Adam Gase – September 30, 2016
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Friday, September 30, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On has it been hard to make the offense above average) – “No, I think you always put your expectations really, really high and sometimes, like right now, we haven’t met what we were expecting to happen. Obviously we got a lot of time to fix some things, make some adjustments, make sure we are using guys right, putting guys in a good position to make plays. The one good thing about playing a Thursday night game is you get an opportunity to go back and see where you’re making some missteps and see where we can improve in a lot of areas.
(On if there is really as many mistakes on offense as it may seem) – “No. The same thing happened last year; the same thing happened in 2012. The way this offense goes is, the longer you’re in it, the easier it gets, the faster you can play, the easier the checks are. We are struggling where, we’re trying to get in the right deal, somebody makes a mistake, we get the wrong read, we mess up the protection. That’s part of the process, that’s part of the learning experience. It’s no fun going through this part of it. We’ll have 3 good plays and then 2 bad plays. We just got to keep eliminating these mistakes, make the corrections on film (and) stay at it. That’s the biggest thing, everybody wants to just (say), the sky is falling and fall apart. I mean, you got to keep working. Good teams keep working.”
(On there being a few lineup changes yesterday and if there will be more changes coming) – “Well, I think right now it would be hard for me to say yes or no. I don’t really foresee anything, but obviously things could change over the next three days.”
(On how far off course he thinks this team is) – “I don’t think we are off course. There are a lot of things we’d like to clean up. You go through this first part of the season and you just want to make sure that every game you’re trying to get better; you’re making improvements from the mistakes from the week before. Obviously you want to win every game – you’re hoping you can win every game – and give yourself a chance in the fourth quarter to compete, because that’s what it comes down to in this league. Last night, we didn’t do that. We didn’t give our defense a chance. We didn’t help our defense at all on offense. Which was unfortunate because they did about as good of a job you can ask them to do with the amount of time they were on the field. The Seattle game, we were right there at the end. In New England, we found a way to get back in it, we were throwing in the end zone to tie the game. We found a way to win Cleveland, and this last game was really the one game we really didn’t do well and it was really just on one side of the ball.”
(On why hasn’t the no huddle or the illusion of the no huddle worked as consistently as he expected) – “Like I just said, I’ve gone through this before twice. In 2012, we did the same thing, we sputtered around and went 2-3 and we looked terrible. And then it clicked for us and we rattled off 11 straight. Last year in Chicago, it was the same thing. We struggled early and the more comfortable I got with the quarterback and he got with me, it made things easier. Guys started to learn what to do, we made less mistakes, we gave ourselves a chance.”
(On if he is encouraged by the running game, particularly in two tight end sets) – “Yes, I think the running game, we did a better job. We saw the middle of the field open the whole game. (Bengals Defensive Coordinator) Paul (Guenther) knew what he was doing against me. He knew that … he could probably tell that I was a little frustrated on third down and knew that the chances of me trying to run it two times in a row, taking a chance to be third-and-8 or -9. He knew that was very unlikely. He was smart. He played the middle of the field open. He was daring me to run it. We did it a couple of times and then there were enough times where I was trying to get first down, second down, first down.”
(On what improved in the rush defense last night and if it was just execution) – “I think so. Guys were flying to the ball. Guys were doing a better job of doing what they were asked to do. (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) called a really good game. Just watching that and watching what they were running and what we were calling and the position that was able to put our guys in, he was on it yesterday. If you sit down and you watch exact scheme and what they were doing and the position that our players were able to be in, it was a really well-called game on the defensive side.”
(On CB Tony Lippett’s play against Cincinnati) – “I felt like he looked comfortable to me. Obviously, he’d like that missed tackle back. He was in good position, too. If he finishes that, he’s probably feeling a lot better than what he does right now. Anytime you got to go against A.J. Green that much, it’s not easy. He’s an elite guy. It’s going to be tough. You try to do the best you can to hold the explosive plays. We let a couple up. He’s going to get yards. It’s (about) can we get it to where he doesn’t completely take over the game. That’s what you’re trying to do.”
