Adam Gase – November 10, 2016
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Thursday, November 10, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(You said since September that your team has practicing well. Any theories of why it didn’t translate on the field earlier, but now it’s starting to carry through?) – “I think a little bit of it is being comfortable with the schemes we’re running. It’s always tough when you start – both sides of the ball. You’re learning new techniques and new routes. It takes a second to kind of mesh together. On defense, when you were on the field as much as we were, you have to be so on it with the run fits, because you have to play as a full group. And then offense, we just had so many moving parts – guys in and out. We had I don’t know how many different offensive lines and, (we were) trying to get used to all that. Sometimes it takes a second. That’s why the season is as long as it is. You do have time to fix things. It’s about really more mentally staying with it and keep going back to work and not getting frustrated by necessary results of early in the season.”
(I didn’t notice WR Jarvis Landry out there. Is there anything you can tell us about that?) – “Yesterday him and (WR) Kenny (Stills) both … After practice they were not right as far as what we put on the injury report. We held them out today. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes, see if we can get them back in practice. Right now, it has been a day-to-day thing.”
(Illness or injury?) – “It’s injury. I think we had Kenny (Stills) with a calf and Jarvis (Landry) with a shoulder.”
(How did WR Jarvis Landry get the shoulder injury?) – “I think when you play the way he does … Obviously, for him, I’m sure he hasn’t been 100 percent every week. When you’re a guy like he is, you don’t really say anything, you just keep playing. When we’re in practice, he plays physical. If a ball gets thrown up in the air, he goes and gets it. He treats everything like a game. A lot of times, he ends up hitting the ground pretty hard or colliding with somebody. I just think it’s that part of the season where he’s banged up.”
(You guys have been pretty patient with the rookie receivers – WR Leonte Carroo and WR Jakeem Grant. Where are they in their development and are they ready to contribute in base packages?) – “We keep trying to put those guys in there and get them rolling a little bit, so they can get a feel for the game, because we know we’re going to need them both at some point. It’s hard to keep those guys healthy. Obviously, the last game it was obvious that DeVante (Parker), his body just wasn’t reacting the way that he thought it was going to leading up to the game. Kenny (Stills), he gets sick and basically was out. So, Carroo had to step in there and play more plays then he has probably played since college. Jakeem, we keep trying to move him in there, because it is good to get him on the field and let him get a feel for playing wide receiver instead of just being a returner. They’re doing a good job as far as trying to keep up with the older guys. It is harder though when you haven’t had as many reps and now all of a sudden you’re thrown into a game. We keep trying to develop these guys and get them ready to go. It takes time. It’s not easy being a rookie wide receiver.”
(How did they practice today?) – “They did a good job. I know there’s a lot of pressure on those two guys. They had to take a lot of reps. They’re still doing scout team, so it was a lot of running for them today. Right now, it’s going to be about getting their bodies recovered to make sure that they feel good on Sunday.”
(So, nobody’s really healthy at this point. Everybody gets beat up. But I’ve been hearing WR DeVante Parker is not right or hurt or not 100 percent for like three months. What is it? And yet he’s practicing and playing? Why can’t he get healthy?) – “Sunday was little surprise for me, because he had a really … What did we go, Tuesday, Wednesday last week? Tuesday, it looked like he was feeling himself out. And then Wednesday, he looked like the guy that’s a first-round draft pick. So, we were feeling really good going into Sunday. And then Friday, sometimes it’s hard to tell. You don’t have … We were working on red zone and things like that, so it’s hard to tell anything. (He) didn’t really have to open up. For whatever reason Sunday, things weren’t working right for him. He tried to open it up, but sometimes he just wasn’t able to go. Sometimes it’s hard to explain things. I guess I’ve been in a few situations with younger wide receivers. With Demaryius (Thomas), it was the same way. It was like you couldn’t buy a break. It was just something all the time that was bothering him, whether it would be an Achilles, a hamstring, his hand. I think he broke his hand one time or his fingers. He couldn’t catch a break. And then sometimes it just takes getting a little streak going where you feel good two, three weeks in a row and then you start getting very confident and you feel like, ‘Alright, I blew past that part of my career.’ It’s going to take some time to say, ‘I’ve had a couple of good weeks in a row. I’m alright.’ When you’re coming off any kind of soft tissue injury, you can’t explain it. You keep trying to do things to make yourself feel as 100 percent as possible.”
(Have you decided on a curfew yet for this trip?) – “I have. I don’t have to tell you everything.” (laughter)
(As a follow up though, where do you draw the line between trusting the professionalism of your guys and giving them some freedom?) – “We’ve had a lot of things that we’ve done leading up to this point, and it started in training camp. I told those guys there’s going to be a lot of things I’m going to do to see if we can handle it. Really, there’s a lot of little traps to see if somebody screws it up. Guys have done a good job of making sure that any time they’ve had a chance to have some freedom – as far as when we’re either on the road or in training camp – they’ve handled their business correctly. I think that Seattle trip was a big test for us. Being the first game of the year, we went out there early, and guys handled it like pros. Any time we’ve done anything, whether it be here or on the bye week, guys did a good job. That’s a scary four days for a coach, because you just never know what’s going to happen, you don’t know where everybody’s at. And the same thing with this trip: they know we’re going to be out there 11 days. They know why we’re out there. This isn’t a vacation. You’re trying to make it as comfortable as possible like we’re playing a home game – especially when you stay there after the first game – but you do have to trust your guys to do the right thing. Hopefully, we got enough guys that are leaders that will step up and remind guys, ‘Don’t ruin this for everybody.’
(Do you look at this as sort of a bonding experience? They haven’t really been sequestered together since training camp. Could this be a time where maybe they come together?) – “We felt like that way in Seattle. We thought that was the first time where we started seeing some different groups hanging out with each other. We saw a lot of guys going out to eat together, and it wasn’t guys that you would expect to see gravitate towards each other. We did think that was a good thing for us at that time, because we really hadn’t had that opportunity in training camp – we’re here, they’re in the hotel – it was kind of back and forth, and they didn’t really have that opportunity. This is going to be something that’s probably going to be good for us. We’ve had four home games in a row, we’ve been here for quite a while, and getting away will probably be a good thing for us.”
(Chargers DE Joey Bosa – four sacks and I think 13 quarterback hits. Why is he so effective? Why does he have those numbers?) – “I think a lot of it starts with the energy and attitude he plays with. He plays every snap – no matter the down-and-distance, time of the game – he plays every snap and treats it as a meaningful snap. There are no plays off for him. He has got a motor that keeps on going. I feel like whether it’s him or really that group together, it seems like they feed of each other. You don’t really see anybody as a weak link, because all those guys play so fast, and I feel like that’s why they’ve been able to do what they’ve been doing as far as they’re getting pressure with four. They’re hitting the quarterback; they’re getting sacks. They’re making it tough for teams to block them. Those guys consistently for 60 minutes play hard, and they sell out every game.”
(You’ve watched LB Jelani Jenkins now practice with a brace not necessarily a club. Where is the comfort level with him from a tackling standpoint?) – “I haven’t heard him really complain as though he felt like it would be an issue. I know anytime that you’re having any kind of restriction on your hand – and you’re at a position where you have to use your hands – I’m sure it’s not the easiest thing to do. But I feel like mentally, he seems to be in the right place, and he has his game plan of how he’s going to approach this. Hopefully, we can keep going through the rest of the week, and he feels good with everything and, he’s out there. We’re going to give him time to make that decision. It’s really going to be on him how comfortable he is, but it seems as though things are heading in the right direction for us, and he feels good about it.”
