Adam Gase – October 27, 2017
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Friday, October 27, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(The whole issue of players maybe not being able to retain and execute information where you’ve had to sort of dumb down what you’re doing, should this be happening with a team that’s … I mean you’re not playing a lot of rookies on offense. Should it be happening? Do you need players who can retain information and do what …?) – “I don’t think it’s a retain information thing. It’s we’re not putting the work in. That’s what it comes down to. If you can’t remember it, you shouldn’t be in the NFL. At the end of the day, guys have got to actually take this stuff home and study it. They’re not going to just learn it all in meetings. We’ve got to find guys that will actually put forth effort to actually remember this stuff and really, it starts with our best players.”
(You said last night that you think that maybe the offense has become too predictable?) – “Oh, it is. Definitely. One-hundred percent.”
(So where are you at on this now? Are you looking to expand it again or…?) – “Yes, we’re going to have to figure something out. We’ve got to kind of figure out really what’s best for us to do, how we really want to approach it; or I guess I’ve got to figure it out. I’ll look into it, but I’m done compromising with anybody. I’ll do what I think is best and those that want to come on board, great. Those that don’t, we’ll get rid of them.”
(The ongoing struggle with the offensive line, do you see it as fixable with the current group?) – “To me it comes down to more than just the offensive line. The majority of the time, the offensive at least knows who to go to and knows what to do. You’ve got to get the other guys to know what to do too. (The offensive line) can’t block the running back’s guy. The running back, we never block the right guy. I don’t even know if we know who we’ve got. We’ve got to get that fixed. They can’t block their guy too. (The offensive line is) trying to do what they can and they’re fighting. There’s times where I wished they would do things better, but at least I’m getting effort.”
(With QB Jay Cutler, obviously you addressed it after the game last night, but are you cautiously optimistic he’ll be healthy to play against Oakland?) – “Cutler, you’re talking about? Yes, he’s playing. He could have played last week.”
(I noticed, as you said, the mental breakdowns are not happening from the offensive line. That being said, from a run blocking standpoint, do you expect more from those five? I know that includes tight ends.) – “We’ve got to stop trying to hit home runs all the time. How about take the 4 or 5 yards that we’re going to get? It comes down to everybody doing their job. If we actually start doing that, it might help.”
(And with the home runs, is that responsibility then on RB Jay Ajayi?) – “It’s on the running back. Do your job. That’s what you’ve got to do. It’s not hard.”
(Players are off until Wednesday?) – “Until Tuesday.”
(How do you hope they use this time?) – “I hope they get their minds right and try to figure out why they’re here. Hopefully it’s to win some football games.”
(How long have you sensed issues with studying or not studying enough?) – “Two years. Yes, I’ve been addressing this for a while, so I’m kind of fed up with it.”
(What was your impression of the defense’s performance after you looked at the film? What were the problems?) – “We didn’t tackle very well. It’s hard to explain because we’ve tackled so well for so long and we just had some of those breakdowns. We’ve got to have guys make sure that they stay responsible with their gaps. I think when we get a little leaky, guys try to compensate for each other and then it becomes worse. It’s a fine line on defense when you have guys that can make plays and they start going outside, really, the box that you’re trying to stay in with your responsibilities, and they don’t make those plays. Then all of a sudden that 4-yard run becomes 12. We had some of that going on. It is surprising when we’ve tackled so well for the majority of the season, to have those kind of breakdowns. I don’t know if it’s that place. Both years we’ve gone there, we’ve not done well against them. We’ve just got to find ways to regroup on defense, just clean up the little tiny things of … Just do your job, keep your responsibility, keep your gap integrity and things have worked out. Our defensive front does try to maintain their responsibility and at the linebacker and safety level, if we stick with what we’ve been doing, we’ll be alright.”
(How did you think S Michael Thomas did at strong safety?) – “He’s always ready to go. That’s the thing about Mike, he’s a true pro. He gives you everything he has on special teams, makes a ton of plays; and then when he gets thrown on defense, he always knows what to do, whether he’s playing safety or nickel. It’s a tough role to get thrown into when you don’t get as many reps during the week. For him to go in there and be able to do his job and make sure he’s doing the part of his job that we need him to do. He did a good enough job for us to have a chance. When he gets a full week’s worth of work, that’s going to help a lot to where he’ll really understand what’s going on.”
(Does that mean S Nate Allen could be…?) – “Yes, it could be a minute with him. I’m not really sure the exact timetable, but right now it doesn’t look promising for us in the next week.”
