Adam Gase – September 22, 2016
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On if there is any update on RB Arian Foster) – “Right now, we’re still kind of going through the process as far as trying to figure out how bad his injury is and doing some rehab stuff. We’ll kind of see the Friday, Saturday thing. Obviously with a veteran player, it gives you a little more of an option. Obviously any time you can get a guy out there practicing and you get through a practice, it makes you feel better as a coach, knowing that a guy’s active (and that) he’s going to make it through the entire game. We’ll just keep going through our little deal here and we’ll make a decision towards the end of the week.”
(On if he would consider playing RB Arian Foster on Sunday if he doesn’t practice at all) – “I would but with two games so close together, and just thinking long term as far as this season goes, I would have to feel really, really good about it.”
(On explaining the cause of RB Jay Ajayi’s fumbles) – “This last game, it kind of got away from his body a little bit as he hit that hole which, it’s something that we’ve emphasized since the beginning, as far as keeping that tight to your rib cage (and) as soon as you start going through contact, make sure you get that other hand over the ball. And he didn’t do that on that one particular snap. Just going back to that preseason game, it was close to the same thing, but it was just a little different. With him going down, that thing getting swiped out and it’s something where you really have to focus on it because you’re trying not to take away from a guy’s running skills, but you’ve just got to understand where you’re at within the bodies around you. He’s done a good job as far as up to those two moments. I mean he was, and really our entire running back corps, have done a good job as far as holding on to the ball. (We) just kind of had that one incident in (the) Tennessee (preseason game) and we had a couple of balls slip out in Seattle and one in New England, that they said that they were down, or the New England one they said they were down. So we just have to make sure that we’re constantly thinking about ball security. We want to make sure that we’re not giving cheap turnovers, like not even big hits –just guys tapping at the ball and then all of a sudden you lose it. So you’ve got to keep it tight and obviously we try to address that as much as possible. (If) you see it on practice film, you address it. If you see a ball away from a guy’s body, you bring it up in front of your entire group because you want to make sure everybody hears that so they know we need to do this right every snap.”
(On CB Byron Maxwell saying the biggest thing for him to take away from last week was tackling) – “Last week it probably wasn’t his best game as far as that’s going. Historically, he’s really been a solid tackler. He’s been the kind of guy that’s stuck his face in there and he’s actually had quite a few turnovers as far as stripping the ball. When he was at Seattle, that was one of the things that I know we were aware of with their defensive backfield was, it’s almost like they’re tackling the ball. That’s why they get so many fumbles and you see so many turnovers up there. I love anytime corners are hard on themselves like that, that’s what you want. You want guys that are willing to go in there and just get the guy down. At that point, if they’re getting to either one of those corners or the safeties, the biggest thing is to just get them down. Just so we have a chance to fight for another down. If we can improve in that area all around, that’s what we’re looking for.”
(On what you can do about a back jumping over a 6-foot-2 corner) – “Jump on his back and try to get him down. I mean you just have to do the best job you can as far as putting yourself in position. I know that (the defense) had talked about a certain way that they needed to make sure they tackle him because they showed some clips of him doing that in the past. (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) had a good plan as far as how they needed to make sure that they approached that, as far as tackling him and getting him down. It had to be a team effort quite a few times because that is a big man running at a pretty good rate there.”
(On the offense in the second half at New England and how close that is to what he wants to see every week) – “I think some of it is just going back and watching that tape. You see the execution was very, very, very high. Guys were in the exact same spots that they needed to be in. It was more of how we practice a lot of times, where guys were very exact in what they were doing. When we have little tiny slipups, that’s when mistakes are made. We seem to have that going on too early in the game and that was part of our problem here this last first half. They made some good plays. We throw a ball behind a guy and then, like I said before, probably the quarterback sneak wasn’t the best idea by me; but if we just clean up a few of the execution things, maybe that second half will be more consistent for us.”
(On QB Ryan Tannehill playing so much better in the 2-minute no huddle offense and what the downside to beginning a game with that approach) – “For the most part, that’s kind of what we’ve been but if you’re not in rhythm, if you don’t get it going really quick, then all of a sudden you start having three-and-outs and you’re looking up and you’re like, ‘Well, we burned 30 seconds off the clock,’ and now you’re putting the other side of the ball in jeopardy. You just want to find a way to get that first, first down. You want to make sure you’re getting completions. I think the one thing with us is a lot of those plays that we had in the second half were down the field throws and intermediate throws. It shortens up the drive quite a bit; but at the same time, you just better make sure you’re executing, you’re getting the first down and then you’re getting points on the board. If you’re getting points on the board, the time of possession really is irrelevant because it’s going to be tough for the other team to keep up with you. We just have to find a way to, when we do huddle, when we do slow it down a little bit, just clean up a few of our details (and) keep the mentality of playing fast when the play starts. That’s going to be the biggest key for us.”
