Clyde Christensen – September 27, 2016
Download PDF version
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(On the challenges of having a short week) – “It’s extremely tough, especially a road (game on) Thursday. The biggest thing is physically getting them rested. You can emphasize it, but you’ve got to get extra sleep, you’ve got to get home, you can’t celebrate a win – some of those things. So, the biggest thing is the physical part (and) getting yourself back fresh and going. It was a little stressful getting the game plan in and then today, we’ll get one good day of walkthroughs (and) you have to put in regular, red zone, third down (installs), and then tomorrow you’ve got to come with short yardage, goal line and 4-minute (installs) and (then) you’re on a plane. It’s hard for it to go in. The really good teams are the ones that have a good system, and they’ve been in it for a long time, and that’s really important. (When) you do have these short weeks, you’ve got to rely on the system and let it take care of itself.”
(On whether RB Jay Ajayi was a new man after his game-winning touchdown in overtime against the Browns) – “I would think so. It has been an up and down three or four weeks for him, so it’s a great way for him to get a lift. These guys are emotional guys. It’s tough, so I do think in a big way, that gives you a lift. It gives everyone a lift. I think it was great for him. (I was) glad to see it happen. He’s a hard-working guy. He has worked hard. In a lot of ways, for a lot of guys, some things haven’t gone the way maybe you had planned. That’s what this game does. That’s how this game rolls. This game throws you curve balls and sinkers and fastballs and off-speed pitches. That’s part of this thing, and he’s no exception. The franchise is no exception. And then all of a sudden, one play and you feel … It probably is more significant than one play, but it’s big. I thought it was great for him; it was great for us. I was happy for him personally, too.”
(On what T Ja’Wuan James does well and whether he is still the starting right tackle) – “Yes, I think he still is our starting right tackle. He’s no different than anyone. We’re looking for the right combination and some guys who can do it day in and day out. I do think – probably like a baseball pitcher – that he’s a starter, and there are times you’ve got to give some guys some relief, and sometimes it’s short term. That doesn’t change that you’re a starter. I think the biggest thing … The first part of your question was … He’s really a good player. He’s a good athlete. I think probably the thing that everyone wants out of him is for him to establish himself as an elite right tackle, and to be a leader. We’re dying for guys who are going to be owners in this thing (and say), ‘This is my unit. This is my franchise. This is my team. Follow me. Do what I’m doing.’ Those are the guys we’re looking for right now, and I think that’s probably what everyone wants out of him. That comes in a lot of different forms or passions, but the good teams have some veteran, good players who take ownership of the thing and say, ‘This is the way we do things. This is the standard we live up to, and we’re going to do it every week, every practice and every walkthrough.’ I think that’s what we all would love to see out of him. I would hope that’s what he wants to see out of himself.”
(On what T Ja’Wuan James does well) – “He does a lot really well. I think he can be a premier right tackle in this league. I think we all think that. I think that probably is … The expectations are high on him. I think we talked in here that our strength is having a deep number of tackles, an unusual number of tackles that can play both sides and can be really good players. I think he has done an awful lot very well, but there are certain positions in football – defensive line, receiver – where you play 75 snaps and you may get five catches, but you don’t know which five they’re coming on you – you rush the passer 55 times in a game – but you don’t know which one the sack is coming on. That’s the same thing with the offensive line. You can play 75 good snaps, but if two of them are sacks or sack-fumbles or worse, then you get measured by that. It’s a unique position. You’ve got to keep doing it. A couple plays can swing it for you, and I think that happened to him Sunday. That’s one of the unique things in this game – you don’t know when those plays are popping.”
(On C Mike Pouncey) – “I’m happy to see him moving around, whether it’s in the end zone (during practice) … I’ve been teasing (him that) I’ve been watching him at Club Med there down in the end zone. The truth of the matter is I think everyone has got one eye down there during practice and seeing how he’s moving and how it’s coming. But I think the encouraging thing – the take of the thing – is that he’s moving around. I think that’s a good sign.”
(On whether it is asking too much for C Mike Pouncey to play in a short week) – “Probably. Sure, probably. Although there are certain guys – and he’d be one – you’d never bet against. There are some guys I just wouldn’t bet against that I’ve seen them rehab and I’ve seen them heal, and he would probably be in that category. Though I don’t have a history with him, but it would be hard to bet against him, because he’s such a pro in everything he does. But yes, it would be on the miraculous side, certainly, on a short week to get him ready, especially because there’s really no practice so to speak. It’ll be the same thing with Arian (Foster) that maybe, maybe not. When there’s no practice, it’s hard to know if they’re … How do you find out if they’re ready? You can’t put on pads. You can’t … There’s no practice to evaluate them off of. So, it’ll be difficult.”
