Adam Gase – September 23, 2016
Download PDF version
Friday, September 23, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On who the starting running back will be this week) – “I don’t think I’ve narrowed it down as far as who’s going to actually start the game. Obviously, it’s going to come down to what we’re going to do for the openers. We’ve got a bunch of different packages as far as who can go in when and certain things that we can emphasize with them. So, I don’t really have a great answer for you right yet.”
(On whether the starting running back will be package based) – “It’s probably going to be package-based as far as what we’re going to do.”
(On what the team has done in practice to address starting games fast) – “The start of practices have been good. Guys are executing the way we want them to as far as practice goes. Now we have to translate it to the game. We’ve got to be on our assignments. We’ve got to make sure that we don’t have any kind of mental errors or any kind of hiccups going on across the board. We need 11 guys doing their job together, and that’ll give us our best chance to get that first, first down and get going.”
(On RB Arian Foster) – “He’ll be out this week. We’ve kept him inside and done, obviously, some rehab stuff. We’ve been trying to work with him and didn’t really want to bring him outside. We’ve been doing some strengthening things. We’re going to hold him out for this one and reevaluate after this week.”
(On WR DeVante Parker) – “He looks good, but he’s still … It’s just not 100 percent yet. It’s probably going to be like that for a little bit. He’s going to have to keep gaining strength, doing the little, tiny things right – as far as after practice, before practice – making sure he’s doing our activation-type things with our strength staff. He needs to make sure he stays on it as far as hydrating, making sure he’s doing the right thing as far as eating, make sure he’s sleeping. If he does all those things, that’s going to give him his best chance to recover day in and day out. I feel like he has been really making a point of emphasis to himself to try to do things right, so he can be as healthy as he can on Sunday.”
(On an update on DE Jason Jones) – “It was one of those things where … I personally didn’t find out until after practice. (There was) a little bit of a scare there as far as we weren’t sure how bad it was. We felt like holding him out today was our best chance for him to be able to play on Sunday. I think things look good. It’s going to be … Does anything set him back over the next day and a half or whatever we’ve got left? I think we’re going to be alright, but obviously we’ll always have a backup plan as far as if for some reason he couldn’t go, we’re going to have to have the next man up, and then we’re going to have to make sure that we have some things taken care of as far as what we’re doing schematically.”
(On the philosophy of practicing on the indoor field) – “That was something that we’d brought up with Mike (Tannenbaum), and he has done a great job as far as trying to research, ‘Is there something wrong in there? Is there something we can do better?’ I know Mr. (Stephen) Ross is always trying to figure out ways to (do) what’s best for the players. No matter what the dollar amount is, he wants to try to make sure that they’re taken care of and we’re staying healthy and we’re giving them the best resources possible. A few of them have been some oddball injuries. I think a little bit of it is we really don’t practice in there a whole bunch, so I think when we get in there, the speed does pick up. When guys are playing faster and all of a sudden one little thing is a little different, it seems like somebody is getting caught or somebody is getting rolled up on. When we get in there, we have to probably be a little smarter as far as what we’re actually doing. I know a couple times we’ve made some adjustments to practice to try to make sure we’re not putting ourselves in bad positions. A couple of them have been fluke things. That one yesterday (with Jason Jones), I’m not really sure if it’s fluke or it’s because of the turf or what. I know a lot of teams practice indoors a lot and play on turf. We just don’t do it a lot, so I think when we do go in there, it changes what we’re doing as far as how our guys are playing. It is a faster surface.”
(On whether practices are faster on turf) – “I’m not sure. It feels like when we look at our data with our sports science guys it’s like the intensity picks up. You’re not working in the heat, so obviously, when you work in it here you get drained as practice goes on, which is a good thing for us, because that’s getting us in shape. And then when we go (inside), it’s like we’re fresh the whole practice and they’re not as tired, so that intensity and speed maintains throughout the entire practice. When we come out here, that’s like a conditioning drill almost. You guys have stood out there long enough during training camp … Just standing there, it’ll drain you a little bit. So, it changes our practice. At the end of practice, it’s different.”
