Ryan Tannehill – October 5, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill Conference Call with Tennessee Media
(On how he feels the Titans secondary did last week against Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins) – “They did a really good job. He’s one of the top receivers in the league and they did a really good job of making things tough on him. I came away impressed on how they played last week.”
(On the possible returns of C Mike Pouncey and T Branden Albert) – “It’s exciting to have them back. Mike Pouncey (is) one of the best centers in the league, if not the best – just his abilities on the field, as well as his leadership capabilities on the offensive line. It’ll be great to have him back this week and we’re still unsure about ‘B.A.’ (Branden Albert) but if he is healthy and ready to go, we’d be glad to have him. He’s our starting left tackle for a reason. If we can have our starters out there healthy, that’s what we want.”
(On what makes WR Jarvis Landry a productive wide receiver) – “He’s just an all-around football player. I think he loves the game of football; he loves to compete. He goes out and competes every day and he’s talented. He has some of the best hands that I’ve ever seen. He has a knack of finding ways to get open and then doing it consistently. You put those two things together with his ability to get open and then great hands, that gives you one of the top receivers in the league.”
(On how the team can improve on third downs and how important that is) – “It’s hugely important. We’re not where we want to be at right now on third downs. It just comes down to execution – execution on first and second down, putting ourselves in third-and-manageable – and then when we do have third downs, executing the plays and making the plays that are there. We’ve had our opportunities. We’re a few plays away from being where we want to be at on third down. We have to make those plays when we have our chances.”
(On how much time or extra work it takes to perfect the timing with receivers) – “Well, it takes time. You just spend time in practice – whether it’s during special teams periods, before or after practice – just making sure you’re getting the work you need to make sure everyone is on the same page. That’s part of playing the game. It’s just finding little things that can make yourself better and make the guys around you better.”
(On what stands out to him about the Titans defense) – “I think first and foremost, it’s a good front. They have a really good front – physical. They want to make it tough throwing the football. (Jurrell Casey)’s a great football player. He’s quick. He’s big. He’s strong. He really has everything you look for from a d-tackle and then you look at their ends, they’re able to get pressure with their ends with speed and power on the edge. They have a really solid front that’s going to be tough for our front guys to handle. A good challenge for us.”
Adam Gase – October 5, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Tennessee Media
(On if he has ever dealt with a situation like this with a hurricane and how the Dolphins are handling it) – “I think the closest I ever came was we thought we were going to have one when I was at LSU one time. I think it was 2000. Nothing really happened as far as us having bad enough weather to where it affected any kind of game. I know we missed out on a day of practice, but this is obviously something different than anything I’ve gone through before.”
(On how closely the situation is being monitored and when is there a deadline on making a decision about Sunday’s game) – “Basically our front office, our team president, ownership, those guys are all in communication. As far as my part of this, I’m basically worrying about coaching the team right now and then those guys are giving me a heads up of whenever we have to take a next step regarding anything.”
(On if he has a deadline to move the game that he’s aware of at this point in time) – “No.”
(On the pressure the Dolphins got on Titans QB Marcus Mariota last year and what he has seen differently on film from them this year) – “You have to look at it every year as a different year. When you’re a quarterback of his skill set, when you go from year one to year two, it really changes the game; the more you play the more experience you get. A lot of times the quarterback can be the bail out in those situations where you are getting pressure on the quarterback. Obviously he’s going to be able to help, probably a lot more this year than he did in the past; but I’m sure they’ll have something as far as how to take care of certain things that we do with our pass rush. Pressures, things like that. I mean it’s really going to come down to – for us – it’s really executing our game plan and then trying to do the best we can to keep him in the pocket and not let him … being able to be not only a passer but a runner as well.”
(On what he sees when he looks at the Titans offensive line) – “Any time that you start adding new players and then you also have … experience starts to come into play as far as guys getting used to playing together, guys getting years in the league. You’re always going to see improvement. You’re going to start to see guys feeling comfortable in the system that they’re running. A lot of times it is an experience thing. It is a continuity thing with the offensive line and I’m sure the longer that group can kind of hang together, they’ll just keep getting better. I know as far as our front goes against them, it’s always going to be a tough matchup because we know what they bring as far as the running game. They keep you off balance as far as pass rushers go.”
(On how G/T Laremy Tunsil coming along) – “He’s done a good job. When you move to guard and you’ve been a tackle your whole life, it’s a completely different animal for him because those guys are on you so quick. They’re different sized bodies. You’re not dealing with quickness so much as you are with power. With both of our guards, they both were tackles and it’s been a learning experience. Him being a rookie and our right guard (Jermon Bushrod) is in his 10th year in the league, it’s been just as hard for him as it has been for Tunsil. The more we get out there, the more we play, the more practice we get, the better he’s got. I mean, him sliding out to left tackle last week, that was a tough adjustment because now all of a sudden everything you’ve kind of learned from left guard, now you’ve got to revert to what you knew as the left tackle. Even though he had reps in training camp and we tried to get him some reps in preseason games, it’s just not the same when you get into a live game and all of a sudden now you’re the left tackle.”
(On if he expects T Branden Albert back and how can he and C Mike Pouncey stabilize that unit) – “It looked good for Branden (Albert) as far as coming back from his injury. He’s been sick the last two days so we haven’t been able to have him out at practice. We’ll just kind of see as the week goes on, obviously it being Wednesday right now, we have some time left here before the game. If if we can get him to play and then obviously if everything keeps going smoothly with (Mike) Pouncey, that’s a big help to us because those two guys are veteran players. They are leaders. It changes kind of the atmosphere in that group and with our offense, there’s a lot of confidence there between those two guys. Those are two guys that we really lean on heavily. When things aren’t quite going right, they’re guys that are able to kind of help everybody go in the right direction.”
