Dowell Loggains – August 13, 2018
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Monday, August 13, 2018
Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains
(Why do you think it was feisty out there today?) – “It’s the second day after an off day. Yesterday wasn’t an intense practice. Everyone is getting tired of hitting each other in camp. That’s what happens in the NFL about this time every year (with) every team.”
(How would you assess the work of the offense in the preseason opener?) – “There was good and bad obviously. I was really pleased with the protection with the ones. We left some yards on the field in the run game that way. It was good to see ‘17’ (Ryan Tannehill) get out there. I know he was really amped up for the game. You could just feel his energy and the energy in his feet. It was really good for him to get out there. I was pleased for the most part with how they performed.”
(How do you think QB David Fales performed on Thursday?) – “I thought he did a pretty good job. He made a couple of really good throws. He got us into a couple of plays. The post he threw to ‘82’ (Francis Owusu) was a really good throw. We keep telling these guys, how we’ll make decisions is the guy that gets the team in the end zone. He’s done a good job with that stuff. He needs to continue to show and improve every week.”
(Outside of his fumble, how do you think RB Kalen Ballage performed?) – “He was solid. The one big emphasis we put when starting the season was we need to eliminate all of the pre-snap penalties. You guys have seen that. We’ve got guys taking laps, running sprints after practice, and the turnovers. You guys have heard it. It’s a cliché, but it’s real. To win in this league, you have to find ways not to lose. When you put the ball on the ground on a third-down conversion … That’s the other thing, when you’ve run over two guys and sent two guys to the sideline, and then you’re hurdling people – it’s a great show of athleticism but we’ve got to keep working with him. He’s got to keep getting better, and he will.”
(What’s going to be the best way to minimize the pre-snap penalty issue?) – “Number one, these guys need to understand it’s not going to be tolerated. You’re not going to be here if that keeps happening. We have to clean it up. The ones did a good job with it. We had the one holding call, but it wasn’t all on ‘No. 70’ (Ja’Wuan James). The guard snapped out on a guy and pushed him and ‘70’ has to fit his hands up inside better. It needs to be this week that we need to be better with that. We don’t need to have any pre-snap penalties. We’re going to keep preaching it and there’s going to be consequences when it’s not happening or when it starts to happen.”
(Did any of the young guys catch your eye Thursday?) – “I thought Bryce Petty did a nice job. He came in and had a couple of checks and showed great energy, and kind of rallied the troops that way. I think all of them kind of flashed. The first one to me is just get out there and let them experience playing in the NFL for the first time. Let’s see how they do in Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4. The one thing we preach around here is don’t make the same mistakes twice. There’s going to be times when they mess up, like Kalen (Ballage) and these guys, but you’ve got to continue to make new mistakes.”
(How would you assess Mike Gesicki’s progress in terms of his blocking, since it’s such a hot topic of conversation in the media?) – “He was down at 9-on-7 today and I went to one-on-one, and (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase went to 9-to-7, so when he walked down to one-on-ones, it was like, ‘Hey, get out here. We didn’t draft you to block. We drafted you to come catch touchdowns in the red area.’ And he’s had his best days of practice — you guys have seen it — in the red area catching passes. We’ll keep getting better with that. He’s working really hard. The good thing is he’s not afraid to stick his face in there. We didn’t draft him to be a killer at the point of attack. We drafted him to make plays in the red area, convert third downs, make explosive plays on first and second down. He’s going to have to learn how to block and stuff, but we’ll put him in good situations once the bullets are real. We’ll keep putting him out there and letting him go through these struggles. Blocking our defensive ends, those are good players.”
(What’s the key to being more efficient and effective on third downs? I know you weren’t here previously but that’s been really an issue and a point of emphasis.) – “You can’t be frustrated when it’s third-and-11 and you don’t convert. You’ve got to look back. You don’t treat the symptom; treat the problem. If you’ve got a negative-yard run or pass up a progression, it’s second-and-11. If you pass on a progression on second-and-11 and now all of a sudden you’re in third-and-11. The key to that is you’ve got to be really good on first and second down. You’ve got to stay efficient and stay ahead of the chains. You can’t have pre-snap penalties. You can’t have holding penalties. You’ve got to be really disciplined in your progressions at the quarterback position and make sure you keep moving the chains. We talk to the quarterbacks all of the time about being aggressive in the timing of the play, so don’t pass up one to move to the second progression when one is open. That way, you have the ability to get in third-and-6 or less. We’ll be OK in third-and-6 or less, but you’ve got to be pretty dang good at quarterback and a pretty good offense to continually convert third-and-11 and third-and-10s.”
(What do you like about RB Senorise Perry when he gets in there?) – “’Coach Perry.’ Wow, he’s come a long way. We call him ‘Coach Perry.’ We had him in Chicago and he was predominantly a special teams player, but the one thing he’s done is he’s done a great job of studying and learning. He’s definitely a competitive guy. He plays with a lot of intensity. Where he’s come from, 2015 to when I got here, has been shocking to me, his knowledge of the offense. I’m really proud of how he’s learned and worked. He’s become a guy that we … He’s dependable. He’s available.”
