Dowell Loggains – November 1, 2018
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Thursday, November 1, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(Want to talk about WR Jakeem Grant?) – “Absolutely.”
(When you came in and you watched some of the film on him from last year, did you have some ideas on what you could do with him as an offensive player?) – “The one thing that you could tell right away is the same thing you guys see is he’s an explosive playmaker and you just have to get your hands on him, because he doesn’t have a lot of experience with different routes and they did a good job using his speed and some of those things. But the one thing I give the kid a lot of credit for is he’s starting to become a more consistent route runner as well and the tree is getting bigger. He’s become a better practice player. I think most of that has probably happened because his confidence is growing as a player as well. Those guys in the receiver room, (Wide Receivers Coach) Ben Johnson and (Assistant Head Coach/Offense) Shawn Jefferson, have done a really good job helping him develop and helping him develop confidence that way. You can feel it at practice the energy he brings. He’s excited to be there and he knows that he can still get a lot better.”
(When RB Kenyan Drake is at his best on rushing plays, what are some of the things that he is doing and he is keeping in mind?) – “Kenyan has a unique skillset because he’s got size and speed. So when Kenyan is decisive and he hits it downhill and he can use that speed and size, that’s when he’s at his best. One of the areas that we keep working that he needs to keep improving on it is in the open field and sometimes trusting his speed, because he can outrun angles and those things. He runs through arm tackles. He’s a guy that when the ball is in his hand, he can score for you. He’s got a lot of room to grow as well as a player, but he’s doing a nice job. He’s a good receiver. Obviously, we move him around and trust him and we need to continue to expand that role as well.”
(When you’re talking about expanding roles, there’s been a lot of talk from Head Coach Adam Gase about moving WR DeVante Parker around. Can you explain what that would do for the offense and how do you keep DeVante consistent considering he just produced a career game?) – “I give DeVante a lot of credit because he showed up and did his job when we needed him to. He had a good week. We didn’t get to practice and he had to walkthrough and coming off an injury, but he just dialed in mentally. The more we get him back on the field and doing those things and getting up to speed just keep moving him around. He’s playing X and playing Z and playing on the right and playing on the left. The one thing he has – we talked about it a couple weeks ago – is he has size. He has length. Obviously, we’re not the tallest receiver group and he gives us something different that way. We’re going to keep expanding his role, especially as he gets back going a little bit. He’s had a good week until this point and we’re excited about having him back.”
(When you notice that WR DeVante Parker has a good week, because Head Coach Adam Gase said that, what is the difference? What do you see?) – “Adam obviously has more experience with DeVante than I do, but he’s a really good kid. He’s a quiet kid. So you see through his play like when he practices fast or when his confidence goes up. You start to feel it a little bit. It’s cool to see and it’s exciting to see. It’s a week to week deal and we have to keep getting better. Obviously, hopefully, he can put that game and having a lot of success last week and continue to build off that.”
(There’s a lot of talk about QB Ryan Tannehill in terms of whether or not he has reached his ceiling. What more can Tannehill give you or show that he hasn’t so far?) – “Considering we’re playing the Jets this week with Brock (Osweiler), I’d really prefer to keep all those questions to Brock. I think Ryan did a really good job in his five starts. He’s 3-2. Knowing he played in the first three … We’re judged on wins and losses at quarterback and he got three wins. Obviously no one played well enough or coached well enough against New England and Cincinnati, he had two and a half good quarters. He played two and a half really good quarters and then we didn’t finish. He needs to play better in those last quarter and a half. Just because the week and Brock is the starter this week, I’d really prefer to stick to Brock.”
(How have you guys evolved as an offense to figure out RB Kenyan Drake’s best role? Has that changed from what you all thought it would be?) – “It changes week to week based on the game plan, based on the matchups. Kenyan is a guy that can do a lot of things. Hopefully you go into a game and you have 250 calls on your call sheet. A lot of times you don’t get to all of them, but in the course of a game, when the matchups are advantageous, he’s a guy that obviously has matchup plays and he’s a guy you game plan around. We’re going to keep using him in different ways and different spots. He needs to keep improving. He adds a lot of flexibility to the offense because he can sit in the I, in the dot, and run the ball and he can also line up wide and beat linebackers and safeties one-on-one.”
Adam Gase – November 1, 2018
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Thursday, November 1, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Did DE Charles Harris have a setback of any kind?) – “No.”
(How is DE Charles Harris doing?) – “He’s progressing. That’s a tough injury, especially when you’re at a position where you have to explode and come off the ball the way that those guys have to. It takes time.”
(It seems like it’s not looking good for WR Kenny Stills with him still missing practice today. Where are you at with him?) – “We’re just kind of finishing the week out and see if we can get him out there and see what he can do, see how he feels. I don’t think he’s accepting that answer. I know he’s not…”
(Is WR Kenny Stills the type of player where you would put him on the field if he has not practiced the entire week?) – “Yes. But I just want to make sure that we’re not going to have a setback injury-wise. That’s my biggest concern.”
(When you spent the past weekend looking at stuff, what on defense did you come to the idea … I know guys doing their jobs is the number one priority.) – “The biggest thing we talked about was explosive plays. That’s where we’ve really been hurt the last two games where teams have been able to get in the end zone with four or less plays, which puts us in a bad spot. One, it’s just happening multiple times. We’ve really just lived off of turnovers and the longer some of these drives have gone, we’ve been able to take advantage of a mistake and got a negative play somewhere or a turnover to where we can flip the field and now all of a sudden we can do something on the other side of the ball. We really haven’t had that opportunity. We’ve been really hurting ourselves by not being on the same page, not doing our job, not finishing a play to where the other team takes advantage of it.”
