Jarvis Landry – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
WR Jarvis Landry
(One of the things I asked WR Kenny Stills about … When I asked T Ja’Wuan James the other day about RB Jay Ajayi rushing for 100 yards, he was very quick to praise the wide receivers saying the critical part of this was not just us, it was the downfield blocking. How critical is that? How much pride do you guys place in that?) – “A lot. The first sign you see when you walk into the receiver is ‘No block, no rock.’ And that’s something that (Wide Receivers) Coach ‘J’ (Shawn Jefferson), he stresses a lot. Obviously having a guy back there like Jay (Ajayi) and the whole collection of running backs that we have, and the ability they have to make big plays when they get space, so when they get to the second and third level, that obviously starts with the o-line; but to get them to the third level, they need us. I would say we do a great job – better than a lot of other teams – as far as just blocking down the field to get Jay (Ajayi) to the third level to have an opportunity to make big plays.”
(When it comes to closing games late in games, you guys have done that well the last couple of years. How big is experience? You’re faced with those situations and you can say we’ve been through this before, we know what to do.) – “Just score more points than they do. That’s the mindset.”
(But is the mindset we’ve done this before we can do it again?) – “I mean every week is different. Any given Sunday, anybody can win. Just score more points than they do.”
(Hearing from some of the new people new on this team this year, they’re surprised by the amount of energy on the sideline throughout the whole game. Where does that come from?) – “It’s just all of us buying into each other, buying into what we’ve got going here in Miami. I say for us, we just, as a whole, we’re just so excited to see the success of each other. I think when you have that inside of our organization, you’re going to have the sideline pumped up about any play, especially a big play. So for us, we believe so much in each other and to have the opportunity to go out there and make plays and do it for each other, that’s what it’s about.”
(Is anything about QB Jay Cutler surprise you about something he does that you didn’t expect or anything like that? Maybe moving around in the pocket or anything like that?) – “I have always known him to be a guy that makes plays. That’s always something that we’ve seen. To have an opportunity to see him get out of the pocket and still make plays down field, I think he prefers that to running. I think he had a couple of opportunities where he could have took off; but, he decided to not cross the line of scrimmage and throw the ball downfield, which I appreciate. Us as receivers really appreciate it a lot. So that’s something.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said that you woke up Friday with some swelling in your knee or something like that?) – “Yes.”
(Were you kind of – that doesn’t seem like something that has been mentioned before with you – were you a little spooked by that?) – “No, I wasn’t spooked. I think the biggest thing for me was just trying to get it to the attention of the trainers and figure out what was going on. From there, come up with a plan that helps me get to Sunday, and that was really it.”
(As far as your locker, you’ve got the last two rankings of the NFL Network – your ranking – on there. Does that motivate you and what number would satisfy you?) – “One.”
(Just one? Just being number one?) – “One. Period.”
(Do you feel like everything you’ve got going on right now, the knee and ankle, that you can play through that?) – “Absolutely.”
(Do you have any concerns about that?) – “No concerns. I can play through that, yes.”
Kiko Alonso – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
LB Kiko Alonso
(Puerto Rico has been leveled by the hurricane. You have ties to the island. What are your thoughts on that?) – “My dad’s side of the family lives there and just seeing the pictures of what happened is devastating. My heart goes out to them and I’m trying to get something done to raise some money for (them). Obviously they’ve got all kinds of issues, so that should be up and running soon.”
(Does it make it, not tough to concentrate, but is it going to be occupying your mind a little bit?) – “Yes, definitely. Just seeing the photos is crazy, just the damage that’s been done.”
(And you were there this summer doing a clinic, correct?) – “Yes, we were there in April. So, yes it’s crazy. We were just there and now just seeing what happened. Mother Nature is a beast.”
(Do you have people actually living there?) – “Yes, they’re all, just about all of them are there: my cousins, aunts, uncle. They’re all over there. I still haven’t talked to them yet; but it sounds like they’re okay.”
(Did anything stand out to you during the clinic that you did over there? What was that week like?) – “Yes, those kids love playing football. It’s obviously not the biggest sport, you’ve got baseball, you’ve got boxing, volleyball, basketball, but there’s a lot of kids that play and there’s a lot of talent. Football’s all about passion and pride and they’ve got a lot of that.”
(Both Head Coach Adam Gase and Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke today were talking about your leadership among the linebackers. Did you feel, coming in, that it was your place to lead the way because you’ve got a lot of young guys around you?) – “Yes, this is my fifth year. We’ve got a lot of young guys, so I’m just going to use that as (motivation) to be a leader on the team.”
Adam Gase – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Every season is different, every team is different. How reasonable is it to expect some carry over from last year to this year in the team’s ability to close?) – “I think we have enough guys that have been through those type of situations. That’s kind of the learning aspect of the game. When you’re trying to keep a core of guys together – which we were able to really do for the most part from last year – I think that is something that can carry over. When you get to the fourth quarter and there’s that belief that guys are going to make plays, you’re counting on the guy next to you to do his job so you can do yours instead of worrying about, ‘Can I trust this guy to do this?’ Just watching that fourth quarter, when you watch it from special teams, offense and defense, you see a lot of good things. You see a lot of different guys stepping up and making plays.”
(And where does the belief come from? Is it talent, leadership, coaching, experience?) – “I think a lot of it is experience. Sometimes it takes one guy to make one play that gets guys believing. Thinking back, as interesting as the Cleveland game was, (we) found a way to get into overtime and then Jarvis (Landry) makes a play. Jay (Ajayi) ends up scoring. And then going into the Jets game last year at home, where a guy like (Kenyan) Drake who’s a rookie, takes a kickoff return back. It might take one or two guys that do something special at the right time that gets everybody thinking that you can win those games in the fourth quarter.”
(Any serious injury concerns about RB Jay Ajayi or WR Jarvis Landry?) – “No, I wouldn’t say serious. They both got banged up a little bit in that last game. I know Jay … There was a couple where he was off his feet one time where he got spun around in the air there and took a pretty vicious hit. Jarvis had a couple where he took some shots. It’s probably a little more preventative than anything.”
(With this, obviously, losing the bye – or taking your bye in the first week, let’s put it that way – as a challenge, do you have to have a game plan as a coach to sneak those extra days of rest in?) – “Yes. That was probably the first thing we started doing was looking at the calendar, kind of seeing where we can make some adjustments. We might lose some of these Mondays where you’re used to meeting and going through the game. It might be, ‘Let’s get in here, let’s get our lift in, let’s get our run in,’ and then send them off and maybe you make Wednesday a little longer just so we can cover what we need to from the game. You try to steal some days here and there if you can. There are ways to do it. You’ve just got to try and figure out what’s the right way for us.”
(A couple of unrelated questions: he asked about WR Jarvis Landry and RB Jay Ajayi. Do you expect them to practice today?) – “I think right now, we’re just going to … I know Jarvis is going through individual. I’m not sure where Jay (Ajayi) is at right now. And then we’ll see how he feels. It’s really just more of, ‘Is he still stiff? Does he feel like he can really get going?’ Plus with us being on the turf, I don’t know if that’s going to affect him at all. I’m going to wait and see for myself, as well.”
(I asked this to Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen: In the red zone, do you have a go-to guy in the red zone and should you have a go-to guy?) – “I’ve never really had a go-to guy in the red zone. Spread the ball out and make it tough. You want them to have to cover everybody – run, pass, whatever we decide to do, different formations. You want everybody to be effective down there. Everybody has got a little, probably, a little something that they’re better (at) than the other guy is. You lean on the things you know they’re really good at. We had some opportunities. I had some bad play calls. They did a good job.”
