Adam Gase – August 19, 2018
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Sunday, August 19, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(How do you think LB Raekwon McMillan has played through two games? Do you look at him as ‘he’s my middle linebacker through thick and thin this season?’) – “Right now he’s doing a good job of going through the progression that we need to go through as really a first-year player. I know it’s his second year, but we lost pretty much the entire season last year. We got a little bit of training camp and a little bit of the offseason; but he’s progressed well and I feel like he’s getting better. After watching this game, you saw some things where he cut it loose. He’s thinking less. That’s really the biggest thing. I know he wants to play well. He wants to do a lot of the things that you want a Mike linebacker to do. I think it’s trending in the right direction.”
(Can you talk about the thought process in bringing DL Kendall Langford back here? I know he was injured and you’ve had some issues with the DTs.) – “His name kept coming up since the spring. Will Hayes was getting on me pretty good about ‘just take a look at my guy, take a look at my guy.’ It just kind of worked out to where we brought him in and we brought a couple of other guys in and did a workout, and our guys felt like he looked like the best guy. They asked him to run a conditioning test and he crushed it. That was great to see because it’s hard to find guys that can come in here, especially at that spot, be in shape and then he plays 18 snaps. It’s been a while since he’s even thrown on pads. For him to come in there and not have any errors, and just minor technique things that we just do different that he hasn’t really done before, I thought it was a great sign for us. Having a guy that’s a veteran guy that basically everybody in this building respects, it’s good to have him here.”
(Are you comfortable with where the d-line is now? Do you anticipate adding more?) – “I like where our d-line is. We just have to make sure that we do a better job of fitting our runs right. I think the d-line is trying to do exactly what they’re coached to do. They’re attacking. I think our edge guys, getting Cam (Wake) back, that’s (important). Not having him the first game compared to the second game, we noticed right away. He dents the edge in the run game. It makes a big difference. We have a couple of young linebackers back there that we just have to make sure that we’re all on the same page.”
(What did the coaching staff notice after reviewing the second play by Carolina, the 71-yard run?) – “It was just kind of what I said after the game. Basically, we misfitted it. Bobby (McCain) had a chance to save the day. He got a little too aggressive. Sometimes, when you’re a secondary player, you want to be aggressive to really show ‘I’ll mix it up, I’ll get in there.’ Sometimes we need him to be just ‘hang there, do your job, and if that breaks through you just get him down and let us reload.’ I think we had two guys get too aggressive in that aspect in the secondary and we didn’t fit it right. We had a lot of guys do right on that play, but then all it takes is one guy to not do the right thing and it could be a chain reaction across the board.”
(The third down conversions in the preseason are not good. Why?) – “Just putting ourselves in a bad spot. Do you remember the down and distances that were on those third downs?”
(Bad.) – “Yes, third-and-13, third-and-25, third-and-14. It’s just unmanageable. It comes from second down, penalty, negative play. Those are where we really have to eliminate our issues. No negative plays on first and second down gives us a chance to say third-and-6 or less, which gives us a higher percentage of converting. We had an opportunity on third-and-6, we made a mistake, and it’s a critical one because it affects everybody else. That’s what we need to get cleaned up. We have to be on it as far as not making the mistakes that we can control. These are things that we’re hurting ourselves. Our guys understand this week, that that has to be our focus. If we want to be better on third down, we have to clean up first and second down, and then when we get third-and-manageable, we have to convert. Everybody needs to do the right thing.”
(What do you think the cause of those penalties are?) – “It’s something different every time. You get an OPI (offensive pass interference), you get a holding at one point where (Kenyan) Drake and Ryan (Tannehill) get their feet tangled up, plus we had a holding on second-and-15, which puts us third-and-12 eventually. It’s just something different every time. Your best chance to have manageable third downs is we have to execute. We have to do it right. ”
(Talk about your red zone offense, what are you seeing there?) – “It hasn’t been good. We have some things that we’re not doing in the preseason games right now that we’ve been working on in training camp. Sometimes when we try to throw things in there for a game specific to what the defense does and we haven’t repped it enough, it’s going to look like crap and it has. I’m alright taking the hit on that one considering that I know what we’re trying to do big picture.”