(You had another look, obviously, on film, on the LB Kiko Alonso hit. What did you see?) – “It’s a tough one. I know Kiko was … He’s in a tough spot, because he’s (Joe Flacco) running for the first down, and I think he’s (Alonso) kind of waiting to see, ‘What’s he going to do? What’s he going to do?’ When he’s sliding, his body is kind of … It’s not like a true slide that you normally see. He’s kind of half in, half out. It’s a tough, tough play to tell a guy what to do. If he completely stays away from him, and all of a sudden he keeps running and goes head first and gets the first down, then we all go, ‘What are you doing? Finish the play.’ He comes in like that and Joe slides. I don’t think Kiko was trying to do anything maliciously.”
(Could WR DeVante Parker have played last night?) – “He wanted to play. I held him out. We didn’t have a full week’s worth. He didn’t get work like a normal practice. He was running around with more tempo than everybody else. He looked pretty good, but I just knew that it was going to be a game where it was going to get physical outside and he hadn’t really been challenged in practice yet. I just thought it was the right thing to do to keep him out for one more week.”
(Regarding C/G Ted Larsen, do you think it’s realistic that he could practice and play next Sunday?) – “There’s a possibility of him practicing. I can’t say about playing though.”
(Quick two-part question: How did G/T Jesse Davis do at guard and could C/G Anthony Steen’s injury be long term?) – “Steen’s injury is going to be a while. Jesse, I thought Jesse did alright. I didn’t see him being the main culprit for anything that was really causing a lot of issues. The good thing about Jesse is he is strong. That was a good matchup for him with getting his hands on guys and anchoring and not allowing penetration.”
(Did C/G Anthony Steen have surgery or is he going to?) – “Yes, he did have surgery.”
(What was your take on some of the extracurricular stuff towards the end?) – “Obviously it’s stuff that you don’t want to see. I think it all stemmed from when Kiko (Alonso) hit Joe (Flacco) and then Kiko gets hit their twice, (Ndamukong) Suh jumps in and I think it just carried through the whole game. I know the officials were trying to make sure they kept some control and order and when the score gets lopsided like that, it’s a tough position to be in when you’re an official. We’re talking to our guys about keep your cool, play smart and just finish the game the correct way. Things get a little chippy and the next thing you know, you start getting some of those things happen.”
(Was anyone besides S Nate Allen banged up last night that you could be without next week?) – “Nobody that I can think of right now but I could be forgetting something.”
(Was your level of disgust as such last night that you considered shortening the amount of time you’re giving players off?) – “No, because I think this is the only chance we have to at least kind of recharge. From here on out, we’re going for the duration. This is as close as we get to a bye, these next few days.”
(Does the fact that you’re still over .500 give you any solace or are you just so disgusted with how you’ve played that you take no solace in that at all?) – “Well, I guess I look at it like this: Whether you win or lose, the whole process of all of this is about correcting things, mistakes that you make and understanding the why of everything that you’re trying to do. When we win, what happens is everybody brushes it under the rug and just tells everybody how great they are, and then I’m just an (expletive). Well, that’s what happens when you lose 40-0. Now all of a sudden, all of those little things become an issue, that we’ve been talking about. When you win and you address them and guys just think, ‘Oh, he just wants to fix something.’ Okay, well we’ve been embarrassed three times in three losses, so maybe at some point, what we’re saying might make some sense.”
(With S T.J. McDonald coming back into the mix soon, how do you see him meshing with S Reshad Jones? Will they have to each make some adjustments to work together?) – “No, because T.J. can do anything we need him to do. When you put two good players back there, we’ll have no problems adjusting. His is going to be just a conditioning level (to be in) football condition.”
(Back to WR DeVante Parker, is it safe to assume that barring any setbacks, he should play against Oakland?) – “I mean, we’ll see. I hope. It would be good to have him out there.”
(Going back to the whole issue of players and their study habits, how widespread are we talking? Are we talking like everybody or half the team?) – “It’s not on defense. The defense is fine. On special teams we seem to be alright; but maybe that’s because it’s just easy – just run straight and hit somebody. Offensively, it’s a joke. We’ve got too many guys that don’t want to take it home with them. Until our best players actually put forth some effort, it’ll be (expletive).”
(Were you tempted to do at all what you did after the Tennessee home game last year in terms of players?) – “Who are you going to get? It is what it is. At some point, guys have to realize that it takes a little effort outside of this building to actually be good.”
(For a head coach, does this break come at a good time or a bad time? There’s a lot of days off for you to fume about this.) – “Yes, it’s probably not a good time for anybody that’s not me. I’m pissed. I’m tired of this. I’m tired of the offense being awful. Guys need to get their heads right. The coaching staff needs to do a better job because obviously our players not knowing is a direct reflection on them.”
(How tempting is it – and this has to be a very tough call for any coach – when your best players are not doing what you want them to do, to go to players who maybe are not as skilled or as experienced, just to have consequences for your best players not doing what they’re supposed to. Are you tempted to do that?) – “I wouldn’t say I’m tempted to do anything. I’m going to play the guys that know what to do. The fan base might not like it, but oh well. We’re the worst offense in football. It’s hard to go lower than that.”
