Ryan Tannehill – November 23, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
QB Ryan Tannehill Conference Call with San Francisco Media
(You’ve talked about changing the culture, what’s changed?) – “A lot of things have changed. I think the biggest thing is the trust and belief in each other that we’re going to play for each other and go out and find a way to win football games.”
(Your head coach has over the years, gotten a lot of credit for working with a lot of different types of quarterbacks, having success with them. What has been the biggest thing that he’s brought to you to help you improve your game?) – “He’s brought a lot to me, I think his offense is really fun to play in. He does a lot of things to help the quarterback. Just his knowledge of playing quarterback, being around all the quarterbacks he’s had. He’s learned so much and can help you in so many ways. He’s helped me in so many ways. Whether it’s drills, or footwork, whether it’s eyes in a certain place, what you’re looking at, there are all sorts of things that go into playing this position, and he’s got a solid knowledge base on doing that.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked a little bit earlier that, when it gets late in games, he wants the offense to have the attitude of going to win games and not having the defense even to be on the field. Obviously that’s something that has translated for you guys as recently as last week. How has, for lack of a better word, swagger … How has that rubbed off on you and your ability to help finish games out?) – “Yes, it’s definitely confidence. I think that confidence has built throughout the week, and just seeing how I prepare, and how the guys around me prepare, how we practice, and get ready to play the game. You put in the work during the week, and then you can go into the game having that belief in each other knowing that we’ve put in the work and can find a way to win.”
(How do you explain from your vantage-point what you’ve seen from RB Jay Ajayi and his recent rising in recent weeks?) – “Jay’s done a great job. I think since the day he’s got here, he’s ran the ball extremely hard. He’s been a physical, tough runner. But over the course of the last two months, I think we’ve seen him grow in our zone-blocking scheme, just being able to have a little patience, see the creases, put his foot in the ground (and) get vertical. Once he gets into the second level, he’s a big, strong guy and he’s tough to bring down. You get him consistently in the second level and it’s going to cause problems for defenses.”
(Are you noticing defenses react more to him in these last couple of games? And has that opened up play-action for you a little bit more?) – “Yes, I mean they have to, honestly, because he’s had so much success and gained so many yards on the ground. If they don’t react, he’s going to be gaining even more on the ground. It has opened up a little play-action for us and that’s all a good thing.”
(You talked about how Head Coach Adam Gase has helped you with mechanics and stuff like that. But he also stuck by you early in the season after kind of a rocky start. Basically, ‘You’re my quarterback for the long term.’ What did that mean to you and how do you think that affected the team, just the fact that there seems to be some stability there?) – “It’s huge. It gives me confidence (and) it gives our team confidence knowing that there’s no instability knowing who the quarterback’s going to be – his belief in me, my belief in myself and my teammates. It starts from the top. If he believes in me and if he believes in the guys around me, then we believe in each other and play for each other even to more extent.”
(You guys spent some time the whole last week out here in California. The Niners are about to do the same in Florida. What are some benefits there for a team that you can take away from maybe getting that time away?) – “It’s a challenge, definitely. Just being away from your home facility, your home, your family, your own bed – all of those things are tough. But, there are some benefits, just being able to spend time with your teammates. There’s a little less of a distraction or pull from family being in town or whatever it may be, just because you’re away and the only people that are there are your teammates. There’s definitely a benefit to spending that extra time with your teammates.”
Adam Gase – November 23, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call
(What did you guys get out of, other than the two victories, what did you guys get out of your stay in California?) – “I think it was good for us to kind of get away, especially at this point in the season. We had four home games in a row. It was kind of a different scenery; it changes things up a little bit for us spending 11 days out there. It was a little bit of a training camp feel. It was nice to see a lot of our guys hanging out. We saw a lot of guys spending time with each other that normally you don’t see. After our first game, seeing guys on Monday and Tuesday, we had a lot of guys hanging around the main office we had there watching film and spending time together doing football things and building that team camaraderie.”
(This late in the season, there’s still benefits to be had by getting away like that?) – “I think so. It’s just … any time that you can change it up. I know people hate to hear how monotonous it can be in the NFL, but when you do the same thing every day for as long as we have to do it throughout the season, any time you can change things up and it’s a different feel for the week, it’s a good thing because the guys are engaged. It’s a different feel for them and I think it was beneficial for our guys.”
(We remember you from 2008 working under Mike Martz here and I know that you worked under Mike for a while. I was just wondering, what kind of imprint Mike Martz had in what you guys do in Miami now?) – “It’s still a lot of the way that I was brought up under him. I think I use a lot of the tools that he showed me as far as how to teach players, as far as our meetings go, our installs are done exactly the way that I learned under him. A lot of the way that we practice as an offense is done exactly the way I learned under him. Schematically, there are still a few things that are there that I learned working under him but, we’re not as much what he did schematically just because it changed a lot when I was in Denver, when I started there – just because we had a different style of quarterback. We were running a different style of offense at the time. That was really what I ended up doing was what we did in Denver kind of carried to Chicago and has developed here.”
(How are you guys preparing your defense for the tempo of Chip Kelly’s offense?) – “Well, we have ways that we deal with that. The good thing is our defense … We were a no-huddle offense all through spring and training camp so our guys are kind of used to a similar tempo to what they run. We always would practice faster than really what we ended up doing in games. So our defense was kind of used to the way that we ended up practicing all throughout the year. Obviously, the last five weeks we’ve kind of changed the way we’ve done things. So they’re used to that style of defense. They had to implement their fast-paced defense early on in the process. It was a good thing for our defense that we were like that to start the year out because they’re used to that.”
(Back to Mike Martz real quick, he’s known for having a lot of confidence and daring, does any of his attitude rub off on you a bit?) – “Absolutely. I wouldn’t use the word daring. I would just say aggressive. Mike was … what I learned from him right from the get go was being an attacking offense, dictating the pace of game, dictating kind of how you are going to play as far as going to win or lose the game. Mike always talked about it. It was the offense’s job to go win the game and not to prevent from losing it. So when we get in situations when we have opportunities to go win the game, I have a lot of confidence in our players. We’ve done a few things. At the end of the Buffalo game, we had third-and-6 with 2:14 left and we’re throwing go routes. I have a lot of confidence that our guys are going to go make plays and we did and we scored a 66-yard touchdown. That’s kind of how we play. That’s our attitude. We know when we get into 4-minute situations, our job is to go win the game. Our job is to make sure the defense never touches the field again. I think I learned that from an early age with him. It’s obviously in my DNA because that was the way I was raised by him.”
(From your one year in San Francisco in 2008, you had three guys who you were on that staff with on your staff now. Obviously, there are a lot of new faces here at the 49ers. But do you have any relationships with people inside the building still?) – “Obviously, (San Francisco 49ers Director of Human Performance) Mark Uyeyama is a close friend of mine. It feels like we were both … I was an offensive assistant, he was (former 49ers Strength and Conditioning Coach Duane) Carlisle’s assistant at the time. I think we lived like four doors down from each other in our apartment complex. We’ve always kind of kept in touch. We’ve always been close friends. There are a lot of good people in that building. Obviously, (San Francisco 49ers Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Football Operations) Praraag Marathe has always been a good friend of mine. I have a ton of respect for (San Francisco 49ers CEO) Jed York. I’ve always enjoyed seeing him, especially now I’m able to see those guys at owners meetings and at any function. It’s great to see those guys because that was … For me to leave Detroit and go to San Francisco and being involved in that organization was a great experience for me because of the history there. It was really exciting to do something different that I had never done before – moving to the West Coast and the history of that organization and trying to help those guys to right the ship at the time. We didn’t get it done but it was really something that was a very prideful thing because knowing that history and the fan base there and how badly those people wanted a winner.”
(It seemed like for a few hours at least in January of 2015 that you were poised to become the 49ers next head coach. Did you feel like it was imminent? Did you feel like that was in the offing for you?) – “It just seems like a long time ago. It’s hard for me to even really look back on any of that. I know it was a great experience for me as far as going through that process and getting to spend the time with all those guys. It was a really beneficial learning experience for me as far as going through not just the initial interview but that follow-up interview and spending all that time with (San Francisco 49ers General Manager) Trent (Baalke) was a really, really valuable experience for me and extremely helpful for me when I went through that next round of interviews, just kind of the do’s and don’ts of what to do and the expectations. I owe those guys a lot just for the fact that they did give me that second interview and I was able to spend the amount of time I spent with Trent. It was very valuable for me because nobody else gave me that second interview that interviewed me the first time. It made it so much easier for myself when I went through that next round the year afterwards to know what to expect and to understand the process of that second interview.”
