Darren Rizzi – September 22, 2016
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(On if we will see RB Kenyan Drake on kickoff returns this week) – “Yes. Obviously you noticed he was back there last week. This new rule has really affected (things), as you can see, as we kind of talked about all preseason. This new rule has really affected things. It’s funny. We were just watching, just literally before I came down, I was watching the kickoffs throughout the league – not just ours –and more and more teams are just going to try to kick it high and short. The more options we have back there, the better. You’re seeing teams really starting to adjust formations, getting more returners back there – more guys. So if you noticed last week, we had Jakeem (Grant) in (and) Kenyan (Drake) back there. Every week is going to have, whether it’s two guys, three guys, one guy. It’s going to be a week-to-week thing but we have to have options. Kenyan (Drake) obviously has a good history in college of doing that although I don’t think his decision (to take one out of the end zone) was a great one last week. He’s looking obviously to make a play there. But yes, (Drake’s) a guy, for sure, that’s going to be, we’ve got him doing both now – catching kicks, catching punts. And he’s certainly in the pool of guys that can do that for sure.”
(On what your returners should be looking for) – “That’s a good question. Really, on a week to week basis, a lot of it has to do with the game plan, a lot of it has to do with the game situation, a lot has to do with the depth of the kick, a lot has to do with the hang time of the kick –there’s not just one factor. There are multiple factors there. If we look at last week’s play in particular, that ball where Kenyan (Drake) was lined up, he was moving backwards on the catch. The two biggest things about kickoff return, really, are timing and spacing. We drill that into our guy’s heads from day one that if your timing’s not good and your spacing’s not good, most of the time it’s not going to be a great play unless the guy makes four or five guys miss on his own, which we all know can happen. But generally speaking, your timing and spacing have to be in sync. Last week our timing wasn’t in sync there. Now, to make matters worse, Kenyan (Drake) fell down. We did have a little bit of a crease. We might not have gotten to the 25 (yard line, but) we certainly would have gotten more yards than we did had he not fallen down. You can’t put your finger on one thing and just say ‘Hey, it’s this reason.’ (The) direction of the returns, so for example, if you have a planned or a schemed return to one direction and the ball gets kicked all the way the way the other way, it’s going to be an uphill play the whole time. It’s like running an outside zone into a blitz, if you would. So again, kickoff return is like an offensive play. so there’s going to be, again, ‘Who are you blocking? Where’s the play designed to go? Where is the ball kicked?’ So again, there are many factors and now, more than ever, I don’t think I’ve seen this many, some people call it mortar kicks, some people call them pooch kicks, whatever you want to call them. I don’t think I’ve seen this many in a two-game stretch. Certainly in my time in the NFL, and really in my 24 years of coaching, I don’t remember seeing this many pooch kicks or mortar kicks in this two-week stretch. So we’ve got to be prepared. Everyone’s got to be prepared for it. And again, all those situations will play into it.”
(On how gratifying it is to see that S Walt Aikens is on top of the kickoff return rules and the factor he has played on special teams through two weeks) – “Let’s talk about the play first. Most of you guys are familiar with the rules. So basically, on a punt play, if the punt team touches the ball, it’s not automatically downed at that spot. So for example, if they tip the ball, the ball is still a live ball. The return team can then advance the ball without any risks. So what I mean by that is, you can run the ball back 90 yards, fumble it, lose the ball and now you have the option – the result of the play or where it was first touched. We tell our guys if you’re 100 percent sure that the ball is touched, meaning you physically saw the ball being touched by the opponent, then by all means, try to pick it up and gain yards because every yard you gain, every inch you gain, is a bonus. So yes, Walt saw, I think it was 81 for the Patriots, touch the ball. He was smart. Now flip the side of the coin. Jakeem’s (Grant) rule is, as a returner, if you see that we are not going to field the ball and our blockers don’t know we are not fielding the ball, you need to communicate to them. So what Jakeem (Grant) was trying to do was get our guys away from the ball so it didn’t hit one of our guys. So Jakeem (Grant) was doing his job and Walt was doing his job, as well. It’s a little bit of a strange play, which you see a lot in special teams obviously. It’s really great for Walt. Walt saw it. (It’s) great that he knew the rule and that’s why he went in. So Walt actually did go in and touch the ball and the Patriots ended up with the ball, but at that point it doesn’t matter. That’s not a fumble because they had touched it earlier. It’s a first-touch rule. (The) second part of the question: you know Walt, really since OTAs has started, has really taken kind of a leadership role on special teams. I don’t think there’s anybody that had a better offseason than him in our room, in our special teams room, in terms of just being that leadership guy with the gunners and the jammers and kind of the DB room. I’ve seen a lot of maturity out of Walt (Aikens) since he’s been here, not only physically but mentally. You can see when, to me, it’s one of the biggest compliments when teams start to game plan against you. And you could see teams game planning against Walt Aikens. They want to know where he is on the field. He’s going to get, a lot of times, two blockers on him. Things like that. That changes the game plan. We’ve had a few guys like that but certainly Walt (Aikens) is one of them.”
(On when the offensive is struggling with three-and-outs if that impacts his coverage unit or punt unit) – “I think it depends on your personnel. Some teams are going to have different offensive guys, defensive guys or just core special teamers on their punt unit. If you look at our punt unit, we’re made up mostly of defensive players. There are some offensive guys: Damien Williams, Jay Ajayi, Kenyan Drake. What we’ll do in those situations is kind of look and see where we are. We’d like to have 10 fresh bodies plus the punter out there, for sure. In some cases we will substitute, if that’s what you’re trying to say. Those defensive guys that are on there are mostly core special teamers. They’re not defensive starters. We have one or two mixed in; but hey, that’s the way it goes. You’re going to have stretches of times, where you said that whatever it was, 10 punts in that amount of time (the first half). Then you may not have a lot of punts for a stretch. I don’t think we punted in the second half last week. You never know when they’re coming. We’ve just got to be ready for it. We’re always prepared for the personnel changes if we have to, and all those guys stay ready. But you have your nine core guys besides the snapper and the punter, and then there’s always going to be three or four guys that are ready to go in case someone is playing a lot on offense or defense, to help.”
(On if he will send sub on special teams units if the defense is on the field for 80 plays) – “Potentially, yes. No question. And I think we did last week a couple of times. We had a couple of subs. Like one example, Bobby McCain we’ll use. Bobby McCain plays on defense in the nickel packages and sub-packages. So for some reason, if Bobby’s playing a whole lot of plays, we’ll have another gunner ready to go in his place. That’s just one example to give you. But yes, we’re definitely cognizant and aware during the game of the number of reps guys are taking. We’ve got to be aware of that because you really want, as we know, those are game changers. You want fresh bodies out there, for sure, in your coverage. No doubt about that.”
(On if he lined up differently on the missed opponent field goal and did it help) — “Good catch by the way. Good job. So we have multiple formations on our field goal block unit. We have different ways we can line up. We can line up 6×4. The rule is you can’t have more than 6 on the side. So we’ll have a bunch of different 6×4 alignments. We can have six on the left, six on the right. We can have boundary rush. So with all of our defensive linemen, they could be in any particular place: right side, left side, left guard, right guard, right tackle. So we have multiple schemes in that. It depends on what the block is. I’ll say this about our field goal block team. If I’m not mistaken, we were number one in the league last year in field goal percentage against, meaning the kickers against us were the worst in the NFL. So we were number one. I think a lot of that is, you watch us on film, we get tremendous effort, even dating back to last year, out of those guys. That shows on film. Another kicker watching it, you know, we may not get every one, and obviously it’s hard. It’s hard to get there and get a hand on every one; but they know the effort that we’re going to put forth. You look inside, you mentioned Jones, (Jordan) Phillips, (Ndamukong) Suh, (Julius) Warmsley, Chris Jones, all those guys had a hand up and a hand in the kicking lane. I think what you know right now is when you’re going against that unit, and I’m going to give ‘Moof’ (Assistant Special Teams Coach Marwan Maalouf) a lot of credit. That’s Marwan Maalouf. (He) kind of handles that front group with that unit. We get tremendous effort out of those guys and I think certainly, that’s going to be in the head of the opposition, the opposing kickers. Now am I saying that’s why he missed it? No. There are other factors involved for sure. But if you look at that picture – I saw a still shot, actually someone send me a still shot – and to see six guys busting their tail off the ground with their hand extended, it’s impressive. Yes. So to answer the first part of that is yes. We do move those guys around. It depends on the game plan, personnel, those type of things.”
