Adam Gase – September 26, 2016
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Monday, September 26, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On whether he has any injury updates) – “Jordan (Cameron) will be out this week. He does have a concussion, so he’s in the protocol. ‘B.A.’ (Branden Albert), he had an ankle sprain in the game. We’ll have to evaluate throughout the week. Jelani (Jenkins) had a groin, so we’ll see where that goes. Koa (Misi) had like a neck sprain, and we’re evaluating that. (Anthony) Steen came out of the game with an ankle sprain. He was trying to get back in the game. We kind of held him out and thought it was best, as far as where we were at – at that time – to go with (Kraig) Urbik and finish the game out.”
(On whether C Mike Pouncey will play this week) – “We’ll see. It’s one of those things where you have to really think about and talk about what’s the smartest thing for us to do. If we threw him out there with no practice time, is that really the smartest thing for us to do? We will evaluate that with him. Obviously, I know what Mike is going to say. Mike is going to say, ‘I’m going.’ But we just need to make sure we talk to everybody – the doctors, the trainers, coaching staff – to make sure if we end up saying yes to it that we’re all on the same page.”
(On whether the next three days are more mentally or physically tough) – “You’re really trying to recover. It’s so short. If you really think about it, we come in on Mondays, guys go out, they lift, they run, they kind of flush out their system. They’ve got Tuesday completely off, and then we start back on Wednesday. And a lot of times, a lot of guys aren’t really feeling that great on Wednesday. Now, Wednesday this week, it’s the night before the game. It’s really (about) who can recover the fastest, who can feel the best they possibly can for Thursday night. You do everything you can to mentally engage yourself for two days. It’s a lot of information in a short period of time. You have to be very smart about how much you put in and what you’re doing.”
(On TE Jordan Cameron’s concussion history) – “I guess I want to say the one, it was in Cleveland, correct? And he went through last year, and he was concussion-free. I think if anybody had any concerns in this organization then that would have been brought to me. I know I’ve been around a few guys that – over time – that it has gone up. I know Wes (Welker) had quite a few before there I was with him in Denver, and then we had too many when I was with him in those last couple years. A lot of times, (you) keep gathering information, and you run tests, and you try to figure out ways (to see) how can you help the player, whether it be strengthening his neck muscles. Is there anything we can do to his body to help him? Is it helmet tightening? We’re always trying to look for things to help our players, safety-wise, with concussions. I know we’ll always have those discussions to make sure that we do whatever’s best for him (Jordan Cameron), so he’s not in harm’s way.”
(On whether T Ja’Wuan James will continue to play at right tackle) – “We’ll see where it goes. We’ve got a couple of moving pieces, obviously, with our injury situation, and (we will) see what happens. It’s one of those things (where) you’re trying to move quick, because you’re trying to evaluate the game. You’re trying to move on to the next game, and you’re try to figure out, ‘Who do we have available for this game?’ We still, obviously, have some time. We got to get through today and then figure out, tonight, what we want to do as far as who’s available and what can we do.”
(On T Ja’Wuan James’ play against Cleveland) – “There was good. I think there was just a couple that were bad. It was just, … Obviously, sometimes, emotionally in a game, you get a certain way and you pull the trigger on a decision. I guess my standards for him are very high. The reason why is I think he could be a guy that is a difference-maker on our offensive line. I think that’s what probably bothers me more than anything is we haven’t done a good job of pulling everything we can out of him yet.”
(On his discussion with T Ja’Wuan James about the decision) – “I didn’t have any discussion (with him). I’m over discussing any of this stuff with players. We’re either going to start getting the job done, or we’re going to make changes.”
(On his philosophy on replacing players in a game) – “We just want guys to do it right. Whoever wants to do it right, those are the guys that we’re going to put out there. Talent is irrelevant at this point.”
(On QB Ryan Tannehill’s play against Cleveland) – “I think he had some mistakes that I know he’d want back. I know there was a couple times where he was in the right position and somebody else broke down. We had way too many mental errors. It’s the same stuff over and over again, so we’ve got to get some things cleaned up. If we can’t get it cleaned up, then we need to find somebody else to put in those positions.”
(On the root of his frustration) – “The third-down stuff, the problem with that is if we could just stay on our blocks. We got exactly what we want as far as guys coming open. It’s hard to throw a ball with any kind of timing where they pressure, and we get it picked up, but we get beat so fast that the quarterback, he doesn’t even have a chance. There has been a couple times we’re getting pressure (and) he just knows that where he’s throwing it should be wide open, and he just throws it up knowing … There was one to Jarvis (where) he threw it in that area knowing, ‘There’s nobody there if I could get a second to get it there.’ That’s the frustrating part about playing quarterback. It’s like I told you guys last week: you need 10 other guys to do their job before you have a chance to do your job. Sometimes when we have these minor errors as far as (you) don’t sustain your block for one second, all of a sudden there’s an issue.”