(Assuming that C/G Ted Larsen is healthy and was full go yesterday, are you moving forward with him as your starter or are you considering C Wesley Johnson or C Jake Brendel at all in terms of a competition there?) – “We’re good with where we’re at right now. He took a weird shot. It was just a weird angle for him to where it just kind of knocked him out of the game there for a little bit.”
(And with C Jake Brendel, I guess you have a decision to make by next Thursday. Do you know at this point if you’re going to bring him back this year or is that undecided?) – “We’ll just take the whole time and when we feel it’s the right time and he’s feeling right and we’ve got a chance to move him up, we’ll move him up. Any time you can get an o-lineman that’s fresh, that’s beneficial to us.”
(When you talked about how you’re going to take the weekend to assess everything including scheme defensively, how much thought and how much discussion was there about making more than a tweak to the Wide 9 concepts?) – “There wasn’t a ton of discussion about anything. It was more ‘these are the things we need to fix. Here’s what we need to do. This is how we need to do it.’ And then we moved on from there. That was about all of the discussion there was.”
(We haven’t talked to him today yet but last week Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke was pretty angry with how things have gone. What kind of conversations have you had with him about keeping this thing together?) – “All of our conversations have been about what are the solutions. Anybody can walk in and say this is messed up, this is wrong. That’s great (but) I need to go in there and say ‘Hey, here’s where I think we can do something different or better.’ That’s what I’m looking for from him too. ‘Here’s how we’re going to get this fixed. Here’s how we’re going to address this.’ That’s what you want to do. Complaining about any of the problems, that doesn’t do anything. We need solutions.”
(You obviously are on the offensive side but you felt the need to go in and say these are a handful of things that…) – “Yeah, I mean that’s my job. I’ve been around for a minute.”
(What is it about Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke’s approach and his process that you trust him even when you guys hit a rough patch like this?) – “You’re talking about a smart guy that’s been around for a long time that’s been a very good position coach. He’s done a lot of good things as a coordinator. We’ve had some really good games. We’ve had some games where I know he wants some (back) – whether it be calls or execution. We all do, at the end of the day, of going ‘Man, I wish I would have done this.’ That’s part of the learning process. That’s why it’s the guys that keep learning and figuring out a way to get things fixed when it’s not going the right way that are the guys you want to be around. Those are the guys that you trust. That’s what he works to do every week.”
(Do you think of Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke as somebody that adapts rather than somebody that sticks to doing this no matter what?) – “Yeah, he’s not going to do the same thing over and over again and just keep getting drummed. None of us want to do that. We weren’t doing well on offense in a lot of different areas over the last three years and we just kept trying to adjust and tried to figure out what works for us.”
(Regarding TE Mike Gesicki and yards after catch, I know that you’ve talked about him not leaving his feet. He went low and he kind of got dinged. How should he proceed? How does he get yards after catch do you think? What’s the best route for him to take there?) – “Make the right decision on whatever you do. Just don’t be wrong. The one that he hurt his shoulder on, he went really low and of course he came right back at me and said ‘Well, I didn’t leap. If I jumped over the guy, I would have been alright.’ (laughter) It’s just one of those things where he is a tall guy. He’s a long strider. It is kind of strange the way he can defend himself. Does he go low? I just want him to be careful as far as trying to get up in the air too much because you saw what happened in Houston and now all of a sudden he gets dropped on his head. We just have to keep finding ways to get him to get north and try to get glancing blows and run through contact.”
(How can TE Mike Gesicki’s athleticism help him? He’s pretty fast and he’s agile but how can that help him running upfield?) – “Well, he can run by everybody. He’s fast for a guy that size.”
(I know that QB Ryan Tannehill is not playing this week but I have a big-picture Tannehill question. There are some people, whether it’s media, fans or whatever, who have made their case that they’ve seen enough of Ryan Tannehill. I want to know why you maybe don’t feel that way.) – “What qualifications are we talking about with the people saying that? None, so I don’t really care what anybody else thinks.”
(I want to ask you in a different way. Why do you still believe that QB Ryan Tannehill is…) – “Because we’ve made a lot of strides since we started in 2016. He had some good seasons before I got here, I know that. We did some different stuff that year. We leaned on the running game and worked off the play-action stuff. He does a great job with the zone-read stuff. When you have an athletic guy that can move around as much as he can and then his arm strength has been something that I’ve never been around before, where we hit the pass like we hit against Tennessee where he throws it 50-plus yards in the air and the guy never breaks stride. He has some rare qualities that you can’t find in a lot of guys physically. The more that he keeps playing, he keeps learning game to game. That’s something to me that puts him in position to where where’s our ceiling at? I don’t think we’re close to it. I think we just keep getting better (and) keep finding ways to maximize his skillset because it becomes a problem for the defense. It’s hard to defend him when you don’t know what he’s going to do. Is he going to do zone read? Is he going to sprint out? Is he going to run a naked (bootleg)? Is he going to go play action? Is it drop back? Are we running the ball? There’s a lot of things they’ve got to defend.”
(So why wasn’t it better when QB Ryan Tannehill wasn’t hurt?) – “It was. The first three games, we played pretty good.”
(And then the next two.) – “Yeah, that happens. That happens sometimes in the NFL. Quarterbacks … when you play New England, that’s not easy. There’s a reason they win a lot of games every year.”
(I’m not saying you won. I’m saying why wasn’t QB Ryan Tannehill better?) – “The first three games?”
(Than what QB Ryan Tannehill was previously? He wasn’t any … he was the same guy.) – “The first three games he played pretty good. You’re asking me that question and you don’t even know what you’re talking about. It’s hard for me to defend anything when you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t. I’ve watched the film. I sit there. We evaluate the scheme we’re asking him to do and he does a good job on it.”