(Do you think your run defense is going to be better this year than last year?) – “Yes. I do.”
(Why?) – “Because I can see how it’s kind of starting to come together. We’ve got two young linebackers back there that, we’ll get those guys up to speed and they’ll be doing it right once we hit this thing that first week. We have athletic guys in that second level and we’ll get the fits right, because that’s going to be on us as coaches. We’ll give those guys an opportunity to make plays and they’ll make them.”
(How far do you think this team is away from where you want them to be?) – “I think it’s coming down to cleaning up the details. It’s like those little tiny things that big picture-wise, if you see something negative happen and you start going ‘why is that happening? Why did that happen?’ Then when you go back and start watching the film, you start correcting them, you really get encouraged because you’re going ‘we can fix this.’ I’m not sitting there like ‘how do we fix this’ where there’s frustration. We can see how to fix it. We need to go do it in practice and then we have to execute it correctly in a game. If we keep taking things from practice to a game, that’s going to give us our best shot to do it right in pressure situations. I think the guys that we have right now, I’m encouraged that we’re going to get that done.”
(How did TE Mike Gesicki do in this game?) – “He had his ups and downs. I’m always probably going to be a little hard on him because we’re putting him in a lot of positions to pass protect, run blocking, those type of things. We’ll get to the passing game when we need to get to the passing game.”
(When you have two guys battling for the same position either in the starting lineup or on the roster, how often do you throw out analytics and just go with gut feeling?) – “I think you use everything as a tool. Plus, there’s a lot of people involved. You have your position coach, your coordinators. We start talking to pro personnel guys, their vantage point – (Executive VP of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (General Manager) Chris (Grier). We have a lot of guys that we kind of have the discussion, and then we use the analytics when we need to do it. We’re doing a lot with certain aspects of the game, a certain emphasis that we’ve kind of made important in training camp that we’re using to help evaluate our guys. There’s probably a gut aspect that goes of ‘I think this is trending in the right direction. It might not be the most popular decision but this is what we’re going to go with.’ Since I’ve been here, I haven’t been a part of it too much where one guy says ‘we’re doing this,’ and nobody is on the same page. I feel like we’ve been pretty consensus for the most part since I’ve been here.”
(Obviously you like things to operate like clockwork and very well but in all of your years in the league, how much have you found both individually and as a team that preseason performance correlates to regular season performance?) – “I always have to remind myself of this because for me – I know (you guys) don’t ever think I ever get mad and I’m happy all of the time but during the game, I’m pissed. I want us to do well. I want us to score every drive. I want us to win the game. That’s just competitive nature and I think a lot of guys feel the same way. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that it’s the preseason. We didn’t execute this correctly and you have to remember that we’re all almost pressing a little bit because we know we only have this many drives and this many plays. Where in a real game, you can have a rough first half and when you come out in the second half, all of a sudden you can score 28 (points) or you can shut a team out. In a regular-season game, it’s so long of a game that things can change so quickly with one play. You don’t really have that aspect in the preseason because it’s a race against time. You’re just trying to get as much done as possible in a quick amount of time.”
(To piggyback on that, when you get questions like you’ve gotten in the last 15 minutes, do you somewhere in your head go ‘I haven’t prepared. I haven’t shown everything. This isn’t really us. It’ll change in the regular season.’ Or are you thinking ‘This is my team and we suck?’) – “I’m never going to think that way. I know you do, but I don’t. I see where we’re going with this. I see the big picture. Do we want to show red zone stuff? No. You want to be careful with what you show in that area. Third downs and some of the things that you might like to where a team sees it one time and you might never be able to do it again? You don’t want to show it right now. A lot of the stuff that you’re doing right now are the things that you’re working in training camp against your defense. Then you try to pair it up to what the other team that you’re playing is doing. So for Carolina, they’re similar to this, this and this with our defense, so we’ll do this because it’s kind of like our core. That’s really what everybody is doing in the preseason. This third one, you try to do a couple of things but you still don’t want to show the things that you want to do in the regular season. You want to practice it in training camp as much as possible. It probably screws up the quarterbacks more than anybody because it’s like, ‘Hey, we’re working on this. This week we’re going to throw these three things in here in the walkthrough. Make sure you get your timing down.’ It can kind of jack you up a little bit. I don’t know if it had so much to do. I don’t think we were as aggressive as I’d want to be in a regular-season game in the red area.”
