Adam Gase – September 4, 2017
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Monday, September 4, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Is the plan now for LB Rey Maualuga that he practices fully and starts on Sunday?) – “We’ll practice today and kind of see how it goes.”
(With the hurricane coming or possibly coming, have you guys discussed contingency plans in terms of possibly moving the game?) – “That’s kind of a little bit out of my department. I’m being updated when I need to be updated about certain things. But that’s kind of not in my hands right now and I’m just kind of going along with what I’m being advised with and when those types of things come up, we’ll be ready to go. We always kind of have an idea of what we can do at this point and what we can’t do. Really, things like that are really out of our control. We just kind of wait and see right now.”
(If they move the game up, how much of a heads up as a coach will you need?) – “They tell us whatever they tell us to do and we’re just going to do (it). I mean I just go with the flow.”
(Would you be a little more comfortable with that since it’s the first week since you’re not coming off a game yesterday?) – “I mean it’s … it doesn’t matter what week it is. If they tell us that they changed the game ever, we just go with it.”
(You guys share a bye week with Tampa Bay. Is the possibility …?) – “I have no idea. I don’t ask those questions. They tell us when to play and show up.”
(Had there been any talk over the last few weeks internally about looking for a kicker to challenge K Andrew Franks or replace him or was this merely a function of K Cody Parkey was a guy you all liked so much that’s why you made the move?) – “I mean it’s more of that … more of that general direction of there was a guy out there that we liked and we decided to make a change.”
(What does it say that five undrafted players made the initial 53 man roster?) – “I think it says that our scouting department did a really good job because when you get to that point where you’re recruiting guys and it wasn’t really a … I don’t remember it being a stressful situation when we went through the undrafted process. I feel like guys did a great job of … they build a lot of relationships over time with, whether it be coaching staffs or in the draft process of us, whether it be bringing guys in or going on to a campus and reaching out to certain guys. They did a good job of targeting guys and finding the guys that fit our culture and our program. We found guys that are competitors and it really worked out. All of the guys that made it have been impressive and I think you guys have seen it yourself where you’ve noticed some of the guys that weren’t drafted.”
(Which one of those undrafted guys surprised you and the staff the most from your arrival?) – “That’s hard to single out anybody that I can really think about. I mean Chase (Allen) was hurt like that first practice. I mean I think he was in like two snaps and then he got hurt in the spring and stuck with it and got healthy and knew what to do, and really once the pads came on, you saw a guy that was doing a good job of wrapping guys up, putting them to the ground and being consistent.”
(QB Jay Cutler joined the team four weeks ago from today. How do you feel about his readiness going into the regular season? – “I feel good. I feel like he’s really (done) the one thing that we talked about that he felt like he needed to do, and that was just the feel in the pocket, getting used to bodies being around him. It seems like (his) arm’s in good enough shape where the throws, as we’ve gone along, it’s been more and more throws, and he’s back in that condition. I think the spring and missing that first part of training camp probably helped him. When you get there at 34 years old, the more balls you throw, it kind of wears on you as the year goes on when you start in the spring. It seems like he’s fresh and excited, ready to go.”
(Have you made any decisions on the starting cornerback on the left side?) – “No, I mean we’re going to go through this week. We’ll figure that out by the end of the week.”
(How about guard, left guard?) – “Right now it looks like (Anthony) Steen will probably be our guy, unless something changes throughout the week. He’s done a really good job with the flexibility to move to multiple positions; for us, it’s always a positive. The more centers you can have on your roster, the better. He’s really come through for us in a lot of different spots and we like a lot of the things that he does.”
(So was the T Sam Young roster move just a temporary thing to keep C/G Ted Larsen on? What was the balancing?) – “You have to get to 53 and Ted had to be on the roster, so that was just where we had to go.”
(C/G Ted Larsen had to be on the roster?) – “Yes, (for) one day; or at the beginning of our 53 cut. Then we could put him on IR.”
(The starting position between DTs Jordan Phillips and Davon Godchaux, is that to be a decision at the end of the week?) – “Yes, we’ll figure it out at the end of the week. We’re going to go through practice and see how it goes.”
(Because of the possibility of the hurricane thing, how much Tampa related work have you been able to do in practice the last couple of weeks? Or has it all been Tampa?) – “We’ve done enough to where we’re just getting our guys ready without them really knowing about it. It was really a situation where you’re just repping plays that could possibly come up. Some of them make them, some of them don’t. I think a lot of teams do that in training camp, to get the quarterbacks the feel. It’s really a lot of the situational work of things that you think could come up. Our defenses aren’t exactly the same, but they’re similar. We have a lot of the same similar strengths that they do, so it feels like we’ve been training for this game for a while.”
(How much of a factor, if at all, was having a left-footed punter in your decision to keep P Matt Haack over P Matt Darr?) – “It wasn’t as easy as it seems like people make it sound. Matt competed, and he improved, and those two guys battled, and at the end of the day, that’s the decision we decided to make. We feel like we have something special there, and the fact that he’s left footed works out. It’s tough for returners. I know, in my time, every time that we would play a left-footed punter, it was always a nonstop conversation by special teams coaches.”
(With the kicking situation, the one game that K Cody Parkey struggled in last year was your game against Cleveland. How much comfort and familiarity do you think you need to get to a point where everybody’s comfortable?) – “I’m good. I just didn’t even count that game. He’s been around for a minute, so there’s a lot of trust there.”
(How much value do you place on gadget plays? What do you see as their place in the game?) – “It’s kind of (about) how you’re built and who can do what. It’s tough sometimes because you start doing some of those things, quarterbacks will get a little irritated. I’ve been around one where you better complete it, it better be good; but, when you’ve got guys that can do a lot of things and cause a lot of problems and defenses have to prepare for it, it’s a real weapon.”
(Is a gadget play a potential morale booster just because of the trickery?) – “A little bit. Guys get excited when you do something a little bit out of the ordinary. I guess I’ve been around a lot that haven’t worked, probably more that haven’t worked than have actually worked, so you want to be right.”
(Is it also a benefit of just one more thing for the opposition to have to prepare for?) – “Yes, with the amount of time you have to prepare. If a team is spending a lot of time on things you may never do again or different ways you’ve done them, that you’re going to do them, it’s time on task. That’s why you try to give variety. You try to make it hard for defensive coordinators to prepare for you.”
(Now that the regular season is here, does the C Mike Pouncey practice plan alter at all or is it very similar to what we’ve seen?) – “It’s similar to what you guys have seen and I feel good with what they’ve put together.”