(Is that how RB Senorise Perry got the nickname ‘Coach Perry’ from?’ Just the knowledge of the offense?) – “Well, it was. David Fales was with us in Chicago and when he was a young player, he made a lot more mistakes than he makes now. Now, he has an understanding. He’s over there telling, grabbing people. When he was in Chicago, David Fales would take him one-on-one during walkthroughs and be like, ‘Ah, what do you got here on this play?’ Now all of a sudden ‘Coach Perry’ is correcting people. Just to see him grow as a player and an individual has been pretty cool and I’m excited to see how the rest of the preseason goes for him.”
(With two players you have a history with, QB David Fales and RB Senorise Perry, how much of it is just comfort level in the offense?) – “It’s comfort level and the one thing David has made a huge … He’s a lot stronger than he was in 2015. He’s worked really hard with our strength staff here in the summer. He committed to pilates and all these other things, and you can tell he really put an emphasis on strengthening his core. And it’s shown up. He is a stronger player. I think it’s helping him be efficient in the offense and run it. It also helps when you’ve been in the offense for three or four years. You start to have a real understanding. That’s how David is going to make this roster, make this team and compete for the (backup) spot is he needs to master this stuff and know it inside and out.”
(What were your thoughts on the situation involving QB Ryan Tannehill and RB Kalen Ballage at practice Sunday and how Ryan handled it?) – “Ownership. Ownership. We keep telling these guys, Coach Gase can only tell them so many times. Eventually it’s their responsibility to control this stuff. We can only say it so many times. It means more if all of a sudden you bust a protection and the quarterback throws you out. There’s no one you want to disappoint (less) than your teammates and when you walk in the huddle and walk in the locker room, those guys have to trust you. So the level of accountability, that’s where Ryan took a step. It needs to be understood that if you step in the huddle with the ones and you get that opportunity, which a lot of rookies don’t get, you have to earn that right. So for Ryan to hold him accountable, I think that was absolutely the right thing to do.”
(How have you seen QB Ryan Tannehill grow in that area?) – “It’s hard for me to speak because this is my first year obviously, but for him to take that step and say, ‘Hey, this isn’t acceptable. This isn’t the standard we set.’ That’s what needs to happen. It needs to happen more offensively. It needs to happen on defense, and when things start to go that way, it has to come from the players. A coach can only do so much. We’re not in the huddle with them. The coaches aren’t the ones creating penalties. It’s our job to put them in situations to be successful, but they need to hold each other accountable and set the standard for themselves.”
(In terms of the red zone offense on this team, what do you see is the upside? How much talent do you see when you line up at the 20-yard line and you have all of those options?) – “Most importantly is staying efficient and getting down there; but we have some guys that should be … Danny Amendola has been a really good red-area guy for his whole career. I think the one thing that all good red-area teams do is they run the football well. You have to be able to run the football down there. That creates the one-on-ones for guys like Mike Gesicki and ‘11’ (DeVante Parker) and those guys to throw the ball outside the numbers, throw the fades, throw the back-shoulders and be able to create all those pick plays and all of the things this offense has done for a long time.”
(Does Head Coach Adam Gase have a separate playbook for the red zone, or is it just encompassed from the entire playbook?) – “Adam has a different playbook for everything. We definitely have a red-area package. For me, it’s been interesting. We were together in 2015; to get here and see where it’s at right now compared to when we got to Chicago and I got to see the ’12, ’13, ’14 tape when they were at Denver and we’re getting there where we’re getting it all in and we’re still not there. It’s probably operating about 60 percent and there’s still a lot of things that we haven’t gotten to and as we grew as an offense and we find out what each one of these players is … Coach will say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do with this guy and this is what we’re going to do with this guy.’ We do create game-plan plays for those guys in different situations in the red area.”
(You guys have had some injuries at the tight end position, especially among the veterans and another one today. At what point does that become an issue? I know it gives the younger guys some playing time, but you kind of want to see those older guys too, right?) – “We’d love to see everybody. We’re going to worry about what we can control and we can’t control injuries. Our mentality is next man up. We can’t control that and we’re not going to spend a whole lot of time worrying about that because it should be a room that we’re getting better every day. We drafted two players in that room for a reason. Whoever is in there and whoever gets that opportunity better compete because it is a room that there is some competition in.”
(Do you feel like you’ve gotten a good look at TE A.J. Derby and TE MarQueis Gray? I know you saw them during OTAs and minicamp also.) – “I was with MarQueis in Cleveland in 2014 and Coach (Gase) has been around him. We have a good evaluation of him and A.J. He was here last year. So the most important thing is that we need to figure out these young guys as well. In the preseason, we’re not ready to make a determination on anyone at this point; but the more reps they can get, the more situations that they can get put in, they need all of it.”