(On playing four running backs against Cleveland and whether it prevents one of them from getting in a groove) – “I always debate this. You’d always love to be able to say, ‘Let’s get a guy in there and get 15, 20 touches and see how it goes.’ I think the issue that we have with our group is they’re all playing special teams and offense. I think (Kenyan) Drake played 20-some snaps of special teams and started at running back. When we started having those injuries at linebacker, it’s hard to start removing guys off special teams. We kind of got a little low in numbers yesterday. It was all hands on deck at one point. Would I like to get a guy in rhythm? Yes. But at the same, it’s like, who are our guys? I need somebody to step up and be consistent and do their job throughout the entire game, not just one good play here and then we screw up and then (have) another good play. We’re too up-and-down.”
(On starting RB Kenyan Drake) – “I think he had a good week of practice. I know we’ve gone with Jay (Ajayi) before. I thought giving Drake a shot to see how he would react to it. Sometimes you find out about how a guy as far as how he’s going to react to everything when you throw him in the starting position. You can tell with a guy if it’s a little too big for him. You didn’t see that look for him. He was really the same guy he has always been – very confident, steady. We’ve just got to clean up some stuff with him.”
(On the positives from the Cleveland game) – “We had some good spurts to where … I know that second drive we had where we scored on offense, in my head I’m going, ‘That’s what we needed – just consistently build off of this.’ Then it was like step back, step back, and then we do something good again. Defensively, it’s the same thing. You’d feel like we’d have two or three really good plays in a row, and then we’d let one loose. It takes one guy. On defense, that’s what makes defense so tough, it’s one guy slides out of his gap – one missed tackle, one guy doesn’t fill fast enough – and all of a sudden it’s a 10-yard gain, especially in this league, because running backs are so good as far as they see something and they’re running to daylight, and they’re fast and physical. It causes you an issue. Special teams, I will say this: Our special teams did a great job yesterday. Matt Darr, he saved us. He saved the entire team. The way he does his job … I’ve really enjoyed being around all those specialists, because they don’t say much and they just consistently come out and work and you saw it. They take exactly the way they prepare every day to the game. He did that, and he really put us in the best position possible for us to win the game.”
(On what makes P Matt Darr consistently good) – “If you would see him in practice – as far as when we do our special teams drills when we do punt – how serious he takes every rep he gets, and there’s never a lax moment with him. For a young guy to be as professional as he is … And I’ve got to say, John Denney is probably one of the main reasons why these guys are the way they are. I mean their personalities are a little bit like that, but you see a guy like that work it like he does, it rubs off. That’s why when you have veteran players, and they do it right, younger guys see that, and they understand, That’s how I have to be to be successful in this league.’ And that’s what he does: he goes out there, and he does his job every day in practice, and he does it right and it translates to the game. Nothing changes for him.”
(On his comfort level with the run game) – “I felt like we had some chances. There were still a couple of plays out there. That’s why the running game sometimes, for me, I have to stay with it, because it’s there. It’s just I want more sooner. I’m 38; I want 12 yards, not 4. So, I have to be patient with it, because it’s there. We’re making traction. The fits are starting to come for us, and then I go away from it too fast. I have to stay with it, and that’s on me. (Offensive Line Coach) Chris (Foerster) is doing a great job as far as when we develop the run game – and the way that we practice it – we’re really emphasizing it in practice and guys are trying to do it exactly the way that they’re coached to do it. I have to do a better job of sticking with it and understanding, ‘Stay ahead of the stakes. Get us in third-and-short, ‘because when we’re in third-and-short, we’re converting. When we’re in third-and-long, that’s where we’re having our issues. I just have to keep staying with this and stick with it and make sure we’re in third-and-manageable and then get the first down and then stay with the run.”
(On RB Kenyan Drake’s performance against Cleveland ) – “He did well at times. We have to clean up some of these little minor mental errors we’re having, whether it be in the passing game or if we do something not smart as far as where we’re running the football. There are little tiny things that pop up that sometimes you don’t notice unless you know exactly what scheme we’re running, and that’s sometimes experience.”
(On how the team makes adjustments during a short week) – “You’d be surprised. When you’ve done this long enough as far as the Thursday night games … Now, everybody plays on Thursday. It used to not be like that to where certain teams played and some guys didn’t, but we’re all so used to playing these games. You can get creative, and you can figure out what to do in a short period of time and guys adjust and you walk through it and you roll.”
(On whether or not he watched Cincinnati on film before today) – “I didn’t. The good thing is I feel like I’ve played them enough over the last 3, 4 years.”