(On the strategy of using one running back versus multiple running backs) – “I think you do whatever works for you. When you look at DeMarco (Murray), he is a guy that, when you get him involved in a game and you keep him in and you’re getting him touches, he gets in a good rhythm and all of a sudden you’re at 70 yards with him and all of a sudden it becomes 130 really fast. He’s a hard guy to take out of a game. The good thing is when you do have more than one back, as the season goes on, I’m sure it’ll probably start to look different as the season goes on. With all of us only being four games done and going into the fifth one, it’s so early in the season, and it’s a long season. And when you play that position, when you have a guy that your carries start going down and his go up, it helps you when you get going towards the end of the year.”
(On what he saw from RB Derrick Henry in the preseason) – “Obviously, he shredded us. He looked like a grown man out there, for sure. That’s what I know. He’s a player that we really liked coming out of the draft. Obviously, with a lot of our ties that we have to (Alabama Head) Coach (Nick) Saban, we’re always interested in a lot of guys that he has. We have a lot of guys going through that school, because they have so many good players. (Derrick Henry) was a guy that a lot of our scouts and personnel guys really were very interested in.”
(On the strengths of the Titans’ defense) – “Obviously with who they’re being coached by, their scheme is very sound. Their defensive line makes it very difficult. I’m kind of including the outside linebackers in that, as well. It makes it very tough to 1) Run the football; but also when you go to pass it, we better be sound in what we’re doing. It takes one little slip up and all of a sudden the quarterback is on the ground. We have to do a great job as far as understanding what we’re dealing with, with the front. They make it very tough. Obviously, everybody … The team speed is really good. The linebackers can run, and the secondary has been put in a really good position as far as, ‘Do your job, hold up, and that front is going to get there.’”
(On OLB Brian Orakpo) – “He looks good to me, at least from what I’ve seen. (From) the film that I’ve watched, he looks disruptive. What they do with him on third down makes it tough on the offense. I guess it has been a couple years since I’ve seen him, but he looked like he’s doing really well.”
(On Senior Pass Rush Specialist Jim Washburn) – “I would say the No. 1 thing is we hired him, because we wanted that attitude. We wanted that attacking style. I love the way that he coaches players – kind of that old-school mentality. We wanted that in our program as we got this thing started. He has done so much good for our program as far as setting the tempo to what we’re looking for as a defensive unit. He has been a big part of that. I feel like our guys are getting better. I love the way that the players work with him in practice. I love the intensity and the aggressiveness that he brings when he coaches his players.”
(On DE Jason Jones) – “He has been great. He has been one of our guys that has been a pleasant surprise as far as leadership goes. He doesn’t say much, but he does so many things right – the way he practices, the way he plays the game, the way he prepares for the game, the way he takes care of his body to try to make sure he’s available every week. He has been a guy that has really impacted us for the positive, as far as what we want to be moving forward. When you’re 1-3, you want to keep basically (saying), ‘One week at a time. We’ll make sure that we’re right for this week figuring out a way to get better.’ And he has been one of those guys that has been leading the charge in trying to find a way to win a game.”
(On improving on third down) – “I think the biggest thing for us (is) we have to make sure we do a good job of executing the plays that we’ve been calling. Sometimes it’s there; sometimes it’s not. But when we do have our opportunities and we have somebody open, we either got to catch it, or we got to complete it. For us, we put a 15-play cut-up together of third downs that we missed. (If) we complete seven of those, all of a sudden, you’re vaulted into the top 10. They were plays that we feel like that our guys can make and protection-type things that we can clean up. For us, it’s really, stay on the details, and we need to execute at the end of the day. I think our guys are trying to do the right stuff. It’s just when the pressure is on, we have to make sure we’re making the play.”
Adam Gase – October 5, 2016
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On if CB Xavien Howard was out at practice today) – “He got tangled up yesterday. We’re still in the evaluation stage with him right now. We’re going to get through the rest of this week (and) kind of see where we’re at. If he needed to go somewhere, we can’t send him anywhere. Our doctors are still looking at him. We’ll keep doing our deal with our trainers and our local doctors and kind of see where it takes us here leading up to Sunday.”
(On if CB Xavien Howard has another knee issue) – “It’s a possibility. We’ve just got to see. It’s not a major deal. We’ve just got to make sure that we check all the boxes. We’re being obviously cautious because of what happened in the spring. The way he’s been playing, obviously we want to make sure that we’re doing right leading up to the rest of the season.”
(On opposing offenses utilizing three-step drops and if that is frustrating for the defensive line and how they combat that) – “The hard part about that is you try to say, ‘Hey, get your hands up,’ but the way that we pass rush, it’s tough to tell those guys to do that when the way they come off the ball. They come off very aggressive, very fast and they penetrate very quickly. That’s why I keep bringing up it’s a team deal, as far as helping that crew out, as far as giving them the opportunity to pass rush more. And when a team is up on you or is able to stay balanced throughout a game, now that limits their pass rushes. That’s why the offense and defense are so tied together because if you do your job on offense, you start putting up points on the board, you get a lead, and all of a sudden you’re letting those guys do what we’re trying to pay them to do, as far as letting them pass rush more often. That’s why the offense is critical in helping that pass rush out.”
(On how he expects CB Byron Maxwell to respond to his demotion at Cincinnati) – “That’s professional football. This is not the first time anybody’s ever been a starter, then dressed for the game and not played, and then had another opportunity to go back on the field. That’s what makes this game a little tougher than what a lot of people give it credit for, as far as you have to come to work every day, and when your number is called, you need to be ready to go. I’ve always expected him, no matter what has happened, to come out, compete every day in practice, and then when his opportunity comes in games, we’re looking for him to make plays. We’re looking for him to get hands on the ball. We’re looking for him to have tight coverage. When I watch him practice the last two days, he’s come out and he’s competed, and that’s what we expect from him.”
