Adam Gase – September 14 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with New England Media
(On how long it takes for players to get acclimated in a new system) – “(With it) being the third time that we’ve had to implement the offense – at least – it has been a little different each time, because (of) the players and a lot of times how much experience they have in the league. I think this has been probably a little bit of a slower transition as far as we do have a lot of younger players that haven’t been exposed to as many offenses, and we haven’t really picked up the tempo as far as how much we actually go with as far as volume in the previous spots that I’ve been in. There were so many guys that have been playing for a while – played in multiple systems – so it makes it a little easier as far as how much volume they can actually handle. Sometimes when you got some younger players, you’re trying to be a little smarter (about) how much you actually give them.”
(On Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo’s Week 1 performance) – “Getting that win under his belt was probably very good for him as far as the team they played – that’s a tough defense to go and play at their place – and handling that first game of having the reigns to himself. It’s different for a quarterback the first time when it’s an actual, full, real game with the coordinator and trying to get used to that. He handled it well. He looked very poised. Obviously, he played very well, and he helped put those guys in position to win. The guys, obviously, rallied around him. There were so many guys playing well (and) that takes a lot off the quarterback.”
(On whether he looked at potentially drafting Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo while serving as Denver’s Offensive Coordinator) – “I didn’t spend any time with him, but we looked at some guys in … We were always prepared to make sure if somebody accidentally slipped that we were always prepared as far as we can have a conversation on it. He was in a group and after a lot of guys in our building watched him – myself, Greg Knapp the quarterback coach and a lot of the personnel guys – as we got deeper in the process, he became a guy that we felt like he was going to be taken before we could even discuss anything with him. We actually did look at him just to make sure that we had that covered if something happened. But we figured once we watched him, we were really impressed and figured that he wouldn’t be there at a position for us to take him.”
(On what he saw from QB Jimmy Garappolo coming out of college) – “From my past, I was always around … The guy I learned quarterbacks from was Mike Martz. (Jimmy Garoppolo) looked similar to a lot of the guys were Mike Bulger-, Kurt Warner-type throwing motions as far as the ball coming out so quick. That stood out to me right away. It seemed like any time he played a school that was a higher level or a tough opponent, he always seemed to step up and play really well. He made some great throws down the field. It seemed like he always was finding the open receiver. He was really good anytime a team played zone defense; he seemed to find the holes. It seemed like he was such a good decision maker, he’s calm. There was something about him (and) the way he carried himself on the field (that) even watching him on film was impressive.”
(On what he has seen from QB Ryan Tannehill) – “So far, (with) that first game, that was a tough one for us to go up there and play that defense. He did a good job of managing the crowd there and being in that environment. The fact that we only had the one false start was very impressive. He was doing a great job of communicating with our offensive lineman. His communication was outstanding not only (with) the lineman, (but also with) the backs and the receivers. It made everything go a lot smoother. It gave us an opportunity. We need to figure out a way to … Obviously, he’s a little disappointed as far as we weren’t very good on third down. We had a couple shots in the red zone that we didn’t really quite finish the way that we needed to. As far as him growing in this system, he has really taken it over, which obviously, when you’re the play caller (and) a quarterback can do that, it makes your life a little easier.”
(On whether there are any commonalities in game planning against Patriots Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia) – “That there is no commonalities. He’s really tough for me, because I feel like every time we go in to play him, there’s always something that’s different. You think one thing and then something switches up. He does such a good job of keeping you off balance, and you’re constantly working on the sideline. There’s never a time when you’re sitting on the sideline and you can’t look at the pictures or there’s not a discussion going on. It’s a very tough defense to plan against, because schematically, they’re always going to have some things to where they’re preparing for you. That’s the thing about what goes on in that building is they get ready for this game, and if they have to make some kind of switch or they have to run a different type of defense, they’re going to do it. They’re not afraid to do that. They’re going to take away your best players and when you’re on the other side, you have to figure it out quick and you got to have a plan to get to something else.
(On the type of player Patriots LB Jamie Collins has developed into) – “Every year that I keep seeing him on tape … I think last year was the first time in a long time that I hadn’t been on the other sideline against New England. Seeing him develop from the time that he came in the league and now, he can do more things, whether it be coverage, pressures, rushing the passer. It seems like he keeps growing and growing. He’s such a tough matchup. Obviously, it’s a terrible matchup anytime he gets a (running) back (and) he pressures, there’s not a lot of times you see the running back winning. Even versus offensive lineman, he seems to come free quite a bit. The more I see him working in coverage, it seems like he has a better feel for this as time has gone on. He has developed into a complete player. It happened quick for him. It seemed like he wasn’t playing and then he played more and then he kept getting better and better.”