Clyde Christensen – September 22, 2016
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(On if it is unrealistic to expect TE Jordan Cameron to have the same kind of production in this offense that he had in Cleveland in 2013) – “I don’t know that. I don’t know the answer to that. I do see the improvement that you’re talking about and (he) made a big catch and helped us get back in that thing last weekend. He just keeps improving. The one thing that’s been amazing to me about him is he works. He works. He’s a steady worker. Things just haven’t gone smoothly for him here and he just keeps working. I’ve been really impressed with that. One thing probably all coaches, but me especially, if you stay out there and you keep practicing and you keep working, you get better. You do get better. That’s the rule of thumb and I think that holds for him. He’s playing a lot better than when we first got here. We’ll see how far he comes. We’ll see where the ball goes; you never know how that’s going to happen but we’re in desperate need of playmakers. He’s one of them who is a good matchup and we’ve got to get big plays out of him, which we did. We got one the other day. It’s important. That’s really important.”
(On how he feels about QB Ryan Tannehill running and lowering his shoulder as he did in the fourth quarter of the New England game) – “I start holding my kidney. It’s a recurring nightmare. It really is because it’s the hardest teaching, working with quarterbacks, and especially with guys like Ryan (Tannehill) and Andrew (Luck), and of course you didn’t have that problem with Peyton (Manning). It’s hard. No, you don’t want to see that. You appreciate him throwing his body around. You love that. It’s a hard teach because it’s what they do (as a football player). That’s what you sell. ‘Throw your body on the barbed wire and let’s go.’ But then you’re also grabbing them, ‘Hey, let’s be smart when we do. Let’s not try to hit the middle of the barbed wire.’ There’s a qualifier on the thing. I think the take is, we have a better chance to win if he’s healthy. You have to play the percentages. Sometimes on third down, you take some extra chances. That’s how I’ve always sold it. Goal line (and) third down, sometimes there’s a time to take a chance. But overall, the bottom line is we have a better chance to win if he stays healthy and you have to be smart with that. One thing I do know also, from experience, is you start running around these defenses in this league and it’s a matter of time. They’re going to get you. I mean they’re going to get you. They’re too fast. They hit too hard and sooner or later, they’re going to get you.”
(On if he is worried about the run game) – “I wouldn’t use the word worried yet; but I feel anxious that we get it going. It makes everything easier. It’s really, really important. It’s important for our defense. I think we have not supported our defense. I know (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) said the same thing to you, but you almost can’t judge the defense in the fourth quarter because we haven’t done our part in the first three quarters to keep them rested and fresh so they can play that fourth quarter. That’s where the team concept comes in and the bottom line of these first two games is we haven’t done our part on our side of the ball. I talk to you guys a lot about keeping people fresh, keeping a player fresh, having them in the fourth quarter, having them in December, (they are) really, really important concepts and even on a smaller basis than a game – just having the defense fresh. We haven’t done that part of it. That’s where the run game is a huge part. It takes some time of possession. It gives them some rest. Third down has been a problem. We improved a little bit last week. We have to keep improving on that thing and you have to stay on the field. You just have to have an ability to stay on the field.”
(On if his mindset has changed from having a workhorse running back to a running back by committee) – “Yes, it probably has by necessity. It’s just kind of been an odd deal between injuries and different things coming up. I still think there’s nothing like continuity. We all know you have to be able to plug people in and go; but I think it still starts with continuity. The more guys can play together, the more looks I think a running back – kind of like a hitter in baseball – the more looks you get at it, the more you get in a game – the more throws a quarterback gets, the more into it he is. I think right now it is going to be by committee. We have a bunch of guys who have a unique set of talents. Would I love for someone to jump out and have a huge game and just grab the position and grab the lead role in that thing? Sure. That would be the ideal thing, I think. I am thankful that we do have some depth and it showed up last week. The rookie (Kenyan Drake) had to go in there and he made a couple of big plays and a couple of runs. That is important too. But I think the ideal thing would be continuity and someone to emerge as the man.”
(On who is the best run blocker upfront) – “Who is the best run blocker up front? I don’t know that because we ask them to do all different things. Who is the best run blocker on double teams? Who is the best run blocker pulling? Who is the best run blocker on base blocks? They all kind of have some different strengths. They’re all asked to do different things. We ask the center to reach nose guards and the tackles may have down blocks. I don’t know. I’d have a hard time answering that. (Mike) Pouncey I think is the best at his position in the whole league. When he is healthy, I don’t think anybody does it like Pouncey. If you pin me down and said, ‘Hey, by position, where are they rated?’ I’d probably say Pouncey is the best run-blocking center in the league, or certainly one of the top three or four in the upper echelon. But it’s hard to say because we ask them to do different things. Who (are) they (going) against? Some weeks you’re going against a guy who is extremely difficult. The nose guard this week will be a hard guy to block. (Anthony) Steen will have his hands full with him. That’s probably dodging the question a little bit but I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t know.”
(On if you can make an offensive line a good run blocking front when you have three current or former left tackles playing across the line) – “Sure. I would say this, what trumps it is, if you’re a good football player, you’re a good football player. You could stick Andrew Luck in at right guard and he’d figure out a way to do it. Football players play football. I don’t think that you could over-qualify it that far on that thing. I don’t think that’s the case. (Laremy) Tunsil is going to end up being a really good run blocker. Is he going to be a talented left tackle? Sure. He’s very agile and all of those things. And he’ll probably benefit from having played left guard because all of a sudden, he’ll take that aggressiveness and tight quarters blocking and carry it on. It may benefit him that way.”
(On if saying that three left tackles on an offensive line makes it difficult to run block would be overthinking it) – “Yes, probably a little. It’s probably a little bit hard to put it in a clean box and say that left tackles aren’t good run blockers and guards are real good run blockers. You could have a right guard that is a really good pass protector but that doesn’t make him a left tackle just because he is a good pass protector. So I would be a little careful on boxing them up quite so clean.”