(On if he’s seen a change in WR DeVante Parker) – “I have over the long period of time, the longer we’ve gone through this thing. He’s done a good job as far as making sure he’s doing those little things. I can tell he’s way more engaged in meetings, for sure. So whatever he’s doing outside the building, he’s doing it right because you can tell when a guy’s either not sleeping enough (or) doing something outside the building that’s preventing him to sleep enough. He’s been engaged for probably, especially the last month. I can tell since we’ve started the season, the way that he pays attention to installations in team meetings and things like that. It’s important to make sure that he corrects whatever we were having issues with. As of lately, it’s just like every week we go and the more we practice, I can tell he’s feeling better. His body’s feeling better. We’re starting to see him stretch it out a little bit. We’re able to kind of do some deeper routes down the field, as far as trying to create some of that timing that we need when you run those kind of routes.”
(On what type of atmosphere he hopes to create at Hard Rock Stadium) – “The biggest thing that we need to do is we need to make sure that we’re putting a great product on the field. I felt like last game, the crowd was great. You could tell how in it everybody was. They were very energetic, especially when our defense was on the field; it got loud quite a bit. We have to put out a better product than we showed the last time we were out there. That’s what this season is going to be about for us, we’ve got to keep getting better every week. That’s going to be key to us. If we do that, that gives us our best chance. I think that the crowd, they’ll keep getting louder and louder and louder, (if) we start getting a lead, we let that pass rush go. That’s what we want to create.”
(On how valuable DE Jason Jones’ versatility is for the defense) – “He’s a key piece for us, because 1) He does a good job against the run game; but when we do a lot of the things as far as stirring the front up, he’s one of the ring leaders – him and (Ndamukong) Suh. (They) orchestrate that up front as far as who’s doing what. A lot of the ideas – between the d-line coaches and those guys – they’ve been through quite a few games. They know what works. They know what works against certain guys. They know what works versus certain defenses. Having another veteran guy out there, that’s always key. Experience is something that you really can’t measure sometimes. A guy like that, he can destroy the pocket by setting a pick for somebody else and really sacrificing himself to free another guy.”
(On what he has learned about the depth on offense and defense through four games) – “I feel like we have more than probably what we give ourselves credit for sometimes. I know everybody is trying to nitpick at every little thing. Going into the season did we have some questions? Sure, just like every other NFL team. It’s really about getting guys prepared and making sure that when their opportunity does come, that they know what to do, and they show us physically that they can do it. For the most part, we haven’t skipped a beat as far as guys knowing what to do. It’s just sometimes we get beat physically sometimes. For the most part, we’ve been pretty good as far as what our assignments are, knowing what to do and putting ourselves in the right position.”
(On whether C/G Anthony Steen starting three games was the biggest surprise so far) – “I think we’ve talked about him during training camp, because it was … When he became the starter, I think it was a surprise to a lot of people. Seeing him from OTAs and then moving forward and once we got into training camp (and) put the pads on, you noticed that he was doing things a little different than everybody else. That’s what accelerated him ahead of a couple guys. I would say, yes. Has he been a pleasant surprise? Absolutely. I think we can keep bringing other guys along as well as far as (telling them), ‘Work hard. Know what to do. When you get your opportunity, take advantage of it.’”
(On whether DE Julius Warmsley was another pleasant surprise) – “I think so. It’s easier to see with him. When you sack the quarterback – (you) make plays, tackle for loss, you’re making tackles all over the field – that makes it easier to say, ‘That guy seems like a player.’ When you’re on the offensive line, it’s hard to see everything. You just know a lot of times if you’re a tackle, you either get beat or you don’t. It’s harder to see when you’re playing center and guard sometimes.”
(On proceeding as if CB Xavien Howard isn’t available on Sunday) – “We’re just going to have plans for both. (Defensive Coordinator) ‘V.J.’ (Vance Joseph) does a good job as far as making sure that we have contingency plans, so if for some reason we get to that point on Sunday – to where he can’t go – then we’ll have options. Obviously today we had to shuffle a couple of things around; but that’s ball. I mean that happens during games all the time. Except now, we’ll probably have a good idea (if he’s going to be) inactive (or) active. ”
(On contingency plans for Hurricane Matthew and what he is going to tell his players before they leave today) – “Our biggest thing is making sure that everybody’s being smart. We want the safety of our players and our staff and the people in our building, to make sure that everybody’s doing the right thing, making sure that they are putting themselves in a position where we get everybody back (and) everybody is safe and sound. That’s the scariest thing for us, is just making sure that everybody’s being smart once they leave here because we can’t hold everybody’s hand. Everybody has to be grown-ups, everybody has to be a man in that locker room and make sure that they do the right things to keep themselves safe.”
(On RB Kenyan Drake’s experience in a pro-style offense in college and if it is serving him well this season) – “It doesn’t hurt. Playing for (Alabama Offensive Coordinator) Lane (Kiffin), he’s got a good variety of things. Being in that system with (Alabama Head) Coach (Nick) Saban, that benefits guys quite a bit; just the way that you should practice, the way that you should go about your business. Sometimes, young guys get off track a little bit. They forget what the most important thing is for you, and that’s this. Whatever you want to do outside this building isn’t as important as what you’re doing here.”
(On the difference of running backs coming from spread offenses and pro-style offenses) – “I think sometimes guys aren’t used to the under-center run game – a little bit of the patience. When you come from the gun, things happen a little quicker. You might not have to read things out. It’s basically the offensive line is cut in half, to where you’re saying, ‘Read the back side,’ or ’Read the front side.’ When you’re under center, you’ve got a lot of room to work with. That’s probably the biggest change for these guys. It’s like anything else with NFL players, for the most part, when they get to the pros, and they get in the flow of everything, they adapt quickly.”