(From all you’ve studied up on the 49ers back then and to where they are now, what do you see that’s gone wrong with that franchise from afar?) – “This is what makes the NFL interesting is when you watch the film, I see a defense that … it doesn’t really correlate to me and that’s why as coaches you don’t really focus on rankings and things like that and record, because every week is such a new week and everybody goes into the week and you’re trying to win that one game. So whatever your record is, it’s really irrelevant. In pro football, guys refocus fast and every guy does want to feel that winning feeling. So I know those guys are going to come in, they’re going to be prepared. They’re going to have a great scheme. They have a very good coaching staff. Players are playing extremely hard. You see it on tape. Their scheme is very tough to go against. Obviously, this is … between offense, defense and special teams, we haven’t seen an up-tempo offense like this except in practice. We haven’t seen some of the looks that we’ve seen from this defense as far as what they do as far as the variety and the looks and the exotic pressures. There’s some tough, tough looks that you have to go against. And the way that this defense is playing as far as how physical they are and how fast … They gave New England everything they had and Tom (Brady) obviously made some very, very good plays in that game to help those guys win that game. This is a very different challenge for us because these are some things that we haven’t seen. It’s an unfamiliar opponent for our guys being from the NFC West. Even though I was able to play against these guys and do have some familiarity with some of these players, the schemes are different so it’s almost like a full reboot for myself and (Defensive Coordinator) Vance Joseph the same thing, to where we have to make sure that we do every little thing right for us because when we hit Sunday, the records and rankings, all of that stuff is irrelevant because it’s all about trying to figure out how to win one game.”
(A month ago, I was reading you’re the youngest NFL head coach and maybe you’re a little in over your head. And now obviously, you’re a rising star who knows everything. Is it interesting to you how quickly perceptions can change?) – “This is my 15th year in the NFL. I’ve seen ups and downs. I’ve been involved in multiple organization. I was in Detroit five years, I was in San Francisco for a year. I was in Denver for six years. I went from where we were almost making the playoffs in Denver then the next year we get fired and go 4-12 and it’s the end of the world. The next year, (John) Fox comes in, (Tim) Tebow ends up taking us to the playoffs. Then we get Peyton Manning and we signed Peyton Manning and everyone’s talking about how it’s the biggest mistake he made because we had no talent on our team. We had no receivers. Then we end up having three guys that go to the Pro Bowl at receiver. Demaryius Thomas is one of the most dominant receivers in the NFL now. Eric Decker goes to the Jets and he’s a really good player. Julius Thomas was one of the most dominant tight ends. So everybody looks at things on a weekly basis to where sometimes in the NFL, as coaches and players, we kind of can see the whole thing to where sometimes the outside perception isn’t really what reality is.”
(So what is the difference between the slow start and what happened during the five-game winning streak?) – “Well sometimes it takes a minute to kind of get your whole group together as far as health-wise, scheme-wise, everybody kind of getting fit in and figuring each other out. It’s not as easy to put things together nowadays because of the limited practice time (and) the way that you’ve got to go through training camp. You’re trying to get things done in the preseason but at the same time, you’re trying to get to the regular season. We started out at Seattle, at New England and at Cincinnati in the first four games. So, for a group that’s getting together for the first time, we couldn’t have loved it any more than how it started as far as we had some big-time challenges in front of us. Things didn’t go exactly as planned; but it was a great learning experience for us because it really showed us who is really the kind of guys that we want here? Who are the guys that are tough enough to go through the fact that we had a 1-4 start? Are we going to stick together or are we going to fall apart? It was a great example of there’s a little more character in this building, in this organization, than what people gave credit for. Our guys really did a great job as far as sticking to what the plan was as far as what we talked about in training camp and when we started the season. They stuck with what we were saying. They kept working. They kept practicing hard. Things eventually turned around for us because we stuck with our process. We kept going back to…”
(How much has it been for you kind of a feeling out process of how to best use QB Ryan Tannehill and RB Jay Ajayi to kind of feed off each other and make that offense whole?) – “Well, that’s what every year is. Every year you have a different team. You never go into the season and say, ‘Hey, this is exactly what we’re going to be.’ You have an idea. You have an outline, but it’s firmly etched in pencil. You’re getting ready to make changes as the season goes on. When you have injuries, you have guys moving in and out of the building, you have to make changes. Jay started playing well in that Tennessee game and busted out in the Pittsburgh game, so we started leaning on him. Ryan does a lot of really good things early in the game, in some of those games that nobody really realizes. And then, we’ve had to have a couple games where he’s really had to step up and kind of carry us. He’s done a great job these last two games, especially when things weren’t quite going exactly as planned, he stepped up and made some plays. DeVante Parker has finally gotten healthy. He’s been a big reason for kind of some of our turnaround. The healthier we can get, the longer we go, the better chance we can have as far as each week trying to line up and have a chance in the fourth quarter.”
(One more 2015 question. After the 49ers decided on Jim Tomsula as their head coach, did he approach you, talk to you about being their offensive coordinator that season?) – “Possibly.” (laughter)
(Did it possibly happen at the Denver airport?) – “Maybe. (laughter) Possibly that happened. (laughter) For me, it was … I’ll say this, I have a lot of respect for Jim. He always treated me so great. When I was an offensive assistant, he went out of his way to always approach me. We had a great relationship. That was very tough for me as far as deciding to go to Chicago because I thought that was the best move for me at the time. I have a lot of friends in that building and I have a lot of people that I respect. Obviously, my respect for the York family is very, very high. I want the best for those guys all the time. So that was a tough decision for me because anytime that I can do anything to help Jed York win games, that’s why that was a very hard decision as far as even not getting the head coaching job, just saying I think I’m going to do something else as far as a coordinator job. That was a tougher decision than what probably most people realize because of the respect factor I have for the people I have in that organization.”
Ndamukong Suh – November 23, 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
(You guys have faced several scrambling quarterbacks this year with Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, Bills QB Tyrod Taylor, Titans QB Marcus Mariota. What are the challenges of QB Colin Kaepernick who – as Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph said – is particularly dangerous when he scrambles on pass plays and breaks out.) – “Any quarterback that has the ability to move outside the pocket and make plays with his feet athletically is always going to be a challenge for the defensive line. At the end of the day, we have to understand what our task is at hand. It’s obviously containing him and keeping him inside the pocket and obviously get after him in passing downs.”
(Is this the most fun you’ve had since you have been here as far as this team being on a roll, starting to win games in a row and really putting yourselves in contention to do something once the regular season is over?) – “Winning is always fun. At the end of the day, that’s our job – to go out there and find way to win football games and go from there.”
(What challenges have you seen besides QB Colin Kaepernick watching their offense?) – “The got some definitely big-time running backs running downhill. (They) like to get downhill in their screen game, as well. I think at the end of the day, we’re going to have an overall challenge. As we approach each and every single game, we have to stop the run and obviously get after the passer and make them a one-dimensional team.”
(The defense played so well last week holding them in check and the offense finally had a couple of touchdowns. Talk about the versatility of this team in terms of fourth quarter comebacks. A couple weeks ago, it was a kickoff and then four interceptions by the defense, then two touchdowns by the offense. It seems all three units have participated at one time or another in a fourth-quarter comeback.) – “I think this is one of the ultimate team games. No matter where we’re going to get the spark from – whether it’s from the defense, offense, special teams – we’re going to take it and run with it. At the end of the day (our goal), as a defensive guy and on the defensive side of the ball, is to go out there and get the ball back to our offense or to our special teams as many times as we can to allow them to get points on the board.”
(How has Senior Defensive Assistant/Pass Rush Specialist Jim Washburn’s presence helped this year?) – “I enjoy Jim. I’ve been around him for … This is my third, fourth year now with him. He’s a very in-tune guy, very high on technique. It’s key, especially late in the season. This time of year, people want to get away from it and just look at scheme, but technique is really what helps you get through these tough times, through injuries and all these different pieces that you have. At the end of the day, I’ve always enjoyed being coached by him – and somewhat indirectly coached by him – at all levels of my career.”
(There are several ways this year in terms of how Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph and Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams and Senior Defensive Assistant/Pass Rush Specialist Jim Washburn have used you that you’ve liked, things that average fans might not notice about technique or the way you’re used that have helped, that you’ve been pleased with.) – “I think there are a lot of different ways that they’ve been able to put me in positions to make plays. But at the end of the day, I’m not going to give you and tell you what those are. At the end of the day, I enjoy this defense. I enjoy the way Vance coaches it and same with Jim Washburn and Terrell.”