(On a study that showed RB Jay Ajayi had poor blocking on the majority of his carries last year and if that is the case this year or if Ajayi needs to make the most of it) – “I think one of the things that I sell, and it’s kind of like receivers and defensive linemen are the same thing, you don’t know which one it’s going to be. One thing about the NFL is you’re not going to have a game where there’s gaping holes for the whole game. It’s hard to run the ball in this league. I think (Vikings RB Adrian) Peterson, I saw his statistics and he didn’t get loose before he got hurt. So it’s hard. But I think the guys who do it well are the ones who you don’t know, and it’s hard to do. It’s hard to keep running routes and you’re going to play 1,200 plays and get 75 catches but nobody told you which 75 players it was going to be or else you’d rest those other ones. (It’s the) same with a running back – you don’t know which one is going to pop. I do think that you just have to keep banging up in there and the good ones just keep doing that and don’t get off the reservation and start trying to do something that isn’t there. I think that’s the biggest thing that we’re stressing. I think the biggest thing with the run game right now is just opportunities. This last week, we’ve run the ball decent. But there hasn’t been a game that’s just went conventional where you’re converting some third downs and you’re getting enough snaps. The biggest problem is the snaps. If you’re playing 52 to 55 snaps, it’s a lot harder to get your runs and get some continuity in the run game than if you’re playing 82 snaps. Now you just have a quantity of reps available where now all of a sudden, you have extra carries and guys can get into a rhythm. Everyone can get into a rhythm. The play caller can get into a rhythm and you’ve got more snaps. All of a sudden you shrink that down and I think the two first halves we’ve had extremely low numbers of snaps. (It’s) self-inflicted but (it’s a) low number of snaps. And now all of a sudden, everything is tight because every run, every pass, it’s hard to call plays that way. It’s hard to play football that way because you don’t have enough to get yourself into a groove. I think that’s probably been our biggest problem. Jay knows that he can’t lay it on the ground. That’s the first drive of the last preseason game and the first drive of the second half of this game. Those are big drives. Those are deflators. Those are turnovers plus. There’s no good time to have a fumble but the first drive of a game and the first drive of the third quarter, as the young guys say, a buzz kill. They are a buzz kill.” (Laughter)
(On if RB Jay Ajayi is making the most of his carries aside from the fumbles) – “I do. I think he is. We haven’t looked and said, ‘Boy, he’s missing the hole,’ or ‘he’s taking a play off.’ The answer to your question is yes, I think he has made the most of his carries. I think he’s just kept humming and the same thing, nobody is getting enough carries to get themselves going. Again, that’s self-inflicted. That’s our fault as a unit. No, I haven’t thought that. I haven’t thought ‘Gosh, there’s stuff there. He hasn’t gotten out of the situation or the play.’ I have not thought that. I think we’ve felt like he’s running well and when he gets his opportunities, he’s running well.”
(On how realistic it is to see the second-half offense at New England for a real game) – “Yes. I really think it is. I think that’s what we’ve based the thing on. I think for the last whatever number of years that I’ve been in this offense – 15 or 16 years – that one of the neat things is that you’re never out of a game. That would be one characteristic of (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase in Denver and I think myself in Indy. You’re never out of it because that’s what you do – two-minute offense, getting up-tempo – that you can make that transition pretty darn smoothly. When you’re humming, there are periods of time in the first half that feel that way. That’s the ideal thing. All of a sudden you get into a rhythm in that first half and you play with a lead and give our defense a chance to play with a lead, which would be a pleasant change to be up 17-0, to be up 14-3. I think it is, and I think it is kind of what this thing is based on. There is a rhythm with this no huddle that makes it easy to jump out on someone, and if you’re functioning like we were in the second half, it also makes it so that you’re never out of a game. I’ve always believed that, that you’re never out of a game. There’s times when you are built a different way and all of a sudden you see someone down by 10 and you’re like, ‘It’s over. They don’t have the ability to score two scores in the last five minutes.’ I don’t think you’ll ever think that about this offense, past, present or future. I think that’s one of the real assets of the style of play that we’re trying to adopt here.”
(On RB Kenyan Drake in pass protection) – “I think he has come a long, long ways. I remember (Running Backs) Coach Danny (Barrett) had (to take a personal day) right at the beginning of training camp and miss, so I had the running backs for I think the first couple of live days of pass protection. So I can tell you first hand that Kenyan has come miles with that. He hasn’t arrived, but he has gotten better and better and better, and that room has adopted a little bit. I think we’re getting better there. That was impressive. It wasn’t completely clean, but going (with) a no-sack game at New England isn’t easy. You’re on the road, the snap count, all of that stuff, good defense, etc. That’s good. That’s a positive to grab from this thing. I think the (running) backs did a good job. That’s one of the hardest games on (running) backs because, as we talked about last week, it’s because those (Patriots line)backers are so big and physical that they’re a physical mismatch for a running back, and that’s part of their style. You don’t know which one of them is coming and it’s hard to hide them in that New England scheme. You’re going to end up having to block (Patriots LB Jamie Collins) or (Patriots LB Don’t’a Hightower), when he is healthy. Those are hard jobs. I think that was one of the positives that we did take out of last week, that the running backs are improving protection-wise, have embraced it, and are sticking their nose up in there, which is all you can ask.”
(On if it was willingness or technique that improved the running backs in pass protection) – “Both. I think the first ingredient of pass protection for a running back when a bigger guy is running at you is willingness. You see a 250-pound guy coming at you and you’re 210 pounds, you’ve got to have willingness. Otherwise you’re going to try to chop them or try to find some other way than stick your nose on him. You examine all of the alternatives before you go try and take him on with a running start. So I think willingness first, but I think technique always, always, always puts you above the crowd.”
(On where QB Ryan Tannehill needs to continue to get better at) – “We gave one up there (an interception) at the end of the half. It was kind of unit wide; it was the same symptom. We had the turnover. That was a big turnover. They’re all big. All of those possessions are big. So probably eliminating that, giving them an easy one and points at the end of the first half right there. Then, ultimately, at the end of the day, you have to find ways to win football games. That’s what we have to do. You have to win. You have to win games. You have to find some way. It’s not always conventional and it’s not always pretty, but we have to find some way to win games. That’s our job as coaches, that’s his job as the quarterback, that’s the unit’s job. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. I think that’s what we’ll all get measured by. We could lead the league in offense and if we don’t figure out a way to win football games, then what’s it worth? Then they’re just numbers. At the end of the day, you have to find ways to win football games. I think he’ll get measured just like the rest of us. ‘All of the rest of the stuff is okay, but did they figure out how to win? Can we get into the playoffs? Can we win playoff games?’ All of those things. That’s the bottom line measuring stick. It’s not yardage. It’s not leading the league in passing, quarterback ratings and all of that stuff. They’re all fun, when you’re winning, to look at; but they don’t mean a whole bunch if you’re not winning.”
Adam Gase – September 22, 2016
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On if there is any update on RB Arian Foster) – “Right now, we’re still kind of going through the process as far as trying to figure out how bad his injury is and doing some rehab stuff. We’ll kind of see the Friday, Saturday thing. Obviously with a veteran player, it gives you a little more of an option. Obviously any time you can get a guy out there practicing and you get through a practice, it makes you feel better as a coach, knowing that a guy’s active (and that) he’s going to make it through the entire game. We’ll just keep going through our little deal here and we’ll make a decision towards the end of the week.”
(On if he would consider playing RB Arian Foster on Sunday if he doesn’t practice at all) – “I would but with two games so close together, and just thinking long term as far as this season goes, I would have to feel really, really good about it.”
(On explaining the cause of RB Jay Ajayi’s fumbles) – “This last game, it kind of got away from his body a little bit as he hit that hole which, it’s something that we’ve emphasized since the beginning, as far as keeping that tight to your rib cage (and) as soon as you start going through contact, make sure you get that other hand over the ball. And he didn’t do that on that one particular snap. Just going back to that preseason game, it was close to the same thing, but it was just a little different. With him going down, that thing getting swiped out and it’s something where you really have to focus on it because you’re trying not to take away from a guy’s running skills, but you’ve just got to understand where you’re at within the bodies around you. He’s done a good job as far as up to those two moments. I mean he was, and really our entire running back corps, have done a good job as far as holding on to the ball. (We) just kind of had that one incident in (the) Tennessee (preseason game) and we had a couple of balls slip out in Seattle and one in New England, that they said that they were down, or the New England one they said they were down. So we just have to make sure that we’re constantly thinking about ball security. We want to make sure that we’re not giving cheap turnovers, like not even big hits –just guys tapping at the ball and then all of a sudden you lose it. So you’ve got to keep it tight and obviously we try to address that as much as possible. (If) you see it on practice film, you address it. If you see a ball away from a guy’s body, you bring it up in front of your entire group because you want to make sure everybody hears that so they know we need to do this right every snap.”