(Speaking of that, you’ve been hard on yourself about the play calling. Have you figured out why you might’ve been off according to you?) – “It was one of those situations, it was almost like I wasn’t believing how they were playing us. I was waiting for (Chargers Defensive Coordinator) Gus (Bradley) to take the next step and he stuck with what he was doing. That probably really … I should’ve just believed what I was seeing and just got to the things that we could attack, the coverages they were playing. I think I was just waiting for him to take whatever he had off of that, if it didn’t work. I think it wasn’t … I wasn’t giving our guys good chances. I was doing things in the first half that were … Just didn’t let them just go play and win one-on-one matchups. We were doing too schematical crap instead of just saying, ‘Alright, DeVante (Parker), go win. Jarvis (Landry), go win. Kenny (Stills), go win.’ I think we got to that in the second half. That’s really probably the biggest thing was I felt like I held our guys back.”
(As a follow up to that, you have two hats that you wear. You’re also the head coach. A lot of things were happening to this team in the days prior to the game. And in the hours prior to the game, you had a player go AWOL. Is it possible that, that stuff was also on your plate and you were juggling all these things?) – “I think the one thing about this profession is you’ve got to be able to compartmentalize things and focus on what you’re doing at the time. I felt like the play-calling was more not necessarily from that. It was more trying to be too cute after that first drive. We had some success and then kicked a field goal and stuck with some of the other things that we had game planned, that maybe they hadn’t seen yet, instead of just letting our guys go win their one-on-one matchups. That’s really where I felt like I wasn’t very good at, to where in the second half, it was more allow them to go play and get the one-on-ones and win.”
(I’d like to get your assessment in two areas: the hurry-up offense or up-tempo offense and the pass defense. What do you think about how you guys did?) – “I think in the second quarter, we were a little fatigued there for a second; but they got their second wind there, especially late in the second quarter. I thought the tempo was good. Time of possession was good. I don’t remember the last time we won time of possession, so that was kind of nice. I thought they executed it … The guys did a good job and the communication was great. They were passing things along. We didn’t have to signal. They operated well. Our pass defense, we’ve been talking about it for a long time about tightening things up and helping our pass rush out by making the quarterback get off the first progression. We feel like if we make that happen, our rush is going to get there. That’s why we’ve invested so much in that front, whether it be the starters or the guys behind them, to where if we stop the run and we make it a one-phase type game, where they’ve got to throw it all the time, we have to be tight on the outside so our pass rush can get there.”
(When you were selecting this organization to become the head coach, how important was the whole set up – the ownership, the GM – in terms of factoring in that you can be successful?) – “I think looking at the roster, I felt good about that. You had a young quarterback, wide receivers. I felt like there were some good pieces on defense. Once you get past that part of it, then you start … It’s really about meeting everybody, because I didn’t know (Owner) Mr. (Stephen) Ross. I knew (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum). I didn’t know (General Manager) Chris (Grier). It was more about getting in front of them and seeing how it worked and seeing the chemistry there. It’s hard to do, because it’s fast. You better make a quick assessment and be right. I felt good about … When I was going through that whole process, the longer I was around everybody, the better I felt about it. It was probably good that I didn’t know Chris, because it was somebody that I could sit down with and talk to and hear his opinion about what he has seen from teams I’ve been on and vice versa. That was really the biggest part of the job interview that you go through is seeing if you’re compatible with everybody that’s in the front office or ownership.”
(Earlier today, Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said about LB Lawrence Timmons, ‘I’ll be there for him whenever Adam decides he’s back on our team.’ Timing aside, is the decision already made that at some point he will be back on this team?) – “I haven’t made any decision. I’m going one day at a time right now. I know there are steps that are being made with what’s going on with him. (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) is really taking the lead on that. I’m getting updates as we go. My biggest thing is I’m trying to focus. My sole focus is this week, guys that are here, focusing on the Jets, making sure that we’re ready to go. These weeks come quick. There’s more downtime when you get to that Friday, Saturday to where if I needed to look at something, research something, talk to somebody, it’s better for me to do towards the end of the week than right now.”
(It’s interesting sometimes when you talk about players in the sense of being different behind the scenes than what we might see. You talked about WR DeVante Parker before. With LB Kiko Alonso, he’s another guy that seems very quiet in media sessions. What’s he actually like behind closed doors and on the practice field?) – “He’s fairly quiet if you’re speaking English to him. If you’re speaking Spanish to him, he changes a little bit. (laughter) He’s not too talkative. I always try to mess with him and he looks at me like I’m crazy, so I don’t do it too much.”
(You should try in Spanish then.) – “I’m not fluent right now.”
(Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said he’s the alpha dog of the group, but LB Kiko Alonso does that in maybe a non-conventional approach?) – “I think a lot of it has to do with the way he prepares and the way he practices. If you ever watch him practice – and you guys have seen enough between OTAs and training camp – it looks exactly like he plays in a game. There is no three-quarter speed. There is no half speed. When we do walkthroughs, you’re a little nervous, because you’re not sure what speed he’s going to go. Watching him prepare … Like when you walk downstairs and everybody else has been gone for two hours, he might still be down there. He spends a lot of time in this building. He prepares about as good as any player that I’ve been around that’s not a quarterback. He is the ultimate lead by example guy. I think he says things when he needs to say something. It’s not really what he likes to do. He doesn’t like to talk a lot. He’d just rather go for it.”
(From a conditioning standpoint and from a hamstring standpoint, how close is LB Rey Maualuga to being able to help you?) – “I don’t know the exacts on that. Every once and a while I’ll just stop down and be like, ‘Good day or bad day?’ My biggest thing for him is I just want to make sure he’s healthy. The few times that we’ve had him out there, I was a little nervous for him. The linebackers are working on wrapping up and things and he’s popping guys pretty good. I’m excited to see when he does get out there and he’s healthy and ready to go, just a good piece to the puzzle.
(What did you like about what you saw in T Ja’Wuan James’ tape from Game 1?) – “Probably the best game that he’s played since we’ve been here. I can’t speak for before that. I thought he was physical in the run game. He did an outstanding job in the run game. That’s why we had a lot of those big runs (that) came on his side. He did really well in pass protection. He fought. He was battling the entire game. He was very sound execution-wise. As far as things that he has been working on technique-wise, things went really well. If we get that from him game-in, game-out, I’ll feel really good about our tackles.”
Darren Rizzi – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(It’s a small sample size, but 6-for-6 for K Cody Parkey in his career beyond 50, that’s got to give you guys a great deal of comfort.) – “Yes, I mean the one thing about Cody, just looking at his career, the word ‘consistency,’ I think I mentioned that last week, comes to mind. I know Dolphins fans and all of us in this room, remembered him before last week, remembered him from the one game he played against us (with Cleveland in 2016), but the one thing people have to remember about that game is I think he might have met the holder and snapper at the game in warmups and it was the first time he had ever kicked with them. I can promise you that the nuances of holding and snapping and all that stuff, the lean of the ball, the spin, the tilt, all of those things are definitely a factor. So I think (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) (and I) might have told you the same thing, we kind of scratched that game out of the equation when we were evaluating him; and when you look at his overall body of work, he’s been a consistent guy. He was a Pro Bowler his first year in Philadelphia and then got hurt, and then ironically (former Dolphins K) Caleb Sturgis ends up there and he ends up in a battle with ‘Sturge’ the next year and gets beat out. Then he goes to (Cleveland), where they drafted a kicker, and gets beat out, so sometimes the best 32 kickers in the league, you end up with two on one team. I feel like we had that situation with our punters this year. I feel like Matt Darr is going to end up finding a home (in the NFL) at some point, because I think he’s one of the best 32 punters. So it’s my job, one of my jobs is to make sure I have a really good beat and a really good feeling for the rest of the NFL with who’s where and the specialists deal. Listen, I travel to free agent workouts in the offseason. There’s a couple big ones they have every offseason, and I’m always surprised at some of the talent that’s at those. You’re always asking yourself, ‘Okay is this guy a guy that we can get an upgrade on.’ So again, just always had an eye on Cody. I knew him as a college kicker. I actually knew him as a high school kicker, believe it or not, and kind of followed his path all along. He’s just always been a really consistent guy and I’m really, really happy for him and certainly proud of the effort he had last week.”