(On if he told the players to stay home tomorrow) – “The way that we had everything scheduled, obviously we practiced yesterday. So we treated yesterday like a Wednesday, today like a Thursday. Tomorrow, is kind of like what we did with the Seattle trip. Tomorrow was going to be a lift, recovery day with meetings and a walkthrough. And then we were going to head into Friday like a normal Friday. Well, obviously because of the situation that we’re in right now, it’s more than just the players in this situation. We have to make sure that our staff in the building takes care of what they need to take care of. We can’t just have all our players running around the building, so we’ve closed the building for tomorrow. That allows everybody to prepare for what they need to prepare for, and then we’ll try to get our players back in the building on Friday.”
(On if he’s staying home) – “I’m going to stay somewhere.” (laughter)
(On the possibility of the game being moved either to another site or another day and how that disturbs the season or practices) – “When anything like this happens, the one thing that I can say is that (the) only (thing) NFL players, coaches and staff members can do is adjust. You go with the flow. If somebody tells you, ‘Hey, you have to do this.’ You just go with it. There’s no use to worrying about it, complaining about it, because there’s nothing you can do about it. You make your plans accordingly and then you move on and get that done.”
(On how RB Arian Foster and T Branden Albert are doing) – “Branden is still recovering. He’s been sick the last two days. He was here for a walkthrough and meetings. He should be okay and hopefully he starts feeling better. As far as Arian goes, we had him out there today. He did some individual. He was running around quite a bit. I know he’s itching to get back. We just want to make sure that we’re smart. We don’t want to do the, ‘Alright you’re up, now you’re down for two games.’ We want to make sure when we get him back, we’ve got him back for the duration.”
(On if teams are more reluctant to play Cover 1 against QB Marcus Mariota and why that is the case) – “It’s an interesting situation when you have a quarterback that can do what he can do. When you have a guy that can move and then take over a game with his feet, now all of a sudden you’re in man coverage and everybody can get dragged out of one area of the field and he takes off – there’s nobody there. That’s why you see a lot of teams don’t play Cover 1 versus guys that can move outside the pocket. That’s why you have to be careful with a guy … you have to be very careful how you play a quarterback with the ability to do so much. You have to be smart and you have to be disciplined. That’s going to be key for us.”
(On how you contain Titans RB DeMarco Murray who you know will get the ball but is hard to stop) – “You do the best you can. It’s hard to compare the two because they’re two different positions, but it’s like (Cincinnati Bengals WR) A.J. Green. You know that they’re going to get certain statistics. You try to do everything you can to prevent them from scoring, trying to change field position. You just try to make everything they do hard. You try to make sure that it’s not a 35-yard gain. You try to hold things into non-explosive type plays and make him earn everything he gets. We know he’s going to get a certain amount of yards. We know he’s going to get touches in the passing game. We have to do a great job of making sure that we’re disciplined on defense, making sure we’re gang-tackling. When we have a chance to get him down, get him down. Don’t let him break a tackle. We have to be swarming to the ball. When he has his big games, it’s because you have one-on-one and he ends up running a guy over or making a guy miss. So we have to play team defense against him. If you do that, it gives you your best chance. You might walk out of the game and all of a sudden he has 90 yards and you might say that was a good day. It’s the same thing when you’re dealing with a great wide receiver. If you get out of the game and he has no touchdowns but he might have a few yards and he didn’t really change field position and he had 12 catches, you might look at it as a good day. Every situation is a little bit different. You can’t go over the top and be like, ‘Oh, we got smoked by that guy,’ when details-wise, you might go back and look at it and be like, ‘It really wasn’t that bad.’”
(On if he takes the approach of containing Titans RB DeMarco Murray and letting others beat you or do you pick your poison) – “You go into your game plan and you decide, ‘Who can’t you let beat you?’ And that’s what you try to do. Sometimes that’s what happens with the great players in this league – they figure out a way to still do it. That’s what makes it tough. You have to do everything you can to try to make sure their best players don’t beat you, and then you have to be good everywhere else, as far as when you get one-on-one matchups, you can’t let somebody that you anticipated, ‘Hey, we think we’re going to be able to shut this guy down,’ and then you don’t. It’s a tough assignment. When you have a really, really good player, you’ve got to try to take him away but sometimes those guys still figure out a way to be heavily involved in the game.”
(On why RB DeMarco Murray wasn’t in the conversation in the offseason trade with Philadelphia since they traded him too) – “I don’t remember his name coming up when we were discussing the defensive guys. I’m trying to think back, but I don’t remember them ever really offering him to us.”
(On if he has a general rule of when he pulls a quarterback in a blowout) – “Not really. I keep thinking about to 2013. If we were ever up and we tried to pull (Peyton Manning), it was like World War III. (laughter) The way I always looked at it is, the quarterback a lot of times, if you’re up, he’ll tell you, ‘We’re good.’ But a lot of times, these guys don’t want to come off the field. They want to be out there the whole time. They don’t want to be looked at any differently than anybody else. I know (Manning) was always kind of like, ‘Well, my center is in, why am I not in?’ That would be the first thing he would say, ‘D.T. (Demaryius Thomas) is in, Emmanuel (Sanders) is in, (Eric) Decker is in, why am I not in the game?’ When you go into a game, there are only so many guys that are up so somebody is staying in the game. It’s not like college where you have 85 reserves in the back end. These guys don’t like to come out of the game and I’ve never been one to really … I’ve never pulled a quarterback. That’s just not something that I do.”
(On if it enters his mind that fans want a starting quarterback pulled during a blowout) – “No. It’s football. That’s what it is.”
Mario Williams – October 5, 2016
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Defensive End Mario Williams
(On if he has any personal experiences dealing with hurricanes) – “Yes, growing up in North Carolina we had quite a few.”