(On CB Byron Maxwell saying the biggest thing for him to take away from last week was tackling) – “Last week it probably wasn’t his best game as far as that’s going. Historically, he’s really been a solid tackler. He’s been the kind of guy that’s stuck his face in there and he’s actually had quite a few turnovers as far as stripping the ball. When he was at Seattle, that was one of the things that I know we were aware of with their defensive backfield was, it’s almost like they’re tackling the ball. That’s why they get so many fumbles and you see so many turnovers up there. I love anytime corners are hard on themselves like that, that’s what you want. You want guys that are willing to go in there and just get the guy down. At that point, if they’re getting to either one of those corners or the safeties, the biggest thing is to just get them down. Just so we have a chance to fight for another down. If we can improve in that area all around, that’s what we’re looking for.”
(On what you can do about a back jumping over a 6-foot-2 corner) – “Jump on his back and try to get him down. I mean you just have to do the best job you can as far as putting yourself in position. I know that (the defense) had talked about a certain way that they needed to make sure they tackle him because they showed some clips of him doing that in the past. (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) had a good plan as far as how they needed to make sure that they approached that, as far as tackling him and getting him down. It had to be a team effort quite a few times because that is a big man running at a pretty good rate there.”
(On the offense in the second half at New England and how close that is to what he wants to see every week) – “I think some of it is just going back and watching that tape. You see the execution was very, very, very high. Guys were in the exact same spots that they needed to be in. It was more of how we practice a lot of times, where guys were very exact in what they were doing. When we have little tiny slipups, that’s when mistakes are made. We seem to have that going on too early in the game and that was part of our problem here this last first half. They made some good plays. We throw a ball behind a guy and then, like I said before, probably the quarterback sneak wasn’t the best idea by me; but if we just clean up a few of the execution things, maybe that second half will be more consistent for us.”
(On QB Ryan Tannehill playing so much better in the 2-minute no huddle offense and what the downside to beginning a game with that approach) – “For the most part, that’s kind of what we’ve been but if you’re not in rhythm, if you don’t get it going really quick, then all of a sudden you start having three-and-outs and you’re looking up and you’re like, ‘Well, we burned 30 seconds off the clock,’ and now you’re putting the other side of the ball in jeopardy. You just want to find a way to get that first, first down. You want to make sure you’re getting completions. I think the one thing with us is a lot of those plays that we had in the second half were down the field throws and intermediate throws. It shortens up the drive quite a bit; but at the same time, you just better make sure you’re executing, you’re getting the first down and then you’re getting points on the board. If you’re getting points on the board, the time of possession really is irrelevant because it’s going to be tough for the other team to keep up with you. We just have to find a way to, when we do huddle, when we do slow it down a little bit, just clean up a few of our details (and) keep the mentality of playing fast when the play starts. That’s going to be the biggest key for us.”
(On it being noisier with the stadium renovations and if he is curious to see how loud it really is) – “Yes. For us, it’s going to be more about making sure we do our job, and then the fans will have something to cheer about. That’s going to be what we are looking to do. We need to play well. We need to make sure we give them a reason to be loud, whether it be getting a lead or making some big plays on defense or making something happen on special teams, that’ll keep our fans engaged and get them involved in the game.”
(On C Mike Pouncey’s status) – “Every day seems to be a new adventure for us as far as a step of possibly getting him back. We’re just going to keep talking to the doctors and keep progressing him as far as how much he’s doing and how much more we can do. Obviously, he is very aggressive in the way he goes about rehabbing. He is driving me nuts as far as, ‘I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go.’ We just have to make sure that we have all of our boxes checked on that.”
(On there being a minimum amount of time he knows that C Mike Pouncey will be out) – “I don’t. I really don’t. Every day when I talk to (Head Athletic Trainer) Ryan (Grove), and when I talk to the doctors, it’s a wait and see thing for us and we just need to figure out when the right time is to say, ‘Okay, now we can move on to the next step.’”
(On should the sense of urgency change throughout the season) – “No. You can’t think like that. When you walk in this building on Monday, you’re 0-0. Until somebody tells you that you’re out of it, then that’s when it changes because it’s tough. When you know you’re out of it, that changes the attitudes of a lot of guys. Right now, I really feel like with our guys, there is that 0-0 mentality every Monday that we come in. And when we get to Wednesday, the same thing. We just need to go back to work. You fix the things that you had issues on in the previous game and then you start over. Because when we hit Sunday, nobody talks about the week before. You move on and just keep figuring out a way to get better.”
(On Browns WR Corey Coleman breaking his hand at practice and if that makes him change his game plan) – “I’m sure we’ll kind of have those discussions as far as what we need to do defensively, if we do need to make any minor tweaks. But, just being on the other side of that, when you do lose a player of that caliber, it’s harder on the side of the ball that it actually happened to because now you had one thing planned going into Wednesday, and you have an idea maybe of certain plays for him, and now you’re trying to figure out a way to maybe change some things around or retool or who is going to do – whether it was his job or do we have to completely dump things. There may be things that they won’t do now because he is hurt. It’s kind of like both sides trying to play that cat and mouse game again – trying to figure out what can they do since he’s not in there, and the same thing for us, do we have to do something different? Or do we have to change anything that we had in?”
(On if C Mike Pouncey practice today) – “No.”
(On if there is a running back he feels comfortable that he will do his assignment no matter what play is called) – “I feel pretty good as far as, the majority of our playbook, there are a few things where I may lean on one type of protection scheme with one guy compared to another – just through either experience or what they’ve had success in, in practice. I kind of always try to keep an eye on that. If I feel like a (running) back can’t get out because he’s looking around and he’s not sure who he has to block on a certain protection, I may stay away from that certain type of protection and lean on something else to where I feel like he was good at that. It’s something that … you really as a play-caller have to focus on who’s in the game and I know this is what his strength is protection-wise. In the running game, it’s a little easier. Like we talked about yesterday, you can always create boxes of ‘these are his favorite runs, or these are his favorite runs.’ In the passing game, I feel great about all those guys as far as what they can do, with what we do. And then protection, it’s just kind of sorting it out, who’s in the game and what I like doing with them.”
(On the protection being the biggest issue for him with the running backs) – “You just have to make sure that … Every guy is different. Every protection hits a guy a different way. Sometimes with the way that defenses have all of these exotic pressures, there are certain protections that are tougher than others. It’s just about how do certain guys see things. You just have to be on it as far as, what does this guy know? What has he practiced? What reps has he gotten in walkthrough compared to the actual full speed deal? Because it changes so fast when it’s full speed compared to the walkthrough. Walkthroughs are easier, right? ‘I got this guy.’ And then all of a sudden guys start moving around, and things start happening fast, you short circuit. So you have to be careful. If a guy doesn’t know the protection, you’d rather go to something else and you can make some adjustments there to where the route concepts (and) protection all kind of fit together.”
(On what went into the decision of RB Damien Williams not being active last game) – “That was just my decision as far as Jay (Ajayi) ended up being the guy that I wanted up for that game and obviously, Damien brings a lot to the table. Moving forward, I think what he’s done as a running back, what he’s done on special teams and what he does in practice, he keeps forcing my hand. I need to get him in the game, I need to get him involved, not only on special teams, but on offense as well. That was something that I did last week. Looking back at it, we’ll see how it goes forward. I really like it when he is active. I like what he brings to the table. He keeps proving to me that he has earned being on the active roster on game day.”
(On if he could see all four running backs being active) – “It’s a possibility. Obviously, with the youth we have, it could happen. I mean we’ve got to see where we are health-wise with everybody. That’s why you kind of go with the initial (active roster) when we talk about it on Monday, just so we can start formulating a game plan, and then there’s a couple of moving pieces throughout the week. Like last week, we had a couple of guys where we thought we were going to go to the game; but we changed our mind at the last second. The same thing with this week, we’ve already had one guy who was going to be inactive but then we flipped it around with somebody else. It’s a constant dialog. You just have to make sure that you don’t put anybody in a bad spot to where they’ve repped a guy the entire week in one thing, and then you pull the rug out from under him – whether it be (Darren) Rizzi, the offensive coordinator, the defensive coordinator and they’re going, ‘Wait, I had all this stuff in for him,’ and now you just made him inactive.”