(I know RB Jeremy Langford has a lot of bodies in front of him but you had him in Chicago and you liked him. He had a good rookie year. He had a couple of nice runs the other night. What do you like about this kid and does he have a shot?) – “Yes. I always feel like his thing was he got injured. It kind of threw everything off. Last year we brought him in and talked to him about coming here and he chose not to. He wasn’t really healthy. He was trying to catch on though and get with somebody. I think he was looking for it to carry into the offseason and training camp. For us to get him back here and kind of get him going to where he can play in some games … I was encouraged the other night. I know he’s trying to get caught up with the terminology because some things have changed from the last time I was with him. He’s been in a couple of different systems. He’s starting to be able to play fast. I knew last night, or the other night, when we put him in, there were a few routes that I wanted to throw with him to just get him out and see if we can get him the ball and see if we can get him into the open field. I thought he probably made one of our better tackles on the interception. He did a good job. He stuck that guy pretty good. He had a good reception to where he made a bunch of guys miss. It’s good to see him kind of get going. I think once he’s really wired in terminology-wise, I think it’ll be easier. I think this week will be a better opportunity for him, as well.”
(Do you need to see RB Frank Gore on Saturday?) – “Do I need to see him? I don’t. But he’s driving me insane right now. (laughter)”
(Do you expect RB Frank Gore to play then?) – “I mean we’ll see how the week goes. If I say no right now then he’ll be in my office in five minutes. I know that he wants to go out there and do something. I think he’s tired of staying on the sidelines.”
(Among guys who are close, is there anyone that you expect back to work this week amongst WR Kenny Stills, DE William Hayes, C Jake Brendel, etc.?) – “Stills I think has a really good chance of actually practicing right away on the first day. We just have to see … Today he was going to run around and really juice it up. I know he is saying he feels right but you know how that works. I think we’re all a few credits short. I think with Tony (Lippett), we should be good to go. Really, our biggest thing with Tony was he had four reps last week. That was on me. I didn’t want to throw him in a game and he just hadn’t seen those guys. He hadn’t been competing like the way that we were going to compete on Friday.”
(With CB Cordrea Tankersley, have the coaches put any rhyme or reason to why he hasn’t taken that next step?) – “I think it’s tough to really say it’s this one thing. I think at that position, there’s just so much consistency involved in it. If you have a guy that even when they get beat, they come back the next play and they keep fighting … I think it’s just that we’ve had some ups and downs. I think we just need to find a way to level him out and get him to just play it one play at a time and compete. Get your hands up. His length and his ability to run, those are his strengths. When we see him press, we want him to put hands on the receiver and jar that guy at the line of scrimmage. I think that’s the No. 1 thing. If he does that consistently, I think that’s where he really has an advantage over guys because even if he misses, he has that speed that he can catch up to that guy. He’s long and he can get his hands on balls. Really, I think he just needs to use his strengths and apply them as much as possible. I think sometimes he just gets away from it sometimes and it’s hard to explain sometimes. When you’re a tall corner that’s long and fast, use your skills.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Jakeem Grant in terms of how defenses play him. Is that what you expect is for everybody to give him a 7-yard cushion?) – “Would you? I’m not going to ask you. You aren’t winning a race versus anybody. (laughter) Yes. The way he can release off the ball, he’s hard to get hands on. He can make guys miss very quickly if you press him. That means he’s going to get by you. Now the safety might have to get involved, so you’re taking the safety out of the middle of the field and the other side is going to become available. The easier way is ‘Just keep him in front and let’s just go tackle him.’ Him being a guy that can do punt return and kick return, now he has an opportunity to make guys miss in space. You can see guys being a little careful of how they play him. Plus he doesn’t have a ton of film out there to where guys are trying to feel him out in a game. That’s when it can get tough.”
Robert Quinn – August 17, 2018 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Defensive End Robert Quinn
(RE: His role this season)
“My motto since I got here is just trying to do my job, add my piece to the puzzle. Today was just a stepping stone, trying to get back and just be a productive player to help this team win. Just do my part and do my one eleventh and hopefully that’s good enough. And of course the guys around me, I know they’ll step up and make plays so I’m just building to do my part. Hopefully I’m just preparing myself for the season.”