(On what his hurricane experiences were like) – “Rain and wind.”
(On having any damage) – “Yes, sometimes there is some damage depending on which ones came. I can’t remember all the names of them; but most of them that came by this way, obviously (head) up north, get up to the coast, get up to North Carolina. Sometimes there’s damage; sometimes there’s flooding or whatever.”
(On the effect of Hurricane Katrina in Houston) – “Yes, I think the biggest thing is, you don’t know what you’re going to get at the end of the day. So, I think everybody is waiting to find out. Or waiting for it to turn or waiting for it to come up here. We’ll see what happens.”
(On the preparation he has done for Hurricane Matthew) – “None, I’ve been prepping for Tennessee. I mean, honestly we’re here practicing and everything. I haven’t really had the chance to get out. I did go out yesterday and people were already pretty much bare inside the stores.”
(On any truth to the rumor that he once drove through a hurricane) – “I do a lot of things in the weather. Not necessarily risky things, but some of the ones that are a little weaker. I mean, if it’s a (Category) 4, that’s a different story. But yes, I still venture out.”
(On Tennessee’s rushing attack and if RB Demarco Murray is more elusive than people give him credit for) – “Yes, he’s definitely pretty quick. That’s one of those things that makes him the back he is. He’s not just fast, but he can make guys miss and he’s a big guy, so he’s tough to tackle as well.”
(On what has he seen from QB Marcus Mariota) – “He’s calm. I think the biggest thing is him keeping his composure, going through his reads and making right decisions. They are not asking a whole lot of him with the running game they have; but as long as he can keep the game in control and not turn the ball over, I think that is pretty much what they want him to do.”
(On what makes mobile quarterbacks so difficult to contain) – “I think the biggest thing is just staying after it – when they get running and things like that – as a whole, not just one person, everybody has to play a running quarterback. In this situation, the most important thing we need to do first and foremost is win first down (and) stop the run.”
(On if the conversation in the locker room has been about the Titans, Hurricane Matthew or both) – “No, it’s been completely Titans. I’ll say all of us, we haven’t went anywhere and gotten anything for the hurricane. So, it’s all Titans. Believe me.”
(On does it concern him to not be ready for Hurricane Matthew) – “No, I’m ready. I mean, if it comes, it comes. You deal with it. We have to do what we have to do – be ready for anything.”
(On they have water bottles at the facility for you) – “I don’t know, do we?”
(On the defense having 10 sacks while quarterbacks are utilizing a lot of quick throws and three-step drops and if the team’s sack total is impressive because of that) – “It’s been difficult, especially last game. If you time snap to throw, it’s pretty quick. At the same time, we’ve got to find a way to manage that; try to find a way to stop the quick throws however (we can) – if it’s tighter coverage, or us getting our hands up or whatever. We’ve got to figure something out because it is, more than not, quick passes so far. It has only been four games, so we’ll see what ends up happening at the end of the day; but right now, it’s been pretty quick. We’ve got to figure something out. If it’s not a sack, a batted ball is just as good.”
(On if that’s frustrating as a defensive line) –“No, because like I said, it’s only four games. At the end of the year, it is what it is at that point. But right now, we’ve still got plenty of games to play.”
Cameron Wake – October 5, 2016
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Defensive End Cameron Wake
(On what he sees when he looks at the film of the Titans’ tackles) – “I see o-linemen. I don’t like o-linemen.” (laughter)
(On what he thinks the strengths are of the Titans’ tackles) – “I think they’re like o-linemen – they’re big, they’re slow and they’re ugly (laughter), just like most of the ones we have here. Us fast pretty guys like to take advantage of them.”
(On some of the challenges when facing a mobile quarterback) – “It’s the same old song and dance. Once you get in the backfield, you have to do your best to lower your center of gravity and put the ball on the ground. We’ve played (Titans QB Marcus Mariota) before and you’ve got to be aware of where he’s going to be. If he’s going to be moving around, you have to change your angle a little bit; but your aggressiveness can’t change. It’s going to be another day of attack football for us.”
(On how the defensive linemen counter all of the three-step drops they have seen this year) – “You keep rushing because at some point, they can’t throw the ball three steps every play. There are going to be situations and we have to try to dictate those situations where they hold the ball and the guys up front can get their job done. I’m not a genius, but if I was a quarterback, I probably wouldn’t hold the ball for too long either. That’s the way this business is. You’ve just got to keep rushing knowing that eventually things will change. You don’t want that one rush to be like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be a three-step (drop) and now it’s a five-step (drop).’ You’ve got to keep it going.”
Adam Gase – October 4, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On looking at third down and what he’s seeing) – “(We’re) a little bit off on some things. We’ve had a couple of chances as far as … we’ll look at the whole thing as far as what our misses were, where we had a couple of chances to make some plays – whether it was (a) throw (or) catch. That was a good amount of them where we could have basically taken care of business on our own, minus schematics. (We had) probably one too many protection breakdowns. That’s probably where it comes down to the most. If we could: 1) Just make the plays that are there. That’s going to help us a lot, and then if we can just clean up some of the protections, just make sure we don’t have any free runners at the quarterback. We’ve got some guys open. They’re doing the right stuff outside. We just need to clean up some of our protections.”
(On how much of a difference just doing a little better would make) – “A lot. I mean we went through them this morning. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Clyde (Christensen) put on 15 clips and he’s like, ‘If we make seven of these, you’re looking at a completely different offense as far as time of possession, first downs, all of those type of things that can keep our drives going.’ If we can just get some of this stuff cleaned up, and I think we will, especially the way I’ve seen these guys working today. That was good to see.”