(On it being noisier with the stadium renovations and if he is curious to see how loud it really is) – “Yes. For us, it’s going to be more about making sure we do our job, and then the fans will have something to cheer about. That’s going to be what we are looking to do. We need to play well. We need to make sure we give them a reason to be loud, whether it be getting a lead or making some big plays on defense or making something happen on special teams, that’ll keep our fans engaged and get them involved in the game.”
(On C Mike Pouncey’s status) – “Every day seems to be a new adventure for us as far as a step of possibly getting him back. We’re just going to keep talking to the doctors and keep progressing him as far as how much he’s doing and how much more we can do. Obviously, he is very aggressive in the way he goes about rehabbing. He is driving me nuts as far as, ‘I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go.’ We just have to make sure that we have all of our boxes checked on that.”
(On there being a minimum amount of time he knows that C Mike Pouncey will be out) – “I don’t. I really don’t. Every day when I talk to (Head Athletic Trainer) Ryan (Grove), and when I talk to the doctors, it’s a wait and see thing for us and we just need to figure out when the right time is to say, ‘Okay, now we can move on to the next step.’”
(On should the sense of urgency change throughout the season) – “No. You can’t think like that. When you walk in this building on Monday, you’re 0-0. Until somebody tells you that you’re out of it, then that’s when it changes because it’s tough. When you know you’re out of it, that changes the attitudes of a lot of guys. Right now, I really feel like with our guys, there is that 0-0 mentality every Monday that we come in. And when we get to Wednesday, the same thing. We just need to go back to work. You fix the things that you had issues on in the previous game and then you start over. Because when we hit Sunday, nobody talks about the week before. You move on and just keep figuring out a way to get better.”
(On Browns WR Corey Coleman breaking his hand at practice and if that makes him change his game plan) – “I’m sure we’ll kind of have those discussions as far as what we need to do defensively, if we do need to make any minor tweaks. But, just being on the other side of that, when you do lose a player of that caliber, it’s harder on the side of the ball that it actually happened to because now you had one thing planned going into Wednesday, and you have an idea maybe of certain plays for him, and now you’re trying to figure out a way to maybe change some things around or retool or who is going to do – whether it was his job or do we have to completely dump things. There may be things that they won’t do now because he is hurt. It’s kind of like both sides trying to play that cat and mouse game again – trying to figure out what can they do since he’s not in there, and the same thing for us, do we have to do something different? Or do we have to change anything that we had in?”
(On if C Mike Pouncey practice today) – “No.”
(On if there is a running back he feels comfortable that he will do his assignment no matter what play is called) – “I feel pretty good as far as, the majority of our playbook, there are a few things where I may lean on one type of protection scheme with one guy compared to another – just through either experience or what they’ve had success in, in practice. I kind of always try to keep an eye on that. If I feel like a (running) back can’t get out because he’s looking around and he’s not sure who he has to block on a certain protection, I may stay away from that certain type of protection and lean on something else to where I feel like he was good at that. It’s something that … you really as a play-caller have to focus on who’s in the game and I know this is what his strength is protection-wise. In the running game, it’s a little easier. Like we talked about yesterday, you can always create boxes of ‘these are his favorite runs, or these are his favorite runs.’ In the passing game, I feel great about all those guys as far as what they can do, with what we do. And then protection, it’s just kind of sorting it out, who’s in the game and what I like doing with them.”
(On the protection being the biggest issue for him with the running backs) – “You just have to make sure that … Every guy is different. Every protection hits a guy a different way. Sometimes with the way that defenses have all of these exotic pressures, there are certain protections that are tougher than others. It’s just about how do certain guys see things. You just have to be on it as far as, what does this guy know? What has he practiced? What reps has he gotten in walkthrough compared to the actual full speed deal? Because it changes so fast when it’s full speed compared to the walkthrough. Walkthroughs are easier, right? ‘I got this guy.’ And then all of a sudden guys start moving around, and things start happening fast, you short circuit. So you have to be careful. If a guy doesn’t know the protection, you’d rather go to something else and you can make some adjustments there to where the route concepts (and) protection all kind of fit together.”
