Branden Albert – September 15, 2016
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Thursday, September 15, 2016
T Branden Albert
(On if crowd noise affects his play on the field) – “For me, as a player that has been around the league for a long time, I usually don’t hear the crowd. I’m really concentrating on the task at hand, so I don’t really pay attention to the environment.”
(On if Sunday’s performance was a shot of confidence for the team) – “I would’ve rather won. That’s the confidence we need, a W. Just because we were in the game, you put up a good fight, that says a lot about the team. But a W is the only thing that counts. You can have a victory about certain things, but the big victory is getting that W.”
(On if the Patriots game a big game to him personally) – “Every game for me is important. I want to win every game and for the sake of the team and the organization, every game is important. But, we are playing in a division game, so it is important. We have to make sure we capitalize and go out there and play well and have the outcome be the outcome in our favor.”
(On fans feeling the Dolphins should win because QB Tom Brady and potentially TE Rob Gronkowski are not playing) – “I don’t know why people think (that) just because a certain player or a certain aspect is out of the game for them. They are a good team. They’re a well-coached team. They have one of the best coaches that has ever coached football. They will come with a game plan to try to beat us and we can’t go in there thinking that just because they don’t have certain things on their team that we are just going to automatically beat them. We take it as what it is. We go down there and they still have a hell of a defense. They still have a lot of their defensive guys and it’s going to be a hard game.”
Isa Abdul-Quddus – September 15, 2016
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Thursday, September 15, 2016
S Isa Abdul-Quddus
(On what is so challenging about what the Patriots do offensively) – “They try to get matchups. They try to take advantage of matchups to get linebackers on receivers and tight ends and stuff like that. We’ve just got to really be poised in our technique and make sure we do the right thing.”
(On QB Jimmy Garoppolo) – “He’s going to be really good. He has a lot of poise. He sticks in the pocket. He’s not afraid to take a hit. He’s pretty good.”
(On how he feels about the team’s ability as a secondary to produce turnovers) – “I think we’ve been doing pretty well as long as we play our technique. As long we are doing what we’re supposed to do, the ball will fall in our laps.”
(On why they have been so effective in getting interceptions) – “With our coaches, we always do a bunch of technique drills, so we try to make sure our techniques are as best as possible. But then our coaches always put us in great schemes and it makes it easy.”
(On how he would describe the secondary’s physical traits as a group) – “I feel like physically, we run around. We have a lot of speed on the field. We have a lot of length outside with the corners. Both of them are pretty tall and stuff like that. We fly around and hit.”
(On if it’s tough facing an unknown in QB Jimmy Garoppolo) – “It’s 50/50. It’s up in the air. You really don’t know until game day but you know that the Patriots have a certain way of doing things. We know how he’s been taught. So we try to learn from that.”
(On if he’s been through anything like this team not winning in New England since 2008) – “Last year (with Detroit,) we went to Green Bay and we won for the first time since 1991 or something like that.”
(On how aware was he about not winning since 1991 going into the Lions/Packers game last year) – “I don’t really try to think about it because it’s bad. It’s bad history. I want to think about good things and stuff like that but it always feels good to go into anybody’s stadium and get a win because it’s one of the toughest things to do in the league.”
Darren Rizzi – September 15, 2016
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Thursday, September 15, 2016
Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(On the thought process of having WR Jarvis Landry handling punt returns closer to the goal line) – “It’s really going to be situational by game. I know I’ve actually been asked that question before or just after the game, and I think some people thought I was bluffing all preseason when I said that Jarvis Landry was going to be part of our return game. He is. The bottom line is he’s one of the best returners in the NFL. He has proven that over the last couple of years. We have him on the team in the 46 (game day available players). He can help us win football games, and that’s really just going to depend on game by game. I think this week he was back for three (punts). Some weeks it could be three. Some weeks it could five. Some weeks it could be one. I think it really depends on how the game plays out, where the ball is on the field, the situation – all those different things. Again, you guys know me pretty well, and I’ve said for years, I like to have as many options as we can. Jarvis (Landry) is one of those options. Fortunately for us, now we have a few: Jarvis (Landry), Jakeem (Grant), Kenyan (Drake), Kenny (Stills). Those guys are back there and, they’re all options. Damien Williams. It’s good to have guys that you can rely on to go back there and be a part of it. (With) Jarvis (Landry), again – I think we did the calculations in the offseason – I think if it wasn’t for one return that was called back, he would have led the NFL in punt returns last year. I think people lose sight of that. I always compare him to a guy like Antonio Brown, who’s a punt returner for the Steelers. I don’t know if he’s always back there every single one, but again to have those … I mentioned last week we have a package in where you can put both guys back there at the same time as well. So all of those different options we have. I think the more that we can do, the more we can give our opponent to work on, the better. We’ll be moving forward.”