(That tempo offense, it seems to me – I might be wrong – that you guys are doing more and more of it as training camp has gone on. It seems like you’re getting better at it, but can you take me through that and kind of how it looked in Tampa, and are you progressing at the up-tempo?) – “It’s something that Adam (Gase), it’s always been a big part of his offense. I don’t know if he huddled very much in 2013 and 2014 at all, and it was kind of a mixture in Chicago. It takes time. That’s the thing. In Denver, they had a little bit of time. We’re getting into year three, and it’s year three, four and five when all of a sudden, they have a complete understanding of that. It’s a big reason why coach liked Danny Amendola, is to be able to get him in there and operate in some of those no-huddle situations. We’ll be a team that huddles and we will run some no-huddle as well.”
(The Bucs won on Thursday night and the defense looked pretty strong against the offensive line. Do you any concerns with the offensive line right now with maybe the cohesion that they have?) – “No. I was actually pleased with our twos as well versus their ones. I thought they did a good job. I thought we did a good job in pass pro. The biggest thing that we wanted to see with our ones was not anything other than pre-snap penalties, sacks, turnovers. Go out there and get used to playing in a game together for the first time. Each week it needs to get better. We’re not going to be instant evaluators and make the evaluations based on that, but it is a good start for us.”
(Is it better at this point to have QB Ryan Tannehill mobile – obviously we saw it on that first play of the preseason game – but to have him mobile out there, is that something you’re looking to do a lot this year because of maybe some of the blocking depth that you might have?) – “He had a lot of success in 2016 on the move and doing those things. Obviously, he’s a good athlete, so we’ll continue to mix that stuff in as the defense allows us. We felt like we could get on the edge against Tampa and do all of those things and he did a pretty decent job. He obviously had the first play, an explosive pass right out of the gate on the move. It’s good for him to get out there. He does it in practice, but to do it in a game is completely different, just so he builds confidence in going out there and doing that. ”
Darren Rizzi – August 13, 2018
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Monday, August 13, 2018
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(You see the intensity of training camp now that we’re getting down to the last couple of practices. Obviously, some of the players, I’m sure they’re getting tired of hitting each other.) – “Sure. You go through OTAs, you go through mandatory minicamp, you go through training camp and these guys are going against each other every day. So, (I think this is) typical training camp stuff. The guys are flying around today. We had full pads on and it got a little physical out there. I think that’s just kind of chalk it up to training camp. This is the time of year. The preseason games come at a good time, (so) we can hit somebody else.”
(What do you look for in the second preseason game now, after having a chance to look at the film from Thursday night?) – “Special teams-wise in particular, you’re looking for the younger players in particular to make big-time strides. You always hear that game one to game two analogy, and I think it’s true, but really for the younger guys. There’s a lot of younger players that haven’t played a lot of special teams before – forget about here (but) anywhere. So, you’re looking for those guys to make that jump, that next step in the progression. I think there was a lot of good efforts the other night from a lot of good younger guys, but I want to see improvement. We’re not there yet. There’s some younger guys that we’re really trying to evaluate, so that’s going to be the big thing for those guys.”
(Who stood out to you on Thursday night?) – “There was a bunch of guys that flashed. The one thing we have to be is more consistent. There were some guys across the board – there were a bunch of younger guys that probably made some plays in the open field. As I think through, the running back position, those guys – Buddy (Howell) and Kalen (Ballage) and Senorise (Perry) – those guys all played pretty well. Rashawn Scott and the receiver group did a good job the other night. On the defensive side, a bunch of younger guys, again, all flashed at times. It was a little bit too much of a roller coaster for me. I want to see some more consistency. No one is a finished product just yet at this time of year, so again, (I’m) just looking for that improvement.”
(Where do you assess LB Quentin Poling and his role on special teams?) – “Obviously, he’s a guy that came in and was a guy that can move around on film and can really flash his speed and ability. He’s a guy that played a lot of defense in college and not a ton of special teams. So, again, he’s a guy we’re evaluating. He’s one of those guys that falls right into that roller coaster. He had some good plays the other night; he had some plays that we can’t have on film. Again, we’re going to get him a lot of plays in these next few weeks. He probably had the most special teams reps of anybody the other night, so we’ve got at least a good evaluation on film.”
(As far as the adjustment to the new kickoff rules, how is everybody handling that, and how long do you think that will take you?) – “I have to be honest with you, I think it went pretty smooth. I had a chance to watch that Hall of Fame game to kind of see that first glimpse of it, then obviously with our game. I was a little concerned about some of the intricacies, but I thought it looked pretty clean. I think what you see now, if you look through, there’s a lot of returns in the preseason. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the regular season, but I thought the dynamics, logistics of the play, I thought everything looked pretty good. I think it’s going to be a much more wide open play. A lot of faster guys on the field, not just us but around the league. I think it’s been pretty good so far.”