(LB Spencer Paysinger led the team in tackles last week despite coming in there as a sub. What has he brought to the equation?) – “He did a really good job. He was very assignment-sound last week. When he had opportunities to make plays, he made them. He put himself in good position, and then he finished the play. There have been a couple times during the season where he has had a couple rough games to where I’m sure he was frustrated as though he had some chances to make some plays and didn’t make them. He made a lot of plays last week. I feel like it started with the fact that his knowledge of the defense is so much greater than what it was early in the season. He’s really focused on being not just a special teams guy, but being a defensive player as well. Anytime that you focus like that and make sure (that), ‘I want to be part of the solution as far as if somebody goes down, I can jump in there, (and) we don’t miss a beat.’ I feel like he has created that mindset to be able to be next man up.”
Adam Gase – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(So TE MarQueis Gray was not out there today?) – “Yes, it’s more of a precautionary thing. He just needed another day to just kind of get his body right.”
(What’s your assessment of Chargers RB Melvin Gordon?) – “He’s made a lot of strides in a short period of time. Obviously he has been their bell cow this year and obviously that’s what they wanted when they drafted him. Now with a couple guys have gone down, it’s even more on him as the year’s gone on. He’s really risen his play and probably is exactly what they thought he was going to be when they drafted him. He’s tough. He’s a tough guy to go against. He’s got everything you want as far as speed, size. He can do all their protection stuff. He’s a tough guy for us to go against.
(Him and RB Jay Ajayi are from the same draft class. Do you see any similarities in their game?) – “I think they’re a little bit different styles for the most part. They do a little bit of a different scheme than us. But I think they’re similar in the fact that both of them seem to have found their groove as far as sticking their foot in the ground, getting vertical, and using speed and power to help them get through the line of scrimmage.”
(Anybody on that defense you recall from your days in Denver giving you a hard time?) – “Yes, I mean there are a couple of guys that are still there. Obviously their defensive coordinator, we’ve gone against each other like eight times over the last few years. So we know each other fairly well. They’re very disruptive up front, for sure. It seems like there’s great energy going on right now with their front. They’re playing a lot more coverage, so that front four is getting to the quarterback and they’re stopping the run and they’re making things difficult for teams going against them.”
(Are there things you need to do to Chargers QB Phillip Rivers beyond what you would do to a normal quarterback?) – “He’s always been a tough guy to go against. I know there’s been a few times that we’ve played him and had a lead on him you feel like … you feel good going in to the fourth quarter and then all of a sudden you look up and there’s four minutes left and it’s a one score game, or it’s three points or they’ve taken the lead. I just know he’s a relentless competitor and he seems to find a way to get his group playing well. He’s had a lot of changes especially the last four or five years where either guys have left in free agency or guys have gotten hurt. He’s had a lot of moving pieces and he makes it work.”
(What did you learn working under Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy in Denver the time you were together with him?) – “I think the thing I learned most of all was just about getting everybody involved in what you’re doing game-planning wise – how to handle the day as far as being a coordinator. He was very open with me every day (about) why he would do something – meetings, preparation for a game plan, practice, all those type of things. So I think he really did a good job of teaching me the day-in, day-out operation of being a coordinator.”
(Why didn’t you go with him?) – “Because I became the coordinator in Denver. We were pretty good.” (laughter)
(With WR DeVante Parker still battling that hamstring injury, what’s the expectation as far as him being able to play through that versus maybe trying to rest him for a week?) – “Yes, I mean that whole group, they’re all banged up out there battling through a lot of things. When you’re coming off an injury and then you feel good, and then you might have some minor setbacks here and there, it’s frustrating for a wide out because you want to be 100 percent. It’s just never going to happen. You just have to figure out the best way to push through and just try to give max speed as much as you can. I mean, for whatever reason he tightened up a little bit in the game and it made it real hard for him to get going down the field and really kind of cut. Today he felt better (and) was running around. Last week, we had a really good day – one day – where he almost looked like someone I hadn’t seen before. Right now, it’s hit or miss on every day and we just have to keep doing things that can help his body feel as good as it can when we hit Sunday.”
(Does WR Kenny Stills had anything lingering from the illness or is he back to full health?) – “I don’t know if he’s back to full health but he looked a lot better today than he did on Sunday for sure.”
(How did CB Chris Culliver look today?) – “He’s doing good. He’s progressing and he’s doing more and more every day. He’s taking reps with the defense instead of just doing scout team. I know for him it’s probably exciting to kind of get going with the real defense being called, not just working off of cards for the scout team or just doing one-on-ones. I’m sure he’s excited just to be in that fray of competing in a real period for that side of the ball.”
(Are you optimistic that CB Chris Culliver will play Sunday?) – “Yes, we’ll take a look at it. We’ve got to go the rest of the week and we’ll just keep evaluating what we want to do there.”
(When a player like Jay Ajayi says he gets stronger with more and more carries as the game goes on, how is that possible?) – “I think sometimes its rhythm. It was something I learned a couple of years ago – and I never thought of it that way with the o-line and the running backs – you start running similar schemes and they get a better feel of how the defense is playing their blocks and the running back has a feel of how he needs to start looking at how the linebackers are flowing, how the safeties are fitting, and you get in a little bit of a rhythm. I feel like with him, he is a big guy that, I think he can feel it wearing on the defense. I think it juices him up a little bit. I don’t know if it’s an adrenaline rush for him as the game goes on (or what). He seems to really get stronger as we kind of get going in that third quarter and when the fourth quarter hits, it’s almost like another gear that kicks in for him.”
(When you look at RB Jay Ajayi’s size and strength and also consider the tread. He didn’t play much last year, and he didn’t play much earlier in the season. How do those two things factor into his ability to potentially take on a consistent workload the rest of the way?) – “It’s hard for me to say. When you play that position, it’s such … It’s one of those things where it’s about recovery throughout the week. What are we doing with him at practice? How many reps is he taking? Is he taking a lot of hits on the days we have pads on? And how the game goes. We’ve been lucky that he’s come out of these last few games to where he’s felt pretty good. Leading up to Wednesday, I know he’s working hard to make sure that he maintains his body as far as how he feels when we get practice going again. Every guy is different. It’s really a week to week deal for how he feels. Obviously, we want to give him the majority of the carries; but at the same time, we probably need to be a little smart just as far as, if he’s carrying the ball 25 to 30 times every game, what’s that going to do to him?”
(I noticed that Damien Williams touched the ball on 50 percent of the snaps that he was on the field. How cognizant are you to utilize his skill set?) – “Well, a couple of times it’s just the ball went there because of what the defense did. On that third-down conversion, he was far from the primary guy. It ends up going there due to what they did on defense. He just seems to be a magnet for big plays. I don’t even know what the ratio is for every time he touches the ball; it just seems like something good happens. It’s nothing that’s by design. Obviously when you’re running the ball, sometimes I’m calling a play and I find out at the last second that he went in for Jay (Ajayi). Sometimes it’s just luck.”
(We talked at length about WR Jarvis Landry’s fire and your desire to get him the ball, and his desire to be involved in the game. We talked to QB Ryan Tannehill about it today a little bit. He said that he’s got to be careful because sometimes people look to him and maybe some of his theatrics draw focus to him a little bit. Would you agree with that? And have you ever talked to him about the fine line between intense and kind of out of control a little bit?) – “I think that there are a lot of us that have a certain way that we deal with things. I know there is some times that I know you can’t see it, that I’m losing a little bit of my mind. Everybody handles it different. We all want to sit here and be able to say we want everybody to act like everything is alright all of the time and you’re not frustrated or upset about anything; but everyone has a different way of showing it. I don’t want him to worry about that. I want him to be who he is. Over time, the longer you play this game, you start handling things different. That’s a young player who is competing and wants to do everything he can to help this team win.”