(The team has this amazing record in close games now for two seasons, and special teams is a big part of making that happen, but if Chargers K Younghoe Koo makes the kick at the end on Sunday, it’s a different conversation. How much do you feel like you’re testing the law of averages here? How much of it really is the culture of the team and the ability to close and that kind of thing?) – “I will say this, there’s no doubt about the belief on the sideline. I will start with that. There’s a belief and you’re down there and we go in at halftime, and (Koo) misses the (field goal) right before halftime, which (when) you look back at the game (that) was obviously a big one too. I thought that (missed field goal) gave us a little bit and our guys were a little fired up at halftime. We came out with a different sense of urgency, in that particular game; but there’s always a belief on our sideline. Since (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) has gotten here, I’ve never been part of a team that really feels like they’re going to win every week. We’ve definitely won a variety of ways. Listen, if you’re going to win, you’re going to have fortune along the way somewhere. I’ve had plenty of bad fortune in my time here too. So we’ve definitely had some good fortune; but if you look at the sequence of events from last week, and I tried to explain this when we watched the film with our guys yesterday, is it’s cumulative effect because one play leads to the next. We had the kickoff cover – great kickoff coverage – which leads to a punt by them, which leads to a good return by Jakeem (Grant), which leads to a 54-yard field goal, just to talk about the special teams. We needed every one of those yards that Jakeem Grant got on that return. Maybe if he gets tackled right away, now we’re 14 or 15 yards deeper and we’re not trying a 54-yard field goal. I’ve got to give credit to our field goal rush team. Our field goal rush unit puts a lot of pressure on opposing kickers and has done that for the last four or five years, and I’m proud of that, because the effort they put forth on film. I know the kicker felt Bobby McCain coming off the edge, and whether or not that made him push it right or not, I certainly don’t have the magic answer on that; but I will say this, our effort there (was great). If (Koo) kicked a straighter ball, Bobby had a chance to block it. So I hope our luck doesn’t run out. We definitely have some fortune; but there’s a sense of belief on our sideline and I think the variety of different ways that we’ve won says a lot about our team. It’s not a 2-minute drill with a quarterback leading the team down the field every time, we score and kick a short field goal; we haven’t won that way every time. We’ve had a defensive touchdown, special teams plays, offensive plays, so the variety of the ways that we’ve won I think says a lot about our team, the culture, and the belief, and I think all of that kind of parlays together.”
(You had a fourth-and-5 at, whatever it was, the 38- or 39-yard line. Was there a moment when you thought, ‘Okay, go for it, get a first down and get a little closer’?) – “No, I felt like at that point in the game, I knew if he hit a good ball he had the distance. From watching him practice and play, I knew. I thought 54 yards and obviously the weather was decent. I think in different circumstances, maybe; but not in that game. In that game, I thought … There was a conversation on the headset that (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) had asked me, ‘If we don’t get another yard here.’ I said, ‘No, at this point, if we don’t lose yards, we’re going to try this one.”
(With CB Cordrea Tankersley, is he yet a competent special teams player? How much improvement does there need to be there for him to be a viable candidate to be active?) – “The good thing is that right now, we have some really good discussions every week, because we have a lot of options and I like that. I like that as a special teams coach. We’ve got a lot of young players that are right on the cusp, and every week those guys come up. So those guys are in the equation every week. (We) kind of wipe the slate clean after game one, everybody’s back in the pool, we go back to practice, we see how guys are practicing and feel like when they’re ready, so certainly ‘Tank’ is right in the mix every week. The same with Torry McTyer. He’s in the conversation. All of those guys that were inactive last week, they’re all part of the conversation, so I would say that they’re all close.”
(How much at Clemson had CB Cordrea Tankersley done special teams-wise?) – “More than most. Actually that was one of the reasons, one of the things we liked about him coming out, is he actually played more special teams than a lot of defensive backs have in the past.”
(On the final field goal by Los Angeles, if you had not called timeout, you would have just been trying to stop that with your base defense. How prepared are those guys for what happened there?) – “What happened there is, if you look back and watch the game, I know there’s been a lot of conversation about that. So obviously, (Los Angeles) ran a play where they centered the ball on purpose. Then (Chargers QB) Philip Rivers is going to get up and he’s going to clock the ball probably with about 3 seconds left. There’s no doubt their specialists started to run out; but, if you watch Rivers, and I’m watching him live, he’s waving those guys off. Then he’s going to go back and spike the ball and then try to make the field goal the last play of the game. I think (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) may have talked to you about this, so our philosophy in that situation is that we don’t want that field goal to be the last play of the game. We’re calling timeout there to make sure that if he does hit it, we get a desperation kick return, an offensive play, whatever it might be. We’re trying for that not to be the last play of the game. So we would’ve, if (Rivers) went up – to answer your question directly – if he went up and did spike it with less than 5 (seconds left), now there’s going to be time where we are going to get our field goal block unit out there, if that makes sense. I know there’s some conversation that it looked like they were trying to run the field goal team out, but if you watch Rivers, he’s waving them off.”
(I’m not trying to debate the timeout in this particular question…) – “Yes, but we would have gotten the field goal block team out there. If we didn’t call time out, they would have went up, they would have spiked it with under 5 (seconds left) and then the play would have stopped and we would have had a new 40-second clock and we would have ran our field goal block team out. Then we would have had a timeout to either ice him, if we wanted to, or not ice him or whatever.”
(You said you’ve known K Cody Parkey since high school. That’s some pretty in depth scouting.) – “Yes, so when I was a college coach, I was very, very (good friends with) – he’s still good a good friend of mine – this guy named Chris Sailer who does this Chris Sailer kicking thing national deal. So I had recruited a lot of kickers from that, and Cody actually had gone to that and I remember getting him on a watch list. South Florida was my recruiting area for Rutgers and so you start tracking guys when they’re freshmen and sophomores, so I think – if I’m not mistaken – Cody was a freshman or sophomore my last year at Rutgers or the one year I was the head coach at Rhode Island. So I remembered him from the Chris Sailer thing.”
(Did K Cody Parkey remember you?) – “No. (laughter) I was at Rutgers and the head coach at Rhode Island, he was SEC and all that.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase took, not blame, but responsibility for being a little off with his play-calling this week, and yesterday he said the sack was on him. You work with him very closely on the sideline on game day. Did you notice anything different about him that he was struggling at all?) – “It’s a good question. He’s actually funny in those regards, because as you guys know, he’s not afraid to make fun of himself and criticize himself, which I love. I think it’s a great characteristic of him. He mentioned that to me afterwards. During the game, I’m handling the management and the special teams, so sometimes I don’t even hear the play call to be honest with you, so it’s not until after the fact that we had these conversations. During the game, I’d be lying to you if I told you. Now I did hear him say a couple of times those same things that you just said, but I really didn’t notice it as the game was going on.”