(On how he thought WR Jakeem Grant did in such a tough environment last week) – “I thought he did great. I thought he really did well. I heard a couple of people say, ‘Wow, he got hit hard a couple of times.’ As a coach, I say, ‘Well, he held onto the football.’ You’re going to get hit hard in the NFL. There’s a lot of big people running around at high speeds. He’s a guy that – again, I’ve said this a bunch of times – he’s working at this thing. He’s still a work in progress, but I think everybody kind of saw what he did. His numbers are a little bit skewed, because two of his returns got called back for penalties, so he had a productive day. He fielded the ball well. Again, (it was) no different than he was out there yesterday after practice, fielding another extra 30 or 40 of them. This guy is really working at it, and there’s a lot to be said for that. It’s a guy that really wants to be out there. Again, I think what you saw him do on that kickoff return, there was one guy that was kind of free, and he made him miss (and) bounced to the outside. He has got that speed. He has got that elusiveness that will cause problems for other people, for sure. I’m really happy with his progress right now, and we got to continue to take care of the football. That’s (the) No. 1 priority.”
(On CBS analyst Dan Fouts attributing the missed field goal to G/T Laremy Tunsil not lining up correctly) – “I did not hear that Dan Fouts blamed Laremy Tunsil. Let me just say this: the field goal was probably in multiple spots off. Our protection needs to be better there. The ball came out a little bit low. I think if you ask Andrew (Franks), he would tell you same the thing. The unique thing about the first week in the NFL – and this happens and we made this a big emphasis going in – is in the special teams area, you see a lot of – I don’t know what you want to call it – strange plays or blocks or whatever it is in the first couple of weeks of the season. There was, I don’t know if you guys were aware of this, there were 17 missed field goals and PATs in Week 1 of the season. Seventeen. I think four of those were blocked. Two in our game. One by us. One by them. But that’s one per game. The reason for that is because it’s very hard in the preseason to simulate what you’re going to get in live action. A lot of people don’t show what they’re going to show in the preseason games. It’s not a play that you want to practice live – no one does – for player safety. Because of that, you see a lot of blocks and missed opportunities early in the season. I think – again, you guys can go back and do the research on this – but I think six games came down to either a field goal to win the game or a field goal that could have won the game. Ours was one of them. I think three or four guys lined up for game winners and missed them. And there are other field goals that got missed in other games. I’m not going to have you sit here and list every single one. So, every one of those things is important. My point is it’s an emphasis we place strongly every week in the protection, in our film study, in our game planning, and we got to get better upfront. With that said, that ball … If you look at Andrew’s (Franks) other two kicks, they came out with much better elevation. He knows that, and we got to get that cleaned up on both sides – the protection part and the kick part, for sure.”
(On how important it is for a player on punt returns to be able to make that first guy miss) – “You know what it is? It’s a lot of fun for the guys blocking for him. You can never get a hat on every single guy on the field. That’s just the way it is. You can block as many as you can, and it’s great to know that if I’m busting my tail down the field – and I’m running 40 yards and blocking somebody – I know that guy with the ball in his hand can make people miss and make the guys that you can’t get a hat on, make those guys miss in the open field. It’s a great thing. We’ve had some great returners here in the past. That’s really always the first thing that I look at is, ‘Can we make the first guy miss and then have the blocking scheme do the rest?’ And that’s a huge thing. Jarvis (Landry) has done that in past. We’ve got other guys here in the past (that have) been able to do that. The thing about Jakeem (Grant) that’s really impressive is a lot of times you see smaller guys that are quick, but not fast. I think Jakeem (Grant) – if I’m not mistaken ran – a 10.3 (second) 100 meters in high school. He’s got both the elusiveness and the home run speed, if you will. He really could be the whole package. Again, he’s a work in progress. We got to get him better with decisions with the ball and things like that. For a little guy, those things are impressive for sure.”
Vance Joseph – September 15, 2016
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Thursday, September 15, 2016
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph
(On the challenges of facing the Patriots) – “I think the real challenge is if you watch four games, you see four different teams, so you’re not sure what you’re going to get. It’s a little bit different with the younger quarterback. It’s more stable as far as the game plans. But in the past, (if) you watch four games, it’s four different game plans, it’s four different targets. It’s a huge difference in game plans. That’s the biggest fear going into a game like this.”
(On what he saw from Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 1) – “I saw a guy who played with great poise. He wasn’t rattled by the pressure. (He was) a guy that was an accurate passer, who had some mobility to escape the rush. I saw a guy playing way beyond his years. I was impressed by him.”
(On what he has to do to rattle Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo and whether he will bring more pressure or rely on the front four this week) – “Not really. Last week, he picked the pressures up and the ball is out of his hand so quick. I’m not going to go into the game saying we got to bring more pressure and those things. We’re just going to play our game and see where it lies at the end.”
