Adam Gase – October 7, 2016
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Friday, October 7, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On how good it was to get T Branden Albert back in practice today and if he will be good enough to play) – “Yes. If he feels better, we should be in good shape. Obviously he’s got something going on there, as far as some kind of virus. I don’t know what’s going on as far as the actual diagnosis of anything; but he’s just got to keep hydrating. He obviously feels better than he did yesterday and the day before that. I think it’s less about the actual injury he had and more the sickness.”
(On if he wishes to share his plan of attack at running back) – “No. I have a good idea what we’re going to do, but we’ll wait until Sunday on that one.”
(On if CB Xavien Howard needs knee surgery) – “Yes. So he’s going to be obviously out this week. He had a meniscus repair. Same knee. Different than what it was the first time. As of right now, he’ll still be on the active roster. It’s really going to be kind of how the rehab goes, how fast everything … as far as him being able to come back. Obviously for us, it’ll be a week-to-week deal. We’ll just kind of see how well everything basically takes for him. It’s tough when you just went through this and then now you have to go through it again. It becomes part mental and physical at this point.”
(On if he feel like he has enough cornerbacks to make it through that stretch) – “Yes. We’re just going to have to keep getting better out there. I know guys are competing hard and trying to make sure that they’re ready to go and doing what’s right. We’ve had a couple of good days of practice and obviously we feel like (Howard’s) a really good young player and he’s brought a lot to our defense. We need guys to just go and do their job and make plays.”
(On how close CB Chris Culliver is to returning to practice) – “Once we kind of get into that PUP range, he should be out there. We’re still just making sure that we can get him as strong as possible. Obviously we have that window to keep evaluating him when we can get him on the field. When that time comes then obviously he’ll be in the conversation very fast.”
(On the odds that he will have all five starting offensive linemen on Sunday) – “It’s pretty good. We’ll see. Like I said, we’ll see if we have anything come up here in the next day and a half or so; but we should be in good shape and hopefully we can get those five guys out there.”
(On C Mike Pouncey getting through the week well) – “Yes, it seems like it, unless something comes about here in the next 48 hours or so. We should be in good shape.”
(On if he anticipates those five starting offensive linemen falling into a rhythm since they haven’t been out there together) – “I don’t think we have a choice. If we get those five guys out there, we’re just going to have to try to grow quick together and that’s including the way we game plan, the play calling, unning backs, those guys. It takes the full group to kind of make this thing roll. We’ll try to get it going as fast as possible.”
(On there only being five games since 2004 that T Branden Albert, C Mike Pouncey and T Ja’Wuan James started and finished a game together) – “I don’t know. I was at LSU in 2004. Wow, I didn’t realize we had that kind of …” (laughter)
(On T Branden Albert, C Mike Pouncey and T Ja’Wuan James only starting and finishing seven games together since 2014) – “I can’t explain that. I know this. It would be nice if we could get through a game and whatever five we’re starting with, finish with those five and just kind of see what our result is.”
(On what has encouraged him this week) – “I think the energy level, the way we executed in practice (and) how guys have been on it in meetings. For me, I feel like guys are taking it home with them and trying to make sure when they come back the next day, that they know what to do and we’re able to play fast. I think guys are starting to get comfortable as far as what’s being called, when things are being called, where they’re supposed to go, their job assignments – all those type of things. I think guy,s when you start getting deeper and deeper in the offense their first year, that’s what should happen. That’s why those first four games, you can’t go one way or the other. You just keep working to get better.”
(On if he changed his approach at all this week) – “I think really the one thing that we encouraged this week was let’s get our energy level going, just making sure every day we go out there its full throttle, it’s game speed (and) we’re competing. We encourage the scout team to try to pick balls off. We encourage them to try to compete with the wide outs and make sure we make it as tough as possible. I think the scout team defense did a great job this week as far as challenging those guys and then those guys responded as far as practicing fast.”
(On if CB Byron Maxwell is back in the starting lineup with CB Xavien Howard out) – “Yes. He will. He’s going to go back in there. That’s why in this league, you can’t get all upset about what happens one week from the other because things change fast.”
(On how CB Byron Maxwell responded) – “Obviously when it initially happened, he wasn’t happy; but he never changed in practice. You could tell because we know. The way he was … (his) professionalism was great the last 10 or so days.”
(On what he hopes that fans will see from this four-game home stretch about his team) – “Improvement. Basically all the way around, all three phases. And we’re looking to play as a full group instead of one side doing good and the other side’s not so good, special teams carrying us. We need to have three phases coming together and then we need to start playing better complimentary football. If we do our job on offense, it’s going to help the defense. (If the) defense does their job, it’s going to help the offense. Special teams, (if) we make some kind of game changing play and shorten the field up, that’s going to help their entire team. That’s where we need to start heading. These four weeks are going to be critical for us because we don’t have to travel. We’re able to play at our home stadium in front of our home fans, so this is a great opportunity for us.”
(On if he feels like we’ve seen the real identity of an Adam Gase team) – “I think we’re still a work in progress right now. I think we’re headed in the right direction as far as what we want to develop as our organization. Guys are putting in the work. That’s really what you want it at the beginning of the day and that’s what you’re asking for as a coach. You want guys to come in 0-0 every week, put the time in, and then on Sundays, you should see the result you want. (For) us, having a four-game stretch here at home, this is a great chance for us to kind of get things moving in the right direction.”
(On if LB Neville Hewitt or LB Donald Butler would start in base with LB Koa Misi out) – “We’ve got different packages. It depends what (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) decides to call. Obviously, with (Misi) being out, we’ll have some moving parts. I know last week when they used a whole bunch of different personnel groupings on that side. We’ll kind of see … how they start sometimes dictates how we start.”
(On if one game and one win change the trajectory of a season) – “I don’t think any one game can ever, one way or the other. In this league, you better bring it every week, no matter who you’re playing, and then when that week’s over, you’ve got to reset everything and start over again. That’s the key. If you get beat bad, you better come back quick. If you win, then next Sunday nobody cares. You better come back out there and do it again.”
(On if he believes in momentum) – “It just changes so much in this league.”
(On what he sees in young wide receivers and weapons the Titans have on the flanks such as WR Tajae Sharpe) – “Any time you’ve got young guys playing at those positions, there’s the good and the bad. One: you get a guy that … young guys are always confident coming into this league all the time. When you dominate in the college level, you expect the same thing in this level, and when you get a guy that comes in and he’s confident, but then he works and he gets to go against these pro corners in practice, if that confidence builds, it makes it tough during games because they still feel like they did when they were in college. Sometimes it can work against you too. When you think you’re too good and you don’t work as hard, that’s where you can get in trouble. And that position, usually you go one way or the other. That’s the toughest part about coaching that position. You need guys that can work and want to get better and really want to compete every day because if you don’t, it’s not going to translate to the game. If you don’t work hard in practice, it won’t translate and you have to make sure you go out there and compete every day. That’s why, with our guys, and they’re young, and they get a chance to go against our corners. Every day you’ve got to compete.”
(On how much of a relief that the game is being played here) – “We were ready to go. We would have been fine with whatever happened. Wherever we played, we would have been good to go.”