(He didn’t like kick somebody or something like that?) – “No. He’s actually got a really good demeanor during the game, kind of like me. I never get excited during the game either. (laughter) Talk about polar opposites right? So sometimes he’s obviously telling me to relax; but no, he’s got a really calm, cool demeanor when he’s calling plays, and I think that’s one of the things that’s one of his strongest assets and attributes is that, even when maybe it’s not going great sometimes, he stays really calm and I think he does a great job with that, with the quarterbacks and everybody else.”
(Did you say anything to P Matt Haack after his 19-yard punt or did you let him go?) – “Let it go. Just let it go. It’s one of those situation where thankfully we weren’t backed up. It was one of those Aussie kicks. We call it a flip flop. It’s those inside-the-50 type of punts and he just dropped it too far inside and chased it with his foot. It wasn’t one of those deals … If we were backed up – hopefully we don’t get one of those – but in the position that we were in, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. We probably lost a little bit of yardage there, obviously; but no, I’ve seen Matt do it enough in here. He didn’t do that one time in warmups or anything like that, so I just said let that one go and go to the next one. He actually had punted three times, two of his punts were darn good and he had the one bad one.”
(Can you tell us all of the different kinds of punts?) – “Sure. Yes, there’s a bunch. There’s obviously the ones where you have the plus-50 punts where most guys in the league now are working the end-over-end. Some guys call it an Aussie kick – we call it a flip-flop – where you try to make the ball get a little spin back when you drop it inside the 10, so that ball has a different rotation. It’s more like a kickoff rotation. Then you have directional punts. You have directional right, directional left. A lot of people call it a sky ball when you try to get more hang time, depending on the situation. There’s a bunch of different kicks, believe it or not. And the punters, not to get too technical, but their angle to the ball and things like that, their drops are going to be different depending on which way they’re trying to go or if they’re trying to drive it. For example, if a guy is standing in the end zone, he may try to hit a drive ball, most punters will call it a drive ball, where you’re trying to flip the field, maybe get a line drive, maybe get a little extra roll, whereas if you’re out in the middle of the field 20-, 30-yard line, now you’re trying to work more hang time or direction.“
(How is RB Kenyan Drake’s overall special teams contribution? How has he done since his arrival until now?) – “Yes, I think the one thing he’s gotten a lot better at is coverage. He obviously made the big play on kickoff; but we’ve got him working on the punt cover as well. He’s been working a little bit of gunner for us. He obviously has great speed. Kenyan would be the first one to tell you, he didn’t tackle many people before he got to the Miami Dolphins; so that part of it, the defensive part of it, if you will, taking on blocks, getting guys on the ground, he’s really dramatically improved from this time last year to now. His speed is obviously a huge asset and attribute to us, so we’re trying to get him to … Obviously he used it the other day. That was a huge kickoff tackle inside the 10, and then we tacked on the penalty and that brought them back even further. So he’s really improved on that part. He’s always been good with the ball in his hands, so when he gets the ball in his hands, he’s good. It’s the other part that I think he’s really improved on – the blocking, tackling, shedding, things like that.
(Obviously K Cody Parkey coming up with the game winner was huge for the team, but was that even more considering it was his first game with the team, in building confidence with the coaches and his new teammates?) – “Yes, no question. I literally, I won’t tell you who it is; but I got on the bus after the game and a staff member said to me, ‘What’s our kicker’s name again?’ (laughter) So I think everybody knows his name now, so that was a good thing; but yes. Listen, when you make a change like that, Andrew Franks has a lot of friends in that locker room, because he’s a great person and a great kicker. So when a guy unseats a guy like that, there’s certainly going to be a little bit of a feeling out process. As far as the feeling out process goes, it certainly helped (Cody) to have such a good game; but I think our guys saw it in practice as well. (They) saw the quality player that he is, but it certainly doesn’t hurt his status with the guys.”
Matt Burke – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(It’s always next man up but you find out the day before the game that LB Lawrence Timmons isn’t there. What does that mean to you? Are you scrambling? What’s going through your … take us through that time?) – “Yes, I mean I know it is cliché guys, but I always say with (Head Coach) Adam (Gase), our process is we’ve got to put … We’ve got to make the best decisions in the moment at who’s available and what I’m doing. So there was a little bit of adjustment game plan-wise the night before the game. I don’t know, maybe about midnight or so I was up to, just changing some things and again like knowing ‘Okay, hey, we’re going to play Chase (Allen) a little bit,’ and what I felt comfortable calling with him in the game. So we took some stuff out and readjusted some things and then had some contingency plans because then obviously we’re going to be a little bit thin at linebacker. So I had to kind of put together some other packages, just again, in case we got even thinner at linebacker, if something happened in the game. So we had some other guys ready to go. I’ll tell you, the players responded great. We had about three or four guys that we kind of grabbed Saturday night and talked to them about ‘Hey, this may be a situation we’re going to put you in. We kind of had all different guys. Literally from Terrence Fede to ‘Mike T’ (Michael Thomas) to obviously with Chase (Allen). So there were about three or four guys that we kind of had some contingencies based on and again, they put the ball down. I mean it kind of got out about what Cam (Wake) said to the team on Saturday night – no one cares. They’re kicking the ball off at one o’clock on Sunday and so we put our best plan together with the guys that were going to play for us.”
(Who else can play linebacker?) – “It’s more just … We had contingency plans again, playing some sub or some nickel in different spots, to certain personnel groups; or again, if we had to go big. I mean that’s really sort of where you start getting down. We had four linebackers active. So it was more like okay, well if we have less then that playing, for whatever reason, who can kind of fill those roles? So really it was a matter of what we could play out of sort of our nickel packages versus certain groups and what we could play with say an extra guy like Will Hayes or Terrence Fede or one of those guys playing as a big sort of Sam (linebacker) or something. Those were kind of the thoughts we went through when we had everything in place, depending on kind of what came out in the game.”
(How did LB Chase Allen respond to the challenge and did he earn himself more playing time?) – “Chase was great. Chase was great. I’ve dog-cussed him pretty much since the day he walked into this building. I’ve been all over him and been in his ear and killing him and then I walked passed him – I was all amped up on game day – on stretch line, I walked past Chase, and he’s kneeling down, stretching or whatever and I grabbed him by the shirt, by the jersey, and I was like this is why I’ve been MF’ing you all year and this is why you’re here. I probably said some other stuff I can’t say live here. (laughter) And he’s just looking at me and he goes – I yelled at him for about two minutes – and he looks at me and he goes ‘Okay, coach.’ I mean literally that was it. (laughter) I was like, ‘Alright, we’re good.’ The first call of the game, I blitzed him just because I was like I don’t want him thinking. I want to get him out there and I’m going to send him. (He had a) TFL (tackle for loss). I think he only played like 10 snaps or something. He had four tackles. I mean he was great. He didn’t bat an eye. Literally, that’s kind of how he was, just ‘Alright, coach. I’m good,’ and kind of handled my manic attitude. So he was great. He did a good job and we feel comfortable playing him.”