(On Browns WR Terrelle Pryor) – “He’s a big man that has a lot of athletic ability and, obviously, can catch the ball well. He can run the ball well. He can still throw the ball. Anytime you put a player that has played quarterback at a different position, it’s a problem, because that player understands what the quarterback is thinking and is always going to be friendly to the quarterback. You look at some of these guys … Look at (Julian) Edelman. Why is he able to do what he does? He understands why the quarterback is doing certain things. It’s the same thing with Terrelle. He understands where he needs to be and why he needs to be there. He understands the why of what’s going on with the receiver position, and that becomes an issue on defense, because he’s always in the right spot at the right time, and he’s making plays. He’s making plays at the end of the day.”
(On whether he would have kicked off in overtime after winning the coin toss) – “I don’t know if I’m there yet. (Cleveland Browns Head Coach) Hue (Jackson has) got some more pelts on the wall than I do.” (laughter)
(On the run defense) – “We need to be on the details. Sitting there with (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) last night, we were watching it and understanding. We keep talking … It’s almost like mirror images of each other as far as offense and defense on certain things on offense compared to defense. When we talk about stuff, I feel like we’re both saying the same things on different sides of the ball. If we can clean up so little detailed things of doing your assignments, staying in your gap, making sure that we’re fitting everything right. Give us a chance to actually evaluate the scheme before we say, ‘We’ve got to do something different.’ If we do things right to start with, that’s going to give us our best chance to evaluate it and understand if we’re good or if we’re not good. Right now, I would say we’re not doing it well enough to say, ‘We need to move away from the scheme,’ or, ‘We need to do something different.’ If we can clean up some of these little tiny details, it would stop all these bigger runs that are happening. Instead of having 9-yard runs, it would probably be a 2- or a 1-yard run if we would get our fits a little better.”
(On his assessment of the team) – “I think we’ve got a lot of improvement to make. The good thing is we get to line up and do it again on Thursday. That’s why you keep pressing and you keep trying to figure out ways to get better and you keep coming to work every Monday and then getting ready to practice on Wednesday. It’s such a long season. There are so many things that happen. If you keep pressing through the season and the injuries go your way and you got a chance to stay healthy and you keep yourself in this thing, when you hit that Thanksgiving Day area and you have a chance, that’s all you need to be. You need to just be in the mix there at the end and then see what happens. And if you’re healthy enough and you’re improving, that gives you an opportunity.”
(On whether the team will look to add another tight end) – “We’ll probably have a plan as far as what we want to do if we’ve got some kind of situation. We always have somebody ready to go as far as an o-lineman to play those spots. That’s kind of been consistent – at least through my history – as far as what we’d do. Right now, it’s like, who do you replace? Who can you bring on board and then get him caught up in three days? And then who do you take off the roster? Right now, we’re kind of in a weird spot.”
(On TE Dion Sims) – “He did a very good job yesterday. A couple of minor mistakes, but he is very effective, obviously, in the run game. I think we all know that. The thing that he keeps surprising me on is the way that he plays as far as in the passing game, he’s in the right spot. He plays way faster than what you would anticipate for a guy that size. He has made some big plays for us. He has made some good catches. There have been a couple of catches way outside of his frame that he’s seemed to come down with. It’s almost like we probably need to play him more. We probably need to get him and Jordan (Cameron) on the field more. It’s tough, because it’s like a fine line between balancing the three wideouts we have and those two (tight ends). We probably need to figure out a way to balance that up a little more between the wideouts and the tight ends.”
(On RB Arian Foster) – “It would be tough for us to get him back, probably, this week without practicing. I’d rather be more cautious with him and get him for the duration than rush him back and lose him again. We’re going to make sure that he is at the right place for us before we put him back out there.”
(On whether WR Jarvis Landry’s performance thus far is what he expected) – “He’s everything you want, and he has not disappointed. He is as advertised. When I got here, I didn’t watch a whole bunch since he has been in the league, but he is exactly what everybody said he was, and he’s actually … He has made some strides, too, as far as getting better. I’ve seen him try to do some things different. His knowledge of the offense … He has realized, ‘If I know exactly where to be, that’s going to give me my best chance to be really effective.’ You can tell when things get tight, I know who’s going to make a play. He did a great job finishing that one off yesterday. That was a really good route. That one hasn’t been called in a long time, and he did a good job on that.”
(On whether he said anything about WR Jarvis Landry’s touchdown celebration) – “No. (laughter) I saw him start running toward (the goalpost), (and) I was like, ‘Oh no, this is not good.’” (laughter)
(On whether he kept a memento from his first victory as a head coach) – “No.”