(On how S Isa Abdul-Quddus’ ability to go from sideline to sideline benefits the team) – “It has been a plus to us. When we signed Isa, we saw a guy on tape with great range, who was a great tackler. Where he has improved with us is in pass coverage, in the middle thirds and halves and quarters. He has improved a lot from the spring to now. We signed him, because he was a missile in the run game, a great tackler.”
(On S Isa Abdul-Quddus’ recognition in the run game) – “(He is a) very, very smart guy. (He has a) high football IQ. He can see it quick.”
(On how LB Donald Butler can help the team this week) – “Probably not this week, but going forward … He’s a veteran linebacker that can play linebacker. We didn’t want to sign a backup linebacker for (special) teams. He’s going to play linebacker for us eventually. He has been in here two or three days. As we go along and we get him caught up on the playbook, he’s going to play and help us (and) play actual defensive snaps. We’re excited about him.”
(On where LB Donald Butler fits best in the scheme) – “He’s going to play the Will ‘backer position, so we can have more depth there. He has been a guy that has played Mike. He has played inside linebacker in 3-4, so for us, he can play Mike or Will for us.”
(On how he is using the skill sets of S Michael Thomas and CB Bobby McCain) – “Michael played in our big sub package – more first, second down, run-pass package – in the nickel spot, because that spot it’s more run game on first, second down. He’s a better fit, obviously, in the run game, being a safety. Bobby played in our nickel package where it was all third downs, and it was pass or 2-minute. It’s a different package, and it’s a different skill set.”
(On CB Bobby McCain’s confidence) – “I think his confidence is fine. When the ball is inside of the 5-yard line, and he has got time on the clock and he has one or two timeouts, I’m stopping the run game. I’m hoping they throw the ball. Bobby is fine. That’s a tough play to make, but he’s fine.”
(On what gives him confidence at the defensive tackle position) – “Losing Earl (Mitchell), that hurts us. That’s a starting-type player for us. But Jordan (Phillips) is playing really well. (Julius) Warmsley, he’s going to get better as we go along. Chris Jones is back. He had a really good camp, so I’m confident in Chris’ ability. And having (Terrence) Fede back this week is going to help.”
(On how DE Jason Jones’ role would be affected without DE Mario Williams) – “On base downs, his role won’t change much, Jason’s. On third sub downs, we may have to adjust to not having Mario. We’ll see.”
(On the little difference between strong and free safety) – “Most teams are playing shell defense – which is cover 2, cover 4 – so you want both guys to have great range. You want both guys to be open-field tacklers. When you play single high, you don’t want to have to say, ‘You’re always down.’ That’s a dead giveaway. If you’re Seattle, Kam (Chancellor) is always down. That’s what they do. That’s the way the thing is built. Earl (Thomas) is always the middle safety. For our scheme, we want two guys who have the same skill sets, so we can hide who’s down or hide who’s back.”
(On whether the team wants to play DE Cam Wake when the game is on the line) – “Absolutely. Last week, it was a little different, losing Mario (Williams). He (Wake) played more snaps than he should’ve played, probably, and towards the end, he was a little gassed. It kind of went against our game plan last week losing Mario. But absolutely, if it’s a critical play in the game, Cam is going to be out there. It’s not like Cam is going to be a backup player. Cam is a specialty player. If the game is on the line, Cam is going to be on the field.”
(On whether he wants DE Cam Wake to play fewer than 29 snaps) – “No, not fewer than that. He played more base snaps than we wanted (him) to. It was run game stuff, at the end of the game. He played more snaps in the third quarter on base downs, and towards the end he was a little gassed. He played most of his snaps in that small segment and towards the end, he wasn’t able to give us what we wanted, because Mario (Williams) got hurt about the middle of the third quarter, so he took over for Mario. Towards the end, he was gassed.”
(On the overall defensive effort in Week 1) – “(The) effort was great. Not finishing the game is disappointing for us, but the effort was great. We had a good plan. Guys tackled well. Not finishing is disappointing.”
(On if fatigue was part of not finishing well) – “I wouldn’t say that. We’re in shape. We played about 80, 81 snaps that were grade-able. But if you make one play, in both 2-minutes – before the half and at the end of the game – you win the ball game. For us, (we are) happy with the effort, but disappointed in how we finished both halves.”
(On what he could have done differently on the final series versus Seattle) – “Probably brought more pressure. I was thinking, ‘Bring more pressure,’ but you’re up (and) a field goal won’t beat you, so you’re thinking, ‘Hold on. Make them drive the length of the field and not bring a pressure where someone becomes vulnerable and you lose the game in one play.’ That was my mindset. But (I would) probably bring more pressure from my perspective as a play caller.”