(On C Mike Pouncey returning to action on Sunday and what difference he can make) – “(A) big difference. Not only, as far as a player – obviously he’s special at what he does – but attitude. He’s a different breed. He brings the kind of confidence you want as a coach. You know he’s a guy that you can always rely on. He’s a guy that rallies the troops when things aren’t quite going right and his mindset is exactly what you want – a guy that puts his head down. He works. He’s a true pro all the way. Guys like that, you want around – especially on game day – as much as possible.”
(On if C Mike Pouncey is one of those guys that can communicate a message to his teammates that coaches cannot) – “Absolutely. We need as many guys stepping up as possible and obviously getting him back, that would be a big deal for us.”
(On how C Mike Pouncey looked at practice) – “He seemed good. We’ve got to get through this week. I keep telling him, ‘If you feel right at the end of the week, then we’ll give you the green light; but if there’s anything that doesn’t feel rightm then we’ll be on hold.’”
(On what he wants to see from CB Tony Lippett this week) – “Just consistency. Just keep doing what he’s basically been doing all through practice, and then it’s another chance for him to prove himself. (It’s) another opportunity for him to go out there and compete against some good receivers and a good scheme they have going on there. The challenge for us is going to be we’re going to need our secondary guys to do a good job of tackling too this week. It’s going to be the full gamut as far as the DBs (are) concerned of using all your skill sets to your advantage and basically, at the end of the day, stepping up and making some plays.”
(On if he was happy how CB Tony Lippett competed last week) – “Absolutely. That’s never been an issue with him. At the end of the day, he’s fairly new to the position. We just need to keep growing him as fast as possible.”
(On how the threat of Hurricane Matthew is affecting plans) – “I’m more staying away from it and just focusing on what I need to focus on. That’s why (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and (General Manager) Chris (Grier) do such a good job as far as telling me what I need to know (and) if we need to make any kind of changes. There are plans in place already. We had discussions before we took off for summer break. We had discussions after we got back as far as certain situations and what we would do. We went to the extent of if we ever had to go somewhere else – those types of things – if we would have to leave early within a week. So we have protocols that we have in place. It’s just now kind of a wait-and-see for us.”
(On TE Jordan Cameron) – “I don’t know a timetable. We’re going through the correct steps. We’re trying to make sure we’re putting him in position to where he feels right, as far as not only health-wise, but mentally where he’s at. Sometimes it takes a second. We haven’t really gone through every process as of right now. Our trainers are being smart with it and working with the doctors and the NFL people. We’re trying to make sure we go through exactly what we need to go through. At the end of the day, we got to make sure he’s alright.”
(On whether TE Jordan Cameron visited a specialist and if it’s alarming) – “I don’t think it’s alarming. I think it’s a guy that’s trying to make sure he’s checking all his boxes and making sure that things are right with him. That was something that we really encouraged with him as well. We’ll play this thing out and figure out where we are. Really, we’re day-to-day right now. He knows how I feel about him and the support that I have for him as far as, we need to do everything we can to make sure he’s right and feels good. His health is the No. 1 priority.”
(On whether he knows how the running backs will be used this week) – “Yes, I do. That’s all you’re getting. (laughter) That’s the one time, I’m not giving you that one this week.”
(On why he thinks the running back rotation is important) – “I think I’ve got to get … Whether it’s one or two guys, I need to create some kind of flow for these guys. I feel like last week, I probably should’ve done a better job as far as if somebody got hot, keeping them in the game instead of moving guys in and out. That was some bad coaching by me, as far as rotating those guys. Going forward, hopefully we can target a couple of guys a game or one guy a game and let that guy get in the flow of it and see what happens.”
(On whether S Isa Abdul-Quddus and S Michael Thomas will rotate at free safety) – “We’ll see how this week plays out. We’ll see how practice goes. Every week, we go in and there are certain positions that we do that with. Sometimes it goes noticed, sometimes it goes unnoticed. Mike has been playing well. We felt like he could help us back there, and part of the reason is Bobby (McCain) has been playing well (in the nickel/slot position).”
(On the biggest thing that stood out to him about S Reshad Jones) – “The one thing I didn’t know about him is that, (I thought) he is kind of the guy that is somewhat quiet and wasn’t really vocal. He’s probably been one of our most vocal leaders. He’s done a good job of trying to step into that role and help the younger guys develop. To see a guy do that, kind of go outside of something that he’s never done before I appreciate that because you talk about taking something off my plate, taking something off ‘VJ’s’ (Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) plate – he’s done that. (We’re) not even talking about the fact that the guy is an unbelievable player. I don’t know if I’ve ever been around too many safeties like him. The only one that comes to mind that I’ve been around is Brian Dawkins, and that was the back-half of his career, or the back part of his career. He’s a special player. The toughness he plays with – his ability to do everything – is rare. I appreciate what he brings to the table.”
(On having success stopping the Bengals running game and what was the difference between that game and the first three games) – “I think our guys did a good job of taking the coaching that (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) did as far as making sure that we were playing team defense. And they executed the plan higher that we had probably since the Seattle game. I think we had a little misstep there in the New England and Cleveland games. They did a really good job of helping each other. The defensive line did a good job, which protected the linebackers and allowed them to make plays. Then the secondary did a good job of coming up – if something did leak through – of getting up there and making sure that we got them down. If we can keep building off that, that’s going to be key. Obviously this week it’s going to be key, because we’re playing a team with two very good running backs and a good offensive line and a quarterback that’s also a threat. We just need to keep building on being assignment-sound, playing fast and rallying to the ball. That’s going to be the biggest thing.”
