harris seemed impressive out there but what can you really tell? Can you tell he’s got a good first step or is it kind of unfair?) – “It’s tough with no pads. It’s so much passing going on right now and (the defense) knows it, so they’re getting good get-offs. It’s good to see there’s a few things we kind of look for and ‘T’ (Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams) and (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) have a good idea of how they want to use all of their guys. We’re moving them around a little bit and doing some different things and trying to find some packages (to see) how far we can take some of those defenses – exotic defenses. We don’t want to put too much on one guy’s plate. We just want him to just continue working on the little details of what the coaching staff is asking him to do and find ways to get better.”
(With S Walt Aikens, we saw him work at cornerback quite a bit today. Is that just cross-training or are you all thinking about a possible position switch for him?) – “I think Walt has kind of done that for us. He did that last year with us too. There were some times where we would move him out there (to cornerback) and just make sure that he was ready to go because he was up for every game, pretty much. He has to be in a position to where if somebody goes down at one of those spots, he has to be ready to go. We’re just trying to find the best fit for him. I think he’s one of our better athletes for sure. He’s a huge playmaker for us on special teams and we just want to make sure whatever spot we end up finalizing with him – corner or safety – it gives him the best opportunity to where if he goes in a game, he can have success.”
(A lot of the rookies were working without logos on their helmets. Is there anything to that?) – “I think we’re just trying to … Maybe that’s our way of saying ‘You’ve got to earn that logo.’ That was kind of something that, talking to (Equipment Manager Joe) Cimino about things that maybe have been done that way in the past, and we were just kicking around some ideas of doing something a little different than we did last year. We felt like that was one of the things that kind of came up that a few of us thought was a good idea and we’ll see how it kind of goes.”
(We saw the defensive backs were giving some of the wide receivers some trash talk at the end of practice. Was that deserved you think?) – “Oh yes. They took it to the offense today. Everything they said, that was pretty much true.”
(Can you let us in on what was said?) – “I wasn’t trying to pay attention too much because then they start talking to me. (laughter)”
(You have indicated that regardless of where guys are drafted – if they are veterans or rookies, free agents – everyone gets a fair opportunity. DT Lawrence Okoye is a guy who was an Olympian and a rugby player. When you see a player like that, do you see certain skills that this guy can have an opportunity?) – “I think the first couple of practices, guys didn’t really know what they were going up against and he made quite a few plays. He’s been making plays through the whole OTA session so far. When we bring a guy in and he’s had some experiences with some other teams, we’re trying to give every guy a fair shake. That’s kind of why we do things the way we do it where when we get a guy and we start the offseason program, we want to try to give them the full allotment to prove whether or not they belong. That’s why you don’t really see a lot of guys get released by us. We try to keep that pretty much the 90 (man roster) – I think we’re at 88 right now – to where those guys have the full time, the preseason games and those type of things, to prove if they should make this team.”
(DT Lawrence Okoye has been on a couple of practice squads but this guy never played football until he came to the United States. Playing rugby, being in the Olympics as a discus thrower, does that mentality show you something as far as being an Olympian too?) – “When you get a guy that’s been involved in high-performance areas not being football, pressure situations aren’t the type of thing that are going to rattle him. He has a great mindset. The work ethic is through the roof. You see him around quite a bit. He’s always trying to do something to get better. You appreciate a guy that knows what he doesn’t know and he’s trying to figure out every little detail of what his job is.”
(LB Kiko Alonso is much maligned by us for coverage. Has that ever really been an issue for him in your eyes?) – “No. I think what we ask him to do is play aggressive and don’t hesitate, which won us a game (at San Diego), because of the way he plays. There is a reason why he is going to be here for a minute because we like how he operates from the time he walks in the building and the way he carries himself off the field. Everything he does is exactly what we ask him to do and we tell him we want him to be as aggressive as he can within the scheme. Does it burn him every once in a while? Yes; but he makes a lot more plays.”
(I don’t know it was owners meetings or sometime in the winter but we asked you about WR Jarvis Landry and if you expect him to be here throughout the voluntary stuff and you said yes. He’s shown he has. Has he been able to compartmentalize the contract stuff? Do you see it as a motivator to him?) – “We haven’t really had too many conversations about contract status. Everything is really done in-house. I just knew he was going to show up and he was going to work as hard as he can possibly work and find ways to get better and try to be one of the leaders of this team and encourage the young guys and find ways to help us get better. The way that we kind of do things here is put your head down and work and things will work out.”
(By we, do you mean you and WR Jarvis Landry? Not the team and Landry’s representatives?) – “I’m talking about conversations between me and him.”