(RE: Panthers tackle Matt Kalil)
“I mean I’ve played him a couple of times when he was in Minnesota. Just went out there, worked some moves and I guess they just worked perfectly against him tonight. But no, he’s a great player. Today was just my day, I guess.”
(RE: If he felt different preparing for the 2018 season)
“I’ve been saying that since it happened the first time. Of course it hasn’t happened but I always believe that every year. That’s kind of my mindset to break records and do something extreme. Hopefully yes, I can get back to those good numbers but at the end of it, as long as this team is winning they don’t matter. The numbers don’t matter as long as the wins show up.”
Raekwon McMillan – August 17, 2018 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Linebacker Raekwon McMillan
(RE: Miami’s Defense)
“We had a long touchdown pass. Other than that, I think we played solid on defense. Clean up some of the mistakes and we’ll be all right.”
(RE: Regarding the defense on Christian McCaffrey’s 71-yard touchdown run)
“They just scanned us up pretty good. They know we played wide nine so they came in tight with the tight end and cut off one of our linebackers and we couldn’t get over top. Simple rush through scheme that we didn’t see yet and like we said, we went in halftime, made the corrections and next time we stuffed them.”
(RE: On playing in the preseason)
“For sure, I had a chance to go out there and play free. I got the first game jitters out and I got a chance to play.”
Minkah Fitzpatrick – August 17, 2018 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick
(RE: what he learned after playing tonight)
“I didn’t really learn too much today, just have to keep competing every day. It’s good to go against some great talent, great players like Cam Newton and the rest of his offense. We’re going to keep competing, learn from the mistakes, and that’s it.”
(RE: learning where he fits with the defense)
“We’re still trying to figure it out. Last week I played free safety, this week I played nickel. Still just trying to figure it all out.”
(RE: areas of improvement during big plays)
“It’s just small things. It may be one or two people not doing their job, it happens. On a big play like that… we just have to fix those things, learn from it, and keep moving forward.”
Ryan Tannehill – August 17, 2018 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(The first team offense wasn’t able to get into the end zone; are you frustrated with that or are you a little patient with that?)
“I think disappointed in the fact that we didn’t come out and execute like we need to execute. We had penalties in the red zone, some missed assignments; so it’s really all around we didn’t execute like the way we needed to execute. We left a lot of points and a lot of yards on the field, so we definitely need to learn from this one. There were some good things that happened but you have to be able to finish drives. You have to be able to get in the paint, put the ball in the end zone and that’s with touchdowns.”
(Do you feel like majority of the struggles were self-inflicted?)
“No question. I feel like we moved the ball and that we did what we were supposed to do, we moved the ball. Whenever we have penalties and take a 10-yard penalty down the red zone, it gets tough. We had a pass interference down there as well, two holding penalties, delay of game, it makes it tough. It’s going to be tough to score points whenever you are getting behind the chains like that. It is self-inflicted wounds that we can totally correct.”
(How do you balance that problem with the season three weeks away?)
“It’s still early. They are not something that you can’t correct, it’s not a way we are playing that we can’t correct or something like that. Technique and the way we are doing things is important, that’s why we have practice, right? So we have to learn from this and move forward.”
(When the defense gives you an opportunity like they did with Xavien Howard’s interception, what does that do for the offense?)
“Well it’s huge. I think we got the ball first-and-nine on the nine. As an offense we have to be able to put that thing in the end zone. We didn’t execute and we had a penalty on the first play I believe, so once you do that you are having to overcome from being way behind the chains. Big play by the defense, Xavien (Howard) makes a huge pick, gets a nice return and gets it down inside the 10-yard line, and as an offense we have to take advantage of those opportunities because it’s not often that you are going to get one of those. It doesn’t happen every game so when it does and you get a turnover inside the red zone you have to capitalize.”
(How was it working with Jakeem Grant and Albert Wilson instead of DeVante Parker and Kenny Stills?)
