Adam Gase – September 24, 2018
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Monday, September 24, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Can you us anything about the guys that got hurt yesterday? Is any of it serious?) – “Yes. I’ll start with Chase (Allen), (Andre) Branch and A.J. (Derby). We’re still evaluating. We’re trying to figure out the amount of time that could possibly be missed with those injuries. William Hayes will be out for the season. He tore his ACL on that sack. He was trying to not put body weight on the quarterback, so his foot got caught in the ground.”
(So do you think the rule affected how…) – “I’m just telling you what happened.”
(Are you saying that DE William Hayes tried not to put body weight on the quarterback and that caused the injury?) – “I’m just telling you what he did.”
(How does the loss of DE William Hayes impact the team?) – “I mean, it hurts. He’s one of our leaders. (He’s) probably one of the best guys in the locker room. He’s the best run defender. That’s going to be a tough one for us to swallow.”
(Are you concerned that any of the other injuries might be season-ending?) – “No.”
(After Week 1 you lose G Josh Sitton. Before the season you lose TE MarQueis Gray. Now you lose DE William Hayes. To be 3-0 despite all of these bad injuries, is there something good you can take out of that?) – “Yes. I think there were a lot of good things that came out of yesterday. I thought guys fought. They fought until the end (and) never gave up. We lose (Akeem) Spence on an ejection. We have multiple injuries. The d-line was low on numbers. It was not a cool, breezy day. Guys did a good job of just trying to rotate in there and fight and hold everything down. We found a couple of ways to get some explosive plays to where we could get the lead and get the win.”
(Did you get any more clarity on the DT Akeem Spence situation?) – “No. Not yet.”
(Especially if TE A.J. Derby has an injury for a period of time, what’s your belief about TE Mike Gesicki and how much he has come along?) – “I think he grew a lot this game. I saw some good things. I saw some things aggression-wise that we’ve been waiting for. We’ll keep building off of that. I think Durham (Smythe) has done a good job when he’s been in there. We’ve done some things with him in our two tight end packages. We’ll kind of see what goes on the next couple of days of what direction we’ll go and how we want to handle this.”
(Have you seen enough out of TE Nick O’Leary that you’re interested in giving him a shot?) – “We’re not that far yet. Right now, today, we’re trying to make sure that we know who got hurt and the extent of time. We’ll get to that step. It’ll probably be tomorrow. Then we can start game-planning off of that. But right now, I’m not ready to say that. I know this: he’s done a good job since he’s been here. He’s a quick learner, so we’ll kind of see how it plays out.”
(How would you evaluate how S Minkah Fitzpatrick did as a safety yesterday?) – “He was good. We had a couple of things that happened in front of him that … It seems like the safety gets blamed for things that aren’t his fault, but he did fine.”
(On the big play to Raiders WR Jordy Nelson, was that LB Jerome Baker that didn’t have the right depth?) – “You’re talking about which one?”
(I guess the first big play Raiders WR Jordy Nelson had.) – “No. I’m not going to go through it but it was nobody that you guys think that it was.”
(On the pass from WR Albert Wilson, is that the type of thing where at the spur of the moment you say to yourself this is the time? Or is it something that a series before you said ‘let’s think about this?’) – “No. I think I started saying I was going to call it in that series. I think I started on the other side of the 50 and it might have gotten backed up to the minus-30 before we called it. Then we had the play before to where I think we were around the 40ish. Then (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) was egging me on.”
(I think WR Jakeem Grant and WR Albert Wilson had incredible efficiency. They were only on the field for 10 or so snaps. How does that balance work? When they have production like that, do you think to get them more?) – “Yes. We tried to … We got them in there earlier. I think we had a couple of chances for some plays that we liked and they didn’t work out the right way. You’re trying to 1) stay on the field and make sure that we get a first down and get things going. It seems like when we get that first first down, we usually have a good drive. When we have the three-and-outs … We only had 45 plays in the game. That makes it tough to really start rotating everybody in there. We had a good plan going into it of how we wanted to do it. We just didn’t have a ton of plays.”
(What are your thoughts about the 44 plays? Is that a bad number for you?) – “It was surprising but the penalties just … We had two OPI (offensive pass interference) calls that crushed us, especially at the start of the second half, and then at the end of the half in the first half. That hurt us bad. We can’t have plays where we’re losing yardage and its first-and-20 or second-and-20 because it is going to be hard to convert. We have to get a first down. We have to get a third-down conversion to where we can keep guys on the field. But at the same time, we were getting some big chunk plays to where we had short drives. I think we had four scoring drives and we were averaging three plays a drive on them.”
(A couple of those offensive pass interference calls were on rub plays. Is that something that…) – “They weren’t. They were just running their routes.”
(This is a weird question for you, but did you have fun yesterday? When you’re watching two of your guys running down the field and high-fiving each other, did you get any joy out of it?) – “Yes. When you win, it’s fun. I enjoy it.”