(On working with Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels and Tight Ends Coach Brian Daboll at Michigan State) – “I think the fact that seeing those two guys, how they worked and how they went about being a ‘GA’ (graduate assistant), and I was underneath those guys. For me to be able to see those guys consistently (work), the amount of hours they put in, in the office and how they interacted with the coaching staff and players, that was good for me to see at such a young age, because it wasn’t necessarily (like) they were taking me under their wing, but by leading by example (and) watching how they operated day in and day out, it was easy for me to grow as a GA when I went to LSU. Seeing how those guys did it right all the time, that was probably great for me to see in the fact that, ‘Alright, if I do it the way these guys do it, it gives me my best opportunity to improve in the coaching realm.’”
(On how close he is today with Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels and Tight Ends Coach Brian Daboll) – “I think it has changed a little bit since now I’m in the (AFC East) division. (laughter) But I know when I was in the NFC, I was able to keep in touch with those guys quite a bit. It’s one of those things where in the offseason, you text each other every once in a while. When you’re on different teams now, it changes. It seems like whatever organization you’re involved in, those are the guys that usually you’re around more, you hang out with. And then when you go to a different team, you lose a little bit of that relationship that you had, but there’s still communication every once in a while in the offseason.”
(On the Dolphins defeating the Patriots in the last game of the 2015 regular season) – “I think the fact that we had to watch a lot of our … We tried to watch as much as possible as far as over the last three years of when we were going through our evaluation stage, not just against the Patriots. But that game seems to come up quite a bit as far as they had a lot of their younger players playing as far as some guys on defense, some guys on offense. You look back at that game, and I know it was a tough game for New England, a couple of things didn’t go their way and you never know how one or two plays here and there it changes, but the fact that these guys did a good job in that game on the offensive side of the ball as far as taking care of the ball and not laying it on the ground and throwing interceptions, it keeps that game tight and then (you) try to figure out a way to shake free. I know that for them, at that time, that was a big game for them, because it was Dan (Campbell) is, obviously, fighting for the head coach job. I think a lot of those players were fighting for him, because they wanted to play well for him. I know anytime these two teams match up, I feel like a lot of times there’s – at least from what I’ve seen over the years – it seems to always be fairly tight.”
(On the Patriots’ running game against the Cardinals in Week 1) – “Sometimes even though the so-called stats show not an ideal average as far as what everybody wants to look at, a lot of people want to say, ‘Is it a 4.0 or better?’ and things like that. A lot of times, the little hidden successes happen to be run efficiency. If it is second-and-2 and you get three yards on average, it’s not impressive, but that’s a good play, because you got a first down. That’s what (Patriots Offensive Coordinator) Josh (McDaniels) does so well is being able to stay on the field and get first downs and not necessarily worry about, ‘Out average is this.’ It’s more about, ‘What’s our efficiency? How well are we doing as far as staying ahead of the sticks, giving our quarterback third-and-manageable?’ That’s really the key. Even though there might not be a great average, really they’re having success in little hidden categories that a lot of people won’t look at.”
(On the importance of winning in Week 2 to avoid going 0-2) – “It’s hard for me to look at anything like that. I guess in my experience in the NFL, every week you have to go in, and it’s going to be a tough opponent, whether it be division, whether it’s out of conference. Every game is big. That’s how it is for 16 weeks. You’re going through your process, and your job is to get your players better every week and then you get a chance to go out on Sunday and make sure that you’re trying to stay on your details and put yourself in position to when you get to that fourth quarter that you give yourself an opportunity. And if it doesn’t shake out your way, you better get those things corrected quickly and then move on the next week. You don’t have any time to feel sorry for yourself about the previous game. That’s the biggest key that we need to emphasize here is we constantly need to keep getting better. And then when we go and we have to go on the road or we’re at home, we have to make sure we do a good job of being in that game at the end with two minutes left and one side of the ball is going to have to make a play.”
(On C Mike Pouncey, WR DeVante Parker and DE Mario Williams) – “Right now, (Mike) Pouncey has been week-to-week. DeVante (Parker) – we just need to see him practice this week. We’ll see how that goes. It’s one of those things where until we practice, you never know. We get out there, and he’s not feeling right, and all of a sudden things change during the week. (Mario Williams) is in the concussion protocol. Right there, obviously, that removes basically the coaching staff and it removes the trainers having any say in anything. Everything is done through the league. So, whenever they tell us he’s good to go, then we’ll know more then.”