(On how frustrating it is to be a play caller and the offense keeps going three-and-out) – “You try to work through the game of understanding that it is four quarters. When you’ve been through it enough where you’ve had first halves where it doesn’t go quite right, and then all of a sudden you catch fire in the second half, that’s what you’re kind of hoping for. Maybe it takes one first down and all of a sudden you’re rolling. So far, we’ve kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit too much and it’s continued and rolled over into the second half some games. I think for us it’s basically getting back to some of our basics and doing a good job on first and second downs. Let’s get into third-and-manageable, get inside third-and-5 and let’s convert those. We have a good a number of third-and-5s and we’re in the right position, we’ve just got to finish some of these plays. I think the more we’re together and the more we’re getting used to … I think our guys are getting used to my play-calling style. I think our guys are getting used to our scheme and they understand the why. We’re doing it right. We have to take it to that next step. We have to make plays. If the ball’s a little off, make the play. If we throw a good ball, we have to catch it 100 percent of the time. If we can eliminate some of those little things … Same thing with the protection – when we have the blitz picked up and we’re in the right spot, let’s finish the blocks. Let’s get the throw off. If we clean up a couple of those things – hopefully this week, we’re heading in the right direction, as far as what we did in practice today – those numbers will turn around.”
(On if his point of emphasis is getting the first, first down) – “Yes, I guess that’s just my history as far as a lot of the offenses that I’ve been a part of, if you get that first, first down, you just feel like, ‘Alright, we’re going to score now.’ When you have that kind of confidence, you can feel it amongst the coaching staff (and) the players. Right now, we’ve been stalling out there on that first third down we have every time. What we need to do is we have to do a good job of staying third-and-manageable and get that first, first down and then let’s roll.”
(On if your reputation as a play caller is made on third down) – “Yes. A lot of times as a play caller, you’re putting it on yourself as far as let’s get up, get a good scheme drawn up, the right play called and try to pop somebody free. If you can call the right play versus the right coverage, sometimes your players just have to be in the right spots to catch the ball or finish the run, whatever it may be. That’s why sometimes as a play caller, you get frustrated because you’re like, ‘I need to hit the right number here and call the right play versus the defensive coordinator.’ Sometimes when it’s all not quite going right, you’re calling the wrong play at the wrong time, we’re not finishing (and) we’re doing this wrong, so it just kind of snowballs on you. We just need to get back to some of the little things that we were doing right earlier, especially in training camp. There have been a couple of games where we’ve actually done some good things on third down. I think if we just keep working on this and doing the right things and putting ourselves in the right position, it’ll start turning for us.”
(On why there hasn’t been more movement on third downs) – “It just depends. Last week we had third-and-1, we do it and we don’t hook up. Some teams are better at playing them than others. If you play our team, every time you go into a naked (bootleg), you feel like Mario (Williams) is right in your face. You’ve just got to know who you’re going against, what’s the right scheme – if they zone everything up, sometimes it’s not ideal; if you catch somebody in man and all of a sudden a guy doesn’t take the right angle, you might get a big play out of it. Sometimes they’ve been good; sometimes not so good. The down and distance does make a difference because playing run over ‘Hey, it’s going to be pass.’ You’ve got to pick your spots when you start moving them around.”
(On how helpful this weekend was to hit the restart button after the first four weeks) – “It was good. It was tough leading up to that game (last Thursday at Cincinnati) because everything is so fast and everybody is working so hard to try to get ready for that game. When that’s over and you’re able to come back to the office and look at what you’ve done and where you need to go to get better, that is very helpful. It’s nice to be able to come in today, point out a few things, say, ‘This is what we need to fix. Here’s where we need to get better.’ And like you said, hit the reset button a little bit, which is good because now it’s right at the right time for us – end of the first quarter, heading into the second quarter, we’ve got four home games and a bye week. Right now we just need to finish doing what we’re doing every week. We’ve got to go out there and we’ve got to work. We have to figure out a way to get a little bit better every day and then on Sunday we have to put out the right product.”
(On an example of something he did this weekend with the extra time) – “Just going through what we’ve done. That’s basically what you do. You check out formations; you check out tendencies. You look at, ‘Are we putting guys in the right position? What are we good at? What are we struggling with?’ Basically, we’re doing what the opponent we’re going to play is doing. They’re looking at us and we’re looking at ourselves to say, ‘What do we need to do to help ourselves on third down? What do we need to do to help us on first and second down? What’s our best running game? What’s the best completion as far as getting the ball out quicker? How do we help our own guys?’”
(On T Branden Albert not practicing today) – “He was sick today. He was sick so we sent him home.”
(On if T Branden Albert’s absences from practice today was ankle related) – “No.”
Jarvis Landry – October 4, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Wide Receiver Jarvis Landry
(On how to fix the offense’s struggles on third down) – “We have to find different ways to get guys the ball, and it starts with all of us. It starts with the protection, it starts with the right reads, it starts with making plays. At the end of the day, third down is about making plays (and) understanding that the defense may have a twist or a wrinkle, but at the end of the day it’s about winning the matchup and making the one-on-one play. For us, we just have to do that more.”
(On if the issue is 10 guys doing their job and just one guy making a mistake or error) – “On the offensive side of the ball, you can’t afford that. You can’t afford one bad thing or one guy slip on his details or he loses his assignment. For us, we have to find a way to stay on our details like (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase is constantly talking about. If we do that, I think that will allow us to have more success.”
(On what the receivers can do to get open more on third down) – “Again, for us, it’s trying to find those matchups. Sometimes it happens to be a coverage sack. From that standpoint, we have to find ways to maybe not get sacked or protect a little longer. Sometimes it takes a little longer to protect. But at the end of the day, if he throws the ball, we have to find a way to make the play. I think that’s the overall picture out there of our problems.”
(On the message from Head Coach Adam Gase this week) – “(He was) pretty much laying out the keys to victory and telling us, like I’ve been saying, we need to execute on third down. (He’s) addressing that we’re last in the NFL on third downs – addressing it and trying to practice it more and get better at it.”