(I thought the 75-yard pass in the opener may have been the best pass QB Ryan Tannehill ever threw. Then I saw the pass to WR Kenny Stills in the corner of the end zone. Amazing touch on that ball. How would you…) – “I thought it was a really good pass and I thought it was a really good catch, because the way those two guys hooked up on that route, there was a lot of trust there. They both did exactly what we have been talking about all this year as far as how the defender plays. They’ve got to trust what we’re telling them and then trust each other. I thought it was a great job. I thought the line did a great job of holding up on the protection and then Ryan (Tannehill) did a great job of standing in there because he still took a pretty good hit.”
(That window was small.) – “Yes. It was a great throw.”
(When you look at developing an identity for this team, how close are you to doing that through three games, do you think?) – “I think we have a good idea what kind of team we have as far as the character and the effort and just the want-to to be there for each other. The accountability for each other is awesome to see. That locker room is tight and those guys want to win for each other and they want to make sure that they do whatever they have to do to get ready for that game and then play four quarters, no matter what the score is, and just keep battling.”
(We notice some of your confidence. Do you see some of the confidence that you have in the guys in your locker room?) – “I think we had confident guys to begin with. I think it’s been fun to watch those guys grow together. We’ve got a lot of new guys. The new guys we brought in that jumped right in, believed in what we were saying and really taken it to what we’re trying to do in all three phases. They’ve been great additions. I think the guys that have already been here, they’ve accepted those guys in and it’s helped us. It’s helped us all.”
(QB Ryan Tannehill said yesterday when a trick play comes into the huddle, everybody in the huddle gets excited, even the offensive lineman. Is that dynamic important to have that kind of energy and enthusiasm?) – “I’m all for it. Any time everybody gets excited about a play call, I’m for it. The worst is when the quarterback goes in and says it to where he doesn’t believe it’s going to work. (laughter) That’s when you get a little nervous. Those guys, I know when they like a play, because they’ll start saying stuff when we’re doing it in walkthrough or in practice or when we watch film together where somebody will chirp out and wonder if I’m really going to call it. I just keep my ears open. If I feel like guys really like something, we’ll get to it.”
(With these trick plays, obviously there’s fun element; but also it takes a lot of work. The timing on these things…) – “I think when guys take it serious and they understand what we’re trying to accomplish, they make it work. I think when they’re not sure and there’s any kind of gray, that’s when you run into trouble. You don’t always hit them. There’s been plenty of times we’ve called them to where it hasn’t worked. But when they do work, it can be big plays in the game.”
(You draw them up and you think on paper it’s going to work. How good does it have to look in practice before you feel like, ‘Okay, I can pull the trigger on that in a game?’) – “You want it to look right. You want it to look good. The second one that Albert (Wilson) scored on in the 4-minute drive, that looked terrible all week, but it felt right.”
(How could you call it?) – “Sometimes you just go with your gut, man. It was the right time. You just knew that Albert (Wilson) would make the right decision and he knew what he was going to do.”
(You knew it? You completely knew it? You knew even as bad as this looked all week, it’s going to work or you were a little bit nervous?) – “No. I felt good about it. It looked good in walkthrough. How about that? (laughter)”
(On the jet sweep – maybe this is a dumb question – but why does Ryan toss the ball rather than hand it? Just trying to pad his stats?) – “You have to ask them. I’ve seen it done both where they’ve done it that way and I’ve seen them hand it off before. We had a Wednesday practice and they handed it off, because it was raining. It was raining all practice and he handed it off. I’m like, ‘Are we tossing this or are we handing it off?’ And he was like, ‘It’s raining. I’m going to hand it off.’ I’m good with either way as long as he doesn’t drop it.”
(Run or pass plays?) – “It’s a pass play. (laughter)”
(There was a good amount of talk this summer about changing the culture here and overcoming adversity. After three games, where would you say this team is?) – “I think we’re running into our fair share of adversity in certain moments, but I don’t think it’s really … Some of the things we went through last year were a little different. We’re talking about game adversity this year compared to last year where it was organization-wide where we’re picking up, we’re moving, we’re going all over the world it seemed like. This year, it’s more of us handling injuries, us being able to handle little odd situations in a game or ups and downs of a game. I think the guys have done a good job of handling anything that’s just been outside the box. Really, that’s a testament to those guys of staying focused on what we’re asking them to do.”
(What’s the significance of going to New England with a two game lead in the division?) – “Nothing. Zero. Don’t look at records right now. It’s too early. Nobody cares. At the end of the day, nobody will give a (expletive) unless you win the last one. You’ve got to focus on one week. That’s what we need to do. When we get to that – when we get to Wednesday – we’ll worry about them. Right now, our guys are going to get things corrected from this game and then we’ll move on to New England when it’s time to move on.”