(What are you looking to see out of your kickers going into the second preseason game and third week of training camp?) – “The same thing with them as everybody else – just improvement. It’s good that they both got that first kick out of the way. Neither of their first rep was very good. Greg (Joseph) kicked the ball out of bounds and then although Jason (Sanders) had plenty of leg on that 53-yarder, he obviously pulled it a little bit. I think he was a little excited. The good thing for both guys is that they really bounced back the rest of the game. They played very well. It’s kind of like (they got) that first one out from under their belt and then both did well. Again, I want to see them have a better start to the game. I want to see both guys keep improving. I’m really happy with where they are the last couple of days. Both guys have had great practices, so I’m happy with their progression; but again, we have three more preseason games for those guys, so you just want to kind of see the improvement, steady improvement. You want to kind of hit your peak in the first week of the regular season.”
(Can you foresee one of those guys being a starting NFL kicker in Week 1?) – “They both have the talent to do it, there’s no doubt about it. I think you saw the other night, kind of like I said, once they got that first one out of there, that’s kind of what they’ve been throughout training camp. There’s no doubt that both guys have NFL ability. It’s just a matter of putting it together week after week, the consistency. I’m overall pleased with their first performance. I think both guys will kick in the NFL. I do.”
Jakeem Grant – August 13, 2018
Monday, August 13, 2018
WR Jakeem Grant
(What did you guys notice after looking at the game tape from that first preseason game, and what changes can you make moving into that second one?) – “I would just say, we’ve got to eliminate penalties, pre-snap penalties. As you look at it, we were only killing ourselves. We were making big plays downfield. We were doing a lot of things right. All I’ll say is to get back to the basics and the fundamentals and get those things corrected, and the next thing you know, who can stop us?”
(Last year that seemed to be an issue as well. Is it the case in the locker room where you guys get on one another about that issue?) – “No. We just have to zone in and stay focused and eliminate those pre-snap penalties. I feel like that’s all it is, is just focus. We’ve just got to have that, a little bit more focus, especially when we get going and we’re getting a little tired. That’s usually when those happen, but I feel like as time passes we will get that all cleaned up.”
(In your third year, what makes you more ready for more of a feature role in the offense?) – “I would say confidence and also just knowing everything, every position on the field and knowing exactly what everybody is doing, from the running back to the receivers to the tight ends, and just knowing exactly what everybody is doing. If I know exactly what everybody is doing, I know my role and I know exactly where I’ve got to be at that right time. All it takes is repetition and having that confidence that you can go out there and make a big play or go out there and spring one of your guys open. I feel like my rookie year, I didn’t know it that much and I feel like I was kind of shaky. The confidence level wasn’t always there and now this year, the confidence is through the roof and I’m just ready to go out there and make plays.”
(Have you thought of growing out the hair a little bit to be a little bit taller?) – “What I do is wear probably like six pairs of socks. So people think like, ‘Man, Jakeem, you’ve got on high heels?’ Nah, man, I’m growing an inch every day. My goal when the season starts, I should be 5-foot-8.”
(With the confidence high, how good a player can you be in this league?) – “Man, there’s no telling with the confidence really high. I’m going to continue to come out here and practice and grind and grind with the confidence level extremely high, and I’m just going to continue to just go off of that. Whatever I do in practice can turn over to the game. You never know. Continue to play with that confidence and just continue to go out there and work hard every single day.”
(What did last year show you about what you’re capable of doing?) – “I would say the Patriots game, it was just showing that I was having confidence and knowing that I can make those big plays and I can help this team out in the passing game. That just sprung my confidence and made me bring down … stop trying to rush and make a play, and stop trying to do all this. Whenever you try to rush and do something, you end up messing up. So my biggest thing was let the big play come to you.”
A.J. Derby – August 13, 2018
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Monday, August 13, 2018
TE A.J. Derby
(How good does it feel to be back at practice, and how tough was it to have to miss some time because of your injury?) – “It feels good to be back. Unfortunately, I was hurt a little bit, a little sore. I’m just happy to be back. I’m going to work to make up for the time I missed and just try to be out there and be the guy I can be.”
(How much do you feel like you set yourself back, being out so long?) – “Mentally, I was very engaged. I don’t think mentally I got (set back) anywhere. Physically, I’m just working myself, getting my legs back under me and getting ready to play against Carolina.”
(How do you look at this battle for playing time and spots at tight end?) – “I can’t really look into it. I don’t make the call on who goes on the field. I just work to do the best I can and then I’m going to try to make plays when I’m in there.”
(The intensity level seemed to be up there today. What was different about today?) – “I don’t know if there was anything different. It’s just the dog days of camp. Everyone is tired. Everyone is working. We’re just trying to get better and we’re just going to keep pushing each other.”
(This camp, how important do you feel it is for you to put good film on in the preseason?) – “It’s always good. It’s always important. Everyone is watching. Every team is watching. I always try to play the best I can and I’m going to keep going forward.”
Adam Gase – August 12, 2018
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Sunday, August 12, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We saw a lot of LB Jerome Baker with the first group today. What did you guys like about how he worked Thursday?) – “He made plays. That’s all we’re looking for guys to do is to get lined up, be in the right spots, find the ball and make plays. That’s it.”