(On what he likes about C/G Kraig Urbik) – “I think probably the No. 1 thing is he’s a veteran guy. He has got some years and snaps under his belt. He comes into that game (against Cleveland) … That’s an interesting position. He came in at an interesting time that ball game. I think probably the thing you like the most about him is that he is a veteran guy and that he did come into a game in a critical situation where everything wasn’t going right, and he functioned. I think that’s what you do like about him: that he does have some deposits in there from a lot of years.”
(On whether RB Kenyan Drake did some things well in his first career start against Cleveland) – “I think he did. He got his first pro start, and he did some nice things. One of the interesting things is he’s playing quite a few snaps on special teams also. The big thing for him is getting the conditioning up where … The only way to do it is by doing it and playing in game conditioning. I think we’ll keep using him a bunch. He has showed us enough stuff. He got a little tired. He had a couple missed assignments there in the fourth quarter that I think he would say wouldn’t be characteristic. I don’t know if it’s from playing too much or not. But he’s going to keep getting reps. I said last week when we talked, someone is going to jump up. Those reps are out there and you better grab them. I don’t know that there will ever be a 50-play guy, because all these guys are so multidimensional and they are all playing special teams. But you’ve got X number of snaps, and they’re up for grabs. He started the game, so he gets the first crack at it.”
(On what the offense can do in single tight end sets with TE Dion Sims) – “It would probably be more … (To) put it in a different perspective, having two of them … We really feel like we still have two, but the thing now is you probably have to prepare a tackle. If you lose a tight end, now you go into a game with two tight ends, and (ask), ‘Are you out of the ace package? Do you get a tackle ready?’ We’ve got our own issues at offensive line. We’ve got a lot of scenarios for a short week that are a little bit difficult to deal with. I think Dion (Sims) is playing really, really good football right now. He played very well in that game. He got a game ball. I don’t foresee there being a drop off. They’re not that much different. He’s probably a little bit more in line, grind it out, but he’s showing he can catch balls and do those things. I don’t think there will be much change. A) We don’t have time to change much game-plan wise. B) I think everyone has confidence in him that he’ll come out and play really well as a starter in the thing. I think he had a really good camp, and I really don’t think there’ll be a drop off when we have our two tight ends in there. Now we’ve got to keep them both healthy and make it through this game and get to a long weekend where we can recoup and recover here and get some guys back.”
(On whether TE Thomas Duarte is an option for the 53-man roster or if he’s not ready) – “A little bit of both. I wouldn’t say he’s not ready but he’s probably not ready. He probably does need some more seasoning. But the other thing, it’s not quite as easy because of the roster spots. To get him up, you got to cut somebody, now you’re shorthanded. Defensively and offensively, we’re a little bit shorthanded. So it’s a little bigger than, ‘Is he ready?’ Who do you do without? Do you do without a special teams guy? So, it is a little bit bigger than, ‘Is he ready or not?’ He’s developing. I think everyone is really pleased with him. I would not rule out that there will be a time in this season where he does get pulled up. One of the hard things is when guys are injured, but they’re not IR (Injured Reserve) injured – they’re injured, but they’re coming back and they’re coming back in the short term – it’s hard to free up a roster spot. Everyone has got the same problem: when you have guys dinged up, it’s hard to find those guys you can activate. It’s as much a roster spot as it is Duarte.”
(On how close the offense is to big plays and frequent chunk yardage) – “Some of our numbers on big plays and average per play and some of those things are fine. Those numbers are healthy. The number that’s sick is the third down. I think if you said, ‘Multiple those numbers out at 75 snaps a game,’ a lot of things are going to look a lot better. We’ve been anemic on third down. Those are crushers, because all of a sudden you look up and there’s not enough carries for a running back, there’s not enough balls to go around, there’s not enough time of possession, there’s not enough anything. I do think some of those isolated numbers like yards per play, yards per rush – some of those big plays – those things are okay. The biggest thing now is staying on the field on third down and multiple those out into a 75-play game and 85-play game, which we’d look to have in the style of play that we have.”
(On who has been the best offensive lineman through three weeks) – “I think they’ve all … (Anthony) Steen has been a pleasant surprise. He has played really steady. He went down; hopefully (it is) short-term. But they’ve done a good job. I think the same thing, they’ve done a good job, it’s just the third down has been a crusher. I think, as a unit, we’ve all taken our turns screwing things up, starting with me. The first interception was probably on me and the play design. That wasn’t (Ryan Tannehill’s) fault. The corner cheated inside and made a nice play. I think it has been one of those things where everyone is taking their turn. Everyone is taking their turn. We all have to play better. It’s not good enough. It’s not near good enough. It’s not close to what we want to this thing to be. I think everyone is in agreement on that from the head coach all the way through the practice squad guys. We know we have to eliminate the errors. We have to eliminate the turnovers. We have to convert third downs to get to where we want to go. I answered your question in reverse.”