(It’s unusual for a fifth-round pick – DT Davon Godchaux – to play right away. How is he different? How has he evolved to the point where he can have a significant role in the opener?) – “Again, one of the first things I tell the guys when we have like the rookie camp or whatever it is, when we bring those players in, is it doesn’t matter where you’re drafted. The best players going to play. I think (Head Coach) Adam’s (Gase) proved that since he’s been here. So we pitched that to those guys as a starting point, like no one’s putting your draft number on the back of your jersey, so he’s been here. He’s worked his balls off. I don’t know if I can say that. Sorry. (laughter)”
(Change it in the transcript.) – “Yes, I know. (laughter) He’s worked hard. He’s a very mature kid. He’s a tough kid. The one thing I appreciate about him is he knows his role like in terms of, he talked to me on Sunday and he was just like ‘Hey, I know maybe I’m not necessarily part of the rush plan and third downs. I know what I’m here to do. I’m here to stop the run and set the tone and be physical and tough,’ and he’s done that since he’s been here. He did it in the game. He’s never given us pause to think he can’t do what we’re asking him to do. So he’s been great from the start.”
(What’s your vision for LB Stephone Anthony now that he’s here?) – “We’re still trying to get to know him. Obviously he just came in yesterday. We weren’t actually expecting him to even practice yesterday and he did, which was good, just to see him run around. We’re going to put him in the mix. My thought with him is really just to try to put him in one spot and let him learn. It’s hard anytime coming into a new system in the middle of a season – one game in, I guess. So we’re going to get a feel for just kind of what we do with every guy we bring in: the process of getting a feel for what he can handle and where his best fit is. And then kind of once – probably by the end of this week – we get a feel of what we think his best role is, and then put him in there, throw him in the deep end and let him get working a little bit.”
(How do you decide if a guy’s got what it takes to be a middle linebacker as opposed to being maybe a Sam linebacker?) – “Well it’s really more just … It’s really more athletically for him and partly for us, he’s a little different case for us in terms of we’re just trying to look at our depth and see where we can overlap guys and where the best … where we can cover all of our spots. I mean obviously we feel like it’s every year right? It was last year and this year where we get thin and so we’re trying to just see more like where he fits in with the puzzle, and I mean that sort of thing for him. It’s not necessary that … I think physically he can play every spot, to be honest with you. Most of our linebackers are pseudo-interchangeable in terms of being stacked players and off the ball. It’s more of like ‘Okay, what’s our best…?’ Chase (Allen) and Mike Hull for example have had crossover reps. Mike helped play some, dime, Will (linebacker), Mike (linebacker). Chase (Allen) has played Mike and Sam now and those things, so just trying to find out, ‘Okay, where do we kind of overlap and cover our bases with everything so we’re not getting to a point the night before a game where we have to maybe play a d-end at some position or what not. So his fit will be more like … Okay, I think physically, from what I’ve seen, he’s a big kid. He can run. He can hit. So for us, it’s going to be more of what’s the best puzzle that we can overlap spots and cover all our bases moving forward.”
(From a personal level, when a player goes missing like LB Lawrence Timmons, how concerned were you and what was going through your head it was …?) – “Obviously, there’s a level of concern. We care for all of our players deeply. We’re around them a lot. So, you went through a lot of stuff obviously. We were concerned for him. I know (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) wants to keep sort of all of the details in-house and we’ll just … I’ll be there for him whenever Adam decides he’s back on the team.”
(About your pass defense, what did you think of it?) – “I think … Here’s what I told the guys, and I think this is moving forward this is sort of a big picture thing for us. Opposing offenses are not going to want to deal with our pass rush. I think the message to the back end guys, that’s linebackers and DB’s, is that we have to challenge throws better on the outside part of the field and match-up our underneath progressions just a little bit tighter. I think it was pretty clear. I mean I think – he’s a great quarterback, (Philip) Rivers is – I think his average release point was like 2.1 seconds or something. He was not going to give a chance for our guys to get going. He was catching the ball, throwing it and our d-line was still almost there. I think that’s just going to be a theme moving forward, so our job, again, the defense always works together. So our job on the outside part of the field is to be tighter and to challenge some of those throws to give those guys that extra second to work. I thought I was wanting a little bit more, again, from both spots – some tighter coverage and just getting hands on stuff sooner, so to give our d-line a chance. I mean if we’re allowing those guys to just … They were neutralizing our rush by just getting the ball out so quick. I mean they really didn’t have a chance to get going so I think that’s something we have to just address moving forward.”
(Four days after the fact, how would describe your first game as an NFL defensive coordinator?) – “It was great. A win, a big win on the road, after all of that stuff. I mean it was cool. A win is a win. These things are hard. It’s hard, hard, hard to win in this league. I was excited. It was … From top to bottom, from the week before to the end of the game, it’s probably not how we might have scripted it; but you guys have been around this team now for a couple of years. It’s kind of what we do. So it was fun.”
(There was play I noticed where they ran at DE Charles Harris and an offensive tackle just kind pushed him really wide of the play. Take me inside Xs and Os a little bit. What does Charles Harris need to do in terms of the run. Remember that one? They ran towards him and he took a wide rush trying to get to the quarterback and the tackle just kind of pushed him out the play? – “Specifically, I’m not sure but I mean our d-end’s … We’re an aggressive team. We’re an attacking front. We want them to obviously rush the passer; but their angles in terms of … I don’t remember the specific play to be honest with you, but last year one of our issues was our ends going too vertical up the field and creating running lanes underneath. So we work on our aiming points in terms of having a sharper angle, so if a tackle tries to turn out on one of our d-ends, they need to close that gap down so it’s not just creating that large space out there. I don’t remember specifically on Charles’s play.
(How did DE Charles Harris do in general?) — He did good. Again, it was hard. They weren’t giving him a chance to rush. He had a big hit on the one he did (get in the backfield on). We had trouble getting into third-and-long because of all of the quick throws and stuff. We only had eight third downs I think in the game. So again, we limited rush opportunities. The one that we did have a third-and-12 on, he got a big hit on the quarterback. I think the more opportunities that we provide, again, not just for him, but for all those guys up front, the production will come.”
(Regardless of what has happened or what we might say, I doubt that your linebacker group thinks that they’re undermanned.) – “No. Why would they?”
(What’s the attitude or kind of the mentality of the linebackers group?) – “They’re all football players. Like I said, it was cool. You always worry about a rookie, an undrafted free agent rookie starting. I mean those guys, that’s what they do. We practice all these guys. They go through the work. We went through it last year. The same thing, we played a bunch of different guys. I mean it’s like old hat for us now. Those guys are confident. Kiko (Alonso) does a great job. Kiko’s really grown into his role, obviously, knowing he’s going to be here long term and that he’s part of what we’re doing. He takes those guys and Kiko’s level of communication and sort of direction has been awesome, so he’s really helped kind of … Again, he’s the alpha dog in the room so his attitude sort of, whatever gets the rest of those guys, they feed off of his energy; and he does a good job of getting everybody lined up and we go play ball. That’s a confident group. They should be.”
(Keeping in mind the cornerback play was not sterling last week, do you expect to give CB Alterraun Verner snaps Sunday?) – “Again, I don’t know. That’s a week-to-week thing. ‘Vern’ is ready to go. He’s done a good job. Again, part of that’s on me to determine whether it’s a fit or schematically, whether we feel, ‘Max’ (Byron Maxwell) and ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) and Bobby (McCain) and ‘Vern,’ who kind of matches up and what we’re trying to ask them to do week-to-week. All of those guys are ready to play. Again, I’m not opposed to playing anybody that’s going to help us win ball games, rotating them, playing them, starting different guys. I’m not ready to make those determinations today; but ‘Vern’ will be ready to go if we call on him, for sure.”