(An update on LB Mike Hull?) – “I don’t know the exact amount of time he’s going to miss, but it’s going to be a little bit. We’re just still gathering information. You know how that works. We think we have things diagnosed and then is anything else going to come up? We just want to make sure that we know all of the details of the injury.”
(How have you seen QB Ryan Tannehill evolve in the area of holding teammates accountable? We kind of saw that today.) – “I think it can be difficult because you’re trying to keep the tempo at practice and you can’t kick a guy out of the huddle all of the time. You can’t shut it down all of the time and have big discussions. It’s a feel, timing. When is the right time to be like, ‘You know what? We’re not right here. We need somebody else in here.’ He was right today with what he did. I would have been upset if I was him because he knows what the result in a game would have been. It would have been painful for him, for sure. I think he was in the right to kind of make an example there. When he does things like that, I think for our offense, that’s a good thing.”
(We saw some changes to both the base and the nickel first-team defense. I know nothing is set in stone but when we see changes like that, is it more based off the preseason games or an accumulation of OTAs?) – “I think it’s accumulation. We’re always going to be moving guys around and trying to figure out what’s the best 11, whether it be offense, defense or special teams. We’re always going to be challenging guys and keep the competition alive. We need guys to win their job every day.”
(When you watch the tape, particularly of the defense, what did you see?) – “Obviously I thought (Jerome) Baker played pretty good. We didn’t play as well as we wanted to. I know (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) wasn’t real happy. I know the coaching staff wasn’t real happy. We need to have a better performance this next game.”
(How is S Minkah Fitzpatrick developing throughout camp and the preseason? You had him on the first team today…) – “I mean he picks things up very quickly. The amount of time he puts in by himself is probably more than I’ve seen in a lot of players, especially a rookie. The guy is a relentless worker. That allows him to go out there and play fast. He’s just football savvy. You can throw him into a lot of different situations. He understands what’s going on. It’s probably a little bit of where he went to college and who trained him. That combination allows him to come out here and do a lot of the things that he does.”
(S Minkah Fitzpatrick talked today a little bit about playing all of those different positions that you guys have him at. Are you guys cognizant of how much is on his plate and when to put him where?) – “Yes. It’s really right now, how much can he absorb? I’m sure at some point – I can’t give you the exact date – we’ll say this is what we’re going to do. The more you can do, the better. You just never know what’s going to happen in a game where when you have guys that can play multiple spots … I always felt like Bobby (McCain) was good for us because we had him at nickel but he can always go outside. There’s just a lot of jobs that he can do. At some point, we’ll probably get to be able to say, ‘Here’s your two spots,’ or ‘Here’s your three spots that you’re going to be working at the majority of the season,’ and then if we need him in an emergency role, he knows what to do, he’s heard those calls and he’s played those spots before.”
(You mentioned CB Bobby McCain. He played some outside corner today. Is that something that you anticipate more from him going forward?) – “Really, it’s about getting our best 11 on the field. If that’s what it is, that’s what it is. We’re just going to keep competing. I think that’s something that Bobby, he’s the one guy that’s able to do that. He can give those receivers fits because he’s aggressive at the line of scrimmage. He can run with them and he can get his hands on the ball. He’s very aware of concepts, which gives him an advantage over a lot of corners.”
(What would you assess was the issue with the first-team defense in terms of how easily Tampa Bay was able to drive down field?) – “I mean we just weren’t good in fundamental things – getting in our stances, getting aligned, making sure we’re in the right gaps. We have to do a better job with that. That was such a point of emphasis from the start of camp. We didn’t get it done. That’s where it was nice today to see when you get ‘20’ (Reshad Jones) and ‘91’ (Cameron Wake) out there, all of a sudden things look a little different because those guys grab a hold of what’s supposed to happen and if somebody is not right, they make sure it’s right. You don’t have to say much when those two guys are around. We need other guys to keep stepping up and being able to do that if they’re not in there. We went 10 games without Reshad two years ago. Last year we were fortunate to where he was able to play every game. We have to understand when one of those guys aren’t in there, somebody else has to step up.”
(What did you see out of LB Raekwon McMillan on Thursday?) – “Like it was the first 14 plays of his NFL career. We’ve got to keep working. We expected it. He was pretty juiced up before the game. That’s kind of done and now we’re moving onto the next one and this week, just keep getting better and when we hit that game, just play fast and make plays.”
(With WR DeVante Parker, it’s kind of hard to assess what’s going on there because CB Xavien Howard knocks down just about every pass thrown at him. Is that Xavien’s really good or is DeVante not running crisp enough routes?) – “I think Xavien is really good. He’s a hard guy to throw against. It doesn’t matter who has been on him, all of the receivers. He’s playing situational football really well right now. That last knock down, he was daring him to run by him. That’s not what I called. DeVante did what he was supposed to do. It was unfortunate that he kind of jammed his finger up there in the middle of that one period, because I finally felt like we were getting in a little bit of a rhythm there to where we had a lot of man coverage in that period, and then he had to duck out. We still had a few plays left, then he came back in and we couldn’t get him the ball like we kind of started to.”