(On whether he is happy with the offense’s tempo) – “(It’s the) same thing. One of the benefits of doing what we’re doing is to stay on the field and gut a defense and, hopefully in the second half, slow down the pass rush because they’ve played so many snaps and they’ve played at such a fast pace. (It’s the) same thing (with) the third downs. We haven’t gotten the tempo to where we want, as long as we want. That’s part of it: to make people stay out there for 13 plays at that tempo. That has got to be to our advantage. We’re going to get there. We’re not there yet, but we’re going to get there. That’s when you got something. That’s when you got something when you look over there and you go, ‘Gosh, they’re shot,’ and there’s still a quarter and a half to play, and they’re not rushing the passer. Now you’ve got time to throw the ball up field and make some big plays and do some different things. We haven’t gotten there. We’ve had little, tiny windows where we’ve done it well, and you catch a glimpse of all of a sudden that ball went 60 yards in four plays. That’s when you’re humming, when you cover that field and all of a sudden you’re back in the red zone again and trying to score a touchdown.”
(On whether the offense uses back-shoulder throws as much as other teams) – “I think we do. I think we’ve practiced it more than it has come up in a game. You can’t script it. It has to come up at the right time. It’s an absolutely … Nowadays, you cannot be an explosive offense if you can’t throw back shoulder, over-the-top and back shoulder throws. It’s too physical. There are too many people playing so much press coverage, so you have to. We’ve worked hard on it. We work hard on it every single week. We stress it. I’d say this: we haven’t missed them, it just hasn’t come up. They’re not overly high percentage, but one thing I think we have done is Ryan (Tannehill) is throwing the ball deep well. We’ve been pleased with how he’s throwing the ball deep. Part of that element will have to be back shoulders. I don’t know which week it’ll show up, but we haven’t had many opportunities. It hasn’t come up, but it’s a huge part of this thing. You almost have to be able to do it. We picked up a (pass) interference on the double move this week that was a big first down. All of that is part of it – the double moves, the back shoulders, being able to run by people. That all has to … It’s hard to get people off of you in this league. The truth of the matter is you can’t get them off of you all the time. Now all of a sudden you have to trust your receivers, throw a couple up for grabs – not literally up for grabs – but on the back shoulder and different places. We talk about the free hand, (and ask), ‘Where’s the free hand?’ and say, ‘Let’s give them a chance to make a big play for us.’ We do have some guys that can do that.”
(On if QB Ryan Tannehill’s best three over-the-top deep throws this season were the one-handed catch to DeVante Parker against New England, one-handed catch to Jarvis Landry against New England and the double move last week vs. Cleveland) – “The first two I think. The double move (against Cleveland), we got thrown off by the contact, which we got the penalty on. You’d love to hit that one, too. I want to hit them all.”
(On QB Ryan Tannehill’s 32-yard pass to WR Jarvis Landry against Cleveland in overtime) – “I thought that was a gigantic throw. I thought that was a huge throw. That was really encouraging. (Tannehill) got hit low, high and in the middle and made a clutch throw in an overtime situation. That’s really encouraging to a coach. That was a big throw, not an easy throw. You knew you were going to get hit. There’s a third of the league that’s going to brace for the hit and not worry about the throw and get it on the next throw. I don’t think anyone has ever questioned his courage sitting in there. That was extremely encouraging to throw an accurate ball that had a chance to turn up and get inside the 10(-yard line) there was … I thought that was really encouraging.”
(On whether he hopes C/G Anthony Steen can play Thursday) – “I do. I hold out hope. It’s such a short week, but I always hold out hope. I’d give them my credit card (and call) those 1-800-Healing numbers. We’ll try anything. (laughter) We’re not above trying anything to get well there. I always tease. I say, ‘Oral Roberts – are they still up and running over there?’ We will look for it all the way until game time. But the truth of the matter is it is a short week. It’s hard. The hardest thing is who you give the reps to. The hardest thing is … You can’t count on them. The hard thing is (deciding) do you put them up and then all of a sudden the first quarter they can’t go? Those are the complicated questions (like). If you put Steen and ‘B.A.’ (Branden Albert) up and then all of a sudden the first drive they go, ‘I tried, and I can’t go,’ you’re stuck, because those other guys are inactive. That’s the tricky part. That’s where (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase and the front office will have to make some tough decisions. Those are hard, because of the same thing, it’s a night game, you’ve got all day to get treatment, etc. But you still, at some point, have to make a decision (and say), ‘This guy can make it through,’ or, ‘He can’t. We better get a healthy body up.’ Having two starters in the same predicament is extremely complicated and extremely sensitive. That’s what makes it really tough. But the answer is yes, I hold out hope. I hold out hope for both of them and hope that all of a sudden … They do, they get so much treatment. They do such a good job nowadays with the treatment, and we do have all the way to the night. We’ve got some time tomorrow to get treatment all the way through the day again. So, I hold out hope.”