“I mean it’s different but I think they did a good job. I think it was pretty seamless, the only miscommunication was on me. Those guys did a great job, they played fast, they got the ball in their hands, they were explosive getting yards after the catch and did exactly what we needed them to do.”
(The miscommunication with Jakeem Grant in the end zone, is that what you are referring to?)
“Yes, he is totally right going out there, I have to be able to hit him on the out.”
(Where do you think this team is with regular season readiness?)
“We are moving down the track. I think that we are on the right track, we are doing some things that we want to do. When we move the ball we move it effectively and we do what we are supposed to do. When we didn’t have penalties we move the ball right down the field. I think there are a lot of good things that we can learn from and build on, but we have to take away those penalties, you can’t have those or it is going to be difficult to score points.”
(Albert Wilson is a new guy for you and the offense, how has he been?)
“Albert has done a great job. He has picked up the offense very well. Having Kenny Stills be out for this week really gave him the opportunity to come in and get a lot of reps in practice as well as this game so that was huge for us, myself and him, just being on the same page and stacking up those reps together.”
Adam Gase – August 17, 2018 (Postgame)
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase (Postgame)
(RE: No huddle)
“That was good and the drives were. Having one negative play hurts us so much and puts us in a bad position – puts us at third and long. It’s tough to overcome. You have to eliminate negative plays whether it be a negative run. It’s not like minus one. It’s like minus five, minus six.”
(RE: Still seeing sloppiness)
“I don’t know if it’s so much sloppiness or just… we have to react a little quicker. That’s what happens when you practice in games. It’s different. You have to be quicker to react to things.”
(RE: When do stakes raise and become problem)
“Once you get in the season. We’ve got two more weeks to clean it up. That’s where our focus has got to be.”
(RE: Christian McCaffrey 71-yard run)
“It can be one guy. We had two guys kind of misfoot it. It’s a lot different when you go from doing it in a walk-through to live competition. They executed the play very good and we had one guy misfoot it. We had a chance to save ourselves and we didn’t. That’s one thing we have to eliminate these big runs. We could have 30 good plays against the run, but if you have two explosive plays against the run that’s going to hurt us.”
(RE: Raekwon McMillan)
“We’re bringing guys in and out and just trying to figure out what’s going to be the right formula for us when we go into the regular season.”
(RE: Ryan Tannehill)
“I think he was good. We’ve just got to get quicker in and out of the huddle. He was sharp as far as his accuracy and his decision making. He wasn’t hesitant in anything. It seems we’re moving the ball the way we want to, we just have to make sure we finish the drives with touchdowns.”
(RE: Ryan Tannehill to Jakeem Grant miss)
“Ryan was just kind of thinking something else. Jakeem was right in what he did. Ryan just kind of lost it there for a second.”
(RE: Defensive changes)
“These are about details that will be easier to talk about the next time I see you guys. There were some plays we made and there were plays I would have liked to have seen us make. That’s why we’ve still got to practice and we’ve still got to go out and get better – tighter coverage and rush better have our linebackers be consistent.”
(RE: Robert Quinn)
“He’s been a terror in training camp. I think Laremy (Tunsil) has done a great job. He has a knack for pass rush. He comes off the edge quicker. It’s good to see him get a go against somebody else and have success.”
(RE: Is Osweiler separating as the number two now)
“We flipped it from last week. David (Fales) went second last week.”
(RE: Concerned no one is playing well in that role)
“I wouldn’t say that. I think there have been times when they’ve both played well. We’ve gotten through practice. We watch them every day. I know what’s expected in the game. When you’re in there with the starters it looks different – guys are breaking free. It’s tough. There are different groups and it can be challenging as quarterback. Their timing is not the same. That’s where they’ve got to fight through that and try to get completions and put the ball in the end zone.”
(RE: Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant after injuries)
“They both were consistent as far as executing what we asked them to do. They are unique to have in the position I have right now. I feel like those guys would start on other teams.”
(RE: Albert Wilson’s position on offense)
“He seems to have no issues picking up where we’re going. Occasionally something will come up that he hasn’t experienced before and he figures it out pretty quick.”
(RE: Comfort level with Bobby McCain)
I’m always going to be comfortable with Bobby because he competes. He stays tight. This was kind of his first exposure against a different competition apart from practice. I think he’ll only get better
(RE: Fair to say this is his job)
It could be. It could be. We’ll kind of see how it goes.