Clyde Christensen – September 15, 2016
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Thursday, September 15, 2016
Offensive Coordinator Clyde Christensen
(On why he didn’t go with a quarterback sneak on the fourth-and-1 play in Seattle and how much time he spends with Head Coach Adam Gase on fourth-and-1 play possibilities) – “(Gase) has been the same with the team ever since the beginning. He was going to be aggressive and every chance he had to go for it, he was going for it. We treat it like any other situation. We have a game plan for it. (As for the reason we ran the play we did) over the sneak, sometimes we would sneak it and sometimes we wouldn’t there. We just didn’t get it blocked. We needed to secure the edges a little bit and we didn’t. That would probably be the only thing we change – that they come hard off those edges. Good defense. We’ve got to make it.”
(On why it is so tough to win at New England) – “I think it’s a lot of things. We were laughing today, this is the first time I’ve gone up there in September. The sun checks out on November 1st and never comes back. I’ve been up (there) in December and January mostly, so I’m looking forward to hopefully (seeing) the sun out there. A) They are a good football team. B) It’s hard to win any game on the road, and they’re really good. All of a sudden you go up there and a lot of times it’s the elements. They’re just a good team. They’re hard to beat. It’s hard to beat any team on the road and especially one of the upper-echelon teams. I haven’t felt there has been anything mystical or anything. If you go up there and you take care of business, you have a chance and the ball moves. If you don’t, it doesn’t. Nothing special.”
(On Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph commenting that you play the Patriots four times and you see four different teams and if they’re the same way on offense) – “(It’s the) same thing (on offense). They’re a game-plan defense. They’re going to game plan you. If their game plan is to play Cover 2, they’ll play it, and it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, and they’re going to go with it. They do a great job that way that you go into the game and you better have a good system, because you don’t know exactly what you’re going to get. They have some themes. They like to cover you man. They like to do those things. They like to get those ‘backers on your backs, but where they come from and which of those two big ‘backers are coming, you don’t know. You have to play ball and the system has to take care of some things and you have to be able to adjust, which I think is their game plan. You’re not 100 percent sure you’re preparing for what they’re going to do, because you don’t know what they’re going to do. You just prepare to play football – play a good football team – and now you have to adjust on the sideline and your system has to take care of some of those things.”
(On the team being 30th in the NFL in yards and 29th in points and how to improve that) – “You play better. You catch the ball. You convert some third downs. We were horrendous on third down and all of a sudden that game gets shorter. It was a good one-score game for most of the game, so you play a little bit close to the vest. We all know how hard it is to go in there and play (at Seattle). They’re a darn good defense and a darn hard place to play. I think all of those things … I don’t know if the statistics mean a whole bunch after Week 1. I wish we had won the game. If we had won the game, we’d still be 30th in offense, but we would have had a win under our belt also. I don’t put a ton of weight on statistics at this point, but the bottom line is we didn’t play well enough to win offensively. We didn’t convert third downs. We didn’t get our defense off the field. We can’t wait to go on a drive with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter and not get it done before then. We had our opportunities, and we just didn’t take advantage of them.”
(On what the issues were on third down) – “One: they are a good team. Two: First and second down wasn’t good enough to keep the third down shorter. And a couple we just screwed up. A couple we just messed up and didn’t make a catch (or) didn’t make a throw. And then some of it is a credit to them that they’re a darn good third-down defense.”
(On what he thought about C/G Anthony Steen in his first NFL action) – “I thought Anthony Steen was really, really impressive. I would say that the best compliment I could tell you about him was that I didn’t notice him. I didn’t think of him as any factor in the game and then all of a sudden you watch the game and you go, ‘Gosh, the kid played really, really well.’ But during the game, the best compliment was that (he) was never a factor. There was a lot of ID. That was a lot of pressure on him. That was about as hard of a first start as you could have (with) good players, hard place, new offense – all those things – not getting all of the first-team starters snaps in the offseason, etc. And the kid played extremely well. He was really a bright spot for the day.”
(On what WR Leonte Carroo did last week to give him confidence and how he did at Seattle in place of injured WR DeVante Parker) – “To answer the first question, he (Leonte Carroo) kind of got in there by default. We didn’t have much choice. You’re only going to dress four, and he was our guy. Jakeem (Grant) is really a specialist right now. He’s learning, and he wasn’t really an option offensively, yet. I think he will be down the road. We felt like (Carroo) had gotten the most deposits in throughout the camp, so we stuck him in there. The second part of the question is he played really well. It was not too big for him. He makes a big catch on the drive that we did score. He physically mixed it up with a physical team. They take pride in having energy and hitting and all 11 guys hitting, and (Carroo) mixed it up in there with some awful good players. It may have worked to his advantage that he didn’t know how good they were. He just went in, and it was another football game to him. He was another guy that was extremely impressive. He didn’t do everything right, but he did play hard and the game was not too big for him.”
