MarQueis Gray – June 14, 2018
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Thursday, June 14, 2018
TE MarQueis Gray
(This is your third year with Head Coach Adam Gase. How far along and how comfortable are you guys to where you guys are just playing now?) – “We’re very comfortable. They’re still adding stuff to it but like I said, we’ve grown that chemistry plus getting (Ryan) Tannehill back this year always helps out a lot. Being a part of it (for) three years, it’s going to be fun. We added a couple of playmakers so it’s going to be fun this year.”
(With the install, you’ve been here for all of the installs in the past years. Is there an increase in the rate of how much they’re throwing at you guys in these OTAs?) – “No, it’s even so far. During OTAs, the point is to throw the ball a lot more because you can’t do really too much in the run game because we don’t have any pads on.”
(No, I’m talking about the installation. The information that you’re getting. How much they’re throwing at you and how much they’re inputting.) – “We’ve been putting in new stuff almost every day, if not every other day. We’ve been getting hit pretty hard so far. It’s pretty good that he’s doing it right now.”
(How would you compare it to past years?) – “About the same; but again, we’re adding a little bit more parts and a little bit of stuff to our offense. It’s going to help us out this year.”
(What does QB David Fales do well?) – “He gets the ball out. He’s doing a good job. His deep ball has been remarkable this offseason. Him and Jakeem (Grant) and (Mike) Gesicki, they’ve been hooking up a lot. They’ve been getting open a lot.”
(What do you make at some of the criticism that WR Jarvis Landry has had towards QB Ryan Tannehill. It seems like the last couple of days, he’s taken some shots at your quarterback. He seemed to have a pretty good relationship while he was here and he says that’s not the case.) – “It’s kind of hard for him to say something like that. We’re moving forward. Tannehill is our guy and he’s our leader. It’s a new season. We’ve got new guys here and we’re just focused on what we have to do here and wish Jarvis the best.”
(Was there any evidence of friction there that you saw last year or no?) – “I didn’t really pay too much (attention) to it. We had too much stuff going on as it is already, whether it was the hurricane or anything else. Our guys, we had our head down just ready to play football. We couldn’t tell about stuff like that anyways.”
(How unusual is it to be in a spot where you’re entering training camp and really any of four or five guys could be the starting tight end opening day. That’s sort of unusual to have that many who could be a starter. Is that odd to you?) – “(It’s) very rare. It’s my sixth year and every year I’ve been in competition with somebody. I’ve either had a head guy that was already signed or they brought in some all-star guy, like they did last year. For us to have an open spot this year is pretty rare and we’re all competing. May the best man win.”
(How much of the first-team reps have you gotten over the last month?) – “I’ve gotten a lot. All of us, we’ve been sharing reps. Myself, A.J. (Derby) and Gavin (Escobar), we’ve all been splitting the reps. They just want to give guys different looks and see how well we’re prepared and the stuff we’re ready for.”
(Are you playing both tight end spots or are you exclusively working…) – “We all move around. You just can’t study for one position. We’ve all been moving around in this offense so far, which is pretty good.”
(We hear a lot about DE Robert Quinn and his bend. Tell me about that.) – “He gets low. He gets low and he still has a burst off the ball, and then he gets low. Having him on our team this year is a real big boost to our defense as well as our team.”
(Was it an eye-opener the first time you saw? Did you know how low DE Robert Quinn gets?) – “We played them … When we played him two years ago, he was the main focus. We were like, ‘We’ve got to shut down ‘94’ (Quinn). To have him on our team, I’m excited. I can say that myself. Having him and (Cameron) Wake, (William) Hayes and (Andre) Branch, our defensive line is going to be something special this year.”
(How tough was it blocking DE Robert Quinn the game out there a couple of years ago?) – “It was pretty hard. In a game, it’s a lot more slowed down. Especially the older you get, it seems to slow down (for you). Like I said, it’s great that he’s on our team so I don’t have to block him.”
(Your experience as a quarterback, how much do you think that’s helped you and TE A.J. Derby in terms of understanding the offense, grasping it, processing it and going out there on the field and executing it?) – “It helps out a lot because you focus on … Being a quarterback, you break down a playbook in different aspects. I study my formations first. Some guys may just go straight to concepts or whatever. You start with formations because you can’t play offense if you don’t know where to line up. That’s the mentality that I have with it. Being able to break the playbook down and then going from there, it helps out a lot.”
(What’s the process of teaching the rookies in terms of how to get it?) – “Just like I said, I told them right off the bat when they got here, study the formations first because like I said, with all of us moving around like the way we’ve been doing, it’s important to know where you’re lining up before the snap of the ball.”