(I know what results are and I know that…) – “That’s fine. That’s how you look at things. Everything is results to you. We’re going through a process because that’s what it is. That’s what the season is. It’s about trying to get guys to trend upward. We were headed in the right direction. We hit a speed bump with New England. Then (at) Cincinnati, he was playing well and then we lose our left tackle and we make two bad decisions.”
(WR DeVante Parker, how do you keep that momentum going from a career game last week with a quarterback that he doesn’t have experience with to keep trending upwards?) – “I think really it starts in practice, which he’s had two good days. He’s executing all of the things that we’re asking him to do. He’s practicing fast. I feel like his body feels good. Now it’s just going to be when we hit Sunday, trying to make ways where he’s not getting taken away by what the defense is doing, moving him around like we keep trying to do and expand what his route tree is, his position flexibility – whether it be inside, outside or No. 3 in a 3×1. Just things like that. You just want to keep him to where guys can’t get a beat on him where they say he’s going to be there every time.”
(So why wasn’t WR DeVante Parker doing that not just this season but before? Or was it just he was not ready to…) – “Well we were doing that last year. We were starting to move him around more. The flexibility was getting to the point where we felt really confident about it. It’s just we kind of lost … I mean he got hurt. Then we lost track of what we were doing and we were trying to fix a lot of stuff and trying to get our balance back. We just got stagnant in a lot of the stuff that we did with him.”
(Is this looking like the week that TE A.J. Derby will be back barring any setbacks?) – “I think we have a good chance. We really wanted to push him this week. The thing is I don’t think he’s going to be 100 percent. He’s always going to have some kind of pain. We just have to figure out where is he hurting because my biggest concern was in the run game or pass protection, was he going to be able to hold up against defensive ends that are bigger than him? That really was my biggest concern. It seems like things have gone well this week. I’ll have a better idea probably tomorrow and Saturday as far as how he feels after these last two practices because these are the more physical ones. Once we kind of get word from him on how he feels, then we can make a decision.”
(Does TE A.J. Derby benefit you more in the run game or the pass game?) – “I think he’s able to do both. He was actually doing well in the run game. He got better over that span that he was playing. We had a little bit of a drop off when he went out. Then once we brought Nick (O’Leary in), then we had another spike to where we started doing well again.”
(You mentioned earlier this week that you need the defensive tackles to stop going around blocks. Can you explain what you mean by that? Are you talking about stunts or not being in their gap?) – “The biggest thing that we’re talking about is one, setting the edge, and then our interior guys just understand run-pass options of you don’t want to run around the quarterback if you’re inside especially, because that’s just going to open up massive holes inside. Then in the run game, you want to make sure that we’re fighting pressure against blocks. We don’t want to just pick an edge and now all of a sudden we get inside zone and we’re just running up the field. It’s just understanding the blocking schemes and how we need to take those types of things on. I think our guys have done a good job this week of trying to understand the big picture. It’s not always going to be a pass. Let’s make sure we’re doing a good job of taking on our blocks correctly, being square (and) using our hands. Just like all of those little details that we work on every day in individual. I watch (Defensive Line Coach) Kris (Kocurek) do it every day. We just need to translate what we’re doing in practice to the game. If we do that, then it cleans up a lot of things.”
Jakeem Grant – November 1, 2018
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Thursday, November 1, 2018
WR Jakeem Grant
(You’ve done this a lot even while you were returning, turning a smaller gain into a large gain. Was there anything added, if not obviously a package of plays, was there anything added as far as mentality for you of ‘I want to be able to replace some of what WR Albert Wilson gave us?’) – “No, not at all. I’m going to continue to do what I’ve been doing and just continue to get better each and every day. I wasn’t going to do anything more, anything less. Just continue be me every day.”
(All you guys are pretty close. Did you guys feel good for WR DeVante Parker knowing the bad luck he’s had this year?) – “We have a saying against bad luck, don’t believe in it. Injuries come in this game. Unfortunately, he was going through some injury stages earlier in the season. Now, he’s healthy and he’s ready to go, and he put on a big performance last game.”
(I know you guys are confident players, but can confidence like that, can you feed off of something like that?) – “Yes. Even with the loss, it just shows you that with that being said, he can go out there and make big plays like that and continue to make big plays after big plays. A lot of people were down on (DeVante Parker), saying that his injuries and stuff like that. Nobody on this team was lacking faith in him. We all knew that once he got healthy, he was going to do exactly what he did on (Thursday).”
(Have you guys tried at all to boost QB Ryan Tannehill’s spirits or has there been no need to among the skill position players who spend a lot of time with him?) – “No, not at all. Ryan is one of the most confident guys. He doesn’t need to boost his spirit. Whenever he gets ready and gets healthy, we know exactly what time it is. A guy like that, you don’t have to go up to him and tell him ‘Hey, come on, we’re here for you’ and stuff like that. Ryan knows that we have his back and he has ours.”
(Do you feel like the offense has withstood the injuries to him and WR Kenny Stills and WR Albert Wilson? Do you feel good about how the last two weeks went?) – “Yes. I would say just as far as just communicating, just having that chemistry and continuing to play for each other. It sucks when guys go down but like we said, we have a mentality of the next man up. We’re going to continue to play like that. Obviously we hate that we lost a couple guys, but we have to get back on track.”
(You guys are a little night and day, home and road. What’s the difference of that, why is that?) – “I don’t know. Somebody set up our schedule I guess. We do a good job at home, play good games at home, seem to come out with victories and we just have to transfer that over to road games. We won one road game this year and I feel like this is the second half of the season, so we have to win those road games because those are going to be big for us.”
(How much more fun or different has it been for you this season as involved as you’ve been on offense?) – “It’s been much more fun to me this year, just being able to be out there on offense, make plays on offense, doing it on special teams. It’s just showing people that I’m not a special teams player. I’m a receiver and then I’m a special teams player. I’m going to continue to push that message and continue to get better at both.”