(On telling the Cleveland reporters that he needs every guy to pull their weight and if he thinks that has happened thus far) – “I think we are just taking our turns to where, whether it be a missed assignment, dropped ball (or a) protection issue. What happens is – and you know when we were talking about the quarterback – what happens is when you play that quarterback position, you’re counting on 10 guys to do their job before you can even do your job. That’s what makes that position so tough. That’s what makes that position the highest paid position in football. You’re counting on 10 other guys to do their job so you can try to do your job well. My point is, when we get all of those guys doing the right thing, then that guy can do his job. That makes that position easier to evaluate. I feel like right now, Ryan (Tannehill) is doing a good job. Have we had some mistakes? Yes. Same thing around the board. We’ve taken our turns. The problem is … It will be nice when we’re all heading in the right direction. We’re all right. The more times we’re right on certain plays, the better you start feeling. I feel like that second half last week, that was more of what we were looking for as far as an execution standpoint.”
(On if it was execution and not a lack of desire) – “No. No. It’s just getting the little tiny details right. That’s why when you play a team like we just played, you better be on it, because the slightest misstep, all of a sudden it’s 31-3. Just one play, and then the drive gets going, and then everybody feels like they’re reeling, and then all of a sudden a touchdown and three-and-out, touchdown. So you have to make sure. That team, you can’t do that. You can’t have those mistakes.”
(On why S Isa Abdul-Quddus and S Reshad Jones present challenges for opposing offenses) – “I think the fact that they’re interchangeable as far as who is down, who is back, who can go out and cover – whether it be a running back or who can cover a tight end. The fact that they both can do all that stuff, it makes it nice for us because now you don’t create that tendency of Reshad’s always down, Isa’s always in the middle, or vice versa. Or Reshad always blitzes. If you can eliminate the always and nevers, that’s the biggest thing for a defense. You want to make it to where you’re kind of guessing, ‘Well, they’ve done both so what can we really tell our guys?’ When you can do that, that makes it that much tougher to prepare for.”
(On what his threshold is on QB Ryan Tannehill’s running style and on how important something has to be for him to not slide) – “I just want him to play. I don’t want him to think about it. I know he’ll do the right thing. More times than not, he goes down. Last week he had to do what he had to do.”
(On if he has a philosophy on change of possession and if he wants his quarterback chasing down the ball) – “Yes, I guess. (I’m) trying to think of any examples. I know there were a few times when, whether it be a fumble or an interception, I just remember when Peyton (Manning) started chasing and I’m just like, ‘Just fall or something.’ (Laughter) It didn’t concern me until I saw (Jay) Cutler break his thumb the one year he tried to chase down a turnover. That probably was the first time where I was really aware of, ‘Well that’s not a good thing.’ Last year he pulled his hamstring chasing down an interception against Arizona. That affected us because we lost him for a game and then he came back the next week. But that was where you’re kind of like, ‘Listen, you make a smart decision as far as if you can get the guy down and prevent a score, great. If it’s out of range, be smart as far as what you do.’”
Ryan Tannehill – September 21, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill Conference Call with Cleveland Media
(On what he sees in the Browns defense when he studies them on film) – “I see a defense that does a good job of pressuring when they want to pressure. They’re able to get after the quarterback a little bit. They’ll mix in some Cover 0 looks when they’re really trying to heat it up and get pressure on the quarterback in critical situations. They’ll mix that in with their zone coverage as well, so you have to be ready for everything.”
(On if Browns CB Joe Haden looks like the old Joe Haden to him) – “Joe is playing well right now. He had a couple of great plays in that game last week against the Ravens. Obviously the two interceptions, but he played really well and had some other breakups besides that. (I’m) really impressed with how he is playing right now.”
(On how he feels about Browns Senior Offensive Assistant/Wide Receivers Coach Al Saunders) – “I love Al. He’s a guy that’s been around the game for so long. (He has) so much football knowledge. (He’s) been around so many great players. To have him here for a brief time last year was great for the receivers that we have here. I’m sure he’s definitely making an impact up there, as well.”
(On the team’s morale) – “I think morale is as high as it could be at this point considering the situation that we’re in. (We’ve had) two tough road games (against) two top opponents, and we had our opportunities. We had opportunities to win both games, and we didn’t get it done. There’s a little bit of frustration, or we’re upset a little bit that, obviously, we didn’t get it done when we had opportunities to. But at the same time, we have 14 games in front of us. We have guys in the building that are working to do everything they can to make a correction and execute when it counts in a game. (We are) really excited about the opportunities that are in front of us in the next 14 games starting with Cleveland this week.”
(On TE Jordan Cameron’s athleticism) – “We’re trying to get him involved a little more. He is such a talented athlete, talented football player. He runs extremely well, has good hands and can do some really good things. It has been a work in progress trying to get him involved in the offense. I think last week we saw that (he) had a touchdown catch down in the red zone, and it’s something we’re going to be looking for more of as we move forward.”
(On facing the Dolphins’ defensive line in practice) – “(I am) definitely glad that I don’t have to see them in live action. (Laughter) We had a grueling training camp against those guys, battling every day (with) our guys up front, battling against those quality players and quality pass rushers. They kept the heat on us the whole camp, and I think it really made our offensive line improve and get better quickly, because of the quality of the rushers. Now we’re getting into the season and seeing those guys disrupt the run game a little bit and get after the quarterback, it’s a lot of fun.”
Adam Gase – September 21, 2016
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Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On his message to the team today) – “Get back to work, focus on this week, the details. We got to clean a lot of things up that we are doing to ourselves. I think every week we’ve gone in and worried less about the opponent and more about what we were doing.”
(On an update on RB Arian Foster) – “Right now, we are going through our process as far as evaluating him and trying to rehab him a little bit and see where his strength is at. I’ll have a better idea when I get back in tonight.”
(On today being an injury day of as opposed to it being a veteran’s day off) – “Yes, this was from him coming out of the game.”
(On if he has a starter in mind or if it will be an open competition if RB Arian Foster doesn’t play on Sunday) – “We’ll look at practice this week. When we put our openers together, we will have a better idea of who it’s going to be.”
(On what he needs to see from someone to win the starting running back job) – “I think we are going to use whoever we need to use this game. If it’s more than one, I’m not opposed to that. I think all of those guys have great skill sets and they’re all different, which is a strength for us, at least that’s the way I see it. We’ll just see how this goes. Like I said, as far as what we do at the beginning of the game, that could dictate too a little bit who the first guy is out there.”
(On the difference between guys like RB Isaiah Pead and RB Kenyan Drake) – “With (Kenyan) Drake, he is a guy that you can use in a whole bunch of different areas. Outside, he can be an outside zone runner. He can go out and run a lot of routes. There’s a big route tree there. He is good at pass protection, which he really proved himself last week. A guy like (Isaiah) Pead, he really showed us how he was as far as running in the outside zone scheme and then still being flexible enough to go inside gap scheme. His strength is more of the running game and we’ve been trying to open up more of what he can do in the passing game. It’s something that he hasn’t really been able to do a bunch of. That’s why in training camp, you’re always trying to give those guys as many reps of things that, maybe they haven’t done before, to see ‘How well can he do this? How far can we bring him along.’ He showed some good things in training camp and the preseason games, it’s just we haven’t had the chance to get him out there in a real game.”
(On how disappointing it is to have QB Ryan Tannehill as the leading rusher with 52 yards) – “I’m alright with where we are at right now. I know why certain things are what they are and you’ll know if I have a concern with the running game.”