(On if he feels the offense is maximizing yardage in the run game and if not, what they can do to improve that) – “It’s the same thing. To make a big statement after one game is hard to do. But it’s the same thing – we had our chances. We had our chances a couple of times. They had that extra guy in the box. The biggest thing we can do for our run game is to throw the ball a little bit better too and complete some of those early. (That would) give us a chance to call some of those runs against less men in the box. That would be the best thing that we could do for them. Everyone kind of took a turn, but we were okay. The first half we ran the ball pretty darn well. I think it was just a combination of things. I don’t think anything jumped out as being the one factor that hurt us running the football. I thought the first half we ran the ball efficiently at times, and the best thing we could have done was to be a little more efficient in the passing game and help the running game. The passing game is where we really broke down. We didn’t throw the ball efficiently like we set out to do, and that puts a ton of pressure on our run game, especially with that bunch. That’s a hard bunch to block. We all know that they play the run; they stack the box. If you can’t complete some balls, it’s a long day running the football. I thought they did a decent job in the run game.”
(On if it is important to throw the football at times to open up the running game) – “Sure. I think we would all be unanimous on that. Absolutely. I think the drive that you saw that the ball did move, we hit a couple of play-action passes and then all of a sudden the ball … This league is hard to go 3 yards and a cloud of dust. It’s hard to do it for 15-straight snaps, especially there against those guys. You need a couple of 20-yard plays, and all of a sudden there we threw two play-action passes and the ball moved 40 yards. Then all of a sudden you get a little momentum, and maybe you get them on their heels a little bit and that opens up some other things also. So, sure, absolutely. We’ve all seen teams where you struggle throwing the football and then all of a sudden that’s hard sledding. Now you’re in third-and-longs all the time, and you’re having to bang up in against extra men in the box, so no. We’ll be more efficient throwing the ball. We have to be more efficient throwing the ball.”
(On how going to Seattle without RB Jay Ajayi changed things for him) – “It really wasn’t much of a factor. It probably sounds like coach talk, but whoever’s up there we’re going to coach them up and play. That’s kind of that next man up mentality. Whatever happened, happened, and he wasn’t there. We didn’t worry about who wasn’t there. We worried about who was there. We took plenty enough guys to win that football game, and we didn’t get it done.”
(On if RB Jay Ajayi is fully involved this week) – “Yes. Yes, he is. He practiced well yesterday. We’ll get some guys back, hopefully. We’ve got a couple of guys still on the bubble, and hopefully we catch a break with some of them and get back towards full strength. Again, we just have to have a mentality that whoever gets off the plane up there and puts on a uniform has to go win a game.”
(On if RB Arian Foster’s play count was where he wanted) – “I wish we had more snaps, and we could have counted his plays a little closer. We didn’t have enough offensive snaps and get our defense off the field, so he did play quite a few (of our offensive) snaps. He didn’t want to come out. The biggest thing was sometimes these guys are warriors, and he certainly is one, and he did not want to come out. (There were) even a couple times where we tried to rest him a little bit, and he just felt like he was in the flow and wanted to be in there and wanted to be playing. That was the biggest factor – that he didn’t want to come out. We gave him a little rest yesterday, which will be probably throughout the year that we’ll have to take good care of him. He’s a veteran guy. He doesn’t need 50 snaps every single practice. We just have to keep him fine-tuned. The biggest thing is to keep him healthy and fresh.”
(On if RB Jay Ajayi is his next guy up after RB Arian Foster not practicing yesterday) – “He was not. Those guys will compete. (Isaiah) Pead got some snaps yesterday, so they all kind of got some snaps yesterday. I don’t know what it will shake out at the end of this week. A lot of it will depend on health and some of it will depend on performance.”
(On how much of an emphasis has been placed on playing better complementary football this week) – “A ton. I think that (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase … We felt like the defense really played well. We have to get that thing started (on offense) before the fourth quarter. Absolutely. There was a huge amount of emphasis. When you’re as dismal as we were on third down, that’s stress on everybody. That’s stress on your run game; that’s stress on everybody. That’s stress on the defense. That’s stress on the kicking game; that’s stress on everybody. We always want to get our job done efficiently.”
Ryan Tannehill – September 14, 2016 (Conference Call)
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Wednesday, September 14, 2016
QB Ryan Tannehill Conference Call with New England Media
(On how the process has been working with Head Coach Adam Gase) – “It’s been great. Ever since he came in the spring, I think it’s been a learning experience, just getting to know him personally, getting to know the offense and just how each other works. Every day we learn something about each other, and we learn something about the offense and we’re just constantly building on that. Moving forward, (we’re just trying to) open lines of communication and trying to be clear with what we see (and) what we’re thinking. That way, we can be on the same page come game day.”
(On coaching staff continuity and how much of a challenge that has been for him when it comes to his overall development) – “Well, it’s always tough. Anytime there’s a shakeup, there’s change. There’s a learning curve and an adaptation periods. Obviously you’d love to play for the same guy for your whole career but that’s the cards we were dealt and the situation we’re in. We’re just trying to make the best of it and hopefully we can build this relationship and both be here for a long time.”