(How important was that for you to get that out there?) – “It was very important because a lot of people like to label me as a gadget guy. No, gadget guys only come in for a couple plays. My snap count is way up there with starters and everything. I’ve started games and all of those things. I’m out there almost every possession. So, a gadget guy, no. I’m a receiver and then a return specialist.”
(You were that before. You started as a return specialist and then kind of a gadget guy. I don’t know if that’s exactly the right term, but you were used about that much. Now you’ve kind of had your breakthrough it seems like.) – “I feel like I was never a gadget guy.”
(What would be a better term for that? I don’t mean to offend you when I say that.) – “It’s cool. I feel like it was just I had to build that trust in the coaches in order for them to leave me out there and to know what I’m doing on every single play. I feel like a lot of that was on my part. I didn’t gain the coaches’ trust during the time that I needed to for them to put me out there and leave me out there for longer periods of time.”
(It takes a lot of patience for you, though. A lot of guys would come in and maybe not progress into that next level of getting some snaps in the offense and now where you’re at as a regular part in the offense.) – “I’m patient. I’m very patient. The thing is about me, I strive for perfection. I want to be great. I always go to the coaches and ask them ‘what can I do better? What is it?’ Once they let me know, I’ve honed in on my craft and I’ve just continued to perfect my craft so they can see that I am a receiver and they can trust me and leave me out there to make big plays.”
(Can you point to a moment, game, practice where you felt you were really at the point where you had gained their trust?) – “Not a moment. It was just consistently making plays, doing the right thing. It just carried over from offseason workouts, spring ball and going into camp just continuing to make plays after plays, and just showing the coaches that I know exactly what I have and I understand the concepts of the offense. Just doing things of that nature, it just built that trust in them. Being consistent with catching the ball, doing the things and being in the right place at the right time. With that, I was gaining trust in the coaches and the quarterbacks.”
(Do any of your long touchdowns stand out above the others?) – “Not really. I love touchdowns, don’t get me wrong. I love them. But I don’t really worry about the stats. My goal is to get a touchdown every game. If you get a touchdown every game, that’s saying something.”
(What do you think about this ‘bully’ nickname that they gave you?) – “I like it. They gave it to me because of the physicality that I have in the run game. I think it all comes mentally, just not wanting to let your man to make the tackle. I’m selfless. I want to see the backs shine and make that touchdown block. I don’t think it’s all about catching passes and doing that. I feel like a big block is just like a home run catch to me. That’s what I like. I love to see other guys like ‘K.D.’ (Kenyan Drake succeed). I make a great block for him and he springs one down the sideline and scores a touchdown, that’s big for me. I feel like I just scored. With that being said, that’s how I earned the name, just being physical with the DBs and just not letting them be able to make the play.”
(Have they all at one point or another wanted to fight you?) – “Definitely. It’s all good, though. I don’t back down from anybody, don’t fear anybody, but respect all. Fear no one and respect all. That being said, I’m going to continue to play like that and be I guess, what they say, a bully.”
Brock Osweiler – October 31, 2018
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Wednesday, October 31, 2018
QB Brock Osweiler
(Now that you know you’re going to start your fourth game, are you taking these games by game or are you going with the mindset that you could be the quarterback for an extended period of time past this?) – “I’m taking it week to week and really not even week to week, more or less day to day. I think that’s the right approach to take in this situation. In some circumstances, really the NFL is a week to week league. I think you guys have seen it enough now over the years. I’m not looking too far ahead. I’m just focusing on one day at a time and whatever coach tells me, that’s what I believe and that’s what I’m rolling with.”
(Do you think you’ve changed some opinions about your ability over the last few weeks?) – “I’m not really sure and to be quite frank, I’m really not too concerned with any outside opinions. Really, the only people I care about as far as their opinion is my teammates and my coaches. That’s not to be rude to anybody or anything like that; but at the end of the day, that’s really all that matters is the opinions of my coaches and my teammates.”
(I understand you don’t care about our opinions, but GMs and coaches around the league, you want to change their opinion, obviously.) – “Yeah, absolutely. I think those guys have probably always looked at it probably different than you guys have. They understand the plays that are getting called in certain situations, things like that. I guess to answer your question maybe in a better way, you’re always trying to put your best foot forward. You’re always going out there every time you’re on the field to have success and to help your football team win a football game. You’re never going out there to lose a football game or not be successful. I guess to answer your question, to go out there and doing some positive things right now, yeah absolutely it feels good.”
(Do you think you’ve helped your career the last three or four weeks?) – “Time will tell. Time will tell. I’m really big on staying in the present moment, learning from past mistakes and then just living in the moment. That’s what we did today. I had a laundry list of things after the Houston game that I want to clean up. It was really about one page of notes. We have a great coaching staff here. They took that page of notes and they turned that into drills – things that I didn’t do right in the game – in hopes that we can correct those mistakes, make sure that they never happen again and then just move forward. That’s kind of an example of what we do.”
(How much of the list is made up by you and how much of it came from the staff?) – “It’s mutual. I think we sat down and between Friday to Monday, we watched the tape three times, so we really dissected that thing. That’s how we always work. I want to be the best possible quarterback I can be. A coach once told me, he said, ‘You’re never staying the same. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.’ I want to be on the getting better end and the only way you can do that is through hard work. Like I said – and I’ve told you guys before – I’m very fortunate to be in a situation where we have great coaches here. They want to coach us hard and I want to be coached hard. I want to get better. We sat down, we worked together on things that we thought needed to get corrected and we went out there today at practice and worked on that.”