(When you looked at WR DeVante Parker’s snaps, what did he do good and not good?) – “I thought he made a really big play on … Seeing him and Ryan (Tannehill) hook up on that takeoff, I thought it was a great catch. His hands were late as far as getting up to where the DB couldn’t get his up. I thought it was a great job and a good hook up considering they haven’t really hit that route since probably training camp. That was good to see. I think that he did a lot of little things right that nobody really notices. I thought his run blocking was good. I thought a lot of his routes looked really good, it’s just ball didn’t go there.”
(You mentioned winning is fun when you were asked about wins. Is there something more to it with this team now?) – “I enjoy watching these guys play together. Just the fight for each other. I love it when I see the defensive guys, they come by me and if we’re struggling and they have … A lot of those guys will be like, ‘We got you. Don’t worry about it. We’ll get it back.’ I see a lot more interaction between the offense and defense throughout a game which is cool to see.”
(With the Patriots having a rough start, how difficult is it to convince your team that these are still the same Patriots?) – “I mean we’ve played three games. They’re always going to do the same things they always do. They get better every week. They have a really good coaching staff and they have a Hall of Fame quarterback. The records are irrelevant right now. It doesn’t mean anything.”
(Is there a different vibe in Patriots week that you notice, whether intentional or not?) – “I don’t know. I think our guys are so focused on making sure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to do. Getting ready for this opponent is going to be hard because they’re going to do a lot of things that are going to be tough for us. Going up there, it’s a great environment to play in. It’s rowdy. It’s loud. They’ll be ready to go so we have to make sure we’re on our A-game.”
(When you look at your start, you guys have gotten the outcome that you wanted each of the first three games. Do you look at it like everything is firing exactly how we want?) – “Not even close.”
(Do you see there’s a lot to fix?) – “Yes, there’s a lot to fix. That’s how it is in the NFL. You just need to try to get better every week. You just try to avoid peaks and valleys to where one week you’re really good and the next week you’re really poor. We need to trend upward. We have to find a way to get better this week in practice and for this game. It might not result … The result may not be exactly what you want all of the time but as long as you’re getting better every week, that gives you a chance at the end of the season. That’s what we need to strive for.”
(How well do you think you guys have played if you focus on what’s actually transpired and not the outcomes that have obviously been in your favor?) – “I think we still have a ways to go. I think we have a lot of things to fix and I think our players know that. I think the effort, energy and intensity have been there. I think we need to clean a lot of things up to where we start executing at a higher level more often, which I think there are a lot of teams in the NFL saying that right now.”
(When you look at WR Danny Amendola and RB Brandon Bolden, and I know Amendola has been here a little longer; but what traits, if any, do you think they have in common?) – “They love football. They love practicing. They bring great energy on game day. Whatever they have, they give it. Those two are as professional as I’ve ever seen on NFL football players. Every day I see them, I’m glad they’re here. I probably tell them that. Those guys have been nothing but positive on our other guys. Those guys see those guys work. If you talk about guys that are all in on their profession and their craft, those guys are all in.”
(Can you talk about playing G/T Jesse Davis on the defensive line?) – “We ran out of options. I was kind of hoping we would put somebody in that wasn’t starting on our offensive line, but he’s done it before. (laughter) We were trying to make sure they stayed out of the end zone. It didn’t work out but he’s done that before. It was the only option we had.”
(Could you say that QB Ryan Tannehill has been everything you’ve asked in his first three games?) – “I think he’s done a good job. I think there’s room for improvement, like always. I felt like he was very confident yesterday. It was good to see him do some of the things that he did early. We weren’t sure how many drives we’d have opportunities for. I know during the game, you’re trying to figure out what’s going on with our run game. We weren’t really running the ball as we were accustomed to to where we were getting good chunk plays or where we’re pumping out at least a couple of them here and there. They did a good job against the run game. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) said it best. He said ‘He’s hot right now. Don’t worry about it. Just start slinging it.’ You don’t have to tell me twice. (laughter)”
(What was it that you think impacted QB Ryan Tannehill’s confidence?) – “I don’t know. He had a good week of practice. He was good all week. He was ready to go. I think for whatever reason, he felt good about what we were doing or their scheme versus what we had up. I’m not sure. He just had a good week of practice and he was ready to go.”
(How do you know the confidence?) – “You feel it during the week. Some of the balls that … A quarterback sometimes you can tell when they’re feeling good about what you’ve got in because they’re not hesitating. They’re just letting it rip and they’re completing a ton of passes in practice.”
(On thing about LB Kiko Alonso really quick: Is he making more tackles at or near the line of scrimmage this year? Is he using his sideline to sideline speed better?) – “Yes. He’s moving well right now. He’s reacting to what he’s seeing and he’s not hesitating. I think it’s nice for him to have those other guys that he’s been rolling with out there that he doesn’t really have to tell them much, because those guys are sharp and work at what they’re doing. I think he’s just able to go out there and play and react to the game.”