Clyde Christensen – September 21, 2017
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(Opening Statement) – “I meant to say this the other day, just a shout out. Part of the win goes to our ops guys, Scotty Bullis and his staff and what they did last week getting that team out there. Everything kind of gets done for us and the players to win the football game. Film, equipment, IT and ops – what they did to pull that off, getting that thing all transferred out there … Because all of a sudden the team just kind of showed up on Tuesday. We take it for granted. I take it for granted a little bit that all of the operations, getting those guys out there, getting them from the airport up there, into LA, the rest situation, film getting set up, equipment getting out there – they did it all. That would be an interesting thing for you to look into how you move a whole franchise and servers and computers and film and stuff out there. I’m amazed that they pulled the thing off. It wasn’t without its little glitches, but in terms of having a chance to get a team prepared, it’s a pretty amazing job to go 3,000 miles and come from all parts of the country and give ourselves a chance to win a football game and get a team prepared. I thought they were phenomenal.”
(How did you guys do in the no-huddle, up-tempo offense?) – “I think we’re improving. One of the big stress things that we started again this week is you don’t just turn that on. It’s an experience thing. One of our key points this week it was listening – listening to the quarterback, being able to hear his voice, know when he gives you a formation, know when he gives you a play. I think that’s a work in progress. We were faster. Our procedure was better than it’s been. It’s not where we want to get it. We’ve got to hear the quarterback. We’re asking too many questions of him. We’ve got to get lined up a little bit quicker. I think it’s a knack. We did it for a lot of years at that old spot (Indianapolis) and you just kind of get … You have to learn your quarterback. When does he give you a signal? When does he slip you a little signal behind his back? When does he give you a formation? Which way does he say it first? Help your buddy who is coming back to the line of scrimmage, ‘Hey, hey, we’re over here, we’re over here.’ I think we’re getting better. It’s a big emphasis point for us. We know where we want to get to. Jay (Cutler) is really good on the line of scrimmage. He’s really kind of natural. I said that last week. I’m kind of amazed how smooth he is at the line of scrimmage. Now we just have to get where we hear his voice. We’ve got to hear his voice. That’s just a learned thing that happens with experience. That’s not just black and white and it happens. It’s going to continue to improve. I think we are doing a better job with it than at any point last year, and that’s everybody. That’s everybody from us getting into our stance where we can get a ball snapped quicker – ID’ing people. There’s a lot that goes into it; but just hearing his voice is a big emphasis. Just hearing and knowing how he does stuff. The more they do that, the better they’re going to get. You know where he’s going to send you. When we’re really good at it, you know where he’s going to send you and ‘Oh, I know what he’s going to call.’ You just know when the signals come and you can catch it from 30 yards away and get yourself lined up. We’re getting there.”
(We don’t know what to expect from T Laremy Tunsil. Do you have an expectation level? Did what you see last Sunday meet that expectation?) – “Not yet, but I think he’s a young guy. It’s one of the toughest positions in football and you’re on the road. Those were very, very, very good, borderline elite pass rushers coming off the edge. That’s an all day job he had out there. He’s just going to keep getting better. I think of him as a rookie left tackle, if you will. To think of him as an experienced lineman isn’t the case. It’s back to his position, but it’s new in this league. Those cats coming off the edge were really good players last week. I was not disappointed. I think he might have been. The sack was more on myself and the play call. We held the ball on a 3-step (drop) and let a guy come around. (Tunsil) protected it the way we needed him to. Sometimes sacks aren’t always quite as clean cut, clear cut as you think. He’s okay. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to be a really good player. He’s finding his way. He’s still an extremely young guy. I thought he held up pretty darn good. If you look around the league, there are some catastrophes and some quarterbacks getting hit really hard early in this season. That’s not a bad first outing. The same thing, right? It’s our first outing and everybody else’s second. Even that goes into it. It wasn’t his second game. That’s his first game and that was his first start at left tackle, if you will, for 2017. That’s a long answer but no, we weren’t disappointed. I think he’s going to improve, improve and improve. We talked about it last year but if you’re a batter, it’s your first time around the league getting these outside rushers. He was inside so he didn’t see these guys last year. It’ll be his first time around seeing some different guys and all of a sudden … If you go against those guys, you get a little book on them and that’s big. He’s developing his book and he’s going to see some new experiences this year.”
(It looks like you’re not afraid at all to run RB Jay Ajayi in what would appear to be obvious passing situations.) – “Well, yes. I think we came out of Week 1 the most balanced run/pass team in the league. That was darn good balance. I know it’s a little cliché-ish but you look for balance, we got balance, we’re better on our play-action than we’ve been, so I don’t think it was … The more we can keep – I think we averaged 6 yards, third-and-6 was our average distance on third down. So we were better on first and second down. We still had too many minus plays but the more we can stay on schedule where you can call a run or a pass, and (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase will dial up a … If we can keep our third downs to third-and-5-or-less or third-and-manageable, then he’s not afraid to dial up a run and he’s not afraid to go for it on fourth down. If we can just keep those options open, we’re better. This week was pretty good balance. It was a good football game. Neither team turned it over, so we weren’t going to get a bunch of possessions. We had to make them count. I’m not sure, of the non-2-minute (offense) we didn’t score on five of the eight (drives) maybe or something; but there weren’t a ton of possessions in that game. The balance was really key. We think of it more as let’s keep it run/pass downs on first and second down where we can call either one, and now we’re going to tend to be close to a 50/50 team, which is optimal. You do want balance. You do want them not defending … You don’t want to be single-dimensional at any point so that was a plus in the game. Coach Gase has always been willing to dial up a run in some pass situations.”
(QB Jay Cutler’s ability to buy time in the pocket, to maneuver around. Is that something you see on the practice field? Did that surprise you how smooth he is in that area?) – “It’s been on his film. I haven’t known Jay but obviously I’ve seen him just crossing over. He’s always had a knack for doing that; but it has surprised me how natural it is. It has surprised me just that he’s really good at it. I thought he did a really good job. He didn’t put the ball up. He took calculated chances. He wasn’t careless with the football. If you can calculate your shots – he gave DeVante (Parker) a couple of jump balls and 50/50 balls, which were great. We want those. He really did a great job of managing it. On the play to Kenny (Stills), he bought the time and that was huge. I think he is … I’ve said that. He’s just kind of natural. He has a great feel and you do forget he is a veteran. He’s played an awful lot of football games; but that’s not a taught behavior. He just kind of moves around and kind of knows where people are coming from and he does have a great knack. That’s going to be great with our Big 3 receivers. Those guys can run and jump and I can see more of the same where we’re going to get a couple of those balls downfield and we have a chance. We want DeVante (Parker) to catch one more of those 50/50 balls. Let’s keep them over 50/50 balls. Throw them up 50/50 and let’s be a higher percentage than that. He made the huge one that got us kind of cranking and had a chance to make a couple of others that I think we’ll make before it’s all said and done; but it’s darn close.