(RE: Jeremy Langford)
“He showed up. I mean he came in and passed our conditioning test. I was surprised when we told him we were going to start running and I was thinking ‘alright, we’ll see how this goes’ and he said he felt good there at the end and he said he got the dust knocked off. We’ll see how it goes past this point.”
(RE: Held out Tony Lippett)
“That was my call. He didn’t have as many reps this week. I didn’t want to put him in a position where he was hesitant at all. Next week, we’ll get a full week of practice and that will give him the opportunity to go out there and compete. We’ll see where he is then.”
(RE: Xavien Howard)
“He’s done really well in camp. In practice I just want him to keep playing aggressive. You’re going to get manhandled occasionally. I told him I thought he missed on the jump. He disagreed with me on that. That’s how it goes. We’ll look at it on tape. I love his confidence right now. He really takes it personal if somebody throws it on his side. The more we can get him exuding that confidence on other guys, that’s really what we’re looking for.”
Adam Gase – August 17, 2018 (Halftime)
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Friday, August 17, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase (Halftime)
(Not the way you wanted to start things off on that first drive but the defense came back and played pretty well until that last drive.) – “It was better. We just can’t let those big plays up. It’s got to get cleaned up a little bit.”
(Your thoughts on your first offense and QB Ryan Tannehill moving the ball.) – “We’re moving the ball but we’re getting field goals. We had a great opportunity after a turnover to put it in the end zone and we didn’t do it; we had negative plays. We have a lot of things to clean up.”
(You’re getting some good play out of your outside wide receivers. WR Jakeem Grant and WR Albert Wilson seem to be doing pretty well out there.) – “Yes. We had some good plays. We had some bad plays. We have to make sure that we catch the ball.”
(You finally saw the pass rush you were looking for. DE Robert Quinn came on and had some other opportunities out there.) – “That was good. That was one of our problems last year when we came here. We couldn’t get the quarterback down. I thought the guys harassed him and did a good job of causing some pressure.”
Ryan Tannehill – August 14, 2018
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Tuesday, August 14, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(Are you excited about breaking camp officially?) – “Yes and no. I love camp. I think it’s the best time of year to get better. The competition, the focus on football, the amount of time that you’re able to spend in the meeting room and on the practice field, I think you gain so much from it. Part of me is sad that it’s breaking and it’s over; but it’s the next step. I’m excited for what’s in front of us and the opportunities we have in front of us. This just means that we’re moving on to that.”
(Are you feeling the benefits of having an offensive line together for a whole camp?) – “Yes, of course. I think the offensive line is really doing a nice job. I think the past few days especially, the pass protection has been really good. I’m really excited about the way that they’re moving around, passing guys off and just giving me time back there. It started off back last week in the game, they did a great job and I think they’ve continued to build off of that.”
(What do you feel is the biggest benefit that you’ve noticed right away when you have a line together instead of shuffling guys in and out?) – “The consistency. I think they know how each other plays. There’s a trust factor that ‘okay, I’ve passed this twist off with this guy 200 times by now, so I know that he’s going to be there in the right spot.’ Just trust in the man beside you and the consistency of knowing the flow of the offensive line. It’s huge having that being the same over the course of several weeks.”
(I saw you had a little moment with Head Coach Adam Gase right before kickoff. You said ‘you can’t even imagine.’ What was that conversation like?) – “I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something to the effect of ‘I’m excited to have you back out here.’ I was like ‘You don’t even know. You don’t even know how excited I am to be here.’ To be on this field, do what I do, get play the game that I love … it was a long time coming. So it was great to get back under the lights and play some football.”
(You talked about the trust of the players and the trust of your own body. Having that one game and that one series, does that give you more confidence in yourself, your body, your knee?) – “I think the trust has been there for a while now. I think throughout the spring, that’s when I really got the 100 percent trust back, being able to do everything that I need to do out here and more throughout the training process and practices. Doing all of the running, cutting, the movements that I need to do, I think that’s what gave me confidence and the trust. Now, I don’t even think about it. It’s just going out there and playing.