(On if there are any commonalities in the games when the team plays in Foxborough) – “Yes. I think it just comes down to taking care of the football and playing for a full 60 minutes. I think we’ve had a couple of games up there where we’ve played a good first half and been in the lead and then come out in the second half and not execute, turn the ball over and given up points. I think it just comes down to executing for a full 60 minutes. You’re going to get a well-coached team, a disciplined team up there. They’re not going to make too many mistakes and give you points. So you have to take care of the football and not give them any cheap ones and make the plays that are there and play for a full 60 minutes.”
(On some of his initial thoughts on the Patriots defense) – “They’re pretty consistent; year in and year out it just seems like they are consistent. (They are) primarily a man coverage team. They’re going to play their man and be good at it. They’re going to try to mix up their pressures up front with the ‘backers. They have two really stout linebackers that create mismatch problems for a lot of teams and protection. You get those guys on a back and it’s tough for backs to hold up against them. They’re just so big, physical and talented. They do a good job of creating those mismatches and forcing the quarterback to get the ball out. It makes it tough to get open guys down the field. They’re always going to do that and there’s always something that they haven’t shown on tape that they’re going to try to take away from you. Whatever they think you do best, they’re going to try to take it away and really shake you up with certain looks and catch you off guard with certain looks when they drop out or play maybe a coverage that they don’t play a whole lot of. You game plan for a certain coverage, you call plays for a certain coverage, then they come out and play something else. You just always have to be on your toes as a quarterback (and) as an offense (and) be able to adapt to what’s going on in the game and just take care of the football.”
(On working with former NFL QB Jeff Christensen and if he has crossed paths with Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo) – “No. I haven’t met Jimmy (Garoppolo). Not yet anyways. I just starting working with Jeff (Christensen) this offseason. So I spent the offseason kind of working with him and his style of coaching, his style of footwork and throwing the football. I had a great time working with him and learning from him. I know Jimmy (Garoppolo) has been working with him for a while now. But no, I haven’t had the opportunity to meet (Garappolo) yet.”
(On former NFL QB Jeff Christensen following the same elements of Tom Brady’s game and if he’s picked up on that or if he has talked about it with him and if has tried to incorporate any of that in his own game) – “I think one of the things Jeff (Christensen) teaches is a quick release (and) getting the ball out fast. And that’s one of Tom’s (Brady) greatest attributes – he does a good job of always being ready to throw and then when he does decide to throw it, he gets it out fast and accurately. I think that’s one reason that he’s been able to play so long at such a high level is he gets the ball out fast and obviously he’s put it in the right spot, as well. (There are) definitely things you can learn from that.”
(On his thoughts on what has happened to QB Tom Brady off the field) – “It’s a tough situation; but, honestly, I’m just focused on what we’re doing here and trying to find a way to beat the Patriots.”
Adam Gase – September 14, 2016
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Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Head Coach Adam Gase
(On how much work did WR DeVante Parker do today at practice) – “A good amount. We got him out there quite a bit in team periods. Individual, he went through that whole thing. For every two reps somebody takes he might take one. We’re trying to just make sure we’re good. We’re going to have a progression through this week to make sure everything’s going to be alright. The biggest thing for us is to just make sure if he feels anything, we know as soon as it happens. We really don’t want to mess around with having any setbacks. We’re constantly communicating with him as far as how he feels.”
(On what WR DeVante Parker brings to the offense) – “Obviously he’s a three-level guy. Like I said earlier, I think after the Dallas game, he kind of surprised me as far as you throw a slip screen to him, and he really went through there and didn’t seem like he minded contact. He was aggressive underneath and then seeing him at that intermediate level, and then down the field, obviously he’s a threat. When you got a guy like that, that can really cover the whole field, it just adds another dimension and another guy that you have to account for. Obviously, we’d love it if we could get all those guys up there together just to see how it looks.”
(On the DT Earl Mitchell roster move) – “Any time that you have a veteran player like Earl (Mitchell), where you lose him at this point, so early in the season, I’m more frustrated for him than anybody because you worked really hard to get back and for that to happen right out the gate. We’ll see how this whole thing plays out. I’m just frustrated for him. Just seeing the amount of time he put in there, I felt for him.”
(On RB Arian Foster not being out at practice today) – “Yes. It’s probably going to be a weekly thing with him. (We’re) going to be smart as far as how we handle him from, as far as a practice standpoint, going full pads. I don’t think he really is a guy that needs contact more than what he’s going to get on Sunday. There’ll be certain things that we want to make sure that we cover between a Thursday, Friday (and) Saturday standpoint. A lot of the stuff that we do on Wednesdays, since we’re in full pads, it’s a lot of running the football. He knows our scheme well enough. If there’s something that we needed to practice with him on a Thursday or Friday, we can get that in.”