(What do you enjoy the most about the way Head Coach Adam Gase runs things?) – “I think overall he understands the players’ needs. He’s adjustable, adaptable to different situations. I think at the end of the day, he’s a young coach and he’s been around the game a long (time), seen a lot of great players and trying to get us in position to prepare for Sundays.”
(What did you think of having DE Dion Jordan out there today with you guys?)– “Enjoyable, but we’ll see.”
(Did DE Dion Jordan look athletic?) – “It’s not my job to make that opinion. He’s a talent, I’ll just say that.”
Ryan Tannehill – November 23, 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(Thankful of the turnaround and you guys are in contention. I know you guys don’t want to use the ‘p’ word for playoffs but you guys are in a position to create some opportunities.) – “Yes. We have a lot of opportunities out in front of us. We just have to take it one game at a time and start with the big one this week.”
(If you’re ever faced with – you’ve had several fourth quarter comebacks, the team has – faced with late and down, can you draw on this last week and say, ‘Alright, we’ve been there. We know what that’s like. We’ve read this book before.’) – “Yes, we’ve had a lot of games and opportunities this year where we’ve been able to come from behind in the fourth quarter late in games – some double digit leads we’ve been able to overcome in the fourth quarter. I think this team has confidence no matter what happens, as long as there’s time on the clock, we’re going to find a way to win.”
(Where is this sense of calm coming from for you guys?) – “I think it all comes with preparation – in how you prepare, how you get yourself both mentally and physically ready to play. If you put that time in throughout the week, you know what to do, then you can call upon it in those critical situations.”
(You’ve been around here a little while now. Usually, the games don’t go the way they have been in the end. What’s been the biggest difference for you guys?) – “Just sticking together (and) playing for each other no matter what’s going on. In a lot of situations, one side or the other could get frustrated with the other side of the ball. Say like, last game. The defense could’ve gotten frustrated with the offense not scoring points. But they just kept doing their job. They kept going out there, coming up with big stops and giving us more opportunities. In the end, they kept us in the game and gave us the opportunity at the end of the game to go get the win.”
(How big was TE Dion Sims’ ability to go one-on-one with defensive ends, leaving him by himself to kind of block things up at times?) – “Yes. Dion is huge for us. Both in the run and pass game, he does a lot of things for us – blocking defensive ends, combo-ing with the tackles – so he has been a big factor for us this entire season.”
(To speak to the versatility of the team when the offense came back this time, the defense had four interceptions against San Diego, a kickoff return a week before. All three aspects of the team have been critical in the fourth quarter comebacks.) – “Yes. I think we’re leaning on each other right now. There’s a belief within the team and confidence within the team that we’re going to find a way. It’s not always going to be the same guy or the same group but as a team, we’re going to find a way, and that’s what you want.”
(Do you think the offense is better equipped now to handle playing with some of the backup offensive linemen than it was at the beginning of the season?) – “It’s always tough when you lose your starters. Obviously, you want to have your best five out there, but we’ve done it before. We learned through that situation. We had some guys step up last week. They played big in their opportunity. I think once they settled in – once Sam (Young) got settled in, and ‘Urby’ (Kraig Urbik) and Anthony Steen – they really did a good job. On that last drive, I didn’t really have hardly any pressure and we were able to march the ball down the field. So, I think they can build on that going into this week.”
(Are you and C Anthony Steen on the same page as far as identifying the Mike linebacker, the Mike point and all those things…) – “Yes. It’s a growing process. We played a little bit together earlier in the year, so it’s not like (these are) his first snaps getting game snaps. As a combo, we’re growing together and getting better each and every day.”
(You talked a few weeks ago about scratching the surface with WR DeVante Parker and what he can do. Can you update us on where you are with that?) – “Yes, DeVante is still growing. I think we’ve seen kind of what he can be and can become. He’s growing and that’s what we want to see, just constant progress. Whether it’s DeVante or me or the o-line, whatever it is. We want to see guys progress and getting better throughout the season. As we get into this last stretch, this fourth quarter of football, we should be playing our best football. So, just keep going in that direction and we’ll be in a good spot.”
(Does a team that’s won five in a row have to guard against complacency going against a team that’s lost nine in a row?) – “No. I think this team is hungry and the record can fool you on these guys. I have a lot of respect for (the 49ers) and the way they play. Obviously, their record is what it is. But, at least the defensive side of the ball, they play hard. They play physical. They’re not just showing up and folding the tent. They’re coming to play and we’re going to have to take care of our business.”
Adam Gase – November 23, 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Can you give us an update on the left side of your offensive line?) – “Yes. We’re still trying to figure it out. It’s going to take the whole week for us to know. So we’re going to be repping everybody and just try to take the whole time and figure out who it’s going to be.”
(What is the plan, if any, now that DE Dion Jordan’s practicing? What is the plan?) – I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s going to be … We’re going to have to take the whole deal as far as how much time he’s allowed out there. I mean I don’t even know where we’re really at right now.”
(With the offensive line, not knowing [who will be available], does it impact your game planning at all?) – “It’s not an extreme, but obviously those two guys are really good players and if we had to make just a few minor adjustments, then we’ll make them. But we’ll figure it out as the week goes on. I’m not going to overdo it right now. It’s easy for me to adjust play calling compared to wiping out a whole part of the game plan.”
(With the offensive line, obviously you’re going with an entirely new left side. How do they develop chemistry in that short a time?) – “It’s got to happen quick. The good thing is the communication is really good in that room. Those guys are doing a good job as far as making sure the calls are clean. That’s never really been an issue, especially with those guys. (They are) really smart. They’ve been in the system long enough to where they understand what we’re doing. It’s just more about like how things get fit up. And a little bit has to do with Jay (Ajayi), too. They’ve got to get really used to how he runs. Like those little tiny details that we’ve kind of developed, especially in the last five games – starting with that Pittsburgh game, where we kind of got in a pretty good rhythm with those five guys that were in there – because they were all kind of playing off each other. Obviously you lose a little bit of that, but the more we practice together and get into games, they’ll have a better feel. That’s the one good thing about NFL players is they’re a quick study. Those guys have played enough ball to where they’ll figure it out.”
(How about C Mike Pouncey?) – “We’re going to be week to week. Right now, it’s probably not going to look good for him.”
(The penalties that you had last week and the week before. So what are you doing to correct that?) – “Some of them, that’s football. You’re aggressive and I think the things that we want to just make sure we really do a good job of eliminating is anything that’s pre-snap and post-snap. Any of the personal fouls, we absolutely have to clean those up and that’s just being a little more mentally tough as far as the guy that gets caught all the time is the guy that reacts. So we’ve got to be able to understand the situation and understand that, that stuff doesn’t help us and for four seconds of gratification, you’re killing the team. Those are the things that we need to clean up more than anything and I think some of the things that happen as far as penalties whether it be offense or defense, there are times where we need to make sure it’s just not smart what we did. When we have a block in the back, totally avoidable. But sometimes when you’re playing DB and you’re playing aggressive and the other guys kind of … things get a little hands-y. It happens. I don’t want our guys to lose their aggressiveness. They try to play as clean as they can; but I do think if we eliminate the post and pre-snap penalties, that’s going to help us a lot.”
(What was the thinking behind the light practice today?) – “So it was just something that, really when the schedule came out, we knew that travel was going to hurt us. I mean even the coaching staff were … We didn’t even do anything and you can see guys are kind of still trying to get back on schedule. So we just thought this was the best thing to do. The last thing we wanted to do was go out there and just start flying around and take a chance that we’re not quite back all the way. We felt like this was the best way for us to kind of get ready for this game. (It was) something we’ve been planning on doing since before we even started the season. Tomorrow we’ll get it back going and Friday we’ll do our normal Friday. We felt like we could get a lot of work done today. We could get a lot of the mental stuff knocked out and our guys did a really good job of wiring in and doing what we needed them to do today.”
(One-for-11 on third downs. I think that was your worst percentage of the season. Was it more of a product of struggling on second down or what did you se?) – “No, it’s more of a product of just not executing what we were doing on third down. We didn’t do our job right as far as some of the protections. We didn’t have as clean of routes, progression. Everybody took a turn. They made some good plays too. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen Jarvis (Landry) catch a ball and actually get hit and go down right away. I mean the guy made a really, really good tackle and we were six inches short. It just gets magnified when it’s that many in a row. There are some things we’ve just got to clean up and we have to get better in that area, obviously, because we’re worst in the league right now and we just need to really get detailed up in that area and understand what we’re doing is not overly complicated and it’s about executing what we’re doing on game day.”