(Head Coach Adam Gase has talked about he was not in rhythm in his play-calling and he took responsibility for a couple of them, like a sack or something. Any idea why that might have been?) – “I think opening day, a new staff, a new defensive coordinator, there wasn’t film available on these guys – I think all of those things. Still, we’ve talked a lot about what are we? What does it look like with Jay (Cutler) at quarterback and blending in with these guys? I think there are some natural things. (It was) opening day. An opening day is hard to have a feel, so we’ve had some changing of parts in this thing, so I think it was that. The same thing this week. Opening day is hard on a new staff because you don’t have film. The preseason doesn’t help you that much and you can go look at Buffalo but that doesn’t help you on the defensive side, and this guy was a head coach (for the Chargers). You just don’t know what he’s bringing with him, what has changed. So I think that was all part of it. (Gase is) always harder on himself than I am. I thought he dialed up some things in the red zone where he gave us a chance to score touchdowns and we ended up going 0-for-3 in the red zone, which was big. We needed those points. He’s blaming himself and I thought that we have to make those plays for him. We’ve got to make some plays on those. We had some chances in the end zone and stuff there. I do think it was a hard week to get a feel film-wise. Really, you just don’t have any film on that head coach, with that defensive coordinator and with that defense. You’re speculating. You’re kind of calculating, trying to guess what they’re going to do; but you really deep down don’t know. I’ll tell you the other thing. The first game, you have a lot of things going through your mind. You kind of tend to do too much and you’ve got too big of a menu and sometimes you can get lost on that sheet. Especially opening day is kind of ‘Here’s what I want to be. Here’s how I want to get the ball to these different guys. Here’s what Jay (Cutler) does well. Jay and Jarvis (Landry) are this together.’ I think all of those things will get better and better, but I don’t think he called as bad of a game as he’s kind of saying he did.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase is hard on himself. Has he stopped saying ‘I did bad?’) – “No, but I do think one of his strengths is that he takes responsibility. I think the players respect that. At halftime, he told me ‘I didn’t get us into a rhythm in the first half.’ That’s the job of a play-caller. It isn’t to get guys 40 yards open, but just to get your offense in a rhythm. The first drive was darn good and then we kind of lost it a little bit. I do think the players respect how he takes his share of it. They win the game. It’s not coaches who win these games, it’s those guys. Everyone’s got plays. Everyone has a trillion plays but it is how you do things and the way you do it and execute it was the key thing. I didn’t think he was … He felt like he lost a little rhythm in the second quarter – midway through the first quarter and the second quarter there – but I would take his side and say we also dialed up a couple of things we have to hit. We have to hit that thing in the back of the end zone.”
(You mentioned the red zone. Do you have a go-to guy in the red zone and should you have a go-to guy in the red zone?) – “I think we’ve got a bunch of go-to guys. I think Julius (Thomas) is going to be a good go-to guy. DeVante (Parker) has to play big. If you single our wide receivers, we should make some big plays out there. We had a jump ball to DeVante. He almost came down with it but he didn’t. We had Jarvis (Landry) at the back end line. We had a close, a shot at him. They hit theirs to (Antonio) Gates, the back-shoulder throw there; and we didn’t hit ours. We didn’t make that play. Yes, I think we do. Then just having the ability to run in the red zone is key too. Having ’23’ (Jay Ajayi) banging up in there in the red zone is huge.”
(You mentioned you didn’t have film on the Chargers. What did you mean?) – “I’m just saying … We had film, but it was a new staff. You didn’t have any film other than preseason, which is really hard to watch. No, we had a film set up…”
(We agree) – (laughter) “If you think I like watching preseason any more than you guys … I’m always amazed there are fans in the stands. (laughter) No, it was just hard to get a feel because it was their first time as a staff in the regular season. It was hard to get a feel for the film. They didn’t have cut ups. By Week 8, we’ll have cut ups on top of cut ups of what they do and their tendencies. We didn’t have those. It was more ‘Here’s what we think.’ But you really didn’t know, so now you’re preparing for everything. Are they going to come after us? They ended up playing 3-deep zone – some form of 3-deep zone – most of the game. We had worked on all of the contingencies because you don’t know. They may be coming.”
(What did you think of that play in the fourth quarter where QB Jay Cutler rolls to the right, sees a guy running at him, looks like he’s going to run, then he stops, backs up and kind of lobs it to WR DeVante Parker while backing up. It occurred to me that there may be times where Cutler isn’t in the sort of traditional, prototypical position with his feet and arm. Is that something you expect throughout the year, that he just kind of makes it work?) – “I would say his rhythmic throws are non-conventional. (laughter) He kind of has an ability to throw the ball with his feet in a lot of different positions, which is a plus. That play falls in the category of ‘you don’t teach that.’ We do drill a lot of stuff, but that’s one of those that you just have a knack and he threw that thing really early. In fact, he let it go and it was one of those where the coaches are going ‘Oh, no. Oh, yes!’ DeVante made a heck of a catch on that ball, over the top of him; but that was an anticipation throw. When he lets that ball go, there’s really no one open and (Parker) is a long ways from coming open. I think that was special. That was a huge, huge play in the thing. A big play – big catch, big throw.”
Ndamukong Suh – September 20, 2017
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Wednesday, September 20, 2017
DT Ndamukong Suh
(Beyond your usual high-quality play, could you point to other specific factors about why the run defense was better Sunday? Was DE William Hayes a factor? DT Davon Godchaux? What specific things could you point to?) – “I would say, without question, William Hayes was a big factor of our run defense. I think he implemented that very early on, really in OTAs and especially in camp when we got the pads on. I’d just say, in addition to all of that, it just really comes down to execution. We understood what they wanted to do against us, and we executed. We practiced. The coaches were giving us great looks throughout the week and I think we understood everything from A to Z, what (the Chargers) wanted to do, and they understood that they were going to struggle with (the run game) if they stayed with it.”
(What do you need to do to make this consistent, to make this an every game day situation?) – “Honestly, just continue to take the same approach. I think we did a very similar job today, as this is usually our run day and we look at a lot of stuff; but also guys take the time on Monday and Tuesday to look at it themselves and obviously come in with questions for the coaches, anticipation of what we may do for blitzes or just overall alignment and assignments of what we need to accomplish.”
(You’re one of the leaders of this team. Obviously, this LB Lawrence Timmons situation has thrown everybody for a loop. How do you address it as a leader?) – I think Lawrence, at the end of the day, is going through some particular issues. (I’m) unsure of what those are; but all we’ve got to do as teammates is be there to support him with anything that he needs. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to continue to move forward and put our head down and understand that when we have the time to be able to help Lawrence, help him; but at the same time, we’ve got to prepare for our Jets game and go from there.”
(How do you balance supporting a teammate versus the obvious decision that you have to be responsible and be there when you need to be there on Sunday?) – “Yes, no question. I think you have to look at it as any other person in their particular field of work. You’ve got to go to work and take care of your business. At the same time, be attentive, be on time and then go from there.”
(When you look at the Jets and you look at your schedule, do you agree this is one of those ‘should win’ games?) – “No, because it’s the NFL. The NFL is one of the toughest things in sports, to play any given Sunday, as they’ve made the slogan. Every team is respectable. Every team you have to give ultimate respect (to). They have great players; great talent. We’ve obviously seen great players. I’ve played against (Jets RB) Matt Forte many times so I know what he can do. I’ve played against (Jets QB) Josh McCown, as well. So I respect them and understand that we have an opportunity to win, but it’s no given win by any means.”
(You seem like you’ve been very intentional about your leadership with this team. How did it feel, then, to have your teammates vote you as a team captain last week?) – “It’s obviously a huge honor. I think anyone would say that (about) having your peers vote you as a captain. I think, no matter what, being able to have a C on your chest is great; but at the same time, the guys who don’t have C’s on their chest for game day, are still expected to continue to be leaders and understand that they have an ultimate role. There have been times in the past, especially when I was a younger guy, where I know I probably wasn’t going to get a C on my chest; but at the end of the day, I understood what my role was, what I needed to do and how I could help other people and be a leader in my own way.
(Sometimes it’s just kind of a formality, but you hadn’t been a captain your first two years with the Dolphins. Did it actually mean something to you this time?) – “Yes, for sure. I was a captain at the end of last year. My first year here, I don’t think we really had captains per se. It was more of each game it was decided and done from there from the head coach’s perspective; but without question, it definitely means something.”