(On not seeing LB Jelani Jenkins at practice today) – “There are a couple of guys that are still a little sore from the game and a couple of guys that, right at the end, got banged up a little bit. We just have to be smart. When guys can go, they’re going. If it’s to the point where it can affect them for the entire week, or we can have some kind of setback from their recovery that we’ve had on Monday and Tuesday … Plus, I’m sure the (long) trip (to Seattle) didn’t help us as far as speeding up the recovery factor, getting on the plane and getting back here so late in a limited time. So we’re just trying to make sure. The biggest thing for us is getting him back by Sunday.”
(On facing LB Donald Butler quite a bit in during his time Denver and what can he bring to the defense) – “Well, he was always a guy that seemed to be reliable for them and was in the right spot a lot of the times. I know that he was a problem for us, especially the times that we faced them really early in his career. He would fly around and make a lot of plays against us. It was interesting just to have him in the building, just having a guy that’s been around for a minute. That’s always comforting as a coach. You always love experience coming into the building that’s played in a lot of games, been in playoff-type atmospheres and been in a division that was very competitive. For him to come here and have an opportunity to help us out, that was very intriguing for us.”
(On if it was encouraging to have DE Mario Williams outside) – “Yes. It’s the concussion protocol as far as he’s going through those steps. As coaches, it’s just one of those things where we back away. There’s a process in place that the NFL has and we just follow those. If he makes it to the game, that means he’s been cleared through all those processes. If it takes longer than that, then that’s what it is.”
(On if he held his breath when he saw the hit QB Ryan Tannehill took from Seattle S Earl Thomas) – “A little bit. When you see how he got hit … He’ll tell you if he felt something pretty violent; but sometimes it looks worse than what it is. He didn’t seem to be bothered by it. I know there was one shot he got where he took under the chin. That was probably one that he felt a little more than that one.”
(On was he pleased with the number of hits the Seahawks had on QB Ryan Tannehill) – “Yes, we got caught on a couple of things as far as we had some actual schematic break-downs. That’s the part we need to clean up more than anything, to where we either misidentified somebody or we didn’t get to the right guy. Those are the things where, if we clean those up, I can live with the fact that if we get beat because that was a good defense we were playing, they had very good defensive linemen, they had a very good scheme as far as how their ‘backers blitz and how they play off of each other. I can live with that. But when we just flat out bust, that’s when it becomes concerning as far as a coach, because you’re going, ‘This is what we’ve been doing sense basically OTAs. We should at least be able to get to the right guy.’ We had a few of those that we busted on and we’ve got to clean that stuff up. The more that happens, the more he’s going to get hit. If we can clean those up, he will get hit less.”
(On the offensive issues on third down) – “I think a lot of it has to do with it being one of those games where it seemed like I was one-off on some of those calls. (Seattle Defensive Coordinator) Kris (Richard) did a great job as far as mixing up some of his calls and coming up with some new blitz schemes that caught us a couple of times. We had a couple of busts and at the same time, it was just a flat out bad call. As a guy calling the plays, I’ve got to do a better job of putting our guys in position to where he at least has an opportunity to get the ball to an open receiver. There were a couple of times where he just didn’t have time and he tried to put it out there and give our guys a chance to catch the ball. It seemed like, if it wasn’t the play call, then we would have a bust and we didn’t quite get the ball off on time or in the right location; or somebody didn’t run the right route or we didn’t have a sense of urgency on something. We were all taking turns on that one. The hardest thing to go against those guys is that you have to be perfect, as far as the details in every little thing that you do. If you’re not, you’re going to get burned by it because they are going to take advantage of it.”
(On if there are things QB Ryan Tannehill can see that a coach doesn’t see during the course of a game) – “Absolutely. When you’re out there and you can feel how everybody’s moving around, and you have a situation like we did in that game where things weren’t going real smooth for us, and he is telling me to get to something and I’m trying to think through some things. I was probably a couple of series off as far as what we ended up going to on that last drive. That was comforting for me because, I’m like, ‘Next time he says something, I’m going with it.’ Because, he had a good feel for what was going on and he was telling me the right information. I just have to go with it. That’s kind of that relationship you develop as you play games. It’s trying to get used to everybody as a play caller and they’re trying to get used to how I do it. It takes a second sometimes. Obviously with that happening in the first game, that was good for me because I know the next time he suggests something, there’s not going to be a hesitation. We are just going to go do it.”
(On what QB Ryan Tannehill suggested during the game) – “Just basically what we ended up going to that last series. He said it two series before that. I did a poor job as far as just listening to what he was saying and going to it.”
(On how much responsibility goes to T Branden Albert and T Ja’Wuan James with C Mike Pouncey out) – “I think all of those guys have done a good job as far as trying to step up as far as what’s going on. (With) communication, (Anthony) Steen has done a great job with that aspect of it. But those guys, keeping that huddle together and keep pushing forward. That d-line, that was … You talk about out of the gate playing a good d-line, that was it right there. For those guys to keep plugging away at that thing, you saw the excitement when we did get a chance, when we did go ahead late in the game. Those guys were fired up, because they knew they were a part of that. They helped change the momentum of the game by putting a drive together there. Those guys – especially those two guys at tackle – they’ve been around here for a little bit and they’re trying to make those (other) guys (Jermon Bushrod and Laremy Tunsil) feel at home, because they’re playing new positions – right guard and left guard. They’ve never done that before, and they’re keeping that confidence going of, ‘We’re going to get into this thing. We’re going to figure out a way to make sure we’re in this thing at the end.’”