(Any update on TE Dion Sims?) – “Yes. He’s still technically in the (concussion) protocol and until they give us the green light that he’s cleared to play, then we’ll just keep going about the process they have us in.”
(When you say you’ve got to run the ball this week and stop the run. Is that over-simplification or are those high priorities because of the specific opponent?) – “I think as far as the defense goes, we just have to play good defense. You don’t really necessarily know how they’re going to come out and play us. I mean we could say they’re going to run the ball but they’re going to do what’s best with what they feel like they can beat us. If that’s throw it 60 times a game, that’s what they’re going to do. Stopping the run is going to be important for us because it’s going to allow us to get ourselves in third-and-longer situations, which our defense does a good job when they get in those kind of situations. Then offensively, we just need to do a good job of making sure we’re staying on the field. The last thing we need to do is give Philip Rivers 14 (or) 15 possessions because we’re going three-and-out and our defense is out there 80-some plays. The biggest thing for us is, when we do run the ball, we just need to be efficient, and when we throw it, we need to be efficient.”
(With CB Lafayette Pitts, what did he do to get that promotion from the practice squad and how can you see him helping the defense and special teams?) – “I think he’s a guy that we’ve been really excited about since training camp. Really, probably even before that. He’s really shown up. He’s got a little swagger to him to where you feel confident with him and he competes every day in practice. I know he gives our receivers fits as far as any time we do any kind of scout team. He competes. And then when we do one-on-ones he shows the right things and he competes on balls and gets his hands on balls and attempts to have an interception. He’s a tough guy for our guys to go against and we like the attitude he brings and we feel like he has good knowledge of our defense. Going forward, we’ll just kind of see how this week plays out. I don’t necessarily know who’s exactly going to be the guys dressing for the game yet. As we progress forward, we’re going to try to keep getting him better.”
(The term game manager has been thrown around a lot in the NFL with quarterbacks. QB Ryan Tannehill has been mentioned as such. Just curious of what your thoughts are on that term. Do you think it is positive, negative?) – “I look at it as the quarterback’s job is to make sure he puts his team in the best position to win a game. I mean I’m sure Alex Smith really doesn’t care how many times he goes to the playoffs as long as he’s going. Call the guys game managers. Their job is to win.”
(With TE Thomas Duarte, what was his path to making the roster?) – “Well we got a little, obviously we were surprised last week as far as it looked like Dion (Sims) was heading in the right direction and wasn’t cleared. We felt like that was the best thing for us because both our … ‘D.J.’ (Dominique Jones) was fairly healthy but ‘Q’s’ (MarQueis Gray) been kind of on and off and we just want to make sure that we had options available because we did want to play a little bit of the two tight end package and not just lean completely on the three wide receivers. We felt like he was a good insurance policy going into that game, but he’s done a lot as far as getting better (and) nderstanding the offense better. We’re seeing improvement in the run game. We obviously feel really good about him in the passing game. His pass protection is getting better. He’s just shown signs of improvement for us and we want to do the best job we can to stay in-house and be able to move guys up and give them the opportunity they deserve as far as being on the active roster.”
Jay Ajayi – November 9, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Running Back Jay Ajayi Conference Call with San Diego Media
(What are your impressions of San Diego’s defense?) – “They have a really strong front. They do a lot of good things and make it hard for offenses with the unique stunts and a lot of movements, so I think we’ll be up for a good challenge this week.”
(To what do you credit your success to this season so far?) – “First thing is to the o-line. Them getting back together (and) being confident has been great for me. (For) myself, just focusing on my level of play, my attitude each day and working on being as consistent as possible I think has really helped my game improve.”
(I know you’ve worked out with Chargers RB Melvin Gordon, but how would describe your relationship?) – “That’s my brother. I look at him as a brother, and it’s going to be fun going up against him as the matchup this weekend. We talked yesterday, and we talk quite often, so it’s going to be fun. I can’t wait.”
(You and RB Melvin Gordon have been in touch since really the combine, you and the rest of the running backs coming out at the same time. What was the relationship like between all of you guys? It seems like via group messages you guys stay in contact.) – “I think just me training with Melvin helped build our relationship. That daily grind of we were working for the same goal, that helped us become even closer. Then when we all went to the combine, we knew we were in a strong running back class, and we knew how talented everyone was. With the group (text) message, it has been (about) keeping in touch with everyone (and) making sure everyone’s on the right track, because we all see ourselves as playmakers for our teams.”
(What was that like last December when you came to San Diego? You scored that touchdown. What are your memories of that game?) – “It was great. I remember playing in that stadium. I’ve played in it in college before, so it was fun getting to play in there for the first time as an NFL player. Even though we lost the game, for me to have gotten my first career NFL touchdown was huge, and I’ll definitely remember that for the rest of my life.”
(RB Melvin Gordon seems like a guy who’s really happy for your success. What sort of feedback did you get from him after that game? I know you guys were talking on the field postgame.) – “He was extremely excited. He was talking about how he almost felt more excited than I was. That’s how we are with each other. We’re always happy for each other’s success. Just like he was able to have a great game this past week, I tweeted out about him and hit him up and congratulated him on a great performance. We’re constantly trying to push each other to be great. We’re competing with each other, because we play at the same position, but we want to see each other succeed at the end of the day.”
(To what degree have you followed RB Melvin Gordon and his play this season, and what’s your response and your assessment to kind of how he has done?) – “I’m always checking on Melvin every week to see how he does. I’m so proud of him to come back from last year, where he wasn’t able to score a touchdown and a lot of people were kind of starting write him off a little bit. Through talking with him, through the offseason and everything, he really put his head down and did a lot of things to set himself up for a great year. He’s starting to showcase the ability that everyone knew he had, and it’s exciting to see how well he has been doing.”
Ryan Tannehill – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(What challenges are there going out for 11 days – 10 or 11 days – and not returning here, or staying out on the road that long?) – “I think being away from home, obviously, is a challenge, especially for guys that have families. Maintaining focus. (You are) out of your normal element. To prepare and get your body and mind ready to go when you’re out of your normal routine. That’s going to be the challenge for this team is to keep our routine as much as we can although we’re not in this building and at home.”
(What do you see on the tape from the Chargers defense that’s a challenge?) – “I see a good defense. They’re playing really well. They’re a sound defense. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. Their secondary will make plays on the football. Up front, they’re doing a good job of stopping the run. You’re looking at a sound defense that, overall, that’s playing really well right now.”
(You’ve always said the only stat you care about is wins and losses, but with 149 passing yards last week, do you think that’s something that needs to grow for you guys to continue to play at this high level?) – “Whatever it takes. Obviously, that was plenty last week. If we need 300 this week, then that’s what we need. It’s just a matter of game by game (doing) whatever it takes to move the chains and put points on the board.”
(Is there a point in the game where you have a sense, ‘Maybe I need to carry this thing,’ or is it just kind of drive by drive?) – “I think as the game goes on, you get a feel for how the game is going. Drive by drive is different as well. We’ll figure that out as the game goes on.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked this week about how he does want to get WR Jarvis Landry more catches. Talk about how that happens. How important it is to make that happen and how does it actually get executed?) – “I think you can move him around a little bit to try to create the matchups you want. We’ve called plays to get him the football at times and whether it has been a protection or whatever, we haven’t been able to get him the football. It’s just a matter of as a unit, playing together as a group, getting the right defense, getting the right matchup when you’re looking for it. There were a few times last week where he got doubled whenever we were looking to give him the ball. It’s just a matter of how the game goes. Obviously, you want to get a player with capabilities like Jarvis the ball as much as you can – and get him involved as much as you can – but there’s a defensive element in there as well.”
