Adam Gase – October 6, 2017
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Friday, October 6, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Obviously you guys have been doing well against the run so far this season, but when you face a physical challenge like this in terms of the offensive line and the two physical backs that Tennessee has, does it give you a good gauge of where you are as a team?) – “Absolutely. This is where we’ll find out really where we’re at because there is no hiding from those two guys. Whether, with the quarterback, if (Marcus Mariota is) in there, that adds an extra dimension. It makes it really tough because of the gap responsibilities. It’s just going to be one of those games where we just have to be very sound. We have to play team defense. We have to do a good job of tackling. If it is one-on-one, we’ve got to get the guy down and give ourselves another chance. This will be probably our toughest test so far.”
(Titans QB Marcus Mariota was listed as a game-time decision. You spoke a little earlier about the challenge of preparing for two quarterbacks but how did you go about that during the week?) – “You have to prepare for both. You have to talk about both of them and that’s what makes it tough. You have to put the time in. Normally you spend the entire week worrying about one guy, and especially when you have two guys that are extremes, you’ve got to put the time in. There’s no other way to put it. You’ve got to use your practice reps wisely and do extra film study and just make sure that you’re prepared for both.”
(Do you create two game plans defensively?) – “There’s things that you can do on certain calls to put yourself in position of if it’s one quarterback, here’s how you’re going to play it. If it’s the other guy, this is how you’re going to play it. You don’t necessarily create two game plans but you have some options for one guy over the other.”
(Would you feel comfortable putting a quarterback out there without mobility? Because I know some don’t have mobility to begin with but…) – “A mobile guy that’s hurt, you’re saying?”
(Yes.) – “I’ve done it before. You’re worried about it because you’re … And then you try to call the game appropriately. When Jay (Cutler) pulled his hamstring in 2015, and he was moving around a lot that year and we had a lot of success there, I was trying to be careful of what I called to not force him outside the pocket and things like that, because you just didn’t want to make it worse.”
(What is your sweet spot for RB Kenyan Drake? What would be the ideal role for him?) – “I think the ideal role for him is, and this is what we’re always going to be striving for with him, is we want him to stay where he’s at on special teams and get better, which he’s done a really good job there. There are a lot of plays that you don’t realize he’s being impactful, because he might not necessarily make the tackle or he might not block the punt – all of those little things – or get a return; but he’s been positive in all of those areas on special teams. On offense, you’d love him to be a backup first- and second-down back. He has really good running skills and he has the ability to run routes and catch the ball out of the backfield. He has the ability in empty (sets) to flex him out and run multiple routes. What happens is sometimes when you’re a younger player and you’re not playing and you’re not in the game, it’s hard to learn as the season goes on. You can run as many scout team reps as you can, but that’s not the same as getting reps in practice. Our Thursdays or Wednesdays with him have been ways for him to get better because when Jay (Ajayi) doesn’t practice, he’s taking the majority of the reps. That’s good for him because it’s just one more thing he’s putting in his brain of he’s done it before. When we have all of those backs going and Jay (Ajayi) wants to get those reps in training camp, (Drake) kind of gets put to the backburner there where, as a young player, you really don’t want to do that because you want him to get those reps. The last two weeks have been really good for him because Jay (Ajayi) has missed a practice and he’s had to take the majority of the work.”
(You’re obviously coming off two very difficult games and now that you’ve had a full week of practice to see how the team is responding, what have you seen this week in practice?) – “I’ve seen a lot of guys put their head down and work. Really, at the end of the day, that’s the only way offensively that you can get yourself out of, for whatever reason, the funk that we were in the last two games. The only way that you can pull yourself out of it is that you know what do, are able to play fast and then on game day, you have to execute under pressure.”
(How personal do you think the offense line is taking their struggles so far considering they were kind of the catalyst last year that got this thing going?) – “I think you look at the guy that leads the room. It’s going to start with him and he takes everything personal. He wants us to be a top rushing team. (Mike) Pouncey I’m talking about. He wants us to be one of the best rushing teams in football. He’s not satisfied with any kind of leakage in protection. I think the standard starts with him. The best thing about him is he’s probably playing his best ball right now and he’s graded out the last three games off the charts. If there’s one guy I can say that’s played good in every game, it’s been him. I think it starts with him and then it has to trickle down to the rest of those guys and really at the end of the day it has to be about, we just need to play fast, don’t think, react, and really it starts with the weekly preparation and knowing your job and being able to do that.”
(It looks like CB Xavien Howard practiced for the second straight day. How do you feel about his chances?) – “We’ve got a good chance but it’s just … We’re still a little ways from the game. You just never if tomorrow, what if he’s not feeling right, or the next day. So we’ll see how it goes. I’ll know more by probably tonight and then tomorrow. Tomorrow morning I’ll probably have a better idea.”
(Now LB Rey Maualuga, he’s probably been the most optimistic person ever in Dolphins history; but he knows for sure he’s playing. He’s working with this first team. Is he closer to getting there?) – “I think he’s in good shape. I think today was good for him because Wednesday wasn’t as hot, because it rained. We had cloud cover today. It was a little more like it’s going to be (during a game) and I think it was good for him to go through that, and it seems like he feels good and we’ll just keep taking it day by day. I’m excited. If we get the chance that he’s out there and we can get him playing, this is probably a really good week for him to be playing.”
(What do you see from the Titans defense from the struggles against Houston to how they’ll try to bounce back this week?) – “You just have to look at the game by … Every game has a different story and that’s why us scoring 0 points, you never know what’s going to happen in the next week. It’s the same thing with them. I’m sure they’re not real satisfied with how it went last week and they’ll be ready to go. They’ll probably feel confident coming in here after what they did to us last year and that front is a tough front to block and they know it. We’re a different challenge for them than what the last team they played. When you have a Hall of Fame coach as your defensive coordinator (Dick LeBeau) and you have a lot of talented players, they’ll be ready go.”
(But someone hung 57 on the Titans. Doesn’t that say something about them?) – “It happens. It happens sometimes. Sometimes you get shutout. Not often, but it happens.”
(With LB Rey Maualuga’s style, is it because of his style that this is a good matchup for him?) – “I mean you’ve got two physical backs and he’s a physical player. I’ve played against him enough to know that people know where he’s at. He’s a guy that can … He tackles well and when he hits you, you know it.”