(On what went into the decision of RB Damien Williams not being active last game) – “That was just my decision as far as Jay (Ajayi) ended up being the guy that I wanted up for that game and obviously, Damien brings a lot to the table. Moving forward, I think what he’s done as a running back, what he’s done on special teams and what he does in practice, he keeps forcing my hand. I need to get him in the game, I need to get him involved, not only on special teams, but on offense as well. That was something that I did last week. Looking back at it, we’ll see how it goes forward. I really like it when he is active. I like what he brings to the table. He keeps proving to me that he has earned being on the active roster on game day.”
(On if he could see all four running backs being active) – “It’s a possibility. Obviously, with the youth we have, it could happen. I mean we’ve got to see where we are health-wise with everybody. That’s why you kind of go with the initial (active roster) when we talk about it on Monday, just so we can start formulating a game plan, and then there’s a couple of moving pieces throughout the week. Like last week, we had a couple of guys where we thought we were going to go to the game; but we changed our mind at the last second. The same thing with this week, we’ve already had one guy who was going to be inactive but then we flipped it around with somebody else. It’s a constant dialog. You just have to make sure that you don’t put anybody in a bad spot to where they’ve repped a guy the entire week in one thing, and then you pull the rug out from under him – whether it be (Darren) Rizzi, the offensive coordinator, the defensive coordinator and they’re going, ‘Wait, I had all this stuff in for him,’ and now you just made him inactive.”
(On telling the Cleveland reporters that he needs every guy to pull their weight and if he thinks that has happened thus far) – “I think we are just taking our turns to where, whether it be a missed assignment, dropped ball (or a) protection issue. What happens is – and you know when we were talking about the quarterback – what happens is when you play that quarterback position, you’re counting on 10 guys to do their job before you can even do your job. That’s what makes that position so tough. That’s what makes that position the highest paid position in football. You’re counting on 10 other guys to do their job so you can try to do your job well. My point is, when we get all of those guys doing the right thing, then that guy can do his job. That makes that position easier to evaluate. I feel like right now, Ryan (Tannehill) is doing a good job. Have we had some mistakes? Yes. Same thing around the board. We’ve taken our turns. The problem is … It will be nice when we’re all heading in the right direction. We’re all right. The more times we’re right on certain plays, the better you start feeling. I feel like that second half last week, that was more of what we were looking for as far as an execution standpoint.”
(On if it was execution and not a lack of desire) – “No. No. It’s just getting the little tiny details right. That’s why when you play a team like we just played, you better be on it, because the slightest misstep, all of a sudden it’s 31-3. Just one play, and then the drive gets going, and then everybody feels like they’re reeling, and then all of a sudden a touchdown and three-and-out, touchdown. So you have to make sure. That team, you can’t do that. You can’t have those mistakes.”
(On why S Isa Abdul-Quddus and S Reshad Jones present challenges for opposing offenses) – “I think the fact that they’re interchangeable as far as who is down, who is back, who can go out and cover – whether it be a running back or who can cover a tight end. The fact that they both can do all that stuff, it makes it nice for us because now you don’t create that tendency of Reshad’s always down, Isa’s always in the middle, or vice versa. Or Reshad always blitzes. If you can eliminate the always and nevers, that’s the biggest thing for a defense. You want to make it to where you’re kind of guessing, ‘Well, they’ve done both so what can we really tell our guys?’ When you can do that, that makes it that much tougher to prepare for.”
(On what his threshold is on QB Ryan Tannehill’s running style and on how important something has to be for him to not slide) – “I just want him to play. I don’t want him to think about it. I know he’ll do the right thing. More times than not, he goes down. Last week he had to do what he had to do.”
(On if he has a philosophy on change of possession and if he wants his quarterback chasing down the ball) – “Yes, I guess. (I’m) trying to think of any examples. I know there were a few times when, whether it be a fumble or an interception, I just remember when Peyton (Manning) started chasing and I’m just like, ‘Just fall or something.’ (Laughter) It didn’t concern me until I saw (Jay) Cutler break his thumb the one year he tried to chase down a turnover. That probably was the first time where I was really aware of, ‘Well that’s not a good thing.’ Last year he pulled his hamstring chasing down an interception against Arizona. That affected us because we lost him for a game and then he came back the next week. But that was where you’re kind of like, ‘Listen, you make a smart decision as far as if you can get the guy down and prevent a score, great. If it’s out of range, be smart as far as what you do.’”