(On whether CB Tony Lippett is a starter right now) – “He is right now. That’s the way we went going into the last game. We’ll keep evaluating. We’ll keep practicing. We’ll see what happens. I know this about (Byron) Maxwell: he’s going to compete. He’s going to come out and practice. He’s going to try to get better. You just never know in this league. One day, you’re in a spot where you hate your life for the most part, because you’re not starting or not playing. All of a sudden you flip it around and next thing you know, you’re the guy. You’ve got to keep working. Good, bad – keep going.”
(On CB Byron Maxwell not playing any snaps against Cincinnati) – “A lot of times you keep those guys out there and you let them roll. We didn’t have any packages that we were going to get to, because they were so much (in) base offense compared to a nickel offense. It called for us to be in base defense a lot.”
(On G/T Laremy Tunsil starting at left tackle against Cincinnati) – “He did a good job. We had a couple mistakes that, obviously, when you’re playing one position and you get thrown out to another position – (and) you got two days of walkthrough – it’s going to happen, especially the first time being back out there. But for the most part, he did a good job. We had those couple mental errors that I’m sure he wishes he could have back. I know there were a couple that hurt us.”
(On injury updates) – “I haven’t even asked about it. We’re so far away. I’ll worry about it next week. Those guys are going to have all weekend to get better. I’ll ask (Head Athletic Trainer) Ryan (Grove) on Monday where we’re at. Right now, I’m not even going to worry about it.”
(On C Mike Pouncey) – “I thought he was going to choke me out on the plane on the way home last night. (He was like,) ‘I’m playing.’ (laughter) We’ve got to see how it goes this week. That’s why he didn’t play this week: we didn’t have any real practices. I wasn’t going to throw him out there. And if something would’ve happened to him, because we haven’t had a real practice with him yet, then that would’ve been one of those ones we would’ve all been second guessing. The process was: Let’s make sure we get through a week of practice. Where do we stand after that? And then we’ll evaluate whether or not he goes in the game. If he has a good week of practice, then we have a chance. We don’t want to put him in a bad situation where he feels something in practice. At least we have a chance to say, ‘Okay, maybe we’re not as far ahead as we thought.’”
(On whether pocket presence can be taught) – “Yes. Absolutely. (We) did it last year (in Chicago).”
(On whether pocket presence is an area QB Ryan Tannehill needs to improve on) – “Yes, I do. I think we need to do a better job of actually blocking guys, too. Everybody wants him to step up. Where?”
(On the importance of playing the next four games at home) – “I think anytime you play a home game, it’s to your advantage. We got to take advantage of the fact that we have four in a row, (and) we got a bye week after three of them. That’s a lot of days, what 44 days that we’re here? Take advantage of that, (and) see where we’re at when we hit that west coast swing.”
(On the Bengals defensive line winning at the point of attack) – “That happens when you play on the road. They’re going to get a little bit of a head start there when you’re on silent count. When you cannot hear anything, and you’re going off the movement of the center, you’re looking here out of your peripheral, you see him move, they’re already moving. That’s what makes playing on the road hard on offense. (It is) hard to communicate. It’s hard to get your calls out. It’s hard for everybody to hear you. They get a little bit of a jump. That’s why the good pass rushing teams – when they’re at home – cause you problems.”
(On using four running backs going forward) – “I think that’s something I’m going to evaluate this weekend (and) see if I can maybe narrow it down a little bit, so we can get one of these guys in rhythm. I feel like I have a pretty good idea as far as what some of these guys showed me the last two games. I want to discuss it with (Offensive Coordinator) Clyde (Christensen) and (Running Backs Coach) Danny (Barrett) and see where we’re at with Arian (Foster) going into the next game and come up with a plan to see if we can get a little bit (of) consistency going on here. I know it’s hard on the offensive line. It’s hard on the backs. It’s hard on me as a play caller as far as who’s in the game, what runs are best to run in those situations. We’ll try to narrow it down here. It would make it easier if we had more than (46) players (active on game day) or whatever it is, but we’ve got some time this weekend to evaluate.”
(On whether C Mike Pouncey will practice next week) – “I think so, unless something comes up. I think we were ready to go last week if we would have been playing a Sunday game.”
