Adam Gase – November 22, 2017
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Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Is QB Jay Cutler still in the concussion protocol?) – “Yes.”
(So your plan at quarterback this week will be?) – “Matt (Moore) is going today and Jay’s in the concussion protocol. That’s really all I have for you right now.”
(Do you have any sense yet on whether G/T Jermon Bushrod and LB Stephone Anthony could be long-term things?) – I’m not sure if it’s long term. Really, I’m just trying to figure out this week. We’re going to kind of take both of those day by day right now, see how they feel at the end of today and we’re just going to keep progressing, trying to get those guys better.”
(Can you talk about the importance of making QB Tom Brady uncomfortable in the pocket?) – “I mean really, that’s what I think everybody tries to do. It’s a difficult task. When you have the experience he does and can see what he sees. He’s been in the same offense for a really long time even though it’s kind of evolved over the years. He knows exactly where to go with the ball. If something breaks down, he knows how to get rid of it quick and not putting their team in a poor position, field position wise, and down and distance. We have to have a lot of guys doing the right thing.”
(Did you hear back from the league on the near safety?) – “Yes, I mean I’ll really kind of stay out of that because it doesn’t really do me any good. So I mean I just … I don’t really ask anymore.”
(What went into the decision to go back WR Rashawn Scott and de-activate WR Leonte Caroo?) – “We just thought Rashawn was having a good week of practice and just kind of get him up and get him that game experience to see how it went. I think every week it’s just going to be keep those guys competing and whoever has a good week, we’ll look to put that guy up.”
(How much will you change what you’re doing this week because of the penalty issue?) – “That is probably more of the frustrating part is we made some changes last week. Maybe we put too much of an emphasis on it. We’ve just got to go back to work and the good thing is we get a chance to start over and improve in that area and it’s something that we can fix. We’ve got to back and do kind of what we’ve been talking about, which is executing in practice, because that’s really what’s going to translate to the game.”
(I know Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen was bullish in the offseason on WR Jakeem Grant being a greater part of the offense and of course you have three veteran receivers you want to play a lot. There’s not a lot of opportunity for a fourth; but has Jakeem not playing a ton of offense surely been because of that or has practice not shown you what you want to see?) – “No, it’s interesting you ask that because I was just talking to him about how things didn’t quite go as planned early in the season. We did some things to try to just calm everything down and get us moving the ball a little more consistently and that really kind of took away from some of the packages that we were doing with whether it be him, or when (Kenyan) Drake was kind of just going in at certain points. We had some personnel packages that we liked with a few of those younger guys and we weren’t getting enough plays in the game to where we could kind of start messing around with that and see how it works. It was really more about our entire offensive performance early that kind of probably got us away from it and we just … I like the way that he’s been working. I like the way that he keeps trying to prepare himself. If something happens, he’s ready to go. It’s nothing with him.”
(The last time QB Matt Moore played I think he got a short week of practice. It was the Thursday night game. If he is the starter, how much does a full week of practice help him from a backup quarterback perspective?) – “I think anytime you’re a quarterback, whether you’re a starter or a backup, when you get the reps and you’re trying to show the looks that you think you may get, it’s beneficial. It’s like anything else, if you practice it, it gives you your best chance to execute when we hit Sunday.”
(Are you going all the way to Sunday with waiting to see if QB Jay Cutler’s back or is there a point at which you’ve got to make a decision?) – “I’m sure there’ll be a point before I make a decision. I don’t really know what the timetable is right now. I’m just kind of taking it day by day right now. When you’re in the protocol, as coaches, we remove ourselves and let that process kind of take care of itself. Really, at the end of the day, the protocol tells us what the right thing to do is.”
(You expressed a lot of confidence in QB Jay Cutler but would you be comfortable playing him if he goes all week without practicing?) – “I mean we’ll see. Right now I can’t do anything about where he’s at in the protocol. I mean it just is what it is.”
(Getting back to QB Tom Brady for a second, I mean thus far he’s defying age. Are you sometimes amazed that a guy that’s older than you is playing at such a high level?) – “I guess I’ve been on the other sideline so many times and watched him just consistently get better, and how he works and my experience being with Peyton (Manning). Just seeing how that type of player, the work ethic, I guess it doesn’t surprise me as much because if you could stay healthy a lot of times, that’s really the key to everything. If you start getting banged up, it’s just harder to recover quickly. He does a good job of making sure he’s not getting hit and a lot of it has to do with play calling and how fast he gets the ball out. He’s got a lot of guys on the same page that know exactly what to do and where to be. They know their outs and that’s what makes him unique is he just, he knows how to protect himself within the offense.”
(In the times you have faced the Patriots defense, is there a common denominator?) – “(Patriots Head) Coach (Bill) Belichick, (Patriots Defensive Coordinator) Matt Patricia.”
(I’m talking about how they play.) – “I just gave you those two things that are the common denominator. That’s about it.”
(Because the faces change but the styles …?) – “You never know what you’re going to get. They’re going to do what they need to do to take away your best players and it could be the same calls as you played them the last time, it could be a completely different defense.”
(I completely admit that year we asked you this opposite question. This year I’m going to ask you the opposite on DE Cameron Wake. Last year we asked you if he should be playing more. This year it’s going to go the other way because he’s had no bye week, 40 snaps two weeks in a row. Do you think that it might benefit him to take a few less?) – “I guess we just … I think it’s hard to take a guy that’s still disruptive and doing his job in the run game. He’s doing what we’re asking him to do and he’s executing things still at a high level. Sure, would we like to be able to play it the way that … We all think it’s easy to say ‘Hey, take this series off’ or ‘We’ll just get you on pass rushing downs.’ Then all of a sudden, it’s Week 2 last year and he plays 16 snaps and it’s ‘why isn’t Cam playing more?’ It’s a tough thing to manage with a player like that because you really never know what the situation in the game is going to call for. ‘T’ (Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams) tries to do everything he can to kind of plan it out but you have to adjust and I don’t think he really wants to come off the field a whole bunch. When you see him come off the field, it’s not great body language.”
(This week concerns … What do you have to be thankful for?) – “We’re playing this week. That’s a good thing for us. We’re just going to keep grinding and keep trying to find ways to get better.”
(Is it different coaching against Bill Belichick than any other coach? Do you maybe get more drawn into a chess match with him than any other coach?) – “I guess for me it’s … I don’t think of it like that. I think we try to do everything we can to get our players ready to go with what we think we might see. Really, I mean just like we have done in the last two years. we make a lot more of this about us than our opponent. We know we have certain things that we have to prepare for but a lot of times that we’ve lost games, it’s been self-inflicted things that we’ve done that have prevented us from giving us a chance in the fourth quarter. Really, at the end of the day, we just have to make sure that we’re doing what we’re supposed to do and not so much worry about the other team.”