(On if he’s going to play this week.) – “I have no idea. (Head Coach Adam) Gase hasn’t let me know anything yet.”
(You want to play a little more though, obviously. You want to get out there a little more.) – “Yes. I wanted to play more last week. Especially my first time playing in a long time, I got the juices flowing and got a taste of the action and I wanted more. But Gase has a plan, he does everything for a reason, and I’m sure I’ll get to play a little more this week.”
(Do your goals progress each week in the preseason? Do you have different things, more advanced things you want to try to get out of this week compared to last week?) – “Yes. There’s specific things that we’ll go into each preseason game. Last week, it was a sense of urgency to the line of scrimmage, tempo to the line of scrimmage, getting the guys up and going and I think that we did that. I think that we did a good job of that. Now, that’s one series, so we have to continue that and we’ll add something else this week that will be a focus.”
(What kind of a challenge is it to work with a new batch of wide receivers with WR Jakeem Grand and WR Albert Wilson in there, with WR Kenny Stills and WR DeVante Parker out?) – “Yes, it’s a little bit of a challenge. The benefit is they’re really talented guys. We have had throwing sessions in the summer. I was working with those guys out here. We’ve been trying to work them in. But it is an adjustment having different guys, different bodies, different body types. They’re both really talented guys and can play the position in a way that we need them to play. So, yes, it’s just a matter of getting the reps and getting comfortable with how each guy moves under duress, when he’s getting pushed and how he’s going to recover and little things like that. If you’re throwing and it’s free access then it’s like nothing, but it’s little things of alright, he’s getting pushed and one guy recovers a different way than another guy, but you have to throw it at the same time. Just knowing how each guy recovers a little differently is the adjustment.”
(You obviously have to pick your spots when it comes to – you had a moment I guess Sunday with RB Kalen Ballage – what goes into that as a leader, when is the right time to do something like that?) – “You don’t want to be an iron fist all the time, at least I don’t. I like to pick my spots like you said, and have a reason for everything that I do. I believe in Kalen. I know the talent that he has. He has every tool that we need him to have – he’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he catches the ball well, he can pass protect. I told Kalen after the fact, I just want him to have more urgency. We want him to help us, I know he can help us; but we have to know what we’re doing when we’re on the field, especially in pass protection. I think he’s picked it up. I think he’s doing a good job of pressing forward and he’s going to help us this year.”
(Can you talk a little bit about the red zone offense, do you feel like you have more options this year than you’ve had in the past?) – “Yes. I think when you add some new receivers, a couple of new tight ends that are really talented – especially Mike (Gesicki), a guy who’s long and athletic, rangy – you have more mismatch problems than we’ve had in the past. I’m excited about the opportunities we have and trying to find those matchups that are better for us and get them the ball.”
(What’s it been like to see RB Frank Gore run the way that he’s running at this stage of his career?) – “I don’t even know how old Frank is. He runs like he’s 25. I’m excited to play with Frank, I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, how he plays the game, how hard he plays. The (most fun) part for me has been seeing him get through these little tiny cracks. It looks like he’s going to run right into the back of an offensive lineman and somehow he does a subtle little cut, shifts his shoulders and he’s cutting through a tiny little crack. It’s really amazing. I sit back in the quarterback room and watch these cuts and I’m like ‘Holy crap, did you see that?’ I don’t think people realize how tough that is to do and the vision that you have to see, the anticipation that you have to have to make that type of cut. He’s really one of a kind and I’m excited to play with him.”
(Where do you guys stand with the no-huddle offense? How is it progressing?) – “It’s good. We’re constantly working on it. I think we have a few different tempos that we can play at. We can go in the huddle and we can go on the ball at a normal pace. Or we can go – we call it ludicrous speed – and really push the tempo. I think that’s going to help us and be a tool this year more than it has in the past. We can change those tempos up and try to keep the defense on their heels.”
(How often have you guys gone ludicrous speed?) – “We had a few plays today in the last team period that they were out of the blue. It was like normal tempo, normal tempo, boom and then we jump into it and go really fast. I love doing that. I love getting the defense of their heels. Our guys do a good job of getting up on the ball and keeping that pressure on the defense. It’s kind of on Gase to initiate that and call it, but I love when he incorporates it.”