(I saw WR Jarvis Landry with the red jersey. Is he getting healthy? Is he better this week than he was the week before with his shoulder?) – “I don’t know. That’s something you’d have to ask him. I just think it’s the way he plays. It’s a physical game for him. That’s how he plays and he’s bruised up and banged up. We felt like we haven’t really done that before, but it’s just kind of gotten to the point where we want to be careful and maybe at least give other guys on the scout team just (to be) aware like, let’s not give him any unnecessary bumps into him or anything like that. The last time, it was in practice. He’s playing like he does a game and all of a sudden he hits the route and we’re just trying to avoid him taking any unnecessary hits.”
(What is your sense on where CB Xavien Howard stands right now?) – “I mean, we’ll see. We’re not going to rush him back. We’re going to see how he feels every day and we’ll go through our process and see how it goes. I’m absolutely not going to rush him back. I’m going to make sure that when he comes back, he’s as close to 100 percent as we can possibly get him for this late in the season.”
(S Bacarri Rambo is playing starter snaps. Have your ever seen a guy join a team in one week and instantly…?) – “It’s rare, and I think it’s rare that a guy that wasn’t in our system jumps in there, and does what he’s been doing for us. He brings a great attitude back there, as far as there is a physical presence back there. He’s a really good tackler and he’s a great communicator. It’s been fun to see him jump in there and do that. The fact that he was still on the street, it was lucky for us that we were able to go out and get him. The personnel department did a great job as far as going to get him and get him in here, and then he’s done a great job as far as getting caught up as fast as possible and developing a chemistry back there.”
(You know that this team isn’t going to get complacent or comfortable with what it’s done because of why?) – “I don’t think we have those type of guys. The way that I see these guys coming in and work, and the way that we’re doing meetings and the way that guys have constantly been the same, especially over the last six or seven weeks, I only can go off of what I see. I see guys spending a lot of time in our building doing things and using resources that we have; but then when I see the execution in practice, that gives you a good feeling as far as we’re headed in the right direction as far as Sunday goes. I don’t know if our coaching staff would allow it. I think our coaching staff is very hard on our players. There’s that constant grind mentality. I think our guys; they’re trying to do the best they can as far as keeping their bodies healthy. It’s kind of on the player – availability and making sure when you do have an injury, how quickly can you get back on the field, and how quickly can you get at practice. Our guys are doing a good job of that right now, but Sunday is really the test. Every Sunday we show up, no matter who we’re playing, that’s the ultimate test to find out if you did what you needed to do that entire week.”
(Sort of in that regard, what’s the biggest challenge facing a team that has lost nine games in a row?) – “For us, against these guys, it’s a different style of football because we haven’t really seen an up-tempo team before, except for in practice with us in the spring and in training camp. Defensively, they do a lot of different things. They have a lot of different personnel grouping and they have a lot of players that’ve been on different teams before that have won. There are still a lot of guys on this team that were in NFC Championship games and they have a quarterback that’s played in a Super Bowl. He knows what it takes to win games. Things haven’t exactly gone scripted for them. There have been a lot of close games, a lot of tough games for them that possibly could’ve went either way. That’s how this league is. I know this – on tape, when we watch tape, we know the challenge we have ahead of us. We don’t look at rankings; we don’t look at records. We look at the tape and we know we’re going to be in for a big-time battle this game and we have to bring our A game.”
(What stands out from your time in San Francisco, I know it wasn’t that long, but what stands out for you?) – “I think there are still a lot of people there that I worked with. I think it was an interesting experience for me because I was coming from Detroit and going there and just kind of that history they have, seeing a lot of the guys that have played there before, being around the York family. They were great to work for. That whole front office, Scot (McCloughan)’s not there obviously anymore, he’s with the Redskins now; but (49ers Chief Strategy Officer & Executive VP of Football Operations) Paraag (Marathe) and (49ers General Manager) Trent (Baalke) and those guys still being there, they were always great to me and I enjoyed my time there. I met a lot of people and I was able to develop there – them giving me the opportunity to go from Detroit and becoming an offensive assistant there. They created a position for me to go with (Mike) Martz. That was a great opportunity for me because it was a great learning experience, and I was around a lot of good players and a lot of good coaches.”
(Jay Ajayi had 200-something [yards], then 111, 79, 77. Just curious if teams are defending him different or … I know the number of carries have gone down a little bit too.) – “Yes, we didn’t have as many plays last week. I mean, what did he have? Nineteen carries or something? I think we were like 15 less snaps then we were the week before, or something like that. I think he’s doing exactly what he needs to be doing. We have to do a better job as far as giving him a few more lanes. With guys going in and out in the San Diego game … (The Chargers) did a really good job. Those guys up front were really tough to go against because there was so much movement. Sometimes, we were playing so many teams that were straight 3-4 and everyone stayed where they were supposed to be. I know San Diego is a 3-4 team, but they do a lot more front movement, and that was kind of the first time we’ve seen that. This last game, you’re talking about probably the best d-Line we’ve seen. We’ve played some defenses that are pretty tough as far as, 1) scheme; but 2) the physical presence that those guys have. Some of those inside guys, like Aaron Donald, I don’t know how many guys are really blocking him right now. That was a tough matchup for us.”
(Are you seeing more eight in the box right now than you were seeing in September?) – “It’s the same.”
(Can you explain the ‘Strain?’) – “It’s just something that we’ve been kind of talking about, probably since training camp. (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Dave) Puloka kind of jumped on it and we were just talking about finishing every play, straining every play, making sure that we were just selling out and it kind of became one of those sayings a lot of guys are using as far as making sure that we are straining every play. Our biggest thing that we keep talking about is, you never know when that one play is going to make a difference in the game. There’s no reason, if we are on the 1-yard line and we have goal-line out there, let’s hold them out of the end zone and give the next play a chance. Maybe something good happens. A good example is in that San Diego game, we kept fighting, fighting and fighting. All of a sudden, we get an interception after we just dropped a punt return. That was a good example of what we were talking about as far as we’ve got guys straining. They are trying to win that one play.”
(What did you learn about your team during that West Coast trip? It may have been on the field, off the field, whatever. What did you learn about the team over those two weeks that maybe you didn’t know?) – “I think the one thing I learned was that we were a little more mature than I thought. The guys handled that road trip very well. I saw a lot of guys that were invested in what we are doing. Monday and Tuesday was an easy kind of get away, you can do what you want (day). There was no curfew. I saw a lot of guys in that office area where we were at and a lot of guys watching tape, just hanging around each other, kind of doing football things to try to help us win a game on Sunday.”
Darren Rizzi – November 23, 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(What would you say has been your most, I probably should phrase itthe best player in punt return and kickoff return coverage?) – “In terms of coverage, covering kicks? We’ve had a few. The two guys that stand out lately are Michael Thomas and Mike Hull. Both those guys got a game ball this week and both of them have had a couple tackles. They’ve been pretty consistent and we’ve got some great efforts. Neville Hewitt’s had some really good games – Damien Williams. Kenyan Drake has actually done a pretty good job in kick coverage. We’ve had pretty good multiple guys do it, but it’d say (Michael) Thomas and (Mike) Hull right now have probably been our two best, most consistent guys – our leading tacklers.”
(Talk about WR Jakeem Grant. It seemed like he struggled a little bit in the last few weeks. Is it more of a mental thing or is it something he’s not doing out there on the field?) – “This past week was really more opportunities. The way the game played out, the Rams are a really unique team because Johnny Hekker’s a quarterback. He was a Division I quarterback. So when you’re playing against the Rams, you’re defending a lot of different things. They’ve run so many fakes. They’ve run more fakes than anybody in the league so where the ball was and all of that stuff, Jakeem was back there a couple of times. He had two returns set up for him and it was (Hekker’s) two worst punts in the game. It was just the way the game played out. He had to end up coming up and fair catching one, which was a great decision. The other one ended up hitting the ground and he probably should have got to it. But as far as I’m concerned, I mean again, we put that San Diego game behind us and move forward. We try to get him some opportunities again this week. It just worked out the way the ball wasn’t punted (to him). Sometimes that happens; but we had a couple of returns set up for him. And then really, if you look at their kickoffs, they kicked the ball to Drake three times in a row on all three of their kickoffs. They didn’t even kick it to Jakeem so he really just didn’t get many opportunities this week. Again, he’s working at it; he’s working on his craft and I’ve got no problem with Jakeem at all right now. We’re in good shape there.”