(On what needs to improve with the run defense this week) – “We got to get back to doing some of the little things that we did that first game. Leading into the regular season, we did a lot of good things in training camp. I know we were very detailed going into the regular season. They did a really good job against Seattle, which I think that was pretty obvious. Last week, we put ourselves in a bad situation and we got behind. Once they kind of got going there, it becomes tough. The play count starts getting high, then you start to get worn down and all of a sudden they are running power football, and you have all these guys taking double teams, and we’re trying to set the edge. They ran some plays where they got to the perimeter. You have to go back, you have to clean that up. It’s a team thing because we have to do a better job as far as keeping them off the field on offense. And when the defense does get out there, we have to make sure that we’re all sound in our assignment. It’s hard to evaluate and correct things, as far as schematics, if we’re not doing what we’re asked to do. There were a few times where we didn’t do exactly what we were coached to do, and now we have to go back and basically go through it and (say), ‘This is the details of what we’re doing on this defense.’ And then move forward from there. But it’s hard to say, ‘Hey, this scheme is no good.’ We have to execute it first and then if we have some holes there, we have to adjust.”
(On DT Ndamukong Suh in the fourth quarter of the New England game) – “I think he came out like three plays in there. He’d go like three, take one, and then jump back in there. The thing is, when you’re getting some of the schemes they’re running at us, it makes it tough. He goes through the entire game and almost every play gets double teamed, and you never see him get moved. A lot of times, he’s penetrating. So, if you could imagine you’re 300 pounds and you got 640 (pounds) hammering down on you, and you’re holding the point, eventually that may fatigue you slightly. (Laughter) I’ll say this: if he comes out of the game, it’s never for long. It’s like one play, and he’s back in there. We have to keep figuring out what’s the right rotation, and I keep going back to playing complementary football. We got to get it to where those guys are able to play as many plays as they possibly can. If we get that play count down, that’s going to help us.”
(On whether LB Donald Butler is ready to help the team) – “I think so. When you have a guy that’s a veteran guy and you’ve been in a couple defenses, this is what these guys do. I know I’ve said it before. NFL players learn playbooks. They’re all the same. There are slight little tweaks here and there; the terminology is a little different. He’s a smart guy. He works hard. He has been so engaged. He has been spending extra time trying to make sure he’s caught up as fast as possible. He is a guy that can jump in there right now and help us out if we need him to. He has been really doing a good job as far as (being) engaged in special teams to really say, ‘If I get the opportunity – and I’m up – I can help, whether it be special teams, defense, whatever you need me to do.’”
(On DE Cam Wake playing 16 snaps against the Patriots) – “He knew we got in a weird situation there, because being down what we were down … What were we down? We were down 31-3. We know what’s coming. We know it’s going to be a pound-the-rock situation. What happens is, sometimes you play these fronts, and he’s not a pass rusher anymore. All of a sudden, now you’re playing a five-technique, and you’re stuck inside, and all of a sudden you’re getting hammered with double teams. That’s really not what we want to do with him. We want to make sure we’re in the game – whether we have a lead or in the game – to where he can rush the passer. That’s what we want him to do. We want to get him up there to where it’s 35, 40, 45 snaps, to where we’re maximizing him as far as what he does so well. The couple of times that he was in there and got one-on-ones, he’s right by the quarterback. Going into next week, what we’re trying to make sure that we’re doing is, on first and second down, we’ve got to be ready to get him in there earlier. We’ve had our discussions as far as how we can do a better job. It’s going to be about making it more of a balanced game between the two sides, so we don’t get lopsided as far as the rep count goes.”
(On if there are more busts on defense than what he expected thus far) – “What happens is, it’s the minute detail of, maybe you were supposed to go through a guy and you took an edge. (It’s) things like that to where you have to be so fine-detailed in what you’re doing, because – like you said – when you play this type of defense, it’s about penetration. It’s about attacking; it’s about speed. When you do take the wrong angle sometimes, it can be a chain effect to everybody else. I know (Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) is very hard as far as what everybody is supposed to do, the exact detail of it, and he goes through it so thoroughly in his meetings you would think, ‘Why are we screwing that up?’ But that’s what happens; that’s what this game is. You’re trying to get perfection, but it’s an imperfect game. People are going to make mistakes, and it’s about how can you make less than the other team.”
(On whether mistakes made on defense are mental or physical) – “I think a lot of the times, it’s more physical than mental. I want to say for the most part, mentally we’ve been pretty sound. It’s just a couple things in coverage every once in a while. Sometimes it’s formation predicated. When you get thrown something different – guys are in different spots – you start getting that conversation, that’s when you get in trouble. You’ve seen a couple times where guys are pointing at each other – who has who – and now all of a sudden they’re snapping the ball, and you’re slightly late. In this league if you’re late, you’re probably in trouble.”
(On RB Jay Ajayi) – “I think as far as what we’ve been doing with him in practice has been really good. I feel like, personally, I have a better feel of what he likes to do. He has been very engaged. He has done a great job as far as a special teams role. I think that’s a little different for him, because he was a starter for so long – (during) OTAs, preseason – and sometimes when you’re in that role, you lose track a little bit as far as understanding that it might flip flop one time. All of a sudden, now you’re needed on special teams. I think what he did was he reevaluated what was going on. He really did focus on making sure that he could be helpful to (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren) Rizzi. That’s why he was able to do what he did last week as far as coming up, playing, doing a good job, whether it be the running game or pass protection. He had a couple times where he really saved the day on pass protection, where he stoned a guy inside, and with his size, helped us because those linebackers are big guys. When (Jamie) Collins was coming through, he got in there and shielded it off to where we could get a throw off. In the running game, he did everything right. He had the one bad play, which was unfortunate. It was bad timing. I think if we keep growing with him from where we’re at right now, he should improve through the year.”
(On if he did any pre-draft work on Browns QB Cody Kessler) – “I didn’t personally do anything with him. We had a very small target group that we targeted as far as guys that we may take late. I think he kind of fell into the group that we thought was going to go earlier than what we were looking to possibly take at quarterback if somebody fell to us in that late round. I didn’t do a whole bunch of stuff on him. Obviously your scouting staff has plenty of information because these guys … there are 100 reports on every guy that is involved in the draft. When you go through those, you’re kind of like, ‘How many guys wrote this guy?’ The good thing is, you get the information. The tough thing for us right now is when we see him, there’s not really a ton of tape at this level and now it’s going to be adjust on the fly. We’re going to have to see what he does well at this level against our group, how he is going to react, what are they going to do (and) what are they going to emphasize. So we are going to have to do some adjusting during the game.”
(On how you limit the explosiveness and speed of WR Corey Coleman) – “You better do a good job of tackling and staying on top of him because when you have an explosive guy, when you have a guy that I think is averaging almost 25 yards per catch right now, that makes it tough. You have to do a good job. You cannot let him get by you because if he does, there’s a good chance it’s over. Defensively, we have to be smart. We have to make sure that we try to do the best we can to eliminate explosive plays. That’s the tough part about playing a guy like that because all it takes is one little slip up and now all of a sudden you’ve got a guy going 60 yards.”
(On if he could describe his perfect running back) – “For me, it’s a guy that’s flexible. I like a guy that can do multiple things. If you can contribute pass protection, run the ball and in the pass game, that’s ideal for me. I always like to figure out what their strength is and just really attack that. That’s why our running back room is interesting to me because every guy is so different. When (Running Backs Coach) Danny (Barrett) tells me somebody is going in, I have to be like, ‘Okay, he likes this, this and this.’ A lot of times I’ll go to the sideline, ‘Who is the next guy? Okay, you want outside gap scheme and you want to release from the backfield.’ So (I’m) going through, checking the boxes for myself to understand who is in the game and how to use them.”
(On how much of a challenge that presents for the offensive line) – “I don’t know if it is so much of a challenge for them because the play call kind of dictates to them what their course is, what their scheme is and things like that. So I don’t know if it’s so much of a challenge for them as more of a challenge for us (coaches) making sure we’re calling the right plays. That’s probably the hardest part because now you’re switching gears if you only get one series and then somebody else goes in. That makes it a little tough. I think the o-line listens to the call, they know where everybody is supposed to be and they stay on their track.”