(What did you think of how CB Xavien Howard played against Tampa Bay?) – “What did he play, six plays? He didn’t play that many plays. I thought if he uses the other hand on that ball thrown to the sideline, he probably gets his finger on it. I was standing right there. That thing was as tight as you get. I’m always going to encourage him to be aggressive, because he does have the ability if a guy does win on the line of scrimmage, he can catch up. I just want him to play as aggressive as he does in practice.”
(At what point do you get concerned about chemistry with QB Ryan Tannehill and WR DeVante Parker?) – “I’m not concerned about that. Those guys have been doing this for a minute together. They didn’t have any problems in the spring. It’s just, sometimes, the ball goes other places dictated by coverage. DeVante’s the kind of guy you want man-to-man. You want him to be able to use his size and his body and box a guy out and go get the ball. You need to see press coverage to get that. We’ve had some opportunities. We haven’t made … some of those 50-50 balls haven’t been completed, but we’ll just keep working on it. I’ve seen a turn with those two guys before.”
(Is there a significance in meaning to the rookies getting the decals on their helmet for the first time?) – “They had to have them for the games. That was it.”
(You didn’t take them off?) – “That’s a lot of work for (Equipment Manager) Joe (Cimino) and those guys. (laughter) I’m not trying to make the equipment guys mad.”
(TE Mike Gesicki was telling us that nobody outside of this building thinks that he can block. Do you have to tell him to ignore social media and all of that kind of stuff?) – “He’s never said that to me. He knows how I feel about anybody else’s opinions. I’m always killing him on it anyways, just a reminder of what everybody thought. The thing that I really appreciate about Mike is he wants to do it. He wants to get better at blocking and he doesn’t want to be a receiver. I see him go out there and he tries to do it and he’ll get crushed a couple times; but you don’t see him shy away from it the next time. I’ve seen tight ends in the past that when that happens, they don’t want any part of it because they don’t want to be embarrassed. He just lines right back up and does it again. So, we’ll keep getting better in that area. I like that he’s embracing it, and he wants to be able to be left on the field. He doesn’t want to get taken out and everybody says what (you guys) think, (which is) when he goes onto the field it’s pass. (laughter)”
(How has CB Cordrea Tankersley done from last season to now?) – “I think we’ve had ups and downs. That’s the hardest thing about playing corner at this level, it’s the consistency. It’s being able to come back from getting beat, because you’re going to get beat at this level. I think he’s had good days where it looks like ‘here we go,’ and then we’ve had days where he’s probably wanted them back. We just have to keep finding that consistency. That’s why we have training camp, that’s why we have preseason, that’s why we have all this time to get ready for the regular season – to get your mind right, get better at your craft, and that’s what he’s trying to do.”
(Guys like S Minkah Fitzpatrick, TE Mike Gesicki, LB Jerome Baker – how soon do you know you can throw a bunch of stuff at them and know that it’s going to be okay? It seems like they’ve got it.) – “Those guys, they’re just running through walls right now. It’s just the way they operate day-to-day. If you walk into this building and everybody’s gone, they’re around. They can see there is an opportunity for them to play and at the end of the day, that’s what everybody wants to do. Sometimes when you get rookies that are hungry, they want to get out there. They’ll go earn jobs.”
(Do you have any word about WR Kenny Stills’ ankle?) – “He keeps trying to get out there, and we’re trying to make sure that he’s going to be okay. He tried to run with the team yesterday. We had to hold him back from that. He tried to go out there today. I want to make sure that he’s healthy before we put (him on the field). I don’t want this to be a thing that’s going into the season, or we’re four weeks in and he’s still hurt. I don’t want to do that because we keep having setbacks, so we’ll be smart with this.”
(Is this a good opportunity for some of those other receivers like WR Albert Wilson and WR Jakeem Grant to get that work with QB Ryan Tannehill?) – “One-hundred percent. That’s why we talked in the spring about Jakeem and Albert kind of working with Ryan. It’s going to work out. It usually does. We can do different personnel groupings to get those guys in there with him. I think Ryan’s done a good job trying to grab those guys after practice and keep working on certain routes and the timing of things. This usually happens – especially with wide outs in training camp – you usually have one or two that miss time and then the next guy has to step up. Sometimes it’s good because now, you get thrown in the fire. You have to know what to do, so that’s why everybody has to stay up on it.”
Bobby McCain – August 12, 2018
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Sunday, August 12, 2018
CB Bobby McCain
(There’s a lot of guys in the defensive backfield with position flexibility. Does that kind of help?) – “Very much. We have guys that can play a lot of spots – myself included, Minkah (Fitzpatrick), Reshad (Jones), T.J. (McDonald), Xavien (Howard). Everybody can play everywhere and that’s what they … They want us to learn everything at the end of the day. I’m cool with that. I can play all three spots – safety, nickel, corner. Wherever I need to plug and play, I can do it.”