(How well does WR Jarvis Landry express himself? Do you try to explain to him, ‘You’re doubled, so you’re opening up things for other people,’ when he comes off?) – “He gets frustrated at times, but he’s a competitor. I just think his drive to win is extremely high, and he’s very emotional. Sometimes he lets his emotions get up on him a little bit, but I think in the end, he just wants to win, wants to do everything he can to help this team win, and that’s what you want.”
(I see you go right over to WR Jarvis Landry. You guys sit and talk a lot during the game.) – “I think communication is key (and) being on the same page. (I) tell him what I’m seeing, what we’re seeing as an offense. Obviously, I have a little bit better seat of seeing exactly what’s going on out there. So, it is about being on the same page, communicating and finding answers, seeing what he likes and how he wants to get involved. It’s a two-way street.”
(Is that a fine line between being emotional but taking it a little too far? Is that ever something you’re concerned about?) – “You have to be careful. I think a guy like Jarvis (Landry) – when the guys are watching, people out in the stands are watching, the other team is watching – and you see body language, you see how guys are affected. So you always want to be uplifting to your teammates, to the guys around you and not ever pull away. I think there’s a constructive way to do that, and obviously, you don’t want to do it in a negative way.”
(Are you the only one that talks in the huddle or do guys sometimes lobby you in the huddle?) – “No. Once you step in the huddle, there’s no lobbying. You can lobby me on the sideline or in between plays, but once we’re in the huddle, then we’re on to the next play, and that’s what it is.”
(WR Kenny Stills comes out of the game in the second [quarter]. How important is he to the running game and as well as the passing game?) – “Kenny is big. He does a great job for us both in the run and pass game. Obviously, he opens a lot of things up for us in the pass game and does a great job of coming into the box and being physical. He understands what we’re trying to accomplish offensively. Having him in there, knowing exactly what to do is huge for our offense.”
(I assume you went to sleep early, but where you kind of tempted to stay up and see what Donald Trump had to say?) – “I was definitely interested in seeing what happened, but knew I wasn’t going to change it last night at 10 o’clock, so I went on bed.”
(Your thoughts after you woke up and heard about what happened?) – “I was surprised. I was very surprised that [Donald Trump] was elected. I don’t think many people saw this coming on either side, really. But here we are, and I guess we’re getting ready to experience a new regime.”
(What do you remember about Donald Trump? You met him at Doral for that Adidas thing. How did he seem to you? What do you recall about him?) – “(I had) just a brief interaction with him. He was very nice, very polite. But it was extremely brief – just a handshake and a quick hello.”
(You never thought at that moment he’d be the next President of the United States?) – “No, I didn’t think so. I remember after I went to that event, I came back and someone was like, ‘He’s running for president.’ I’m like, ‘No way.’ But here we are.”
(Can you talk about the importance of sustaining what you’ve done over the last three games moving forward?) – “I think it’s all in your preparation, all in how you handle your business throughout the week, keeping the drive, keeping the hunger alive on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday as you prepare for the game. If you do that, if you stay hungry, if you stay on top the details and keep improving, then you’re going to like what you see on Sundays. But it all comes down to attention to detail throughout the week.”
(You’ve been upright the last couple of games, the last few games. The running game we’ve seen in the last three games. How important was finally getting the projected five starting offensive linemen healthy and playing together?) – “It’s huge. I think you’ve seen the results of what can happen when they’re out there. When those five guys are in, I think we have a ton of confidence in our run game and our pass game as well, as well as being able to do play-actions off of the run. It’s huge having those guys in there. We just keep them healthy and keep them rolling.”
(What did the Chargers do to you guys last year and what do you remember about that? On defense what did they do?) – “They got a lot of pressure on us. I’d have to go back and watch the game. I’ve been studying this year’s tape, because they are playing a little bit differently this year than they did last year. I’ll go back and take a look, a quick look at that. I just remember getting a lot of pressure. We were banged up, up front. We had a bunch of guys in there that weren’t normally in there and they took advantage.”
(You guys are 0-3 on the road right now, but do you feel like you’re a different team than you were for those previous three road games?) – “Definitely. I think you just keep building as the season goes on. You keep learning, you keep growing as a team. I think right now this team has a mindset (of) we’re going to find a way to persevere (and do) whatever it takes to win. Last week it was a big play on special teams, a big stop on defense and then a big drive at the end with the offense to close out the game. As long as you have that mindset as a team of, ‘If things aren’t going well, we’re going to keep fighting, keep fighting and just find a way to win. Whatever it takes.’ That’s what you want.”
(Besides the confidence in winning, how much more has the confidence been increased going up against the No. 1 rush defense, taking them head on and go over 100 yards rushing?) – “It’s big. I think we faced three really good rush defenses in the past three weeks. At times it was tough against the Jets. We were having some tough yards there. We were getting 1, 0 yards a carry, and we just kept sticking with it, kept finding a way to move the ball. Eventually at the end of the game when we needed it, we got some big runs. I think it does build confidence for this team that we’ve rushed the ball well against three really good rush defenses. It’s just a matter of, like I said, staying on top of the details and keep improving and we should be able to run the football all year.”
(Is there a kind of a brotherly sense of getting on each other’s nerves between you and WR Jarvis Landry at different points? How often do you guys get frustrated with each other? I imagine that you get frustrated with him as well.) – “That’s part of the game. We’re both competitors. We’re both doing everything we can to win. There’s going to be times – just like you said, brothers – where he’s frustrated about something, I’m frustrated about something else. That’s just part of the game. You just have to find the way to keep working together and find ways to complete the ball and get the ball in the end zone.”
Darren Rizzi – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(Before Sunday, there had been only two kickoffs returned for touchdowns this season in the NFL. Where do you come down on the new touchback rule, this desire obviously to – in the interest of safety – get at the expense of exciting plays like that? What are your thoughts about it now at midseason?) – “It has kind of gone the way I thought it would go so far. I think there are a lot of teams with better kick coverages that have tested other return teams in terms of putting the ball near the goal line. I think the reason there hasn’t been a whole bunch of big plays is because just for that reason – it’s hard to return a high, short ball for a long return. You may get some guys out past the 25-, 30- (yard line), but it’s hard to get a home run on those, and I think that’s why a lot of teams have done that. It’s kind of funny. It’s mixed. There are some teams that are not doing it, that I thought would’ve done more of it. I think what you’re going to see in the second half of the season is that – especially in the north with the weather and all that – I think more teams will start to do it more and the touchback percentage will start coming down even more. So, it has been interesting. I was looking at the stats the last couple of days and the average drive start obviously has changed, because the touchback is at the 25- (yard line). (You’ve) got to look at the teams that have been doing it, not been doing. I think a lot of it depends on your kicker. A majority of the kickers can put the ball down there, inside the 5-yard line – goal line – and make it tough on these guys. I think it’s going to continue to drop really, because the numbers would say that. But I actually think it adds a nice dimension to the game. When they instituted the rule, I don’t think they probably thought through every single facet of what was going to go on. I think it has really added a nice strategy thing. If you look at teams that are actually doing it when they’re leading, and you would think probably going in there it would be the opposite. Maybe when you’re down, you’re trying to make a play, but there are teams that are maybe up by a score, that are trying to put the ball down inside the 5- (yard line) to make a team go longer in a one-score game. So, there have been some unseen things I think that they’ve been pretty interesting, so I think that it’ll continue to trend downward.”