(You look behind with coaches. Now being four starts in a row – and maybe for the immediate future you might start – are you involved in game planning at all, what plays do you like? Do they ask you anything going into formulating the game plan?) – “They do when the time calls for it. But at the same token, we have a tremendous coaching staff here – Coach Gase, (Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Dowell) Loggains, the rest of the offensive staff. They do such a great job in game planning they don’t need anyone else’s opinion, which really makes it great, because it allows me to focus on my job, focus on my reads, my rules, my footwork, my progressions and I leave the Xs and Os to those guys.”
(Has it benefited you that Head Coach Adam Gase continues to tell you early in the week that you’re the guy?) – “Yes. That means a lot. It helps out. Like I’ve told you before, whether you’re the backup quarterback or the starting quarterback, you prepare the same way. You really do. The only difference is you don’t get the practice reps if you’re the backup. The fact that he comes out early, says I’m starting the game which allows me to take all the practice reps during the week, that’s very beneficial.”
(When did Head Coach Adam Gase tell you that you were going to start?) – “I don’t think Adam and I really had a conversation. I think just being here over the weekend, coming in today, it was … I want to say it was assumed. But when you’re in the building as often as we are, you kind of know what’s going on with the other guy and things like that.”
(So when did you assume?) – “I treat every week the same way. Like I just told you I think two questions before, whether I’m the backup or I’m the starter, I’m preparing the same way, I’m doing the same things on Mondays, I’m doing the same things on Tuesdays. So to be honest, I wasn’t really worried about it. I did my same ritual. I came in today, I found out Ryan (Tannehill) wasn’t playing this week, he’s still doing some rehab things and away we go with another week. I wish I could answer it better, but there was no definitive moment where I was told I was starting.”
(Your thoughts on your first game with WR DeVante Parker?) – “DeVante is an extremely talent receiver. He really is. He’s a big target, he’s physical, he plays hard. He did some great things for us against Houston and I expect him to do some great things against New York. In fact, I expect him to play even better. I think DeVante is just getting rolling. I really do. He showed some flashes last week. He made some really big-time catches. In fact, there was a third-and-1 really in the back of my head where he caught a slant, there was a linebacker that dropped off the line of scrimmage, I couldn’t lead him in front, I had to put it on his back shoulder on a slant, which isn’t easy for those guys and he went out there and he snagged it and made a big play for this football team. I think that guy is just getting started. He has a boatload of talent, ton of potential and I’m super excited to see what he does this week.”
(Can you take us through two plays? One, the interception. It looked like WR Danny Amendola was held. And two, WR DeVante Parker had a step on the DB and it was just a touch overthrown.) – “The first play, the interception, obviously, it’s a play you wish you had back. Whether it was a penalty or not, that’s not up to us to decide. It was the coverage we were hoping for; it was the window we were hoping for. Unfortunately, we didn’t make a play and it ended up in a turnover and points for the other team. That’s something that can’t happen and we need to clean up and we will clean up. As far as the overthrown ball to DeVante, that’s the one you wish you had back. The offensive line did a tremendous job of holding up. It was kind of a ball-holder play. They held up, they gave me the time, DeVante ran a great route and I just didn’t throw a good ball point blank, period. That’s pretty much how that one went. Like I said, it’s one I wish I had back. But going back to it, you can’t have that play back. All you can do it learn from it. So today, I think we had about five or six reps where we replicated that exact same scenario and threw that ball five or six times. Hopefully we got that one cleaned up and that’ll never happen again.”
(What kind of success did you have today with it?) – “It was much better. (laughter)”
(For curiosities sake, we were trying to figure out on the play where you got spun around and it went to review, were you trying to tuck the ball back in?) – “No, I wasn’t. DeVante was pretty wide open on the sideline, so I was trying to throw it to DeVante. Unfortunately, that guy came free. That’s something, once again, we have to clean up between myself (and the) offensive line. But we had a chance at a big play on the sideline and I was trying to throw it to DeVante.”
(Are you looking at this as an opportunity to prove to yourself again that you can start in this league or are you looking at this opportunity as ‘I have to do my job so when Ryan is healthy we’re in a good spot where he can come back?’) – “Absolutely not. I think your mentality in this league is when you get your opportunity to play, you never give that guy his job back. That needs to be the mentality. And if that’s not your mentality, then you’re just in the wrong business. That’s nothing personal against anybody; but if you don’t have that competitive spirit, this isn’t the league for you. To answer the first part of your question, every week not only are you going out there and trying to put out your best performance for yourself, but you’re trying to do it for your teammates, your organization, your fan base, your family – it’s everything. Every single week in my eyes is the Super Bowl. Every single week is the biggest game out there, because this sport is so special and you never know when you’re going to get another opportunity. When you do get the opportunity to play, shoot, I play every single play like it’s my last. I put laser focus on every single play. I’m playing as hard as I possibly can so hopefully I never have to go back to the bench.”
Adam Gase – October 31, 2018
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Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Do you have anything on the quarterbacks for us?) – “Yeah, Ryan (Tannehill) will be out this week. Brock (Osweiler) will be starting.”
(Are you surprised that QB Ryan Tannehill hasn’t shown more to this point?) – “I think it’s just unpredictability. Some days it feels a lot better and some days he doesn’t feel as good. He’s throwing. We’ll just keep working through it, keep talking with the doctors and see if we can do anything else, anything more than what he’s doing, or if we need to do less. We just have to keep going through this process.”
(We didn’t see QB Ryan Tannehill throw anything out there today. Did he throw anything?) – “He has. I mean he’s been throwing when he’s with the trainers and they do certain things. He’s being monitored closely.”
(At this point, how much does the concern grow that this can be something that either needs to be surgically repaired or could possibly impact QB Ryan Tannehill’s career the rest of…) – “Surgery has not been brought up to me. This is just a rest-type thing.”
