Adam Gase – October 11, 2017 (Conference Call)
Download PDF version
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Atlanta Media
(What do you see when you look at the Falcons on film defensively?) – “A typical Dan Quinn defense – flying around, penetration up front, doing a good job, getting guys to the ground tackling, finding ways to get around the ball, making sure that they get balls out. It feels like we’ve played each other enough to where no matter what team he is with, it all starts to look the same over time.”
(Falcons QB Matt Ryan has five interceptions here early in the season but the offense, the other numbers, look pretty good. What’s your assessment of how they are performing offensively?) – “Any time Matt turns the ball over, that’s a rare thing to happen. He’s done such a good job of making sure he takes care of the ball. With them coming off a bye week, I’m sure he’s gone back and evaluated a lot of the things that he’s done earlier this season. He’ll be probably working to clean that up. We’ve just got to try to create some pressure on him and see if we can force some turnovers. It’s a tough offense to play because when you’ve got a three-headed monster – a good quarterback, a good running back and a good wide receiver; and really I could probably say great on all three of them – it makes it very difficult to defend.”
(And on special teams, what problems do K Matt Bryant, P Matt Bosher and WR Andre Roberts as a returner, present in that phase of the game?) – “Usually when a team is as good as what they’ve been, special teams is always going to be a part of the game that makes it very difficult. It’s something that we try to take a lot of pride in ourselves of being good on special teams. I think that’s going to be a fun battle to watch between us and them, as far as who is going to make the big play, who is going to be the one to put their side of the ball in a scoring opportunity. There’s going to be a lot of good team speed going on for sure.”
(Offensively, what’s been the issue with QB Jay Cutler making his transition back in and getting the offense going?) – “For me, it’s a bigger picture than just one guy. Really, at the end of the day, we need the whole group to do their job. The one thing that people don’t understand with the quarterback is that he’s at the mercy of 10 other guys. For the most part, (Cutler) has been doing his job. He’s been delivering the ball to the right guy; but at the end of the day, we’ve got to catch the ball, we’ve got to make sure that we protect him and we’ve got to be able to run the ball to make sure our play-action game is actually going to work. But until we clean a lot of things up, it’s going to be hard to even evaluate where he’s at.”
(I want to talk about your defense a little bit, particularly your run defense has been very good through these first four games. Watching it on film, it looks like the cohesion between your defensive line and your linebackers is really what makes it go. What have you seen from your front seven so far this year?) – “We’ve just got a bunch of guys doing their job. I think that’s the biggest change that we’ve had. Last year, we just weren’t on the same page. This year we’ve got a group of guys that are working together. Adding some veteran players, especially at the linebacker position, has really helped us. I think having Reshad Jones back really helps us. I think the young corners are doing a good job of not missing tackles. They’re coming up and they’re being effective in the run game. Our defensive line does a really good job. They’re playing unselfish football. They’re making sure that they’re gap responsible and that’s allowing our linebackers to make the plays that they’re making.”
(You mention S Reshad Jones. Having him back and he’s such an effective run defender at the safety position, what kind of versatility does that allow when you’re looking at your defense?) – “The ability to play both in the middle of the field and down in the box are valuable. Any time you have interchangeable safeties, that makes it really tough on the offense. I think the fact that he’s a really good blitzer and when we pressure him, it’s something that he’s really made some money on. Last week was a good example of how effective he can be and how devastating that some of the hits he can make on the quarterback. Just having him back there, the intensity, the way that he goes about his business day in and day out, he’s a true pro. For us to have him back, even though he was around last year all the time, just having him on the field makes a big difference.”
(How is T Laremy Tunsil playing? I saw some things about what happened in San Diego but nothing since. Has he started smoothing some things out over at left tackle?) – “He’s had a couple of good games. We’ve had a couple of games where we’ve talked about he’d like to play better in. The thing that we have to keep remembering is this is his first year playing left tackle in the NFL. It’s a tough position. You’re going against good rushers week in and week out. There is no small school you’re going to play. There’s no breather game for you in the NFL. Every game is going to be a tough game. It’s just going to be that constant preparation, making sure that day in and day out, you’re working to get better and when you hit Sunday, you’ve just got to have the mindset that it’s not going to be easy. It’s never going to be easy, no matter how good really anybody is. All of those guys have to bring their A game every week. I think he’s working to try to get there. We’re going to have some growing pains every once in a while but for the most part, he’s done a good job of making sure that his guy is blocked.”