(What do you want to see areas of growth from WR Jarvis Landry?) – “I think the details of the offense. Any time you go through that first year, you’re trying to learn each other. You’re trying to figure out what are the best things that a certain guy can do. Sometimes you get in situations to where you’re not on the same page all the time. I might be thinking one way, he might think one way, Ryan (Tannehill) might think another way. It’s always that learning experience. That’s why the offseason is so important because you learn little things through the details of constantly doing the same scheme over and over again. Right now, we’re able to do that. We can run the same concept without feeling like ‘this team’ is going to know what we’re doing. We can find ways to protect those certain routes that he really likes. We go through that stuff every day and when we come in the next day to watch film, we’re able to talk through some stuff and kind of learn a little bit about each other and how we want to do things, every day that we come in here. I think the longer we’re together, we just keep finding little things that not only I like as a play caller, but what he likes as a route runner and what Ryan likes to throw to him. It’s just going to be an evolving process over the years.”
(With LB Kiko Alonso, what do you think it is that has clicked for him here – fits so well for him – that after bouncing around, now he’s a cornerstone for you guys?) – “That’s a tough one to answer. I know that since the day he really got here, he has done everything right. We like the way he plays. We feel like the attitude he brings and that aggressive style, that’s what we want all our guys to do.”
(With WR Jarvis Landry, last year you talked about speed cuts versus chopping at the top of routes. Is there any progress there with that and everyone being on the same page? Do you things have gotten better there?) – “I think the entire group has done a great job of really looking at last year and finding ways to improve, and they’ve really focused on the details. I think it started in that second phase – it probably started before we ever got our hands on them – where those guys were doing a lot of stuff. It really comes down to the communication aspect of this game, where sometimes if you don’t know the reason why, it’s hard to believe sometimes what you’re being told. The more we explain things and the more we get the feedback from players, that’s where we really start making some movement. The thing that I’ve noticed about our guys this year is there’s a lot of feedback. There are more questions of, ‘When we do this, is this what you want it to look like? Or is this what you want it to look like versus this coverage? How do you want us to do this?’ The more questions you get like that, the better chance you have as far as perfection. That’s what we’re striving for. It’s an imperfect game and you’re trying to be perfect. It’s not easy to do, but these guys are constantly working on it.”
(When DT Jordan Phillips came in yesterday, it seemed like he had been very self-critical. He was really critical about his play. It sounds like he has been changing his direction there. Are you seeing some action that backs that up?) – “I’d say he’s very difficult for us to block right now. He has had those good days and bad days in the past. What I’ve seen so far out of the guy is consistency. That’s the biggest thing for us when … If you’re (Ndamukong) Suh and you know the guy next to you is constantly doing the right thing, and you know you can trust that guy next to you, that’s a huge part of our defense. That front is what we lean on. We count on those guys being right. That’s why we’ve invested the amount of resources we have in that front. His best ball is really what we’re going to need this year. The reason why is we’ve got four of those guys on that front line and now you start adding some depth to that, it makes it very difficult for teams to prepare for us.”
(DT Jordan Phillips said he’s trying to get down to 320 pounds. Is that something you guys set for him? When do you want that to happen by?) – “I don’t want to get into the whole weights and stuff, but you can talk to (Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Dave) Puloka about it.”
(What do you see expanding for RB Kenyan Drake this summer?) – “I think we’re going to keep trying to work him into the offense. We have some things that we’d like to do with him, but we want him to be an all-around back. We don’t want him to get stuck in one phase. We got to be ready to go if … Jay (Ajayi), he takes a lot of hits. He’s basically our workhorse. The rest of those guys have to be ready to go at the drop of the hat. They have to be able to do everything. For us to have two guys backing Jay up that do have a strength in the passing game for sure. But they are good runners. It’s more about getting consistency and understanding the importance of every little detail. Sometimes when you’re a backup, you can lose that, and it takes a professional to do the job right consistently. Really, that’s his biggest challenge is being a consistent guy for us.”
(Do you have an update on LB Koa Misi? Do you expect to see him in the spring or by training camp?) – “You keep asking me the same question every time. (laughter) I don’t know. We’re not there yet. When you see him start running around or something, then I’d say we’re close.”
(With CB Xavien Howard, obviously last year the knee injuries sidetracked him a lot. What do you expect from him in Year 2 in terms of understanding the defense and playing at full speed?) – “Right now, I can tell he has a way better grasp of what we’re asking (him) to do. You always wish you could get every single game in your rookie year, just the experience factor. When you play that position, offenses do a good job of changing things up so much (that) the more you see, the easier it makes your job. He has got six games under his belt right now. We need as many reps as possible with him. In the spring so far, he has been a tough guy to get open on. He’s facing two guys that are tough to cover. He has done a good job. You can tell he’s more confident. He’s talking a lot right now, which is good. You want him to have that swagger. Sometimes when you start really battling good players and you feel like you’re winning, your confidence is going to go up.”