(What are the differences in the Jets team you’re going to see Sunday compared to the Jets team you saw earlier this year?) – “That’s a tough one in the aspect of when we play those guys, we’re going to get their A-game. We’re going to get a team that’s going to make sure that it is not easy sledding running the football. It never has been. In my short time here, every time we’ve played them, it’s been a physical game. (Jets Head Coach) Todd (Bowles) does a great job of getting those guys ready to go on defense. The quarterback (Sam Darnold) is getting better. He’s a young player. He’s seeing more and he’s learning the NFL game. There are some games where you see some really good flashes and then there are some games where you can see he’s fighting through a couple of things and I think (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks) Jeremy (Bates) is doing a good job of trying to put him into position to keep getting better.”
(What do you hope LB Mike Hull brings?) – “He’s one of our leaders in special teams, for sure. He gives us more depth at linebacker as well. If something happens, we’ve got a guy that knows our stuff inside and out. He’s able to pop in there and he’s a really good relief pitcher when it comes to that, filling in for one of those guys. He makes a ton of plays on special teams. It seems like every game we walk out of there where he’s got two or three tackles and has some kind of impact play to swing field position.”
(What’s your impression of the Jets running game? There’s been a lot of inconsistency there.) – “I know when we played them, it was tough. Every play is a fight. It’s hard for me to look at too much in the past. I know scheme-wise we can, but I just know what we’re going to get (in terms of) when we get going on Sunday, it’s a different type of game. Both sides, it’s very intense. You throw the records out. You kind of throw what happened before that (out) because guys are coming to play.”
(Regarding your situation at defensive tackle, I know you signed a couple of guys. How tough is it to plug guys in at defensive tackle?) – “At that spot, it’s probably a little easier than some of the other spots because there are less moving parts, especially with two veteran guys. Our numbers dwindled very quickly. I think it was good by the front office guys to get those guys in quick and get them signed and get them out there practicing.”
(What did you see from the workouts that said ‘Okay, this is the right fit for us – DE Ziggy Hood and DT Sylvester Williams – as opposed to some other guys?’) – “Yeah, I mean I’ve been with Sly (Sylvester Williams) before in Denver, so I have some history there. Ziggy, everybody … It was unanimous as far as who those guys liked in the front office and who the staff liked. I felt really good about it just because it’s two guys that are run stoppers and do have value against the pass and have experience. It’s not like they haven’t played all year. They’re coming off of other teams. It’s been a couple weeks but it’s good to get some guys out there that are some fresh faces and see if we can get a little bit of a spark here.”
(With regard to QB Ryan Tannehill, what’s the term for the injury? What’s the injury?) – “I don’t know. I try not to dig too deep in it because I don’t want to get anything wrong with you guys.”
(Is there a sprain?) – “No. I don’t want to say sprain.”
(Are you just calling it a sore shoulder?) – “Yeah, I don’t know. I’ll ask more questions to find out for you. You can ask me tomorrow and I’ll have a better answer.”
(WR DeVante Parker, is he unlucky? An underachiever? Some of both?) – “I think unlucky is probably the word I would use as far as with the injuries. Especially him having a soft tissue injury, the amount of work that he had put in to make sure that didn’t happen, I know that was disappointing for him. When he fractured the finger, his hand got caught in Xavien (Howard)’s jersey and he tried to go up and it got snagged and twisted all around. In my time here, he’s tried to do everything possible to make sure that he’s ready to go. He’s done a good job of staying engaged when he wasn’t playing. I think it benefitted (him), the amount of work he put into the playbook this last game because he didn’t have to ask ‘What’s this?’ or ‘Where do I go here?’ He was playing fast. Hopefully we just keep getting better every week and seeing if we can just keep expanding his role to where he makes as many plays as possible per game.”
(And that game reinforces for you that for you to be in WR DeVante Parker’s corner is the right call?) – “Yeah. We had a good week of preparation. Anything that happened before that, we move on quick. If he has something to say to me, he’ll say it. He’s not afraid to tell me stuff and I appreciate that about him. If somebody else says something for him, he talked to me and then we moved on.”
(What’s WR Kenny Stills able to do right now?) – “He’s trying to work through his injury. We’ll see kind of how the rest of the week goes. Obviously you see he’s trying to convince us that he’s going to be ready. We just have to be smart. We don’t want to make it something to where we throw him out there and then all of a sudden we lose him for a longer period of time.”
(WR Kenny Stills’ issue is the leg? That’s the one that’s keeping him out?) – “Yeah, it was like a groin.”
(WR Kenny Stills also had a shoulder, I think.) – “Yeah, it was more the groin.”
(With the trade deadline yesterday, were there any situations where you thought you might be a little more active than you were?) – “No. We were good.”
(If WR Kenny Stills does not play, do you feel like you still have enough depth and experience at wide receiver to make it through the game?) – “Yeah, I thought those guys did a really good job last week. We saw some different things than what we anticipated and for not practicing – we just had walkthroughs and I don’t know what we were in but we just had walkthroughs – those guys adjusted well. (They) talked through things, did a good job of communicating coming back to the sideline and made some plays. We were probably inches away from busting a couple of those out. I think these guys just keep working out there and keep trying to find ways to get better. When Kenny is ready to go, that will be great to get another guy out there that can really help us stretch the field. Those guys have done a good job.”
(Outside of the penalties and the third-down issues, you’re averaging less than what the league averages in points. What’s the reasoning why midway through?) – “It’s probably not finishing in the red zone. We had a couple of shots this last game to put ourselves in … I think there were about three of them to where if we convert on a third-and-short, at least it keeps us alive for a touchdown. We have a third-and-4 where we have the ball in our hands and we don’t finish the play. When you have three of those, that’s going to hurt you. We probably had a couple of games where we weren’t down there enough and didn’t give ourselves a chance. At the end of the day, our job is to score one more point than whatever the opposing team scores.”
