Adam Gase – October 5, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Tennessee Media
(On if he has ever dealt with a situation like this with a hurricane and how the Dolphins are handling it) – “I think the closest I ever came was we thought we were going to have one when I was at LSU one time. I think it was 2000. Nothing really happened as far as us having bad enough weather to where it affected any kind of game. I know we missed out on a day of practice, but this is obviously something different than anything I’ve gone through before.”
(On how closely the situation is being monitored and when is there a deadline on making a decision about Sunday’s game) – “Basically our front office, our team president, ownership, those guys are all in communication. As far as my part of this, I’m basically worrying about coaching the team right now and then those guys are giving me a heads up of whenever we have to take a next step regarding anything.”
(On if he has a deadline to move the game that he’s aware of at this point in time) – “No.”
(On the pressure the Dolphins got on Titans QB Marcus Mariota last year and what he has seen differently on film from them this year) – “You have to look at it every year as a different year. When you’re a quarterback of his skill set, when you go from year one to year two, it really changes the game; the more you play the more experience you get. A lot of times the quarterback can be the bail out in those situations where you are getting pressure on the quarterback. Obviously he’s going to be able to help, probably a lot more this year than he did in the past; but I’m sure they’ll have something as far as how to take care of certain things that we do with our pass rush. Pressures, things like that. I mean it’s really going to come down to – for us – it’s really executing our game plan and then trying to do the best we can to keep him in the pocket and not let him … being able to be not only a passer but a runner as well.”
(On what he sees when he looks at the Titans offensive line) – “Any time that you start adding new players and then you also have … experience starts to come into play as far as guys getting used to playing together, guys getting years in the league. You’re always going to see improvement. You’re going to start to see guys feeling comfortable in the system that they’re running. A lot of times it is an experience thing. It is a continuity thing with the offensive line and I’m sure the longer that group can kind of hang together, they’ll just keep getting better. I know as far as our front goes against them, it’s always going to be a tough matchup because we know what they bring as far as the running game. They keep you off balance as far as pass rushers go.”
(On how G/T Laremy Tunsil coming along) – “He’s done a good job. When you move to guard and you’ve been a tackle your whole life, it’s a completely different animal for him because those guys are on you so quick. They’re different sized bodies. You’re not dealing with quickness so much as you are with power. With both of our guards, they both were tackles and it’s been a learning experience. Him being a rookie and our right guard (Jermon Bushrod) is in his 10th year in the league, it’s been just as hard for him as it has been for Tunsil. The more we get out there, the more we play, the more practice we get, the better he’s got. I mean, him sliding out to left tackle last week, that was a tough adjustment because now all of a sudden everything you’ve kind of learned from left guard, now you’ve got to revert to what you knew as the left tackle. Even though he had reps in training camp and we tried to get him some reps in preseason games, it’s just not the same when you get into a live game and all of a sudden now you’re the left tackle.”
(On if he expects T Branden Albert back and how can he and C Mike Pouncey stabilize that unit) – “It looked good for Branden (Albert) as far as coming back from his injury. He’s been sick the last two days so we haven’t been able to have him out at practice. We’ll just kind of see as the week goes on, obviously it being Wednesday right now, we have some time left here before the game. If if we can get him to play and then obviously if everything keeps going smoothly with (Mike) Pouncey, that’s a big help to us because those two guys are veteran players. They are leaders. It changes kind of the atmosphere in that group and with our offense, there’s a lot of confidence there between those two guys. Those are two guys that we really lean on heavily. When things aren’t quite going right, they’re guys that are able to kind of help everybody go in the right direction.”
(On the strategy of using one running back versus multiple running backs) – “I think you do whatever works for you. When you look at DeMarco (Murray), he is a guy that, when you get him involved in a game and you keep him in and you’re getting him touches, he gets in a good rhythm and all of a sudden you’re at 70 yards with him and all of a sudden it becomes 130 really fast. He’s a hard guy to take out of a game. The good thing is when you do have more than one back, as the season goes on, I’m sure it’ll probably start to look different as the season goes on. With all of us only being four games done and going into the fifth one, it’s so early in the season, and it’s a long season. And when you play that position, when you have a guy that your carries start going down and his go up, it helps you when you get going towards the end of the year.”
(On what he saw from RB Derrick Henry in the preseason) – “Obviously, he shredded us. He looked like a grown man out there, for sure. That’s what I know. He’s a player that we really liked coming out of the draft. Obviously, with a lot of our ties that we have to (Alabama Head) Coach (Nick) Saban, we’re always interested in a lot of guys that he has. We have a lot of guys going through that school, because they have so many good players. (Derrick Henry) was a guy that a lot of our scouts and personnel guys really were very interested in.”
(On the strengths of the Titans’ defense) – “Obviously with who they’re being coached by, their scheme is very sound. Their defensive line makes it very difficult. I’m kind of including the outside linebackers in that, as well. It makes it very tough to 1) Run the football; but also when you go to pass it, we better be sound in what we’re doing. It takes one little slip up and all of a sudden the quarterback is on the ground. We have to do a great job as far as understanding what we’re dealing with, with the front. They make it very tough. Obviously, everybody … The team speed is really good. The linebackers can run, and the secondary has been put in a really good position as far as, ‘Do your job, hold up, and that front is going to get there.’”
(On OLB Brian Orakpo) – “He looks good to me, at least from what I’ve seen. (From) the film that I’ve watched, he looks disruptive. What they do with him on third down makes it tough on the offense. I guess it has been a couple years since I’ve seen him, but he looked like he’s doing really well.”
(On Senior Pass Rush Specialist Jim Washburn) – “I would say the No. 1 thing is we hired him, because we wanted that attitude. We wanted that attacking style. I love the way that he coaches players – kind of that old-school mentality. We wanted that in our program as we got this thing started. He has done so much good for our program as far as setting the tempo to what we’re looking for as a defensive unit. He has been a big part of that. I feel like our guys are getting better. I love the way that the players work with him in practice. I love the intensity and the aggressiveness that he brings when he coaches his players.”
(On DE Jason Jones) – “He has been great. He has been one of our guys that has been a pleasant surprise as far as leadership goes. He doesn’t say much, but he does so many things right – the way he practices, the way he plays the game, the way he prepares for the game, the way he takes care of his body to try to make sure he’s available every week. He has been a guy that has really impacted us for the positive, as far as what we want to be moving forward. When you’re 1-3, you want to keep basically (saying), ‘One week at a time. We’ll make sure that we’re right for this week figuring out a way to get better.’ And he has been one of those guys that has been leading the charge in trying to find a way to win a game.”
(On improving on third down) – “I think the biggest thing for us (is) we have to make sure we do a good job of executing the plays that we’ve been calling. Sometimes it’s there; sometimes it’s not. But when we do have our opportunities and we have somebody open, we either got to catch it, or we got to complete it. For us, we put a 15-play cut-up together of third downs that we missed. (If) we complete seven of those, all of a sudden, you’re vaulted into the top 10. They were plays that we feel like that our guys can make and protection-type things that we can clean up. For us, it’s really, stay on the details, and we need to execute at the end of the day. I think our guys are trying to do the right stuff. It’s just when the pressure is on, we have to make sure we’re making the play.”