(We saw a few changes to the defense out there today with the first team. Is that exciting for you guys? Can you talk about what it feels like to have those reps?) – “Yes, definitely. We’re just shuffling the reps up because, at the end of the day, everybody is going to be needed during the season, regardless if it’s at corner or regardless of if it’s at safety. I might have to be the holder in the middle of the season. You never know. (laughter) Just being able to do everything is good for you and it will keep you around.”
(What kind of feedback did the defense get from the first preseason game?) – “We’ve got things to clean up. We can be better. We did some really good thing and we did some things not so good. It’s the first preseason game. It’s expected. Now we have a starting point to know where we’re starting and where we have to get and keep climbing every day. Each and every day (we have to) come out and work and do our job and it will fall into place for us.”
(When you’re at outside corner, what’s something that you have to keep in mind as a point of emphasis or a key that’s a little different than inside?) – “It’s football. I’d like to think I know the game a little bit. Just being consistent with what we’re doing. I always preach, consistency is key and consistency will keep you around. You being consistent in breaking balls up, doing the right things and playing the right calls, at the end of the day, like I said, the ball will fall into your lap.”
(When you’re on the boundary, you can use the sideline as a defender. When you’re in the middle, you’ve got to navigate a lot of traffic. Tell me the intricacies of each positon.) – “The outside is a lot more running. (laughter) You do a lot more running but inside you have to be more of a navigator, more of a facilitator. I guess you can say an extra coach on the field, getting the guys in the right positions and making calls. Outside, you just have to line up and play football. There are going to be some dogs out there, and there are going to be some dogs inside at the end of the day. Like I said, being flexible and just getting the job done. That’s what I pride myself on. If I’m going to get the job done, I’m going to get it done.”
(What do you know about CB Bashaud Breeland? I guess he’s coming in for a visit. What do you know about him?) – “I know he’s a good player. He was pretty good with the Redskins. I’ve watched him over a couple of years. I know he’s made some plays. At the end of the day, I can only focus on myself; but I know he’s a good player. I don’t know. I don’t know him well enough to say I know him.”
(What needs to get cleaned up? I know you guys didn’t play a lot, the starters and stuff; but the numbers that Tampa Bay put up in that scrimmage aren’t acceptable, right?) – “Yes, 100 percent. At the end of the day, even old guys, young guys, no matter who’s in the game – first quarter, fourth quarter – we can’t lose the game like that at the end of the game and we can’t start off the game like that, the way we started. Like I said, we’ve got things to clean up and there’s things that … With the energy and the attitude, just bringing it to the defense. We are going to have it this next week.”
Akeem Spence – August 12, 2018
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Sunday, August 12, 2018
DT Akeem Spence
(How is your camp going so far?) – “I’m just picking up where I left off just football-wise from last season. I’m just working on my technique, trying to get better, trying to bring the younger d-tackles in line and just get them to kind of learn what (Defensive Line Coach) Kris (Kocurek) wants from his d-tackles inside. I just keep pressing and getting better every week, and just keep grinding.”
(How do you feel like you’ve been playing the last week or so, including the game?) – “I felt like in the game we were a little slow. We’ve still got some things to work on so we definitely want to come out this week and play how we’re used to playing – that attack mentality, raising hell in the backfield and doing what we do. We just have to get back to that and that’s what this practice was about today.”
(Where are you in terms of confidence that your unit is playing the way that Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek wants you to play?) – “I’m pretty high on our guys. We were just a little lackadaisical that first game. We’re pros, so we’ll watch the tape and know that we have to come out and fix it. (We have to) fix it this week and then get this thing running.”
(How critical were you guys in terms of the criticism of the first game?) – “As pros, we’re hard on ourselves. We always want to be at our best and that wasn’t our best. We know that, so we just have to fix it (and) get it fixed this week. That’s what we came out here and did today. We played hard, ran to the ball and guys were on their aiming points and everything .”
(What did it feel like to be a leader of the unit?) – “It really doesn’t feel like anything. I’m doing what I usually do. I’m just trying to help these guys come along because they’ve never been in that type of scheme before, just kind of showing them what (Defensive Line Coach) Kris (Kocurek) is talking about and showing them what it looks like. They go out, emulate the same things and work on things that they need to work on.”
(What is it supposed to look like?) – “When you turn on the film, you’re supposed to see four defensive linemen flying off of the tape in the backfield, raising hell. When the ball is thrown, you see four d-linemen trying to plant and just getting out of the stack and trying to get to the ball carrier. Whatever it takes, that’s the mentality that we have in our room, and that’s what we have to have on that field on Sundays. Whatever it takes to get the ball carrier down or the QB down.”