(A lot of teams don’t have a lot of dynamic kickoff and punt returners. How does that help you in terms of what you do, to have a number of different guys that can do that – punt return or kick return – help you out in that position?) – “It’s a good problem to have. It’s definitely a good problem. This is my eighth year here, and certainly, it’s something I’ve always been striving to get to a point where you have multiple guys and have some options. Certainly, we have a lot of guys in the building that have proven they can do that. Obviously, Jarvis (Landry) has done it for a few years now and now with Jakeem (Grant) and with Kenyan (Drake). Damien Williams is another guy that has been back there before. So, you’ve got some guys that can do it. I think what it does is when you look at a guy or a play like Sunday, when you have a guy back like Jakeem and Kenyan together, and you back the ball up 5 yards, it’s, ‘Okay, which guy are you going to kick it to?’ And that has been good. It’s the same thing in the punt return phase. We’ve had Jakeen back there, Jarvis back there and both those guys are both productive. I think they’re both over 11 yards per return at the moment. For a special teams coach to have options back there where you’re not just a one-trick pony, it really helps you. It helps your game plan. It helps you strategize against your opponent and it certainly helps you during a game.”
(The follow up to that, have you ever had a group as deep as this one to help you out as far as the number of guys that can be able to do those type of things?) – “Not here. This is the first time in eight years, I think, we’ve had this many guys that I feel comfortable putting back that I think can make a huge play or game-breaking play. We’ve had a lot of guys who can do it – had a lot of guys who’ve been very efficient at it and statistically have been good – but this is really the first time we’ve had this many guys that I think at any time could break one and make a big play.”
(You talked a little bit last week about CB Chris Culliver and how you saw him and scouted him in college, and he was able to help on special teams. How could he help you now and also maybe the role of CB Lafayette Pitts?) – “We’ll start with (Chris) Culliver. He’s a guy that did a lot of stuff in college. He was a very, very talented guy. Right now, in the positions that he can play right now for us, he can certainly be a jammer on the outside on punt return. We’ve done a good job there rotating some guys through, because you never know. Like the other day, you get a re-punt (and) you like to have some fresh bodies out there. So, he’s a guy that can do that, play jammer. On kickoff, he has done that in his career where he has been either a one or a two or a contain guy or a safety guy. He has done that. He was a gunner earlier in his career. He has done a bunch of jobs. He has done some field goal block stuff, so we’ve got him trained right now to kind of help in those roles. As far as (Lafayette) Pitts goes, going back to the preseason, he’s a guy that made some plays in preseason as a gunner, as a jammer on kickoff as well. And really, he has been impressive in practice. Here’s a guy that has really worked now through nine weeks of just working at it. He’s kind of a model of consistency in practice. He’s really getting after it every day. (He is a) blue-collar guy. I played college football with his head coach at Pittsburgh, Pat Narduzzi. We played college football together, and I remember having a conversation with Pat. He’s exactly what Pat described – a hard worker, really good football IQ. I know he has been anxious to get an opportunity. Depending on what happens here with the 46, we know he’s ready to go, certainly – mentally and physically – for sure.”
(After the muffed punt by P Matt Darr, did you say anything in particular to him?) – “I didn’t. He’s his biggest critic. I know he was going to be hard on himself. After I let him cool down for a minute, I just told him not to be too hard on himself. Listen, guys drop passes. As receivers, some of the best receivers ever have dropped a pass. He has never shown that he’s a guy that’s going to drop snaps or something like that. As far as I’m concerned, it was a one-time thing, and we’re not going to overdo it. Once in a while, I get a little upset on the sideline, as you may have noticed. (laughter) Once in a while. But those aren’t the things I get upset about. That’s going to happen. That’s why there’s a snap. That’s why there’s a catch. It’s something we practice all the time. Matt has been a model of consistency since the day he walked in. To me, it’s one of those things where it’s a once-in-a-while thing. I’m not going to sit there and yell and scream at a guy. It’s not going to get any production at all out of that. So, after he calmed down I just told him, ‘Hey, listen. Let it go. We’re going to make it up to you here, and we’re going to need you again at some point.’ It is what it is. He has probably looked at that play about 7,000 times.”
(You’ve been here for eight years and throughout that span, I’ve seen games won and lost on special teams. I don’t think the fan base has an understanding of how important it is until it happens. How do you get the players to understand the importance that this is really a significant third phase of the game?) – “One of the things we do is every Saturday morning we – actually, myself and (Assistant Special Teams Coach) Marwan Maalouf – we go through and look at all the league plays every week. We pull out maybe 20 plays away from all around the NFL, because it may not be our game that you can learn from the most. It might be another game, because like you said, you never know when it’s going to come up. We try to learn from other people’s mistakes, if you will. You know the old, ‘Don’t touch the stove, it’s hot. Don’t touch the stove, it’s hot. Don’t touch it.’ It’s like dealing with one of my kids. So, we try to learn from other people, and we pick out huge special teams plays from other games … We show them Saturday mornings, and we try to learn from those, because there is … You look at one or two games a week that come down to a play like it happened in our game, whether it’s the dropped punt or it’s the penalty on the punt return which we had or a kickoff return for a touchdown. People out there that want to be a special teams coach, you have to be ready to ride the wave now. They’re going to have some highs and lows. With that game, it was a great example of it. My point is it’s hard to get the guys to understand unless they see it. You can say it as much as you want. You can stand up there and I can beat the table and beat the podium and (say), ‘We got to be ready. We got to be ready. We got to be ready.” But until they see it happen … So, learning from other games, to me, is a huge tool. I think in this day and age of social media and video, games and everything else, seeing it is believing it. I can stand up there and draw lines on pictures and show PowerPoints until I’m blue in the face, but watching it happen to other teams, I think is one of the biggest learning tools we can do. We do that every week, and we show other examples. To me, that’s really the biggest way to do it.”
(Speaking of last week, it seems like you had some good plays, some not good plays in the special teams. Is that a good kind of teaching tool as well? Since you had great plays in that game and you also had some penalties throughout the course of the game as well?) – “It is. I think it’s a great lesson for guys. You just take Kenyan Drake for example, a rookie. At halftime, he was down. He was down, because he had that penalty on Jakeem’s (Grant) touchdown. At that point, we could’ve maybe blown the game open there a little bit and got a nice cushion. At halftime, I came in, and he was sitting down, and he was really in the dumps. I just walked over, I said to him, ‘Listen … You’ve got to let that one go. You’re going to make one up here. Either you’re going to get a block …’ I’d be lying to you if I told you he was going to get a kick return for a touchdown with five minutes left in the game. But I knew at some point he was going to have an opportunity to make it up and there it goes. Luckily and fortunately for us, it happened in the fourth quarter of that particular game, but it is a great lesson to learn that mistakes are going to happen, whether it’s Matt (Darr) dropping the ball or getting a penalty like that, but we’ve got to be able to respond. As (Sun-Sentinel columnist) Omar (Kelly) said, I’ve been here for eight years. I’ve seen a lot. There are a lot of times where we didn’t overcome those mistakes. There have been plenty of times in my eight years here where we didn’t overcome the mistakes that were made, whether it be offense, defense or special teams. I think one thing you’re seeing these last three games is you’re seeing a team that has started to play complementary football in spurts. We have to do a little bit more, we’ve got to be a little more consistent and all that, but I think that we’ve overcome some of those things, and that has been the impressive thing to me about these last few weeks.”