(Did you ever think you’d live to see a weekend where so many extra points would be missed?) – “When they changed the rule, Yes. Before they changed the rule, no. Twelve in one week is a lot. As I’ve said from the get go, it’s no longer an extra point. It’s a 33-yard field goal. The other thing that you’re seeing is back when the old rule was in place, I think the players would probably self-admittedly tell you as well that sometimes that was almost a play off for the defense. You could look at the whole play and it didn’t matter how hard you came, the guy was going to make the kick. You could have the best effort in the world and the ball was still going to go between (the uprights). Now, there’s like a light of hope that, ‘Hey, we can block this thing. We can go get 2 points.’ And you look at how that changed the Denver/New Orleans game a couple of weeks ago. The whole complexion of the play has changed. The effort level of the defense has changed because of the rule on the 2 points – getting 2 points going the other way – that’s changed the play. It’s really an interesting thing. I did know at some point this day was going to come when there was going to be a lot in one weekend. I don’t know if I thought that it was 12, because there have been a lot of years where there wasn’t 12 in a year, right? It ended up being 12 (missed extra points). A couple of them were blocked though. They weren’t just all misses. I think (Seattle Seahawks K Steven) Hauschka had one blocked. (Minnesota Vikings K Kai) Forbath had one blocked. There were a couple blocked, as well. Again, what you’re seeing is the field goal block units are treating that play like a field goal now, where the old days, when it was PAT, they didn’t. You were almost protecting against making sure they didn’t fake it. You didn’t have the rush coming after you. So the whole complexion of the play has completely changed. And that’s why – I know somebody asked me maybe like a month ago about (Andrew) Franks and PATs as opposed to field goals – to me, we no longer grade it like that. We grade it like we combine them. I know one of them only counts for 1 (point) and I know the other one counts for 3 (points). I get it. But you may be kicking a field goal from the 5-yard line and you’re kicking a PAT from the 15. So you get 3 (points). It’s really opportunities now. But it is crazy. It’s really changed and we saw last year in the playoffs it changed in the New England game when they missed a PAT. So it’s really changed these games and you’re going to see, I think, these last six weeks of the regular season, I think everyone’s going to kind of focus in a little bit more on the play for sure.”
(There have been a lot more 2-point conversion attempts do you think?) – “You know what? I’m not so sure. It’s still one of those things. I think it depends on the score, situation, time of the game – all that. I know there are teams like the Steelers that will try the first one out of the gate, but they got themselves behind a few weeks ago. They got themselves behind doing that and I think missed four 2-pointers in one game. So you could get in the catchup game there too. It sounds good if you make it. It sounds good, ‘8-0 sounds great but 6-0 doesn’t sound too good,’ and it’s still just slightly less than a 50 percent proposition – the 2-point play that is. I think it’s still situational – how you feel about your team, the weather, all those things.”
(Where you concerned when they changed that, in particular with your kicker, but also the big picture, that there would be kind of a mental block just because it’s been such a routine for those guys to kick extra points from that distance and now they’re not?) – One-hundred percent, yes. Absolutely. I was concerned and one of the things … I’ll give you an example. We do a field goal period in the practice. In the old days – I’m going to be honest with you – we didn’t even bother kicking the PATs. We’d get right to the field goals. Now, every time we start a field goal period, we put the ball in the middle of the field at the 15-yard line and we make sure we kick from that spot in our field goal periods because, again, the old proposition was 99 point whatever percent. Now we’re making sure that we, again, mentality-wise the protection, like I said before, the flip side of the coin, the defense wasn’t coming as hard so the protection kind of relaxed. Now the protection can’t relax anymore because again, it’s our mentality. We’re trying to drum into the players that this is a 33-yard field goal. We know we only get one point out of it, but it’s the same mentality. But yes, there’s no doubt. I thought kickers, some guys might relax, and I think that’s changing quickly.”
(Do you figure the 2-point chance is about 50 percent?) — “If you’re looking at like the five-year average, it’s slightly under (50 percent).”
(So a 33-yard field goal, what’s that? 85 or 90 percent maybe?) – “It’s actually this year, ironically enough, in field goal situations, 32- or 33-yard field goals are at a higher percentage than PATs. Much higher. So it’s like a 98, 99 percentage for field goals this year – this year only. Again, overall it hasn’t been quite that…”
(I just wonder if you calculate the math over the course of the season, if you went for two every time and you make it 50 percent of the time, aren’t you going to score more points than if…?) – “Listen, the math part of it, the mathematician part of it, will tell you that it’s probably a flip a coin proposition. Where, if you did it 100 times, you’d probably end up with roughly around the same amount of points. But there’s some statisticians that will tell you to go for two every time. It makes more sense in the long run. Again, that sounds great. The statistician doesn’t have to come up here and answer to the fans and everybody else. (laughter) It’s, to me, it’s one of those things where you’re playing catchup. If you don’t get it, now a 6-0 game as we all know is a hell of a lot different than a 7-0 game. It just is, and now you’re playing catchup the rest of the game. Then you put yourself in position to where you have to go for two the rest of the game and I think that’s what I’m talking about what happened to the Steelers. They lost a game by five points. They missed four and a field goal in that one game. Again, you’re playing catchup. It’s just a personal … (Reporter: You’re blaming the media) … No, no, no. I’m not. (laughter) I still think, again, to win the football game, you can argue if you score first, you put the other team behind the eight ball but again, that’s all predicated upon you making it – you making the two pointer.”
(Can you talk about with that, especially with the emphasis with the extra point now, does that kind of change the way you scout kickers? You saw Tampa Bay taking one in the second round last year?) – “One-hundred percent. You know what? As good as a college kicker can be, there’s still a transition from college to the NFL. No doubt. It doesn’t matter. Roberto (Aguayo) is one of the best college kickers in the history of college football. I think he’s a great example on how the game is different. The football is different. The hashes are different. All these things are different. It’s not the same football you’re kicking in college that you’re kicking in the NFL. In the NFL, the balls come out of a box 20 minutes or two hours before the game, and it’s a brand new ball. In college, you bring your bag of balls with you. And they get checked by the officials, but if you talk to any kicker, the balls that are being kicked in college and NFL (are different). That’s just one aspect. Not to mention all of the other things. It’s a bigger transition than I think people realize. But to answer your initial question, there’s no doubt when you’re scouting kickers coming out, it’s a big-time factor because college hasn’t changed the rule yet and not all of those guys are kicking PATs still from down on the 2- or 3-yard line.”
(Do you think they are going to follow the NFL’s lead [and change the college extra point rule]?) – “I’d like to see that. The problem is there are so many Division I teams and I don’t know if there’s enough kickers. There are not enough elite kickers to go around, so I think that would probably be why they don’t change it. I’d love to see them change it because I’d love to be able to grade those guys based on that, because a lot of times you don’t see guys with a lot of field goal opportunities. On some of these good teams, the best teams in college, sometimes your field goal kicker has 12 field goals for the year and most of them are in the red zone, so you don’t get those longer opportunities. Selfishly, yes. But I don’t think that one’s coming.”
(Follow the course, you routinely bring in players on Tuesday for tryouts even if they’re not in positions of need, just to see what’s out there obviously. Have you done that at all with kickers this year? Have you brought in a single kicker for a look on a Tuesday during the regular season? Is it different with kickers from other positions in that you don’t want to give the impression you’re looking to replace the guy in that positon? Is that position different from others in terms of that?) – “First answer is no, we haven’t. Second answer – I really think it depends on the person. There are plenty of guys that are confident enough in their ability. They don’t care who you bring in. They’re just going to go and do their job. What we do, because there is only one kicker, one punter, one snapper, what I’ll do … I spend a lot of time in the offseason going out and working out free agents and going to these free agent camps and kind of having a short list on who we would go to God forbid there was an injury. Knock on wood, or whatever happens. So we kind of have that short list of guys we would go to if we need to in an emergency. I think every special teams coach does. But we haven’t had one this. We haven’t had one of those workouts. In the past, we’ve had, on the bye week, sometimes we brought in three or four guys to kind of see where guys are at. But I know a lot of other teams have done that this year.”
(You brought CB Lafayette Pitts up [to the active roster]. How has he performed in your eyes?) – “He’s had a very good two weeks. I hope he can keep it going. He really performed well again this week. We put more on his plate, like I said we were going to. He was a four core player this past weekend. He played on eight of the punts as gunner – as a gunner, eight of the 10 punts. He’s really playing fast. He’s playing with confidence. I think he’s exceeding expectations at this point throughout the building.”
(This speed out there as a gunner. How does that affect you guys?) – “Yes, it helps. There was one punt that Matt Darr had the other day. We were punting to our left and (Lafayette Pitts is) the left gunner and he beats a double team, gets down the sideline and he’s in Tavon Austin’s face and he’s got a fair catch the ball. Those are little plays that go unnoticed throughout a game maybe by the common fan. But we just watched it as team right before I walked in here, and you can hear the older guys, the veterans, be like, ‘Hey, ‘Pittsy,’ that was a hell of a play.’ When Tavon Austin doesn’t get an opportunity to return a ball, that’s a big play because we all know he’s a game changer. Kudos to our coverage team. We weren’t perfect, but our effort, of the 10 guys that were covering it, our efforts were … We had really, really good effort. That was one of the things I was most proud of coming out of that game.”
