Clyde Christensen – November 23, 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(There’s a report from NFL Network that G/T Laremy Tunsil should be okay. Is that your understanding as well?) – “That is not. I think it’s still a wait and see. I don’t think anything has been determined yet. He’s got a chance. That’s the one thing we do know, that he has a chance. To the best of my knowledge, it’s a 50-50 deal, that he’s got a ways to go and that they’re still waiting to see how it goes.”
(A chance for what?) – “To be up or down this weekend.”
(The report was that G/T Laremy Tunsil’s injury wasn’t believed to be serious.) – “Yes … (laughter) I wouldn’t believe everything you hear from the media.” (laughter)
(When you have a young guy like G/T Laremy Tunsil, a lot is expected of him. Where is the line between he has to do it and…) – “That’s a tough line. That’s really, really a tough line. Probably the first thing is to draft the right kind of guys who love football and those guys just … Hopefully we’ve done that. I believe we’ve done that. Those guys rehab harder than the average guy; they heal harder than the average guy and they play with more pain than the average guy. That’s what you’re looking for, but it is a hard line, especially as a coach. It’s hard to not … that’s where you get sideways with trainers and doctors. We’re neither of those two things but we also are guys who are trained to push people, so that’s where you do get into some gray area and missed reports and probably some of those things. It’s hard, but that’s where you have someone special when they do play through that pain and rehab. I’ve seen trainers about killed for giving treatment all through the night and at people’s houses and every other way. We’ll look for that kind of attitude of, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get well. I have to get on the field.’ That’s what you’re looking for.”
(How much has T Branden Albert played a role in that with G/T Laremy Tunsil?) – “I think he’s been a great example of that. He’s rehabbed like crazy. He’s dying to get back out there. It was killing him out in California. I sat on the plane and listened to him tell the head coach that he’s going to be fine. ‘Just get them to take this cast off and I’ll be fine.’ It’s hard. That’s a hard thing, but you’ve got the right guy when you can see it in their eyes that they want to be out there and they’re not. There are players that are the other way. You’re not 100 percent sure how much they really want to play. I think we’ve got the right kind of guys. I think we’re getting and developing the right kind of guys here that are those kinds of guys. That makes the process really easy.”
(What is your level of optimism for T Branden Albert [to play] this week?) – “Same thing. (It’s) just kind of wait and see. There’s no use in me getting too high or low because I don’t know anything about it other than if he’s there, we coach him up and we go; and if he’s not … I hope they are out there. I hope they’re all healthy. I hope they all make a miraculous recovery; but you’ve got to make your plan. You’ve just kind of got to go with the knowledge you’ve got today, because otherwise you get your heart broken and you get projecting and making mistakes on the game plan and stuff like that. We go with what the report is now.”
(How would you describe the situation that you face with all of this uncertainty on the offensive line as you try to craft a game plan?) – “It’s difficult. It’s probably what everyone’s got. We do just keep emphasizing – I do say to you guys – we’ve invested some time in these guys where you have confidence in them. What those guys did coming off the bench in Los Angeles was really impressive. Sam (Young) coming off the bench at left tackle against a really good outside rushing guy and holding his own and just hanging tough and fighting and biting and scratching, that’s really, really critical. It is a little bit hard. You lose some continuity and that stuff’s important but hopefully we get those guys back and maybe we get them back right at the right time. That’s what I’m hoping for. I think I said the Seattle week that this will pay off someday, somewhere, this will pay off before this year is out because (Anthony) Steen will have to play some big games and some guys who we didn’t want to … you didn’t want Steen to have to start opening day, but he did. So now you derive some benefit from that, that he’s got a couple of big games under his belt. That’s the good news.”