(On if he has to have a package for each running back going into the game) – “Sometimes I have, if I have multiple guys. There were a few times in Denver where I had to do that just to make sure I didn’t call the wrong play. Knowshon (Moreno) was different than C.J. (Anderson). Ronnie Hillman was different than both of those guys. So you had to box everything off and be like, ‘These are the runs that I can call with this guy.’ Here, so far, I’m still feeling some things out. I know some strengths for the most part, but every once in a while I’ll be like, ‘You good with this?” They’ll say, ‘yes,’ then you watch them run it and you’re like, ‘I don’t think I’m going to call that one again.’ That’s the fun part, kind of the beginning of the season, because you’re still trying to feel some guys out and experimenting a little bit.”
(On if he has ever had a running back that tells him they’re not good at something) – “Yes, definitely. There have been some guys that I’ve had in the past that are very honest because they know the amount of touches they get. Rarely … how many running backs get 30 touches a game? They know they usually get between 12 and 15 so they want to make sure that you’re calling the stuff they like as much as possible. C.J. Anderson was always like, ‘Give me inside zone; give me inside zone,’ I’d call one outside zone and he’d be like, ‘Thanks,’ (and the play would go for) minus one. (Laughter) It’s the same thing with these guys. They want positive plays. They want a chance to be able to make some kind of play. So that’s why you have to be on it. They know those touches are limited.”
(On clarifying if LB Donald Butler is ready to play defense and not just special teams) – “Right. I’m saying (he’s ready to play) both.”
(On if RB Kenyan Drake can do everything) – “He has the ability. When you are a rookie, a lot of things are happening. Last week there were a couple of times where he was misaligned and I’m pretty sure I blacked out a couple of times yelling at him, trying to get to him but he couldn’t hear me. (Laughter) Those are the little details that you have to get. When you’re a rookie, you make some mistakes, that’s where you kind of lose a little bit where you want a guy to be able to play fast and when you see him walking around not sure what to do, that kind of puts you in a bad spot. He does have some ability. He did some really good stuff. Pass protection, him picking up a corner blitz, that’s something that you really don’t see young (running) backs do but he was aware of what was going on and did a good job.”
(On QB Ryan Tannehill’s durability having never missed a game) – “Some of the hits I’ve seen on tape and a couple of the ones I’ve seen so far, he’s done a good job as far as getting his body ready. It’s a tough position to play. You’re getting hit. I saw a couple of hits the last few days, especially watching the Philly/Chicago game the other night, where (Eagles QB Carson) Wentz took a couple of shots and popped right back up. Sometimes it’s age, sometimes it’s the way your body is structured. Some guys take those hits better than others. The thing is, you just hope that nothing happens and that quarterbacks are able to play the entire game. Some of these guys are big men running fast, and if you’re not right on your protection, it could be a bad injury.”
Ndamukong Suh – September 21, 2016
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh
(On the challenges of playing against a quarterback you don’t know much about or have yet to see play) – “I don’t really look at it any differently than any other quarterback. If he is holding the ball, you take him down and if he hands it off, you go get the running back. It’s as simple as that to me.”
(On to not let the season snowball) – “I thinks we just have to focus on the game that is at hand. We can’t do anything about the other two weeks. They are in the books; they are in the past. We have to come out and be focused and be ready to make a statement at home. Obviously we want to make sure we have a home-field advantage all the time and be successful at home and protect our house.”
(On having a sense of urgency to get a win this week) – “There is no question. There’s a sense of urgency with every single game, no what time of the year it is or no matter what your record is. Whether you’re at the end of the season and already in the playoffs or whatever it may be, every single game is important.”
(On after watching the film why New England was able to run the ball effectively in the fourth quarter) – “They had a great scheme and executed. We didn’t execute the way we needed to and I think it’s as simple as that.”
(On the few snaps that he was not on the field later in the game) – “I feel like I’m in there most every opportunity that I can. If I’m not in there, there are obviously guys that are capable of being in the game and playing – whether it’s (Julius) Warmsley, Chris Jones, Jordan Phillips, ‘J.J.’ (Jason Jones) that comes down inside – so I don’t really understand the question.”
(On doing anything differently when DE Cameron Wake is in the game with him) – “No. We all understand what our scheme is and when guys are coming in. I think you would be oblivious to not understand who is playing next to you and who is not playing next to you. That is just a part of the game of having a rotation and having eight guys, nine guys that can go in there and play and are interchangeable. Of course you understand who is in the game and who is not in the game.”
(On what the Cleveland Browns do well on offense) – “They have a great (group) of running backs. Both of them run very hard and are downhill runners. (It is) something that we are definitely going to have to focus on and stop in the run game, as we want to do each and every game. The offensive line is having a little trouble with injuries right now, but obviously they have Hall of Famers on that roster right now, as well as some guys that have gotten the job done for them in years past. At the end of the day, we have to go out there and shut down the run and put it in the quarterback’s hands to beat us.”
(On what it is like to finally play at home and not have to get on a plane to play) – “It’s always nice – especially being able to stay at home – to hear your fans cheer for you and (to) just go out there and hopefully put on a good performance for them.”
Ryan Tannehill – September 21, 2016
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Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(On what stands out to him about his first career start) – “It was a long time ago. Honestly, I’m not really worried about that right now. (I’m) just getting ready to play Cleveland.”
(On how big a deal it is for the Browns that they will have a third-team quarterback starting) – “It definitely presents some challenges, obviously. Whether it’s a quarterback or another position, guys have to step up and play, and play well. I’m sure they’re going to get him ready to play and he’ll go out and execute to the best of his ability.”
(On the importance of starting fast) – “It’s huge. Obviously, you want to get going and want to get some momentum going and it (carries over) throughout the game. We want to be on the field and give our defense a break off the field. That will pay dividends in the fourth quarter. The last two weeks, as an offense, we’ve hurt our defense by not getting them off the field early in games and it’s come back to bite us at the end of the games. So we need to move the ball early, get points on the board and give our defense a break.”
(On if he can carry over some of the momentum that he had in the second half of the offense against the Patriots) – “Yes, we were rolling. I don’t know if momentum carries over but that feeling we had, just the confidence that we gained throughout that second half of this is how it’s supposed to be, this is how we can play when things are clicking. So it’s just a matter of practicing at that level and consistently playing at that level.”
(On the excitement of playing at Hard Rock Stadium) – “I’m excited about playing in the stadium. (It’s the) first time, like you said, since last year. I haven’t got to play in it (since the renovations). We were there for the preseason game – preseason (game number) four – but I wasn’t able to play. So I’m really excited to step on that field and play in front of the home crowd.”
(On if someone has addressed the team that enough is enough and this has to stop) – “No. I don’t think it’s necessary. We understand the situation we’re in and the opportunities that we’ve missed and so, to a man, I think everyone understands that and we’re working to get it fixed. We’re not missing it by a long shot. No drastic changes need to be made; but details need to be fixed and fixed quickly.”
(On what the emotion is right now) – “I still think it’s a positive locker room. Obviously (we are) frustrated that we didn’t make the plays we needed to the last two weeks; but (we are) excited about how we’re growing, how we’re building as a team and the potential we still do have. We have 14 games in front of us and (are) excited about the opportunities that are out there.”
(On what Head Coach Adam Gase’s message was to the team this week) – “Just cap off what we finished last week on and just get ready to play this week. We have one goal right now – it’s to beat Cleveland and get one win. So practice that way and prepare that way throughout this week.”
(On what kind of skills does RB Isaiah Pead and RB Kenyan Drake bring to the running back position if they get a chance for more carries this week) – “Yes, our running backs are talented, whether you look at Arian (Foster), Jay (Ajayi), (Isaiah) Pead, Damien (Williams). They all have different talents. They’re all good runners, obviously, playing the running back position; but, I think as a group, they’re really good catching the football coming out of the backfield, as well as pass protection. I’ve said it several times, I think our running backs are kind of plug and play, and it doesn’t really matter who is in there, we feel confident that they’re going to make plays for us and get the job done.”