(Generally speaking, how do you determine which guy you have in there on punt returns?) – “It’s really situational. Obviously we have both of those guys (Jarvis Landry and Jakeem Grant) and honestly, the true answer is its game-by-game, situation-by-situation. There are times, like on Sunday, where I have both guys waiting and depending on the down and distance, where the ball ends up, all of those things and what I think what our call is. Are we going after a block? Do we have a return set up? I’d love to tell you there’s one. There’s not. It’s really, really situational and it’s really based on (the) game plan. But I have confidence in both guys.”
(And that’s your call?) – “It is. Yes, absolutely.”
Clyde Christensen – November 23, 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(There’s a report from NFL Network that G/T Laremy Tunsil should be okay. Is that your understanding as well?) – “That is not. I think it’s still a wait and see. I don’t think anything has been determined yet. He’s got a chance. That’s the one thing we do know, that he has a chance. To the best of my knowledge, it’s a 50-50 deal, that he’s got a ways to go and that they’re still waiting to see how it goes.”
(A chance for what?) – “To be up or down this weekend.”
(The report was that G/T Laremy Tunsil’s injury wasn’t believed to be serious.) – “Yes … (laughter) I wouldn’t believe everything you hear from the media.” (laughter)
(When you have a young guy like G/T Laremy Tunsil, a lot is expected of him. Where is the line between he has to do it and…) – “That’s a tough line. That’s really, really a tough line. Probably the first thing is to draft the right kind of guys who love football and those guys just … Hopefully we’ve done that. I believe we’ve done that. Those guys rehab harder than the average guy; they heal harder than the average guy and they play with more pain than the average guy. That’s what you’re looking for, but it is a hard line, especially as a coach. It’s hard to not … that’s where you get sideways with trainers and doctors. We’re neither of those two things but we also are guys who are trained to push people, so that’s where you do get into some gray area and missed reports and probably some of those things. It’s hard, but that’s where you have someone special when they do play through that pain and rehab. I’ve seen trainers about killed for giving treatment all through the night and at people’s houses and every other way. We’ll look for that kind of attitude of, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get well. I have to get on the field.’ That’s what you’re looking for.”
(How much has T Branden Albert played a role in that with G/T Laremy Tunsil?) – “I think he’s been a great example of that. He’s rehabbed like crazy. He’s dying to get back out there. It was killing him out in California. I sat on the plane and listened to him tell the head coach that he’s going to be fine. ‘Just get them to take this cast off and I’ll be fine.’ It’s hard. That’s a hard thing, but you’ve got the right guy when you can see it in their eyes that they want to be out there and they’re not. There are players that are the other way. You’re not 100 percent sure how much they really want to play. I think we’ve got the right kind of guys. I think we’re getting and developing the right kind of guys here that are those kinds of guys. That makes the process really easy.”
(What is your level of optimism for T Branden Albert [to play] this week?) – “Same thing. (It’s) just kind of wait and see. There’s no use in me getting too high or low because I don’t know anything about it other than if he’s there, we coach him up and we go; and if he’s not … I hope they are out there. I hope they’re all healthy. I hope they all make a miraculous recovery; but you’ve got to make your plan. You’ve just kind of got to go with the knowledge you’ve got today, because otherwise you get your heart broken and you get projecting and making mistakes on the game plan and stuff like that. We go with what the report is now.”
(How would you describe the situation that you face with all of this uncertainty on the offensive line as you try to craft a game plan?) – “It’s difficult. It’s probably what everyone’s got. We do just keep emphasizing – I do say to you guys – we’ve invested some time in these guys where you have confidence in them. What those guys did coming off the bench in Los Angeles was really impressive. Sam (Young) coming off the bench at left tackle against a really good outside rushing guy and holding his own and just hanging tough and fighting and biting and scratching, that’s really, really critical. It is a little bit hard. You lose some continuity and that stuff’s important but hopefully we get those guys back and maybe we get them back right at the right time. That’s what I’m hoping for. I think I said the Seattle week that this will pay off someday, somewhere, this will pay off before this year is out because (Anthony) Steen will have to play some big games and some guys who we didn’t want to … you didn’t want Steen to have to start opening day, but he did. So now you derive some benefit from that, that he’s got a couple of big games under his belt. That’s the good news.”
(Can you talk about the challenges of playing a team that has lost nine straight games?) – “The challenge is that they read their paper or watch the news or something instead of the film. We’ve just got to keep them watching that film. (It’s) the same thing. I kind of turned on the film going, ‘Gosh.’ (I watched) their third down film yesterday and thinking maybe they’re struggling a little bit and my gosh, we couldn’t figure out if any of them weren’t playing good football on that defense. (It was) kind of like last week, we looked at the thing and I think the Rams were rated the 27th top sack team but obviously they’re better than that – much better than that. They’re very, very good. I think the whole thing that (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has done a great job of and that we’ve really emphasized is to just worry about us. Don’t worry about the opponent. It’s just a nameless, faceless opponent. Let’s worry about us. Let’s go play good football. If we do, things are going to be okay. If we don’t, things aren’t going to be okay, no matter who’s out there; no matter who’s playing. If we flip-flop around out there, we’re not ready to play, we drop balls, we bust assignments, it doesn’t matter who you roll out there, we’ll have our hands full and have a problem; and vice versa. If we protect that football and do what we do and run the football and hit our shots when we get a shot, we’re going to be fine. Again, no matter who we play. I think we’ve bought into that to some extent. It’s a constant sell. We sold it this morning in the first team meeting. ‘Hey, let’s worry about us.’ We’ve got enough to worry about, especially offensively right now, than to worry about other people’s problems. We’ve got to fix third down. We’ve got to fix some of those things that are broken right now, for us to get where we want to go as we head into December.”
(You guys entered last week I think one of the fifth or sixth most penalized teams and you had eight more on Sunday. There was one exchange that really stood out. You had the ball at the 22 yard line, I think, and didn’t even get a field goal attempt. How hurtful was that to the team’s chances and how does this get fixed?) – “It’s the same thing – another fine line teach but we want to stay aggressive. We like how they’re playing. We really like the aggressiveness. The good news from the offensive meeting coming out of it was we’re close on the edge all the time. We always live on that edge but (they) got two major penalties on those last two drives that were huge. Losing your poise will lose games. They’re going to get more and more critical. Games are going to get bigger and bigger from here on out and we cannot – we stress it – we cannot afford … we’ve got to clean up those things. We’ve got to clean up the post-snap penalties of any kind, but without losing our aggressiveness. Some of them we’ll live with, but post-snap we can’t because those will … all of a sudden we’re getting to a point where a mistake can eliminate you from contention or from a playoff game or something. Poise is huge and I think we’re developing it offensively. I really have been pleased with the last few weeks, withdrawing them and having gotten them. That’s a plus.”
(Do you think if it doesn’t change that it will cost you a game at some point?) – “If we get post-snap penalties, (then) sure, I think it will. I think it will. The margins get too fine. The margins just keep tightening up, tightening up, tightening up and then stupid stuff, right? Stupid football, stupid penalties will kill you. We all know that.”
(Your offense has done some good things late in games. Are you at the point where they know how to close out games or are you still learning how to close out games?) – “Good question. I think we’re still learning to close out games. The thing that I think has gotten so much better, even since I’ve been here, is just the mentality and the attitude and the ‘chippiness’ on the sideline. I felt like even in that (Rams) game at halftime, I think I made the statement, ‘The way this one is going, the way the weather is, as good as the (Rams) have been playing, this may take 59 and a half minutes to win this thing. But we’ll get it if we just keep plugging (away). We’ll get this thing.’ We never felt on the sideline that we weren’t going to win the thing. We did feel all along that if we got something rolling, it just tends to snowball. We tend to be kind of a streaky group that way. I just wish it would happen on the first drive rather than the second to last drive. I do think that that’s a huge thing. You’re not pointing fingers; you’re not giving up. That’s the hardest thing to turn. Two-minute plays – or executing a 2-minute drive – that stuff you can learn how to do but staying together as a group and believing and having a confidence, that’s a hard thing to develop. And we’re developing that. I like where we’re headed with that thing and (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has done a great job with that and I think there’s nobody that doesn’t have a lot of confidence in him as a playcaller. He’s going to attack and keep attacking and sooner or later, we’re going to get a blow in. When you get that mentality that I don’t know when, but some Dolphins (player) is going to make a big play and win this thing, when you get that mentality, that can carry you a heck of a long ways.”