(Can you talk about the challenges of playing a team that has lost nine straight games?) – “The challenge is that they read their paper or watch the news or something instead of the film. We’ve just got to keep them watching that film. (It’s) the same thing. I kind of turned on the film going, ‘Gosh.’ (I watched) their third down film yesterday and thinking maybe they’re struggling a little bit and my gosh, we couldn’t figure out if any of them weren’t playing good football on that defense. (It was) kind of like last week, we looked at the thing and I think the Rams were rated the 27th top sack team but obviously they’re better than that – much better than that. They’re very, very good. I think the whole thing that (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has done a great job of and that we’ve really emphasized is to just worry about us. Don’t worry about the opponent. It’s just a nameless, faceless opponent. Let’s worry about us. Let’s go play good football. If we do, things are going to be okay. If we don’t, things aren’t going to be okay, no matter who’s out there; no matter who’s playing. If we flip-flop around out there, we’re not ready to play, we drop balls, we bust assignments, it doesn’t matter who you roll out there, we’ll have our hands full and have a problem; and vice versa. If we protect that football and do what we do and run the football and hit our shots when we get a shot, we’re going to be fine. Again, no matter who we play. I think we’ve bought into that to some extent. It’s a constant sell. We sold it this morning in the first team meeting. ‘Hey, let’s worry about us.’ We’ve got enough to worry about, especially offensively right now, than to worry about other people’s problems. We’ve got to fix third down. We’ve got to fix some of those things that are broken right now, for us to get where we want to go as we head into December.”
(You guys entered last week I think one of the fifth or sixth most penalized teams and you had eight more on Sunday. There was one exchange that really stood out. You had the ball at the 22 yard line, I think, and didn’t even get a field goal attempt. How hurtful was that to the team’s chances and how does this get fixed?) – “It’s the same thing – another fine line teach but we want to stay aggressive. We like how they’re playing. We really like the aggressiveness. The good news from the offensive meeting coming out of it was we’re close on the edge all the time. We always live on that edge but (they) got two major penalties on those last two drives that were huge. Losing your poise will lose games. They’re going to get more and more critical. Games are going to get bigger and bigger from here on out and we cannot – we stress it – we cannot afford … we’ve got to clean up those things. We’ve got to clean up the post-snap penalties of any kind, but without losing our aggressiveness. Some of them we’ll live with, but post-snap we can’t because those will … all of a sudden we’re getting to a point where a mistake can eliminate you from contention or from a playoff game or something. Poise is huge and I think we’re developing it offensively. I really have been pleased with the last few weeks, withdrawing them and having gotten them. That’s a plus.”
(Do you think if it doesn’t change that it will cost you a game at some point?) – “If we get post-snap penalties, (then) sure, I think it will. I think it will. The margins get too fine. The margins just keep tightening up, tightening up, tightening up and then stupid stuff, right? Stupid football, stupid penalties will kill you. We all know that.”
(Your offense has done some good things late in games. Are you at the point where they know how to close out games or are you still learning how to close out games?) – “Good question. I think we’re still learning to close out games. The thing that I think has gotten so much better, even since I’ve been here, is just the mentality and the attitude and the ‘chippiness’ on the sideline. I felt like even in that (Rams) game at halftime, I think I made the statement, ‘The way this one is going, the way the weather is, as good as the (Rams) have been playing, this may take 59 and a half minutes to win this thing. But we’ll get it if we just keep plugging (away). We’ll get this thing.’ We never felt on the sideline that we weren’t going to win the thing. We did feel all along that if we got something rolling, it just tends to snowball. We tend to be kind of a streaky group that way. I just wish it would happen on the first drive rather than the second to last drive. I do think that that’s a huge thing. You’re not pointing fingers; you’re not giving up. That’s the hardest thing to turn. Two-minute plays – or executing a 2-minute drive – that stuff you can learn how to do but staying together as a group and believing and having a confidence, that’s a hard thing to develop. And we’re developing that. I like where we’re headed with that thing and (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has done a great job with that and I think there’s nobody that doesn’t have a lot of confidence in him as a playcaller. He’s going to attack and keep attacking and sooner or later, we’re going to get a blow in. When you get that mentality that I don’t know when, but some Dolphins (player) is going to make a big play and win this thing, when you get that mentality, that can carry you a heck of a long ways.”
(When C/G Anthony Steen played the first week, you said down the road it will benefit us. You guys are down late and it looks like the game was all but over. You can point to your guys and say look, we’ve been there, we’ve done that.) – “Yes, you do. That’s exactly right. You just develop … I wasn’t feeling great about it. We had about 36 yards passing, we’re getting shut out and there’s about 5 minutes left in the game. I still kind of felt we’re going to win this thing, especially if we can get this first touchdown. It wasn’t looking pretty. That’s not a fun game. That’s a good defense and sometimes it does take 59 and a half minutes, but I do think getting the confidence is huge. It’s coming. It’s not there. We’re still going to have some setbacks and learning things but it’s much better than even those first four weeks when we were struggling so bad. It’s a whole different feel on the sidelines, in the locker room, meetings (and) practice. It’s a whole different feel.”