(If you can take a view of the special teams from maybe 10,000 feet, where are you happy? What needs to improve?) – “I’ll start with the improvement. We’ve got way too many penalties this year. Way too many. There have been way too many. Again, a lot of them are effort penalties, and I understand that, but things like we lined up wrong on the field, that ‘L.T.’ (Laremy Tunsil) was too far back, and we’ve had a couple after the whistle penalties. We can’t have those at all. Kenyan Drake is trying to make a block in the heat of the battle, and it’s full speed, and he’s running a high-speed decision. Once in a while, a rookie is going to put a hand on a guy’s back. I get that. We’ve had way too many there. It has been the inconsistency that I’ve been a little disappointed with. We’ve shown at times to be really good in the return game, but we have too many peaks and valleys. So, number one is the penalties. We’ve got to get rid of that. We’ve had some missed assignments, some mental errors, which again, in my opinion, we shouldn’t have any on special teams. The things we’ve done well, I think one of the things that goes unnoticed right now is (that) our kickoff coverage team, knock on wood, has been pretty darn good in terms of pinning them down when we’ve decided to not kick it deep. We’ve been pretty darn consistent on our punt return yards. In our opponent’s gross punt average, I think we’re second in the league right now. And so those things … Giving our offense some field position, we’ve been good there. It’s really, from an overall standpoint, the consistency. We’ve had, to me, we’ve been good play, bad play, good play, bad play, great play, poor play. So, one of the challenges as special teams coach is trying to stay (consistent). You don’t get that second opportunity. Now, we were lucky that day. We got a second opportunity on the kick return, the punt return. You usually don’t get those. Usually you’re out for one play and you’re out. If you make a mistake, it could affect the game tremendously – not like offense and defense. That’s where I think where we’ve got to get better – penalties, consistency.”
(Were you surprised when they kicked it, that they didn’t try to kick it out of bounds? I mean not out of bounds, but in the end zone?) – “A little bit. I thought they’d try to drive the ball a little bit. They popped it up to (Kenyan) Drake earlier in the game, so we changed our call. We initially had a sideline return, so after the play, I thought maybe – when Jakeem (Grant) made 10 people miss – maybe they’ll overplay that one. We changed it from a sideline return to a middle return, and fortunately, it worked out.”
Vance Joseph – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(CB Chris Culliver, what’s the plan?) “Well the plan is to continue to evaluate him. Hopefully … he’s getting closer and closer each week. When he’s ready, we’ll play him. He wasn’t quite ready last week. Hopefully he’s closer this week.”
(Is there a chance for Sunday?) – “Yes, if he’s ready to go, we’re going to put him out there. Obviously we need more capable corners out there. If he’s ready, he’s going to play.”
(CB Lafayette Pitts, just talk about him and the decision to bring him up.) – “Yes, he’s a young kid that’s done well for us during training camp and preseason. He can run. That’s one trait that he has, he can really run. He’s tough, he’s a smart kid and he’s been with us, so it’s fair. He should be the next guy to come up, because he’s been here and he’s work hard so it’s fair.”
(Why would you say, or why do you think that you need more cornerbacks?) – “Well, we’ve only got really … we’ve had four healthy guys, only. You need probably five to six to play a season. Obviously, having a corner like (Chris) Culliver come up – who’s played in games at a high level – helps you. It helps you play better in the secondary. Hopefully he’s ready to go, and when he is, he’s going to play.”
(With CB Chris Culliver, can he go inside to that nickel spot?) – “No. He’s never done that, but it allows us to have more flexibility with Michael (Thomas) obviously, with ‘Max’ (Byron Maxwell), and ‘Lip’ (Tony Lippett). Again, he’s a guy who’s played well at corner. That only can help us here. The same way (Donald) Butler came in and helped us, the same way (Bacarri) Rambo played last week and helped us. He can be the same kind of help to the corner group.”
(What is CB Chris Culliver? A playmaker?) – “He has been in the past. Obviously he hadn’t played here for us yet, but in the past he has been a playmaker. And at the corner spot, making plays – that’s critical.”
(Talking about you saying you need more corners, does that have something to do with the fact that you’re playing the Chargers, and QB Philip Rivers, and you know they like to air out the ball a little bit?) – “No, I think just having more cover corners on the roster helps you. It helps (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (Darren) Rizzi, it helps me and it helps you play the game better. It helps you play the game with more comfort knowing you have four or five guys who can play. Having a guy like (Chris) Culliver again and having (Lafayette) Pitts up, it only helps.”
(With S Bacarri Rambo, you’ve rarely brought a guy in and within one week put him into your base defense. Is that just a point of desperation, or did he show you something at practice?) – “Well, I think in the past, he’s shown the ability to play in the high zones and have great range and instincts. He showed us that instantly in practice so we thought, ‘Hey, let’s put him out there and see what we’ve got.’ It also helps Michael Thomas concentrate on playing base safety and playing for (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (Darren) Rizzi. That’s Michael’s actual role. I mean he’s a big-time (special) teams player. So to keep Michael with coach Rizzi and allow him to play less downs on subs (packages), it was natural to put Rambo in. He played very solid. It wasn’t perfect, but he did play very solid. It was fun to see.”
(Last week, Jets WR Brandon Marshall tried to portray CB Byron Maxwell as a guy that holds, or grabs on every play. Does he?) – “He does not. I would say last week he had a couple, and it’s the game. It’s the game of a press corner. It’s a fine line between having a corner who never touches people to a guy who grabs all the time. I don’t want a corner who never touches guys. I want a corner who is close, who’s competing (and) who is trying to make plays. He has probably gotten two or three (penalties) on the year? That’s not bad. That’s not bad compared to the league. Most guys who are bad probably have about 10 right now. He’s got three or four. I’m fine with ‘Max.’ ‘Max’ competed hard last week, and did a fine job.”
(Looking at the Chargers, other than QB Philip Rivers, what are some of the challenges you face with their offense?) – “The challenge again is the running back (Melvin Gordon). He had a big-time game last week, 196 yards. He’s got the most attempts in the rushing game, in the entire league. He’s a good young back. He’s fast to the hole; he breaks tackles. Our challenge again is stopping the run game. It’s been that way for the last month it seems like, but that’s where it starts. You stop the run game, and hopefully make them one dimensional, and we can rush. That’s our strength obviously with Cam (Wake), and Andre (Branch), Mario (Williams) and those guys. Having them in long third downs and having a chance to rush.”
(With the run defense, it’s usually not been plays popping out. It’s just a steady grind. But then last week, it was the plays that popped out. How do you get that addressed?) – “I’ll tell you this, in the last month it’s been better; but obviously we’ve given up big plays in the running game. It’s been good, good, good, good, bad. It’s been good, good, good, good, bad. We’ve got to stop the bad. Last week, the one run of 40 yards untouched? That can’t happen. We misfit the gap at the end position. The linebacker was soft, the three technique was soft, the safety was misaligned. We’ve got to stop those things. The third-and-1 play was a simple crack-replace by the nickel. They got outside and ran for 40 yards. Overall, I’m not down on the run game, but the big plays have to stop. It’s got to stop. If we can rectify those, you’ll feel better about the run defense. But right now, I don’t.”