(And what are you guys doing better as opposed to previous years in the no-huddle or whatever speed, up tempo?) – “I think in 2016, going back, (it was the) first year in the offense for a bunch of guys and it was just difficult to be as consistent as we wanted to be, so we ended up huddling more that year. Last year with all the changes, it made it more difficult. Going into this year, we’ve had consistency for several years with these guys. They know what to do, they know what spots to be in and now we’re able to press the tempo.”
(Your thoughts on training camp being over?) – “I’m a little sad that it’s over. I love training camp. I love the grind. I love the time that we’re able to spend together, spend out here on the practice field, spend in the meeting room. I think you get your biggest gains in this time of year. You gain all times of the year, but I think your biggest gains are made in training camp. So, part of me is sad, but the other part of me is excited, because it marks the next phase, the next chapter of this season and getting ready for game one.”
(What’s the hardest part about playing in the heat and how does it work to your advantage early in the season as opposed to later? Does it help?) – “Yes, I think it helps. We’re accustomed to it. We’re out here every single day grinding in the heat pretty much no matter what the temperature is or the index or anything like that. We should be accustomed to it more than any other team and we have to use it to our advantage, especially with what I was talking about the tempo and things like that of getting teams on their heels and grinding them down. They might stay with us in the first, second and third (quarters), but hopefully by the fourth quarter we grounded and pounded them enough to where we can use the heat and the whole home-field advantage to the fullest.”
(What’s your impression been of some of the rookies you’ve faced on first-team defense – S Minkah Fitzpatrick, LB Jerome Baker – and how they’ve looked out there?) – “They’re doing a good job. I think Minkah really flashed in the spring and has continued to get better. They’re moving him around a lot. He’s playing safety. He’s playing nickel. He’s doing a little bit of everything back there. He’s an extremely talented guy. You can tell he loves the game of football and he’s a football player. He works extremely hard. So, he has all the indicators that I love seeing in a defensive player. I think he’s going to be big time for us.”
(On feeling more comfortable being himself.)) – “I think it’s just been a progression throughout my career. I think the more confidence you get as far as games under your belt, time spent with the guys, time in an offense, dealing with all the bull crap that you deal with in this profession, I think at some point you’re kind of like, ‘Screw it. I’m going to be me and do everything I can to win and if they don’t like it, then oh well.’ I think that’s part of it. Part of it is Gase and the support he has for me and the confidence he gives me to go out and be me and lead the way I want to lead.”
(On using his voice more this year.) – “Like I said, it’s just a progression. I wouldn’t say it’s something I’m really focusing on or anything like that. Just going out, being me and trying to drive this team every single day to execute and hold our standard and win football games.”
(I know you addressed this in the past, but take us back through the injury with LB Raekwon McMillan and the rehab and how you guys challenged each other? You’ve seen him go down and challenged each other in the offseason.) – “It was terrible seeing Raekwon go down. It was the first preseason game, kickoff and I was up in the box having a little pity party myself, wishing I was out there. To see him go down, I wasn’t really sure what it was. As soon as I heard it was an ACL, my heart was broken, because I knew the emotions that he was dealing with – pain, disappointment, the anger, all of those things that overwhelm you in that moment. I really felt for him in that. We actually had surgery on the same day, so we were neck-and-neck the whole way through our rehab, pushing each other day in and day out. Little things that weren’t a competition, we’d find a way to make them a competition and to just push each other. We’re competitors. That’s why I love … I found that out about Raekwon during that time and I love it about him is he’s a competitor. He loves competing and loves the game of football. Just being able to compete with him each and every day, there were some things that were really difficult. We did some BFR (blood flow restriction), which was a grind. It’s basically a cuff they put and it squeezes 80 percent of the blood flow out of your legs and then we’d ride the bike. It started off as we’d ride and then we made it a competition. How far can you go in 10 minutes? Boom, boom, boom, boom. Pretty soon we were hitting four miles. It might not sound like a lot, but when you don’t have blood flowing into your legs, your legs feel like they’re going to explode after the first 45 seconds. It’s really just a mental grind. We found a way to push each other and make each other better and I think get mentally stronger through the whole process.”