(When C/G Anthony Steen played the first week, you said down the road it will benefit us. You guys are down late and it looks like the game was all but over. You can point to your guys and say look, we’ve been there, we’ve done that.) – “Yes, you do. That’s exactly right. You just develop … I wasn’t feeling great about it. We had about 36 yards passing, we’re getting shut out and there’s about 5 minutes left in the game. I still kind of felt we’re going to win this thing, especially if we can get this first touchdown. It wasn’t looking pretty. That’s not a fun game. That’s a good defense and sometimes it does take 59 and a half minutes, but I do think getting the confidence is huge. It’s coming. It’s not there. We’re still going to have some setbacks and learning things but it’s much better than even those first four weeks when we were struggling so bad. It’s a whole different feel on the sidelines, in the locker room, meetings (and) practice. It’s a whole different feel.”
(As you know, some receivers like to be targeted a certain amount of times. They like to get the ball and want to be in the game. When they’re not, they go the other way. How is your group with that?) – “Every single receiver I know wants that football. Every single receiver I know gets disappointed when they don’t get it. Sometimes it shows in a bad way, sometimes it shows in a good way. We’re not perfect that way but our guys have kept playing. You just have to keep playing. Marvin Harrison was a dream because the madder he got at you, the faster he ran. The quieter he got – he wouldn’t talk to you – but the faster he ran. When he was fixing to make a big play, the madder he got, the better he played. Some guys react really well to that but all of them are the same. We don’t want any … They’re a high-strung bunch. They’re kind of your derby horses. They’re a different breed. They’re jittery and they’re strung different; they’re wired different than the average guy. That’s what they are. So you live with it and you manage it more than … There is nobody who it just cannot have an effect on. All of the receivers are affected by it; but you can’t let it derail you. That’s the teaching point. It can’t derail you because then what happens is all of a sudden it comes to you and you drop it. It comes to you and you’re not ready. It comes to you and you’re not open. So you’ve just got to keep them playing and keep them on the tracks and go. Ours get upset just like everybody else’s and that’s okay. I wouldn’t want one that didn’t.”
(The tail end of the ball game, the DBs are obviously playing to keep things in front of them. But WR DeVante Parker is still able to get separation rather consistently. What does that say about his development as a route runner?) – “Yes, I think it says the same thing as we have kind of said, that it’s there. We think that he can be a premier receiver in the league. I think that the teach from that again is; let’s do it every single week. Let’s do it every single practice. Some of it’s been health, some of it’s been circumstances. I don’t know what it’s all been. It’s been something different all the time, but we’ve got to … Our stress to him is just like everyone on the unit, we’ve got to do it day-in, and day-out, practice, game, it doesn’t matter the opponent, it doesn’t matter if it’s raining, it doesn’t matter if it’s on the west coast, it doesn’t matter if there’s a time change, it doesn’t matter if it’s a short week. You’ve got to be able to do it every single time you go out there, and when we get to that, then we’ve really got something special. And we’re headed there; we’re headed there. We’re not there yet, but we’re headed there.”
(What don’t you have from TE Jordan Cameron, as far as what you’re getting from the other tight ends? What’s been missing or lacking, and have you been pleased with the crew?) – “Yes, I’ve been really pleased. They may have been the most consistent group on the unit. They’ve really played well, and I’ve said to you guys before, ‘Q’ (MarQueis Gray) is stepping up and has played extremely well for a third guy. We’ve got a touchdown out of the fourth guy (Dominique Jones), and (Thomas) Duarte has been in there. Those guys have really played at a good, solid level. There’s another example. They’re less high strung, but they want the ball too and it hasn’t happened that way. We’ve got the three wide outs, we have two playmakers at the running back position and the ones that have been the unselfish ones are the tight ends, who have had to give up a little and have had to block a little bit more and help out in protections and stuff like that. They’ve played extremely consistently and maybe at the highest consistent level of any of the positions on the unit. I’ve eally been pleased with them.”
(You’ve been around some great quarterbacks. How would you rate those last two drives – what Ryan Tannehill did?) – “High. I think it’s really good stuff. And the same thing, it all works together. But it kind of begins with that guy. That’s the trait you’re looking for. That’s the trait you’re looking for. You’re sitting there 10-0 and things aren’t going well and you hang tough. That’s what I think he’s done a great job of, just hanging tough. He’s kind of amazing to me on the sideline, he doesn’t get out of whack. Even when all heck’s breaking loose around him, he doesn’t get out of whack. That gives you a chance to play good football in those last two drives instead of going into a bad place, going into a dark place, and all of a sudden you don’t have it when those last two drives come. He’s really been amazing to me in that way. Now to get some success added also, he’s been amazing even all through the season in that way – even when we lost. In these last couple of games, now all of a sudden you see some fruit from the hard work. That’s big and probably can’t be measured and that is what was so impressive about ‘18’ (Peyton Manning) is that he went through it for 18 years. That’s great stuff; that’s good stuff. And like a lot of things, it’s headed in the right direction. But we still have a long ways to go. The ideal thing would be not to be in that position. I’d rather be working on our 4- minute offense and we’re going to run out clocks with a lead. That would be more pleasurable.”
Vance Joseph – November 23, 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(CB Byron Maxwell shadowed WR Kenny Britt last week. How did it work out? I think that was the third time he has done it, right? At least the third? How does he do in those situations?) – “It worked out fine Sunday. Britt is a bigger man. He’s strong. So, it was a good match for Maxwell. He did a fine job. He matched Brandon Marshall the same way. Anytime it’s a bigger man for us, ‘Max’ is a better match than ‘Lipp’ (Tonny Lippett). ‘Lipp’ is more of a thinner-bodied guy, and ‘Max’ is a stronger player, so it was a good fit for us.”
(Did CB Byron Maxwell shadow WR Terrelle Pryor?) – “Yes, he did, because it was our first time doing it. He did shadow Pryor. Again, a bigger, stronger guy for us, a better match for us at the corner spot.”
(In the secondary overall, no S Reshad Jones, no CB Xavien Howard. What has been working for them?) – “Those kids have done a great job of doing it right. The two corners have played very consistent not giving up the deep balls. The safeties have tackled well; they’ve communicated well. Isa (Abdul-Quddus) has done a fine job. Michael (Thomas) has been consistent. (Bacarri) Rambo has come in and played well. Overall, that group has been fine. It has been a work in progress, but they’re playing really well right now. The last month, they’ve played well for us.”
(What are the specific challenges of a team that has won five-straight games playing a team that has lost nine-straight games?) – “It’s the letdown. You don’t want that. But I think we’re at a point right now (where) we’re not satisfied about where we are right now. We’re a young team. We’re still learning and trying to find that perfect game. So, I think we’re in a good place where we won’t overlook the Niners. Every game you watch, it’s a close game until the end. It should not be a problem for us. That’s a team that has got talent. The quarterback is a good player. The running back is a good player. They have great tight ends. It’s a team that’ll score points fast on people. For us, it’s going to be a focus week, in my opinion.”
(When you face an athletic quarterback like QB Colin Kaepernick, what are the challenges of having a guy shadow him from a running aspect?) – “He can pop big plays, especially in the pass game. In the running game, it’s not a major concern, because you have rules to contain the guy. But in the passing game, you don’t have anybody accounting for him, unless you cover him with a spy. So, that’s the danger of him. He’s averaging 10 yards a pop on scrambles and only 4 yards on called runs. Our concern is really the pass-game aspect. We’ve been okay versus those quarterbacks – (Tyrod) Taylor and Russell (Wilson) – but (Marcus) Mariota hurt us a lot with the scrambles. He had two or three big scrambles that killed us in the first half of that game. So, we have to do a good job of keeping this kid bottled up, especially when he’s in a passing mode. That’s the key for us. The zone-read run game, he’s good at that, but that part we can control with our calls. But once the pass happens, we have to be smart up front and rush the kid right away.”
(You guys lead the league in third-down defense. I know you’ve been up there for a few weeks. What is the significance of that statistic?) – “I think it helps you get off the field, and that leads to keeping the point totals down. When you’re first in third downs, obviously, it’s getting (stops). When you’re last, or low in third downs – drives (are) extended and obviously leads to more points. That’s a big deal for us being top in third downs, because our front can rush more, and we’re off the field. It’s a big deal for our defense.”