(It does seem like we’ve seen a lot of that the last few weeks overall out here. You guys have looked pretty dominant as a unit. What’s the confidence level right now across the board on the defensive line?) – “The confidence is high. It’s just going out and doing it under the big lights. Like I said, we were a little flat the first week. That’s something we focused on, we got the tape cleaned up, came out here and showed what we’re about; but we just have to show it when we have another opponent in front of us.”
(As a veteran, what do you get the most out of training camp?) – “Just working your technique and just trying to work on something better. Every day it’s something new. In football, you’re never going to be perfect, so if it’s hands, or technique or just getting in better condition.”
(Was Defensive Line Coach Kris Kocurek upset after the first game with the group?) – “I wouldn’t say upset, just disappointed. Guys saw the tape for themselves and they were disappointed in themselves. Obviously we all want to play better, so we came out and practiced. That was our mentality – go hard, get our tails to the ball and that’s how it’s supposed to look on Sundays. I keep wanting to say Sundays, but whenever we have another opponent in front of us. (laughter)”
(When you want to rotate guys and keep guys fresh, is it hard to get a unit out there and get everybody together on the same page when you rotate?) – “No. When the offense is going fast, then you know that you’re not going to get that rotation. If we’re on our details as a defense, we’re three-and-out and the next group is in when we start the next series. Or ‘Hey, we know they’ve got us on a long series. Okay, we’ll go four or five plays and put the next group in at the next ball stoppage.’ It’s just something that we have to keep working on. That’s what training camp is for. We just have to keep getting better.”
(I don’t know if you know a lot about last season, but DT Davon Godchaux said they didn’t really attack much. How different is it going to look?) – “You just have to keep watching the tape and keep coming after practice. This week, we definitely want to go out and show that attack mentality, not just me but the whole d-line as a unit, and we’ll show you what it looks like.”
Minkah Fitzpatrick – August 12, 2018
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Sunday, August 12, 2018
S Minkah Fitzpatrick
(How do you feel about the way you played Thursday night? It seems like you received a promotion partly because of that. How did you feel being out there with the first team today?) – “I don’t know if it was too much of a promotion. I’ve been rotating in and out with the ones. We’re just trying different guys at different spots to try and get the best guys on the field. Not too much has changed from last week. Like I said, we’re just trying different things.”
(Do you feel comfortable at both slot and safety, or is there one you feel more comfortable at?) – “I feel comfortable at both. At Bama, I moved all around. Here, they give me reps all over the place. We all do a good job of just learning the system so we can be interchangeable, can be versatile. It adds value to our defense. It gives a benefit to our defense. It’s another plus.”
(What are some of the keys when you’re at that specific position, the inside corner position?) – “You’ve just got to know what everybody is doing around you. It’s a difficult position to play because at corner, you kind of have the sideline as a friend. At the nickel spot, you have nothing out there. You’re living on an island out there in the middle of the field, so you’ve got to know where your help is at and who’s doing what assignment. You’ve just got to know the concept of the defense rather than just your position. Since I was playing safety and a little bit of dime, I kind of understand what everybody is doing around me, so it helps me when I play that nickel spot.”
(When you look back at the film of Thursday, was it what you expected or better or worse? Your performance.) – “It was about what I expected. I was out there doing it, so I kind of knew what to expect. I see a lot. There’s some things I could have done better, obviously. That’s every game. I was pretty happy with my performance, but there’s always room for improvement, always things I could be working on.”
(Do you know those things on the spot? You seem pretty comfortable.) – “There’s sometimes where you kind of look to the sideline waiting for the coach to say something to you. They may catch it or may not catch it at the time but they’ll definitely catch it on film. There was about one instance this past week where that happened. When you understand the defense and you understand the concepts, you kind of know what you did wrong, and then sometimes of course, I’m still learning. Just sometimes I’ll mess up and one of the vets will come and say ‘You could have triggered faster or you could have done this better.’ I take it, I learn from it and apply it to the next time.”
(Have you set personal goals at intervals of camp and by the second preseason game and third preseason game of where you want to be?) – “For this camp and all of the way up to the first game, my goal was just to learn the defense, understand the defense and go out there and play fast. And then with that, establish myself as a great player on this team, as a dominant player on this team, a young player that the older guys can rely on just to do their job and that when I’m out there, they don’t have to worry about me. They’ll know that I’ll do what I’ve got to do and I’ll just do that by trying to communicate with them so they understand where my mind is at and they’ll know that I can do my job.”
(What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced thus far?) – “I’ll just say it’s the next level, so things come at you a little bit faster. Things are a little bit different. So it’s just learning the small things. I don’t think it’s been extremely challenging, but it has been challenging. I’ve been trying to find new ways to challenge myself. Moving around is difficult, especially when you’re learning the system, so I’d probably say that right there. Just moving around to different positions while trying to learn the defense. I didn’t really move around a whole lot until I learned the whole system at Bama, and then I started moving around. Here, as soon as I got here, I was hopping around. So it’s difficult, but it kind of helps me in the long run.”
(They kind of threw you in the deep end quickly?) –“Yes, sir.”