(How much does getting DT Earl Mitchell back probably help you? Jordan (Phillips) playing less snaps…) – “Absolutely. It helps because Earl’s a really good player also. And it helps Jordan play less snaps, but Earl’s a really, really, good player. I was with him in Houston (Texans). He brings energy. He’s going to be in the right fit all the time. He’s tough on double teams. He’s going to bring an element of consistency, of hard playing, and obviously resting (Ndamukong) Suh and resting Jordan helps. That’s like getting a really good player back. It helps in the overall defensive scheme. It helps having him back.”
(How did DT Jordan Phillips play on Sunday aside from the play everybody remembers?) – “Jordan played very well. It was probably Jordan’s best week of practice and Jordan’s best game. Now on the long run, he was a little soft on his block; it started with Jordan. Obviously, he is a young player trying to find his way still, but he is a talented guy. If he does it right, he can be a real force for us; but he’s not totally right all the time yet.”
(Did you know his hands were that good?) – “He was a high school tight end. I’ve seen his film. He’s been our drop guy from Day 1 and it happened to work out. He caught the ball and almost scored. Nice hurdle move, right? Big athlete. It was fun to see.”
(You said that he practiced well all last week, so you kind of knew it was coming. How do you get him to practice at that level every week?) – “I think this with Jordan (Phillips), okay? Jordan’s in a room full of veterans. He’s kind of the baby amongst the d-line. I think when Earl (Mitchell) was here in the spring, Earl had a hell of a spring. I mean a big-time spring. And Jordan wouldn’t try to take Earl’s job. When Earl got injured, Jordan stepped up big time. Earl comes back last week and Jordan has a hell of a week at practice. I think just Earl being there (and) pushing him is going to help him. That’s what we want. We want in the room healthy competition; iron sharpens iron. If Earl being present helps Jordan practice well and play better, that’s what I want. I want those guys competing to be the starting guy next to (Ndamukong) Suh. I want everybody competing. I think Earl being back helps him.”
(DE Andre Branch playing good, is that because he’s starting? Why is he playing well?) – “I think Andre Branch is a talented guy. He was when we signed him. He’s been a guy over the years that hadn’t been consistent. Now he’s being more consistent. He’s playing with a tougher attitude. He’s not avoiding contact up the field. He’s working with the tackles. He’s playing the run game well. He’s in a contract year. He wants a long-term deal somewhere, so I don’t blame him. You play well and you get your long-term security. He’s a guy that’s a top-round pick. He should be a good player because he’s talented enough.”
Adam Gase – November 9, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with San Diego Media
(What are your thoughts about San Diego’s offense and defense so far you’ve seen this season?) – “I see an offense that, for me, it looks really familiar. With Philip (Rivers), it just seems like it’s the same every year where he has had quite a few injuries around him, and he figures out a way to get his young players to accelerate in their growth and be impactful. He still has a few of the same old guys that we’ve seen in the past that are still effective. Defensively, I see a group that’s playing very fast, and the front is being very disruptive and causing a lot of problems for teams’ passing game and then they’re doing a good job of stopping the run.”
(When you look at the defense and you see a player specifically like Chargers CB Casey Heyward – I know you played against him last year when he was with the Packers – what kind of impact has he made on the San Diego defense?) – “It’s always hard to just look at one guy and say he makes all of the difference in the world. But I think any time you add anybody in the secondary that is able to be competitive on the ball and then turn it over – and you have a front like they do right now where that ball has to come out very quickly, when the defensive backs understand that and can play very tight and they can sit on routes and take advantage of that – it makes it so hard for the offense to combat that, because you’re talking about turning the ball over and then giving a quarterback like Philip Rivers a shorter field.”
(Obviously, RB Jay Ajayi has been playing well the last three, four weeks. What has been the difference now and why couldn’t he do this early in the year?) – “He did well in the spring. Training camp was going alright. I think we were trying to go with a two-back rotation there with him and Arian (Foster), and he was trying to get used to what we were doing as far as in the running game. He had been more of a gap-scheme, inside-zone runner most of his career, and we were leaning a little more on the outside zone. I don’t know if he was comfortable with the scheme early on. As we’ve gone on and he’s gotten a better feel for what we do and has (been) more comfortable with what we’re doing, he’s really gotten in a groove. He has a good feel for our offensive line. That group is finally back together. That was nice to have about three weeks ago when you get that first line that we thought we were going to have early on in the season back together. I think with those five (guys playing together) and our tight ends have done a good job and our receivers have been doing a good job of getting guys covered up, and he has taken advantage of that.”
(How much did having RB Arian Foster there help him, if any?) – “It’s hard for me to say. That would be a better question for him. As far as my opinion – as far as the impact he had on our offense – we have so many young guys. Him being a veteran guy that had been through it before, he was kind of able to teach some of these guys the inner workings of how to run outside zone. I think he did help our guys. He was very open to helping our young backs out, and he did a good job as far as trying to educate them (about) how to run the ball in that scheme.”
(How did you end up in Denver with Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy and what was that relationship like during the week and on game day?) – “I got there in 2009. I was hired by Josh McDaniels. Mike was hired as the coordinator. We kind of gravitated to each other fairly quick. I was the wide outs coach, and we spent a lot of time together just trying to figure things out, because with Josh being the head coach, he was trying to turn a lot of things around. We had to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what Josh wanted to do. We were trying to do exactly what they did in New England, so we were in a learning phase. We had to spend a lot of time together just trying to figure out how we were going to coach certain things. (With) our weekly involvement, we were always together as far as with Josh, game planning. And then on game day, when it started, there was a lot of communication between himself, Josh and myself. Then when we got into the (John) Fox era – when Mike took over the offense – then it became more of Mike having control of the offense. I was the quarterbacks coach at that time, and he was very open in giving me assignments and counting on me to put certain things in the game plan and ideas together for him, and then he would basically take what he liked and implement what he liked as well. He put a lot of responsibility on me in a situation where he probably really didn’t need or have to do that. I always felt like he was trying to get me ready for something. That’s something that I’ve always appreciated, the fact that he had that much confidence in me.”
(What makes Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy such a good offensive coach?) – “I think the attention to detail that he has. He’s a stickler for a lot of little, tiny things that a lot of people would be like, ‘Why is that important?’ They don’t understand that even though you may have success on a play, you may win a game, there are all of these little, tiny things that pop their head up that a lot of people won’t address because you won or you completed a ball. He looks at it as, ‘That worked, but we have to make sure that we do this correctly, because when it doesn’t work, there’s a reason behind it.’ He is very detailed as far as – in the passing game specifically – where everybody is supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there, the quarterback timing. He has a different vantage point because of playing the quarterback position, he knows how important it is for 11 guys to be on the same page.”
(In putting together your first 15 scripted plays, what’s the key to having success with those plays?) – “Sometimes you’ve got to get a little lucky. That sounds terrible, but really, at the end of the day, you don’t really know what the defense is going to do. You do the best you can to at least put things together that are good against multiple things and that your players don’t have to think a whole bunch about. But you do need to have some things go your way to where maybe you hit on a couple of plays early in the game. There have been times where, at least myself, where we started to go and things didn’t quite go right and you just scrap it and start shooting from the hip. And there have been some games where things are just falling right and you get rolling and then there are some games where it just doesn’t work very well.”
(Are there coaches that are known for being good at [scripted plays], and do you think it is overrated?) – “I think there are some guys that just seem to put the right set of plays together, and they have success early in the game. It might be a little overrated, because everybody wants to say, ‘You knew what they were going to do.’ But at the end of the day, you never really know what the defense is going to do.”