(You seem to be a guy that as you get a little bit more comfortable with your circumstance and situation, you start to open up. Has that been your norm?) – “Yes. For me, for sure, it’s that way. I’m definitely not an easy person to get to know, nor do I necessarily allow people to get to know me like that, just because I’m a natural introvert. But I understand that the light that I am in, that’s shined on me, and I need to be open, especially when it comes to my teammates. I think they understand that and I think they’ve been open to how they receive me and, for me, how to receive them as well. So at the end of the day, it’s about getting to know each other. I think any person, as you walk down the street, or however you may meet somebody, you’re just not going to spill your entire life to them day one. It’s going to evolve over time.”
(Being a natural introvert, how difficult has that been always being a star?) – “(laughter) I don’t know if I’ve always been a star, but I think that I’ve always looked at to be a star and I’ve always wanted to live up to being a star. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter to me if somebody sees me as a star or doesn’t. I want to just prove that on the football field, as well as outside (in) life, whether that’s academics or whatever it may be. My parents always taught me to be that way and strive for the stars.”
(Did you, or any of the other players, speak specifically to LB Chase Allen, who wasn’t supposed to be a starter at the beginning of the year and had do play on Sunday? Did you speak with him before the game and calm his nerves?) – “No, not at all. I don’t think so. I think guys in his group may have or may have not; but Chase understands and I think every single guy on this team understands that no matter what, at any point in time, you can be put in a role where we expect you to do things. I think at different levels, even (Terrence) Fede, for a guy who’s not a starter but a guy that we expect (a lot from), especially on special teams; but even on the defensive line we expect things from him. With the situation, (Allen) had to learn some stuff the night before, as well as game day and have adjustments. So I think at this stage and understanding, all of the things that we’ve gone through, all of the injuries that we have seen in the past and potentially stuff that can, unfortunately, happen in the future, guys are always prepared and ready for their role to be expanded and accept that.”
(LB Lawrence Timmons has been in the league a long time, but he hasn’t been in Miami very long. Does he have credibility with you guys to where when this happens Saturday, you give him the benefit of the doubt or do you not know him well enough yet to extend to that? – “I think we have a good gauge of what he is, and he’s a good person. Obviously this time that I’ve spent around him has been limited; but at the same time, I’ve enjoyed my time around him and really expect the best from him. He’s an adult and a veteran, and he’s obviously been doing it for many, many years. Aat the end of the day, it’s a mishap. Everybody’s had those situations. You can account for me when I got suspended for two games. My teammates would expect for me to do better; but at the same time, I have to deal with that situation and I need to come back when I’m allowed to come back and go from there. That’s kind of what the situation is for him”
(Have you talked to LB Lawrence Timmons? I don’t even know, is he around?) – “I gave him a call but his phone wasn’t working. That’s kind of been the extent of it. Right now, from my understanding – and I don’t know everything – I think he’s in good hands.”
Jay Cutler – September 20, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Quarterback Jay Cutler
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked today about the system that he’s using now might even be a little bit better for you because of changes compared to 2015 in Chicago as far as some of the things that you can do in this offense. Do you agree with that? How is that the case?) – “It depends. What did he say? What changes?”
(I think more personnel.) – “Yes, if you start playing with a DeVante (Parker) and a Jarvis (Landry) and a Jay Ajayi and Kenny (Stills) and Julius (Thomas), you start putting those pieces together, they’re going to make a lot of systems look good.”
(He mentioned some things involving zones as well, so there were some strategic things. How comfortable are you here?) – “Really comfortable. I think it goes back to a lot of it has to do with the personnel. You get those guys around you, the offensive line played well. They make it go. I just kind of feed them the ball and watch them work. It’s fun being behind center with those guys.”
(When you see WR DeVante Parker one-on-one outside like that, do you just say, ‘I’m going to through it out there and see…’) – “All of those guys are kind of like that. If you want to play us one-on-one, we’ve got a lot of options. We’ve got a lot of ways we can beat you up. (The Los Angeles Chargers), they did a lot of zone. They weren’t going to play that game with us. They kind of zoned us out. They tried to put eight in the box; but even eight in the box, Jay (Ajayi) is either going to make the first guy miss or run him over and get his yards. It’s tough to stop.”
(We spoke to Head Coach Adam Gase about the conservative game plan in the first half. You’ve been an aggressive quarterback all your career. Is that in any way … Did that frustrate you in any way or is it just part of it?) – “No. I knew. We didn’t want to … We kind of wanted to get things going a little bit. With the last 10 days, things being crazy, I think easing things in there, trying to get the ball to different guys and trying to keep it third-and-manageable. I think that was the biggest thing – not getting into third-and-longs, not getting into situations where we were fighting the sticks.”
(Your thoughts on the Jets defense, the challenges this weekend?) – “It’s still a Jets defense. Todd Bowles is still one of the best ones out there. They’re going to do a lot of different things. The front seven is still going to give you fits. They’ve got a talented back end. You’ve got to be prepared for a lot of different looks. That’s what makes it so difficult.”
(Nonetheless, the Jets are not playing very well. Do you see this as a really good opportunity to be 2-0?) – “If we don’t play good football, we can go up there and lose a game really quickly. We don’t want to look past them; don’t want to look in the rearview mirror. We’re just going to concentrate on them and try to put together a good game and get a ‘W.’”
(I should’ve been more prepared, but the quote from Head Coach Adam Gase was, ‘This really kind of fits Jay better, because coming from an offense that was predominantly drop back in Chicago, we didn’t have the play actions that we do now, because we weren’t running outside zone.’
From that standpoint, how does this fit you?) – “We have a lot more, I think, outside zone here. (Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach) Chris (Foerster) put that in. That just kind of opens up, like he was saying, your play-action game. We were more inside zone with their transition from Denver to Chicago. It was a lot more inside zone. We didn’t have the complete package with the outside zone and a lot of the outside zone play-pass stuff. When you start putting that stuff in there and you start getting eight-man boxes and some one-on-ones outside, it can really open up the field; but then if you want to drop back you got three, four, five guys that legitimately can catch the football.”
(Does your nimbleness surprise teams even though they know you? You’ve been in the league a long time, but it might be an underestimated part of your game.) – “I think they’ve got a lot to worry about in general with everybody else out there. Trying to contain me in the pocket and worrying about me getting outside, I think that’s one of the last things that they … If it happens, it happens.”
(As far as what you got out of the no-huddle last week, is there another level to take that to in terms of frequency, in terms of effectiveness?) – “We can always clean things up. I’ve talked to (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) about it and the rest of the guys. They know what we can clean up and what we did well. We’ll try to improve for this next one.”
(You got to ball early and often to WR Jarvis Landry. What makes him such a security blanket for you?) – “They were playing a lot of zone and he was working the middle of the field. He got a few run-pass options out there, we kicked some out to him. A few screens that we kicked out to him. He got some yardages. It was kind of how it went. As the game unfolded, we were able to pick some stuff outside.”
(Obviously, there was more aggressive play calling – Head Coach Adam Gase would acknowledge that – in the third quarter. Is your relationship with him such that you can good naturedly say at halftime, ‘Let’s try to open it up,’ or do you never share that view with the head coach?) – “It depends on where we’re at. It depends (on) the game, how he’s feeling, how the offensive line is blocking. First game, I kind of knew what he wanted to do this first game, so I kind of left him alone. Adam knows. He has got an aggressive nature at heart. He wants to score points. Three (points) at halftime, he knew that wasn’t going to win the game. We were going to have to do some stuff offensively, push the ball downfield to win this one. He’s not dumb. He’s the head coach here for a reason. He has been successful for a reason.”