(In what area has T Laremy Tunsil improved the most this season?) – “Every area. I think it’s slowed down for him. I think his confidence is extremely high. I think he’s done a great job from the time we started in the spring. I think Josh (Sitton) coming in and working next to him had an effect on Laremy as far as watching how he would prepare every day in meetings and all of those little tiny things that a lot of people don’t see. I think Laremy was lucky to have somebody that he could kind of work with that was willing to help him and point him in the right direction. I see Laremy’s confidence right now as extremely high. I think the Cincinnati game was an eye-opener for him, probably how things kind of fell apart when he left the game. He can see how valuable he is. We’ve left him on an island on some good players here a couple of times in the last three or four weeks and he’s done a great job.”
(DE Robert Quinn was saying after the Houston game that this season has been a disappointment for him. Have you had to talk to him about dealing with that, or is he professional enough that you leave him on his own?) – “I know what he’s talking about. He’s really not one to complain. He’s always a guy that just works extremely hard at practice. He tries to do what the coaches ask him to do. I know that he wishes that he could get to the quarterback probably a few more times, but sometimes it’s not in his control if the offense is calling something to where the ball comes out quick. We’ve tried to set some things up and make sure maybe we can free him up to where (it cane be) a one-on-one battle. It doesn’t work out all the time. We’ve got a long ways to go. We’ve got eight games left. It’s just in the moment right there when you just get beat up pretty good in a game and nobody really had a great one. It’s frustrating in that moment.”
(Do you think DE Robert Quinn feels or felt pressure because DE Cameron Wake was slowed or missing that he needed to pick up?) – “I don’t know. I’ve never asked him that. I’m sure that he wanted to do something to try create havoc in the game.”
(With LB Mike Hull back, does that change RB Brandon Bolden’s role? And how in general has he been doing?) – “I don’t know how many roles it’s really going to change for us. We’ve got some pieces that we had to move around anyways. We’ll kind of see how that all plays out on Sunday. Who were you asking about? Bolden? He’s doing really well. He’s been a huge part of what we’re doing. He’s been the ultimate professional. I think he’s been a great influence on the entire locker room. Anybody that comes in contact with him, he just does everything right. If you’re a coach and you say something, if anybody even kind of looks at you weird, he’s the first one to be like, ‘No, he’s right. Trust me.’ He’s been through a lot. He’s played a lot of football. He’s played a lot of offense and he’s played a ton of special teams. His library of things that he’s gone through in his career is huge and I think a lot of guys lean on him to kind of point them in the right direction.”
(How was your defense today? What was kind of the spirit that they had coming in?) – “It was intense. It was intense. It was fast. It was physical. It was good. I thought guys did a good job of coming out … there was a focus there.”
(I know that teams want to get the ball out fast so that they limit the ends and stuff, but they do that to everybody. So if your two ends aren’t getting there, what are they not doing other than teams are getting the ball out?) – “A lot of times it’s taking a guy off the first progression, the quarterback off the first progression. That’s part of when I talk about front coverage working together, when a quarterback goes to throw that No. 1 guy in the progression, you take him away and now he has to go to No. 2, that’s most of the time when you get home if you’re dealing with a type of team that gets the ball off fairly quick. So you have to be able to take something away on the back end as well, or even at linebacker if you’re dealing with a team working the tight end or a running back. We’ve been talking about it basically since the last game … We have to work great together on all three levels. Right now, the last two games, we haven’t done a great job of back end working with the front and vice versa. That’s where we need to get things cleaned up. We have to do a better job of when they do get the ball out quick, we have to be tight coverage, don’t allow him to take the first progression, make him move to No. 2. Now we’ve got a chance to get home.”
(So in part what you’re saying is Cameron Wake and Robert Quinn, part of their problem is your cornerbacks?) – “We just have to do a better job in coverage. It’s not always the corners. That’s why I’m saying it’s a group thing because it’s not always going to be, ‘Hey, the corner is the one covering the first guy in the progression.’ If we’re throwing to (Kenyan) Drake, he’s covered probably by a linebacker or a safety. It’s the same thing with other teams. We just have to do a better job of being tight and making that guy go to No. 2.”
(There’s sort of a cliché that the best ability is availability in the game of football. What’s sort of your view on that given that you’ve had a lot of injuries this year?) – “Yeah, I mean, that’s always a good saying when nobody is getting hurt. When a lot of guys get hurt, then you start looking at everything. I know (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach) Dave (Puloka) has been thinking about it. ‘Hey, did we do something wrong in the offseason, training camp.’ And (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston). We’ve all been kind of talking about all the things that we’ve kind of done, whether it be stay the same, change something. ‘Hey, has that affected?’ We’ve just had some weird like season-ending-type things and it’s happening in games. We haven’t really lost a whole bunch of guys in practice. We’re losing guys in games. We’ll keep looking at that, try to keep guys as healthy as we can. To answer your question, availability is the No. 1 thing that you’re always looking for in the NFL because if you’re not on the field, you can’t really help us.”
Sylvester Williams – October 31, 2018
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Wednesday, October 31, 2018
DT Sylvester Williams
(How would you describe your strengths as a player?) – “That’s a good question. Obviously I’m here. I’m just here to give it everything I got, we got eight regular season games left. Whatever I’m bringing as a player, you have to turn your TV on Sunday and you’ll see.”
(Why were you out of work earlier this season?) – “I was in a situation where I wasn’t successful, we weren’t successful as a team stopping the run and they brought a guy in.”