(We talked last week about the penalties on defensive backs. You guys as a team had eight more on Sunday. DT Leon Orr had a personal foul. What is it? Is it just lack of discipline? What is it with the penalties?) – “I wouldn’t say that. I would say most of the DB penalties, I’m almost fine with that. I want those guys to ghost in coverage. (They are) aggressive penalties. But the post-play penalties we can’t have. The Orr penalty, the Michael Thomas penalty – we can’t have those. That was a tight game, and every yard counts, so we can’t do that. That’s more of the players and coaches stopping it. We’ve got to stop it.”
(How do you do that?) – “How do you do it? That’s from each man. It’s not worth a 15-yard penalty after the play is over if a guy shoves you in the back. Just walk away. That’s stuff that’s hard to do for guys, but we’ve got to do it.”
(What happened with CB Chris Culliver?) – “Chris Culliver was brought in here to help us at the corner spot, obviously. Chris had two major knee injuries. He worked hard – that wasn’t an issue – but he never got back to himself. He was never – in my opinion – full-speed. He needs more time. He needs more time to go home and rehab and train and to get himself healthy. It’s always a toss-up after two major injuries for a corner. That’s a guess if he’s ever going to be the same again, and I think he needs more time. He got better and better each week, but it wasn’t good enough to say, ‘Okay, let’s start him at corner for us.’ He just needs more time to get himself healthy.”
(Have you seen more consistency from DT Jordan Phillips recently? And how has DT Earl Mitchell played his first weeks back?) – “Jordan has played more consistent as far as staying in his gap (and) not being offsides for the first time this year. That’s a good thing for Jordan. I think Jordan is growing. He’s a second-year player; he’s a baby out there. He’s going to be a good player, but he has got a ways to go. Earl played better against San Diego, not as good last week. That happens. He hadn’t practiced – he hadn’t played – in almost two months, three months. It’s tough when a guy comes back to be consistent right away, but Earl is going to be fine. He plays so hard.”
(On the Rams RB Todd Gurley touchdown run, can you help me make sure I understand correctly what you saw from No. 56 [LB Donald Butler], No. 47 [LB Kiko Alonso] and No. 90 [DT Earl Mitchell]? What happened on that play?) – “Again, Jordan (Phillips) could’ve been heavier on his block. He kind of skimmed the block and got soft. Donald Butler was soft on his block. Earl was awesome, but he stumbled. It went through Earl’s gap – and it wasn’t Earl’s fault – but he stumbled and Gurley just hit it. He hit it with speed, and he was off and running. So, it was a combination of those three guys just fitting it perfect. When you play big-time backs, they find it. If you don’t fit it perfect, that happens. They popped two runs on us. It was two misfits, and the rest of the game was pretty good. But again, we can’t afford that to happen. We got to fix all those things.”
(What are the plans and expectations for DE Dion Jordan?) – “Right now, just to see him practice. He hadn’t played in almost two years, so for Dion, it’s to get back to the field and practice first. That’s the plan right now. But nothing above board, just to see him practice first and see where he’s at physically.”
(And expectations? Or is it wide open, you don’t know what you’ve got?) – “Again, he’s a young player. We don’t have any (expectations). We just want to see him practice, and hopefully he can help us this year. If not, he’ll help us next year. So, zero or none.”
(What is the defensive end situation relative to DE Jason Jones, DE Mario Williams, DE Dion Jordan and DE Nick Williams?) – “I think Mario, he’s obviously back this week. Jason is gone for two weeks. We’ve got (Terrence) Fede also sitting there. He hadn’t played much, but he’s ready to play. We’ve got Nick Williams who can play tackle or end. I think we’re fine there. Cam (Wake) is healthy, and Andre (Branch) is healthy. We get Mario back. We’ll be fine.”
(It looks like DE Dion Jordan now that he’s 275 there wouldn’t seem to be doubt that he’s a defensive end. But did you and General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Adam Gase and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum have a conversation in the offseason about, “Should he be a defensive end for us? Should he lose weight and be a linebacker?” Was that a conversation that you ever had, or is he a natural end to you?) – “He’s a natural end for us. Our ends are more and more like outside linebackers, so it fits him perfect. He’s going to rush, he’s going to prop, he’s going to be in the run game as an outside edge player. For us, he’s an outside backer/defensive end. That’s what we play with. It’s the same spot for us here.”
(What do you foresee for LB Jelani Jenkins this week?) – “Hopefully he’s ready to go. If he’s not, Spencer (Paysinger) played well last weekend. ‘Nev’ (Neville Hewitt) is playing really well. Hopefully he’s ready to go this week.”
(You’ve kind of been the grim reaper of bad news for some veterans this year. You benched CB Byron Maxwell. You benched DE Mario Williams. You told DE Cam Wake you’ve got to dial back at one point. How did those veterans handle that news?) – “In my mind, it’s the truth. We share the truth in our room, so it wasn’t a surprise that Mario wasn’t playing well. He had to play better. It wasn’t a surprise that ‘Max’ wasn’t playing well. He had to play better. Cam was off of an injury that we thought was going to slow him down early, but obviously, it hadn’t, so I was wrong there. I still feel good about Cam starting slow, because where he is now, he’s healthy, he’s playing well. Those things I don’t regret. I think most players want the truth. How do you not tell a player the truth? For me, that’s easy. For a veteran player, I think it’s easy. They want to know where they stand every day. Most players want that. For me, it’s natural.”
(I guess what I’m asking is their reaction to that news, would you say they fell in line, it was classy?) – “Mario (Williams) played better. He, obviously, played harder and better. (Byron) Maxwell is playing really well. ‘Max’ played his best game as a Dolphin (last) Sunday. So, it’s working. I think sometimes with players … It’s a new environment for Mario and ‘Max’ and it’s expectations. Sometimes you have to spell it out for players. But both of those guys have been great the last month and a half and going forward they should be good for us.”
(Do you have the expectation that CB Xavien Howard will play again this year?) – “Hopefully. Again, until he’s healthy enough to help us play, he won’t. ‘X’ is a young player that has a bright future, so I don’t want to rush him back and have more setbacks. But if he’s ready to go, he should absolutely be able to play.”
(S Michael Thomas talked about how all the defenders and you and all the defensive guys have something in the room called “Speaking truth to power.” How do you feel like that has impacted the entire defense throughout the season? Do you feel like you guys are a better team – or a better defense – as a result of that?) – “I think we are. It’s easy when you watch the film. It’s right or wrong. You’re right or wrong that way. I think players like that, because now they know what the expectations are, they know if they’re doing well or not. That’s part of being a good pro. They want to know how can they can get better, ‘How can I fix it, coach?’ They want their jobs. It’s important to them. If we can’t help them keep their jobs, that’s an awful job as a coach. I think speaking the truth is the only way to go in pro sports.”
(You talked about LB Jelani Jenkins. He has been so start and stop all the way back to August. How does he work through that? What has he been when he has been healthy for you) – “Healthy, he has played well. Obviously, he has missed a couple weeks with injuries, but when healthy he has played well. He has got to figure it out sooner or later how to stay healthy. Maybe a certain role for Jelani fits him better. But right now, he’s our starting dime ‘backer, so he has got to stay healthy. If not, we’ve got guys behind him who are going to play. He understands that. Part of being healthy is a skill set for players, in my opinion. Some guys stay healthy, some guys don’t. So he’s got to acquire that skillset quickly.”
(A different role as far as what?) – “A different role, maybe playing less, maybe being a dime ‘backer full time, not being a starting base ‘backer. We’ll figure it out. He has worked hard. When healthy, he has played well for us, so we’ll figure it out.”
(DT Ndamukong Suh, I believe, had six tackles last week. Five sacks on the year. The 12-tackle game against New England. Are there numbers or anything that you can point to quickly to illustrate how good of a year that he has had? Anything you can say other than, “Watch the tape’?) – “His numbers are solid. He has been a dominant force for us inside – run and pass game alike. He is being doubled a lot. But when he’s singled, he wins in the pass game. Run game-wise, he’s always in his gap for the most part. He has probably had three or four misfits the whole year. He has been a solid force. He has been consistent. Again, in the pass game one-on-one, he’s winning a lot. He’s a three-technique, so he’s not going to have Von Miller’s numbers, but for us, he’s Von Miller. He’s that important to us.”
(When you see a guy like LB Neville Hewitt, it seems like he’s playing with a lot more confidence lately. Is that what you’re seeing from him right now?) – “Absolutely. (Linebackers Coach) Matt Burke has done a great job with Neville. Neville is a young player – again, a second-year player – that has played really at a high level the last month I would say. That’s a good sign. Going forward, he may be a guy that can be a full-time starter. We’re not sure, but he has proven that he can help us win right now.“
