Adam Gase – September 7, 2016 (Conference Call with Seattle Media)
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Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Seattle Media
(On if he is looking forward to his first game as a head coach) – “Yes. I think it’s a new start for us, for a lot of the guys on this staff and myself. We’re in a different location now and I think everybody in this building is excited to get the regular season going.”
(On what stands out when he watches Seahawks QB Russell Wilson on film) – “When you play as much as he has, every year you can see it becomes – not only the typical things that quarterbacks usually do well in the NFL as far as throwing, moving around and starting to understand concepts. But you can see that he’s in that phase in his career of where he really knows the why of everything. He’s so decisive now that he plays with no gray (area). You can tell he has the offense down to a ‘T’ and he’s able to go out there and play fast. He doesn’t think; he reacts. The ball comes out so quick and he’s been so accurate, especially last year and then now obviously he’s only going to get better as time goes on, because a guy that has his skill set, his talent and his mind, I think you’re going to see a guy that just keeps getting better.”
(On how long it typically takes for quarterbacks to get to that point) – “I think when you’re in the same system, it really helps. When you start bouncing around systems and get new coaching and new terminology, it sets you back. When you’re a young player, from the first day that you’ve been in there – I’m sure things have changed over time as far as maybe what they like now compared to what they like when (Wilson) first got there and probably what he likes as well. But when you’re able to stay with that same group, as far as coaches go, when you come into the spring and it’s kind of like, ‘What do I want to work on this spring?’ And the same thing for training camp, that’s a big advantage for a quarterback, especially when he’s young.”
(On if anything about Seattle’s defense stands out to him or looks different from when he studied it for Super Bowl XLVIII) – “We played them twice in 2013 – preseason and regular season – twice in 2014 – preseason and regular season – and then last year, I was lucky enough to be the home opener in Chicago. The thing that I’ve noticed the most, as far as playing these guys, is you can see the detail of what they do. There is such a perfection there. They really understand, not only what they’re doing, (but) they can key on what you’re doing on offense. Once again, what I was just saying about the quarterback, these guys have been together. That core has been together for so long and they’ve done such a good job of putting it together initially, as far as what their scheme was, (that) now they perfect it. Now when you try to run certain concepts against them, they take it away. They bait you into throwing things because they know everything so well. You think something is open and then they take it away.”
(On how he feels his team’s pass rush has come along) – “I think it’s still kind of a work in progress for us. We feel good about our guys; obviously we have a couple of veterans out there. What it’s more about for us is that chemistry. We haven’t played a ton in games together quite yet. We really went limited as far as what we did in the preseason. Obviously we practiced together but at the same time, Cam (Wake) was still kind of coming back so we weren’t doing a ton with him in the offseason and then in training camp, we were trying to make sure we were smart with him. I think for us, as far as that group’s chemistry goes, we’re going to be evolving throughout the season. I think the more our guys play together, the better that group will get.”
(On if he expects C Mike Pouncey to play on Sunday) – “We’re still kind of in our evaluation stage. With us flying out tomorrow and still having another practice on Friday and then a walkthrough on Saturday, we didn’t practice him today. Once we get off the plane, we’re kind of going to really take it to where our injured guys, we’ll see how everyone feels. That’s why we wanted to get out and run a little bit on Friday; just to see where everybody was at. The best thing I can say is we’ll have a better answer on Friday.”
(On what went into the decision to leave for Seattle on Thursday) – “Just some of the research that we did with some guys and other sports as far as guys going from east coast to west coast. With this being the first game of the year, we were actually able to do it. We felt like if we could get out there a day earlier than what we normally would do, we felt like we had a chance to get our guys out there and practice but we could use that Thursday as a travel day. We were able to do just a short meeting on Thursday, jump on the plane (and) get there. We’re going to do one thing to where we can kind of get guys just moving around a little bit, then practice Friday and then Saturday do our walkthrough. We just wanted to give our guys the best chance they could to feel as good as they could heading into Sunday.”
(On what CB Byron Maxwell has brought to the team and if he has leaned on him at all to get some insight on Seattle’s defense) – “Ever since we acquired him in the trade (with Philadelphia) – he’s been a guy that’s been around a winning organization, he’s had some ups and downs and he’s had some adversity thrown at him – but him coming here has been great for not only myself, but I think the guys that were already here. He kind of went through a tough spot last year and these guys have seen him battle back. He was so good in the offseason as far as competing and kind of bringing a different mentality than I think some of these guys had seen in the past. For myself, I always enjoy it because there’s a lot of talking that (him and I) do a lot because of our past relationship of competing against each other. Unfortunately he reminds me too much of who has been on top of those two games but he has really brought, at least for me, a guy with that experience and that competitive nature that we’re always looking for in this sport. He’s been productive in practice and we obviously haven’t done too much with him in the preseason.”
(On what he has seen as the difference in styles between RB Thomas Rawls and RB Christine Michael) – “The way I look at it is, in what (Seattle does), it’s a very tough scheme to be too aggressive because if you are, then all of a sudden you look up and it’s a 20-yard gain. With those two guys, physically you look at it and maybe you think, ‘How are you going to take some of these guys on?’ But at the same time, they both have great tempo to what they do as far as running backs and can see the holes. Sometimes that’s a hard thing to defend because when guys are able to set an angle and stick their foot in the ground and get north and find a crease there that you may not think is there because somebody didn’t fill (the gap) right, it’s tough going against not only one guy but when you have multiple guys it makes it really tough on the inside.”
(On what he has learned as a new head coach as opposed to a coordinator so far) – “I think the only thing that has been really different for me so far is some of the things that come across your desk. You would always hear other guys say, like I think once I was with (former Denver Broncos Head) Coach (John) Fox and he would always tell me the last few years, ‘There’s going to be some stuff that comes up and you’re just not going to want to deal with it and there’s no one else to go to.’ I remember when I was with (former Denver Broncos Head Coach) Josh McDaniels in Denver in 2009 and 2010, that was something that he also said to me, that you never realize until you get in this seat, some of the things you have to end up dealing with. It’s no different here. You end up working with some people or trying to have to deal with some issues that may not be directly related to players or coaches. It’s more organizational things that you have to take care of.”
(On the wackiest thing he has had to deal with as a head coach) – “I can’t even think … I haven’t had anything too crazy. I just know it’s like those little tiny things that come up and then all of a sudden you have five 20-minute discussions and then you’re looking up at the clock going, ‘Where did the time go?’ I think that’s what kind of gets you a little bit and you get out of the flow of what you’re doing.”