(When you look at a player like RB Melvin Gordon, where have you seen his biggest growth from Year 1 to Year 2?) – “I think the thing is it looks more like he did in college now to where there’s no indecisiveness and its attack the line of scrimmage, stick his foot into the ground and use that speed and his physical-ness. You’re seeing it’s hard for defenses to tackle him as well. That’s kind of where this league is right now where there are few really good tackling teams. If you can have a running back that really hits an open seam and is able to accelerate, it’s tough for defenses to get guys down, because they’re glancing blows. You’re not seeing a lot of guys being able to square up on running backs, because everyone is moving laterally and all of a sudden you hit a guy that’s moving at a good clip, that’s a good size and he’s not going to go down. I see that decisiveness of he knows exactly what he’s trying to get done on every play.”
(What’s it going to be like on a personal level? You’ve got a game to win and for four quarters that will be your focus, but pregame and then again postgame, just even during the game a look across the sideline and you see Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy there, being that you guys started as assistants together in this league and now as head coaches on the opposite sidelines, what will that be like?) – “This is the eighth time that we’ve gone against each other. I know I was a coordinator at the time, but it’s always a little strange. Any time we’re not playing each other, obviously I always want Mike to win, and I want his guys to play well, and I want him to have success. You really have to focus on what your job is and your players. You try not to focus so much on the opponent and just focus on the job that you have to do.”
(Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy said he called you prior to the Chargers signing C/G Matt Slauson. How did that phone call go?) – “He called me, and it was interesting, because I was probably like five hours away from calling him and recommending Matt to him. Matt was somebody that … Obviously, we are very fortunate to have the center that we have on our team. Matt is one of those guys that you just want in your building no matter what position he is playing, because he is so flexible as far as what he can do. Matt is one of the best people I’ve ever been around, he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around, and he’s such a great communicator with coaches, as far as what works (and) what you should avoid during a game. He sees things like a pro does. He’s an advantage, not only as a player that’s physical, smart and just a team guy all the way, but when he comes off the field, the information that he gives you as a coordinator is rare, because he sees so much. I think that I really grew to appreciate that last year, because if we don’t have that, we’re not even in half of the games we’re in because he held that whole thing together. He played hurt. He stepped in at the center position, and I don’t even remember how many reps he ever had at center when he had to jump in there. The guy was just such a valuable piece of what we were doing last year. When he was out there and available and Mike and I had that conversation, I don’t remember exactly what every little question was, but I just remember telling him, ‘This guy is absolutely your kind of guy.’”
(Now you’re going to be going against C/G Matt Slauson and no doubt he makes the Chargers offense better. How do you balance that? I’m sure you’re not picking up the phone to Rex Ryan or Bill Belichick and saying, ‘Boy, you’ve got to pick up this guy.’ There’s a competitive advantage in this league that you want to retain, but now you’ve strengthen an opponent. How do you balance that out? You’re not going to make that call with every head coach in the league. How do you balance that?) – “I think it’s a little bit of a relationship thing, it’s a trust thing. In the division I’m in, I don’t have a personal level really with any of the coaches in our division. The guys that I do have relationships with – whether they be coordinators or head coaches – I always looked at it as, if it’s a guy that I had a great relationship with as a player, I want to do whatever I can to help him. If whatever place fits him, if that team actually calls me and asks me a question, I’m always going to give them an honest answer, because I care about the player and I want him to have what’s best for him. I’m not going to look at it in a selfish way. I’m going to look at it as, ‘What I can do to help that guy?’ because the way I look at it is once I’m with a guy, he’s one of my guys forever, so I’ll always do whatever I can to help that guy out.”
(Have you talked to Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy this week?) – “I have not talked to him this week. I think the last time … I called him and just congratulated him on the last game, and I just said I’ll see you on Sunday.”
(You mentioned your relationship with Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy already, but off the field, I know your guys’ families know each other, and I believe you guys have vacationed together. What does that look like in terms of the offseason communication when it becomes a little easier to be in touch with friends in the league?) – “It has been very helpful for me. Even if I have a plan for certain things, it’s always good to either bounce something off another coach, and I feel like I’m very lucky to have Mike as a close friend of mine. It makes life a lot easier when you do have that kind of mentor and friend that will be honest with you and you can be very open with and you’re willing to share ideas with. It is nice the fact that our wives are very, very close. For us to be able to spend time in the offseason and the summer and hang out – for me and him – it’s good conversations, and it’s a relaxed atmosphere to where you’re occasionally asking questions about certain things and you know you’re going to get an honest answer that’s going to try to help you out.”
(Does Chargers Head Coach Mike McCoy give you any advice on how to handle media? Does he say nice things about us?) – “I’ve never asked about media stuff.” (laughter)
Ndamukong Suh – November 9, 2016
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
(What is it about Chargers RB Melvin Gordon that makes him such an effective runner?) – “Obviously watching today and the last couple of days, he’s a very, very tough and hard runner. (He’s a) young guy. Obviously he’s well-talented and we’ll have a big task on our hands.”
(Is there anything that you noticed about RB Melvin Gordon the last couple of weeks. I think he’s had 111 and 196 rushing yards. Anything in particular? Shiftiness?) – “No, not really. We just started watching film on him and started looking at him this past week, or earlier this week. As I said, he’s a hard runner. (He) runs downhill and obviously most running backs that run hard like that usually have an opportunity to break tackles and get extra yards.”
(Have you ever in your career been part of a situation on this where you’re going to be on the road for about 11 days and if so, what’s the biggest challenge?) – “No, this is actually my first time of having a West Coast trip where it’s extended like this. I find it fun. Get away. A lot of team bonding, which I think will be good for us. I’m not saying that we need it, but it’ll be fun. I enjoy my group. I enjoy being around them. I’m excited for it, but at the end of the day we’ve got business to go out there and take care. First in San Diego and then obviously got to go up north to LA.”
(Speaking of your group, it sounds like there’s a good chance DT Earl Mitchell is on track to be back this week. If that’s the case, how big of a lift could that be?) – Earl is a great player and I think he’s obviously a starter, has a quality to be a starter, and playing at an elite level. As many d-linemen that we can have that are interchangeable that can play on all levels, which Earl can do, would be great.”
(What’s one thing DT Earl Mitchell does particularly well?) – “He’s got great get offs, got great hands and obviously he finds a way to make plays. It’s what we’re tasked to do – get out there, create havoc and make plays and allow our linebackers to come downhill easy.”
(In two the last three games, you guys were on the field for only 53 plays a game. How much has the effectiveness of the Dolphins run game and the ability to extend drives give you guys the needed rest during the game?) — “I think I said this before. Whatever situation that we’re pretty much put in, we have to go out on the football field. At any particular time, our goal is to go out there and dominate, get off the field, hopefully get a three-and-out or getting a turnover, as we’ve been able to do the last couple of weeks, and give our offense as many more opportunities as they can to put up points on the board.”
(Last week you guys allowed 140 yards rushing – 110 in the first half and just 30 in the second half. Why were you so much better in the second half?) – “I think it’s just cleaning up tackling situations. We reviewed some of the plays today, as well as earlier in the week, just seeing where we made mistakes. We didn’t have an opportunity to get the ball carrier down. I think in-game situations and changes is what we adapted to and we limited them.”
(Were some of the big plays assignments or alignments? Like right before the play, the alignment wasn’t quite right and that’s why some of the plays did spring early on?) – “I think alignment in any position, whether you’re an offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball, is going to be key to you having success in that play. But at the end of the day, it’s about going out there and executing and making sure you can get the ball carrier down, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”
(You have a good chance of closing in on sacks, if you continue playing the way you have. Is that something that at the beginning of the season you set as a goal – to have double digit sacks?) – “No. Whatever happens, happens.”