(On if moving the pocket would help on third down) – “Why not? But obviously that’s up to (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase and the coaching staff – how they scheme it. At the same time, it’s about us going out there and executing. I think at the end of the day, it leaves from X’s and O’s and it’s about playmakers making plays.”
(On if Head Coach Adam Gase has made the message clear to the team about performing or losing their jobs) – “That’s in any business. At the same time, Coach Gase has a high standard for us and he requires a lot of us. That says a lot of him as a coach (for) wanting that out of us. Obviously, in doing that, we can be more successful, which allows us to win more games.”
(On if one of the frustrating parts about going three-and-out is that there is more to the playbook that they can’t get to because the offense isn’t on the field) – “It is. At the same time, we always talk about getting the first, first down, to kind of create a rhythm of some sort. For us, it’s something we haven’t been able to do as of late. We need to go back and fine-tune those details and get all 11 guys doing their job on every play, and take it one play at a time. Hopefully that gives us the momentum that we need to carry drives.”
(On how important it is to take advantage of this stretch with four-straight home games) – “It’s what we need to do, and we understand that. It’s no secret. For us, obviously the 17-0 (perfect record) is out of the window but coming into the second quarter of the season, we talked about it today – just taking one game at a time. Yes, we have four home games and a bye mixed up in there somewhere; but it’s about the Tennessee Titans. We’re not looking ahead; we’re not looking back. We’re looking at the Tennessee Titans. For us, that’s going to be our main focus for the rest of the season.”
(On how he feels the offense has performed when going up-tempo as opposed to going at a more regular pace) – “Being on the road hasn’t really helped us as far as communication. But at the same time, the tempo of our offense allows us to get the d-linemen tired – get those guys fatigued. Then the pass rush slacks off and it makes it easier on the o-line. That’s when our offense really comes together. Our tempo is a gift and a curse, because we get tired too; but at the same time, we practice the way we practice so that when the fourth quarter comes, we’re still able to go.”
(On if he gets the sense that their might be more fast coming) – “The way that our offense is run, it’s built for that. It’s built for the tempo and to control the game like we want to control the game. For us, we want to mix that up. We’re going to find ways to have tempo, slow it down when we want to and also go as fast as we can. For us, it’s a game plan, week-to-week thing.”
(On how being 1-3 right now affects the optimism) – “You’ve got to be (optimistic). I think for us, we have true competitors in this building – from the coaching staff to the chef in the kitchen. For us, we’ve got to find a way to be better on third down, win the time of possession, win the turnover margin – big things like that. That’s going to allow this team to generate the momentum. I feel like when we start winning … I feel the streak coming.”
Mike Pouncey – October 4, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Center Mike Pouncey
(On whether he is practicing today) – “I’m back at practice (and) excited to be back out there with the guys. We’ll see how this week goes and prepare to play in the game.”
(On how mentally difficult returning from an injury can be) – “Mentally, it’s very tough. Seeing the guys you’ve been working with the whole offseason go out there and accomplish a goal – and that’s to be ready for a season – and to miss games, it was very tough on me. I definitely didn’t see this coming, but I’m glad to be back. It’s definitely a blessing. (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has been awesome the whole time, trying to keep me as patient as possible to come back to the practice field. Today, we’ll see where we’re at.”
(On whether he was lobbying Head Coach Adam Gase to return to practice) – “I’ve been feeling good for a long time. It’s something that we had to be real careful with, so we didn’t have any setbacks. I’m excited to be back out there.”
(On when the injury occurred) – “Some pile-jumper from the Dallas Cowboys jumped on me. That’s basically how it happened. He fell on top of me; we fell at the same time.”
(On what doctors told him following the injury) – “(I) fractured my hip.”
(On whether he will play this Sunday) – “We’ll see. I want to see how practice goes this week. Honestly, it’s up to (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase whether I play or not. But I’m looking forward to showing them what I can do out there this week at practice.”
(On the big picture for the rest of the season) – “Big-picture-wise, we’ve been in this position before. It’s only four games in so far. We’ve got 12 games left in the season. We’re looking forward to turning this season around and winning a bunch of games here. Luckily, we got a four-game home stretch, so we’ll be looking to play real well these next four games at home.”
(On whether he still feels this team is different) – “Of course I do. I feel like the players … We’ve been in every game. Unfortunately, we started slow in some, but I feel like this team is very competitive. I think we can turn this season around very easily. We’ve been beating ourselves for the most part, if you watch the film. But we look forward to these next games (and) can’t wait to go out there and play Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.”
(On whether his hip injury will linger) – “You can’t predict injuries. Honestly, I didn’t predict the guy jumping over the pile and falling on me. But other than that, I feel good enough to go out there and play. I’m healthy, and we’ll see what Coach (Gase) thinks after this week.”
(On whether there is a long-term concern about his hip injuries) – “We all have concerns long term – every guy that plays in the NFL. Right now, I’m not too much concerned about it. I wouldn’t put myself in a position to hurt myself or have a setback and go out there if I wasn’t ready to play.”
(On the effects on the injury on his career and if he thought the injury might have been more serious than it turned out to be) – “Well, yes – sitting there talking to the doctors, all the ‘What ifs?’ came into play. If this would’ve happened or that would’ve happened, you start questioning how long you can play in this league and how physical this game is. I’m very fortunate to be back as fast as I am right now. When I first injured this hip, there was a lot of doubt in my mind (about), ‘Would I ever come back and be the same player?’ I guess we’ll see today.”
(On whether his return can have a positive impact on the team) – “I think whenever you have one of your leaders that has been there – a guy that a lot of these guys on this football team looks up to – I think it helps out a lot. That doesn’t guarantee that we go out there and win games. We’ve still got to go out there and do the right things the right way. Hopefully me coming back, it gives this team the spark that we need.”