(On if he saw the point spread for the game on Sunday) – “(Laughter) No. I don’t keep up with that.”
(On if can describe his comfort level in the short passing game and what has to happen to make the long passes work as well as he would like) – “I think it’s just a matter of execution – guys getting open, protection being firm, getting hands down upfront and throwing the ball in the right spot. I think you want to be efficient when you’re throwing the ball short. Obviously you’re not going to gain a whole lot of yardage, so you have to complete those passes and make them count. Down the field I feel like we’re doing a good job. We hit some long balls in the game the other day. We had an opportunity in Seattle. I don’t feel like anything drastic needs to happen. It’s just a matter of guys executing, being in the right spot, protection holding up and then, as a quarterback, delivering the football in the right spot.”
Adam Gase – September 21, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase Conference Call with Cleveland Media
(On the challenges of facing a rookie quarterback that he knows little about and has little tape on) – “I think the hardest thing for our guys is going to be just kind of the unknown. You can always try to do as much research as you possibly can as far as what looks like could be his strengths and weaknesses in the NFL from the limited exposure you have on him. You try to lean on possibly some of the scouting evaluation that went on coming out (of college), as much as you can; but obviously it’s such a different game at this level that it’s hard to really get great detail from college film. But you take everything you can and then the thing that you have to do more than anything is be able to adjust during the game.”
(On if he can empathize with the Browns’ quarterback situation right now) – “The hardest thing about this league is dealing with injuries no matter what position it is. The thing that they have going on there right now is the fact that (Head) Coach (Hue) Jackson is a very good coach and he’s made a living off of figuring out how to deal with adversity and putting his guys in great position and taking advantage of certain matchups. I think I look at it as he’s going to look at this as a great opportunity of putting his guys in position to win the game. Whatever he has to do – whether it’s lean on the quarterback, whether it’s lean on the running game, whether it’s get turnovers on defense and special teams, not turn it over on offense – he’s going to find a way to make sure that his guys are ready to go and that this is going to be a tough game for us.”
(On if he was more ready for this head coaching job now than when he turned down the opportunity to interview with the Browns in 2013) – “It was my first year as a coordinator and I had a lot to learn still. My focus at the time was that I wanted to make sure that I gave 100 percent focus to the Denver Broncos. I felt really good about our chances of competing in the Super Bowl. There were a lot of little things that went into my decision. It was more for myself than for the teams that wanted to talk to me. (I was a) first-year coordinator and trying to deal with all of those things, it’s a quick jump. I feel like the fact that I did not take that step that year was probably good for myself because it gave me two more years of experience in that position and allowed me to go through a lot of different situations.”
(On the biggest challenge of going from an offensive coordinator to a head coach) – “Dealing with non-football things – building issues, travel issues, itinerary-type things. Just things that you lose 15-20 minutes here and there and it just extends your day and you just have to be very good with your time management.”
(On why he thinks his team is struggling in the run game right now) – “I guess I don’t really see that we’re struggling in the run game. We played probably one of the best run defenses in football. You go back and look at the Rams – after we played Seattle – the next week the Rams averaged less yards per carry than we did. We know what we’re doing as far as what we need to emphasize. It’s like I told our media here, if I feel like there are problems with the run game, I won’t be afraid to say it.”
(On his expectations for RB Jay Ajayi this weekend) – “We’re going to see how everything plays out and kind of see how our inactives go. Hopefully we can get our rotation down this week and see who our guys are going to be and who is going to be up. I don’t know if I’m really ready to say, ‘This guy is going to get this many carries,’ or ‘So and so is going to play so many plays.’ We’re going to go through our work week and then once we hit Saturday night, we’ll have a better idea of who is up.”
(On what he has seen from WR DeVante Parker) – “I think the biggest thing with him is we’re just trying to figure out a way to keep him on the field. It seems like he starts making some strides and then some injury comes up and we have a slight setback. But as far as (being) a football player goes, he’s way ahead of what I thought he was going to be when he was drafted. I like his football intelligence. I like the way he works. I feel like he does a good job within the game of talking through some things and talking to us about things that are happening during the game – at least he was the last week. The thing that we love about him is the fact that he’s a playmaker. Within the game, you don’t see any kind of nervousness or hesitation with him. He’s very smooth within the game – very calm – and that’s a great way to be able to go about it as a wide receiver.”
(On Cleveland Browns WR Corey Coleman) – “I think he has been very impressive. He has done a good job of taking advantage of opportunities. When you’re averaging what he’s averaging per catch, that’s an impressive number to have right now. I’m sure for him he’s constantly going to be trying to figure out a way to keep getting better and put himself in position to be an explosive player. I’m sure they’re going to try to find as many ways to get the ball to him and give him an opportunity to change the game.”
(On what stands out about the Browns offense on film, outside of the quarterback situation) – “Obviously, the running game has really been impressive. There’s explosiveness there at the wide receiver position that you have to contend with. Obviously, they have a tight end that has been hard to deal with – especially in past years – and absolutely a viability. I think, for us, it’s about making sure that we don’t … If we let these guys get behind us and have explosive plays, it’s tough to compete with. When you can shorten up drives and push the ball down the field and chunk play it and figure out a way to get over the top and get into the end zone, it’s frustrating for the defense. Now all of a sudden you feel like you’re a little bit … The opposite offense is always trying to compete to keep up with a team that can explode at any time. We have to make sure that we do a good job as far as not letting these guys … We have to take away what they do well, and that’s going to be the challenge for us this week.”
(On if QB Ryan Tannehill has to step up his play to take the team anywhere this year) – “He has really been, probably, one of our most consistent guys that we have. I don’t know how much more he can really step up considering that he’s doing everything right now that we need him to do. It’s just that we need every guy to pull their weight.”
(On what makes the defensive line special) – “The fact that they’re relentless. They chase the ball down the field. They penetrate. They cause havoc. They’re a very frustrating group to go against. From my experience being down here going through OTAs, going through training camp, it’s just so disruptive and can be very frustrating at times in practice, because you feel like you can’t really get a great feel for what you’re trying to do. But when they’re on your side on Sunday, you really enjoy watching them go after it. To watch them play (and they) see something happen where a ball is thrown down the field and all of a sudden you see four d-linemen running down the field after the ball and trying to make a play down the field. It’s a very good thing to see, because you know that if the skill guys – the DBs, the linebackers – see the d-line running to the ball like that, they’re going to follow suit.”
(On how difficult it is for offensive lines to matchup against the Dolphins defensive line) – “I think it’s tough in the fact that if you do get behind and you got a group of those guys coming at you in waves and the speed that they bring, then if you become one dimensional, it really becomes a challenge. Obviously, we haven’t been able to do that really, yet. That’s what one of our things coming into the season was, ‘How do we put our defense in position to where they can pass rush?’ Hopefully, we can eventually get this going, as far as we’re more balanced overall as a team. I think that group though, when they get an opportunity to go close out a game, 2-minute drills, or if we’re up by a number of points where they can pass rush and can really make a change in the game in the early fourth quarter, third quarter – that’s what we are looking for.”
(On if the defensive strategy or mindset changes this week given the Browns’ injuries on the offensive line and that they’re playing a rookie quarterback) – “Every week we’ll go into a game and we’ll have a certain approach that we want to do. It’s more of getting through the week and going through practice and we make adjustments through the week. It’s hard to say, ‘This is exactly what we’re going to do when we hit Wednesday.’ We have an outline sketched out in pencil and then as the week goes on, we make adjustments. By the time we hit Sunday, that’s when we feel like, ‘Alright, this is exactly how we’re going to play them.’ So to be able to say right now how we’re going to handle certain things, I still think we’re still a little ways away from finalizing anything.”