(How do you describe the world wind of emotions of being unemployed one week and signing with a team the next?) – “There was no emotions for me. Like I said, I was brought there to stop the run and we weren’t doing that. So, me being unemployed wasn’t a shock.”
(Are you familiar with head coach Adam Gase or any of the other coaches?) – “I was obviously on the same staff with head coach Adam Gase out in Denver. Some of the other coaches I was on staff with them as well. At the end of the day, it’s football. You have to come in and do your job. We all have a job to do just like you all have a job to do. That’s what I’m here to try to do.”
(What’s the most important responsibility in the position they’re going to utilize you as it relates to run stopping?) – “Right now, they haven’t really given me a specific … They just told me to come in and work my butt off and learn the playbook. That’s what I’m trying to do right now. Obviously I’m saying we have to stop the run just like the other 31 teams in the NFL. Hopefully I can provide to help doing that.”
(Do you have a Super Bowl ring?) – “Yeah, I have a Super Bowl ring.”
(Where is it at?) – “It’s in a safety deposit box right now. It keep it away, obviously that’s behind me. I’m trying to get another one, to be honest with you.”
Mike Hull – October 31, 2018
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Linebacker Mike Hull
(How do you describe the excitement of finally being back on the active roster?) – “It’s exciting for sure. I’ve been doing rehab for a lot of months, so I’m ready to get back out there and play real football.”
(When do you think you were ready to play? I know you were mandated to sit eight games.) – “Probably a few weeks ago; but with the IR rules, you have to kind of wait it out a little bit. I feel good. I feel good to be back out there and be with the guys.”
(What have you been told about your role moving forward?) – “Mostly just a four-core special teams guy for the foreseeable future, which is pretty much why I’ve been here for as long as I have. Just be a leader in those phases and help try to steer the ship in the right way.”
(One of the websites that comes up with special teams formulas has the Dolphins third in the NFL. What have you observed about the overall special teams performance this year?) – “(Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (Darren) Rizzi does a good job getting us prepared throughout the week. He’s one of the best coaches in the game in the special teams phase. We have guys that play hard day in and day out, so it’s no surprise that we’re ranked that high.”
(How difficult has it been to just have to watch?) – “It’s real difficult watching the games on Sunday from home. It’s tough, but t’s all part of the game. It’s part of the process. It’s unfortunate but it happens.”
(I’m trying to remember how you got hurt and when you got hurt. Can you remind me?) – “The first preseason game, it was one of the first plays I was in. I just got rolled up on and ever since then I’ve been on the road to recovery.”
(Did you have to get it fixed?) – “Yeah, I had to get it fixed. It’s just an MCL deal and other than that, it feels good.”
(You figured all along that you’d be back at some point this year?) – “Yeah, for sure. As soon as it happened and they got the prognosis, that’s pretty much what we’ve been aiming for is getting back this week.”
(In some way, have you tried to help with the two first-year starting linebackers even though you haven’t been able to play?) – “For a lot of the rehab, I was just trying to get myself right. You have to take care of yourself first whenever it comes to those things, but since I’ve been back in the meeting room, I’m trying to give those guys tips. Especially on special teams, with (Durham) Smythe playing guard on punt and Jerome Baker playing tackle, I’m just trying to give them little tips on what to look for, even in film study.”
(One of your strengths when you are on the field at linebacker is run stopping. What have been your observations and what coaching points are you hearing from the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach about points of emphasis moving forward?) – “As linebackers, we just have to get downhill faster, take the double teams off of our d-linemen and get back to doing what we were doing the first few weeks of the season. We’ve had some guys go down, so it’s just kind of trying to find guys to step up. That’s what we’re going to be moving forward. It was great to get the little break whenever we did just to regroup and get our scheme settled.”
Reshad Jones – October 31, 2018
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Wednesday, October 31, 2018
S Reshad Jones
(Obviously it must be difficult for you guys defensively to look at what’s going on and take responsibility for it, but what are some of these issues that’s going on?) – “It’s a couple of things. Pass game, run game, just the total defense. We’ve got to be better. There’s no time to hit the panic button right now. We’ve got a lot of football left ahead of us. We’ve just got to come out to practice and continue to work and get it done on the practice field, and continue to put the work in.”
(What is going on in terms of run stopping?) – “It’s different things. People are out of their gaps, miscommunication. It’s collective things that’s going to take everybody on the defense – the coaching staff, everybody – coming together to get it fixed.”
(Did you feel like you guys needed reinforcement adding two defensive tackles?) – “I’m not sure. That’s nothing I can worry about. I let the guys upstairs make those moves and I come in and do whatever it takes to help this team win football games.”
(Another guy like DT Vincent Taylor goes down. Do you feel a little snake-bitten at times when you see another guy go down?) – “Yes, you hate to see one of your brothers go down. A guy who’s been here fighting and trying to do everything right. Unfortunately, that’s part of the NFL. Guys go down and it’s the next-man-up mentality. We brought two new guys in and hopefully they can help us win some football games.”
(You saw QB Sam Darnold after one start, and now he has six or seven under his belt. Does he look any different, or how does he look to you?) – “He’s young. He can make all of the throws, He’s got some guys around him that can make plays. I think our main focus is to make this team one dimensional. I think they’ve been doing a good job these last couple of weeks of running the football. I think Isaiah Crowell had a big game, not last week but the week before. I think our main focus it to try to make this team one dimensional, put the ball in (Darnold’s) hands and make hi make plays. I think if we make this team one dimensional, we’ll be fine.”
(What has been the issue with the defense getting stops on third downs? What has been that issue with you guys allowing 46 percent conversations?) – “It’s multiple things. We’ve got to get pressure on the quarterback. We’ve got to tackle once they catch the ball. It’s collective things. Those are some things that we’ve been working on (and that) coach talked about that we’re going to be working on throughout the rest of the season.”