(On whether any adjustments have been made to get WR Kenny Stills more involved) – “I feel like we’ve had some good things in for him. We’ve had some opportunities, and we’ve missed a couple, and we’ve hit on a couple. I think it’s going to be a matter of time before we get all these guys into the right places and doing the right routes specifically to certain guys. A couple times his number has been called, and the ball has gone somewhere else due to coverage. I wouldn’t read too much (into) the numbers, especially right now, because it’s one of those things where one guy might have eight (receptions) one game, and the next game he might have three and then somebody else has eight or 10. Every game is going to be different. Somebody is going to try to dictate to where you go with the ball, and that’s when somebody else has to step up. Obviously, he’s a guy that I have a lot of confidence in, and he has really impressed me since the spring.”
(On whether QB Ryan Tannehill is doing a good job with what defenses are showing him) – “He has been really good as far as the decision making goes. There have been very few times where I’ve really thought, ‘Are we just trying to get the ball to this guy?’ I don’t even thing that’s really happened in a game, yet. He has done a good job of sticking with what our progressions are, what the coverage is dictating. It can get tough. If you ever have one of those games where one of your better players isn’t getting the ball and you try to force one to him, the discussion I’ve had with him is, ‘Every time I’ve ever tried to get somebody the ball, it just never seems to work out.’ When you kind of let it happen naturally, that’s when it usually starts building as the game goes on.”
(On how much he thinks the touchdown pass that TE Jordan Cameron caught last week build his confidence) – “I think anytime you make a play like that in a game like that, that has to be a confidence builder. I’ve never really spoken to him about anything like that because he keeps showing me improvement in practice. I thought (in) training camp he got better and even after we had a little rough spot there in the Atlanta game … You’d love to be 100 percent on these things but tight coverage in the NFL and the ball’s coming in there hard, sometimes you drop the ball. It’s about really the guys that can come back the next time and just keep attempting to make plays. He doesn’t say much and he just goes back to work. Which that, for me, I appreciate because that helps him get the right mind set. If he’s not thinking about what happened before and he can move on and get the next thing right. That’s really what you’re looking for in your players.”
(On TE Jordan Cameron saying at one point it was a confidence issue and what a play caller has to do to get him out of that rut) – “You keep going at him. You work him out of it. In practice you try to script things to keep throwing the ball at him. Putting him in some situations where you have to make a play. To me, that’s the best time to do it – in practice.”
(On the Patriots winning last night with their third quarterback and this being a no excuses league) – “As long as I’ve been here, I’ve never heard anybody give the pass to you on any game, no matter who’s playing. As a coaching staff, you just try to put the best plan you can together for that week, that team, that you have going to the game and obviously they did a good job of operating in that game to where they used their strengths as well as you could do it. They dominated the field position game, obviously. Just seeing how they took care of the football. – they got takeaways. That was a very impressive performance by that whole team, which shows you this is such a team sport, and obviously everybody’s trying to do the same thing. You’re trying to make this as much about everybody instead of just saying its one or two guys.”
(On how to slow down a guy like Browns Duke Johnson) – “You just try to be careful with your matchups. You pick your timing when – whether it be a linebacker or safety – if you’re ever worried about those kind of matchups. You try to pick your spots situationally to where possibly it may not hurt you so much if that guy ends up getting shaken free. When you have a running back that is multiple like that, you do have to be very careful with your calls and, offensively, you’re always trying to expose that matchup. Defensive coordinators, that’s what make it tough sometimes, especially in this league right now. You’re starting to get all these guys that can do different things because they’re being trained like that in college. It seems like you get a lot of these guys that were running backs and then they’re wide receivers or wide receivers to running backs. So now all of a sudden, they’ve got these multiple skill sets, and now defensive coaches are trying to figure out, ‘Well, what’s the best way to stop this guy?’ And a lot of times we’re looking for man coverage and hoping we can get linebackers on running backs.”
(On why CB Jamar Taylor was traded during the draft and what he brings to the table as a Cleveland starter) – “I think for us, it was probably both sides. I felt like he was ready to maybe start over. I don’t have a great answer for you as far as what the exact, I mean it feels like 10 years ago that this happened; but I know it was only six months ago. But for him, being able to go over there and there and getting that starting job and going out there and competing every week, I know for him it has to be an exciting, just kind of fresh start for him. Anytime you can walk in the building and you feel like you’ve got a clean slate, whatever happened in the past, you move on and then you just go out there and you sell out. You try to put your best foot forward and just constantly keep working hard to get better.”
(On if he watches all the game when the Dolphins don’t play) – “Last night, I mean I watched a little bit of it. I had it on in the background and then I turned it off after a while. I just didn’t want to watch it anymore. Monday nights a lot of times I don’t get to watch it.”