(As you know, some receivers like to be targeted a certain amount of times. They like to get the ball and want to be in the game. When they’re not, they go the other way. How is your group with that?) – “Every single receiver I know wants that football. Every single receiver I know gets disappointed when they don’t get it. Sometimes it shows in a bad way, sometimes it shows in a good way. We’re not perfect that way but our guys have kept playing. You just have to keep playing. Marvin Harrison was a dream because the madder he got at you, the faster he ran. The quieter he got – he wouldn’t talk to you – but the faster he ran. When he was fixing to make a big play, the madder he got, the better he played. Some guys react really well to that but all of them are the same. We don’t want any … They’re a high-strung bunch. They’re kind of your derby horses. They’re a different breed. They’re jittery and they’re strung different; they’re wired different than the average guy. That’s what they are. So you live with it and you manage it more than … There is nobody who it just cannot have an effect on. All of the receivers are affected by it; but you can’t let it derail you. That’s the teaching point. It can’t derail you because then what happens is all of a sudden it comes to you and you drop it. It comes to you and you’re not ready. It comes to you and you’re not open. So you’ve just got to keep them playing and keep them on the tracks and go. Ours get upset just like everybody else’s and that’s okay. I wouldn’t want one that didn’t.”
(The tail end of the ball game, the DBs are obviously playing to keep things in front of them. But WR DeVante Parker is still able to get separation rather consistently. What does that say about his development as a route runner?) – “Yes, I think it says the same thing as we have kind of said, that it’s there. We think that he can be a premier receiver in the league. I think that the teach from that again is; let’s do it every single week. Let’s do it every single practice. Some of it’s been health, some of it’s been circumstances. I don’t know what it’s all been. It’s been something different all the time, but we’ve got to … Our stress to him is just like everyone on the unit, we’ve got to do it day-in, and day-out, practice, game, it doesn’t matter the opponent, it doesn’t matter if it’s raining, it doesn’t matter if it’s on the west coast, it doesn’t matter if there’s a time change, it doesn’t matter if it’s a short week. You’ve got to be able to do it every single time you go out there, and when we get to that, then we’ve really got something special. And we’re headed there; we’re headed there. We’re not there yet, but we’re headed there.”
(What don’t you have from TE Jordan Cameron, as far as what you’re getting from the other tight ends? What’s been missing or lacking, and have you been pleased with the crew?) – “Yes, I’ve been really pleased. They may have been the most consistent group on the unit. They’ve really played well, and I’ve said to you guys before, ‘Q’ (MarQueis Gray) is stepping up and has played extremely well for a third guy. We’ve got a touchdown out of the fourth guy (Dominique Jones), and (Thomas) Duarte has been in there. Those guys have really played at a good, solid level. There’s another example. They’re less high strung, but they want the ball too and it hasn’t happened that way. We’ve got the three wide outs, we have two playmakers at the running back position and the ones that have been the unselfish ones are the tight ends, who have had to give up a little and have had to block a little bit more and help out in protections and stuff like that. They’ve played extremely consistently and maybe at the highest consistent level of any of the positions on the unit. I’ve eally been pleased with them.”
(You’ve been around some great quarterbacks. How would you rate those last two drives – what Ryan Tannehill did?) – “High. I think it’s really good stuff. And the same thing, it all works together. But it kind of begins with that guy. That’s the trait you’re looking for. That’s the trait you’re looking for. You’re sitting there 10-0 and things aren’t going well and you hang tough. That’s what I think he’s done a great job of, just hanging tough. He’s kind of amazing to me on the sideline, he doesn’t get out of whack. Even when all heck’s breaking loose around him, he doesn’t get out of whack. That gives you a chance to play good football in those last two drives instead of going into a bad place, going into a dark place, and all of a sudden you don’t have it when those last two drives come. He’s really been amazing to me in that way. Now to get some success added also, he’s been amazing even all through the season in that way – even when we lost. In these last couple of games, now all of a sudden you see some fruit from the hard work. That’s big and probably can’t be measured and that is what was so impressive about ‘18’ (Peyton Manning) is that he went through it for 18 years. That’s great stuff; that’s good stuff. And like a lot of things, it’s headed in the right direction. But we still have a long ways to go. The ideal thing would be not to be in that position. I’d rather be working on our 4- minute offense and we’re going to run out clocks with a lead. That would be more pleasurable.”