(On whether it was an easy decision to call DT Chris Jones and sign him) – “I think so. For us, that was a tough one to begin with as far as letting him go in the first place. He was a guy that constantly does right. You never hear any of the coaches ever say, ‘He had this many mental errors,’ or, ‘He didn’t know what to do here. He wasn’t hustling.’ You never have to worry about anything. The thing was, (Julius) Warmsley, it was obvious to everybody, he played really well in the preseason. He legitimately earned his spot. Being able to bring Chris back, it worked out for us. The biggest thing for us is we lose Earl (Mitchell). But Chris is a guy that I think a lot of us have faith in, and we feel good about him coming back here and being able to contribute.”
(On whether QB Brandon Doughty is a practice squad candidate) – “We’ll see how it goes. Obviously, with the whole (waiver wire system), who knows what happens after that comes out on the waiver wire and stuff like that. It’s a wait-and-see deal right now.”
(On whether the defense will scout Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo or their offensive tendencies) – “I think you try to do the best you can as far as the information you have. The thing that makes it tough playing this team is (Patriots Offensive Coordinator) Josh (McDaniels). He’ll do a great job. He’ll figure out a way that’s best for them this week. He’s not going to do something that either the quarterback or somebody else can’t do. That’s what makes them so tough to go against, no matter who is playing on Sunday. They’re going to adjust to their personnel and figure out what’s best for that team and for that opponent they’re playing.”
(On how different the Patriots offense is without TE Rob Gronkowski) – “It’s hard, because it takes a different shape. They’ve figured out when they have him, there are certain things they really focus on doing and when they don’t, then they go to something else. To me, they don’t look at it like, ‘This is one guy, and we have to focus everything on this.’ They try to make it tough on you, because they’ll say, ‘You’re trying to take ‘Gronk’ (Rob Gronkowski) away, so we’re going to do this.’ When he’s not there, now they can play around with some other things. That’s what makes playing these guys as tough as it is. You never know how they’re going to approach you in the game. They’re very good at adjusting in game, too. That’s another thing: you think you’ve taken something away, and they figure out a way to free that guy up. That’s the biggest challenge we have is, once we get into this game, we have to be ready to adjust with them. They start making moves, we have to make moves. It’s a constant 60-minute cat-and-mouse game.”
(On how he explains New England’s successful run that nobody has been able to duplicate) – “I think they do a great job as far as every guy they seem to bring in, they maximize what that guy has. They adjust to who’s on their roster. There’s not really a, ‘Here’s our scheme and you guys, if you don’t fit in, we’re going to get rid of you.’ They figure out … They get their guys in the building. They make their roster adjustments, and they do what’s best for them for that week. When you have a team that is that chameleon, where you’re not really sure what you’re going to get, it makes it tough. I’ve been in a few games against these guys where all of a sudden, you show up and a completely different front or coverage (happens), and something pops in there and you didn’t expect it. You have to be on your toes and ready to go. (It’s the) same thing on their offensive side. We played them in 2011 and all of a sudden, they have a tight end back there running outside zone. I remember we didn’t do that in scout team. (Laughter) It’s one of those things where when you get to the game, you better be on your toes, because they’re going to find a weakness. They’re going to expose it, and they’re going to go after it if you don’t crack it.”
(On where Gillette Stadium ranks in terms of being a tough place to play after playing at Seattle last week) – “It’s pretty close. They’re both tough places to play. When you go up (to New England), you bring your A game. Both of those teams, I don’t think there’s a lot of losses in Seattle in the past six years, and in New England the last 15 or 16 years, or whatever it’s been. You just have to go in there and the one way you can put yourself in a good position is you have to execute what your game plan is. You can’t get caught up in what’s going on outside of the field. You have to focus on the details of what your job is and you have to push through. When there are rough spots, you can’t worry about what happened. You have to keep pushing forward.”
(On if his experiences working with Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban help him face a Bill Belichick team) – “I’m not sure. When I was with Nick, I was so young. When he was with Coach Belichick, that was like in ’94. So I was with (Saban) in 2000. I’m sure Coach Saban evolved from his time with Coach Belichick and I don’t know how much that really would help me. I just know for us, we’ll put our game plan together and we’ve got to go up there and execute the best we can.”
(On if his time with New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Josh McDaniels will help him this week) – “It’s hard. I wish I could go in there and say, ‘Hey, this is what he’s going to do,’ but Josh, that’s what he does. He evolves. One time you look up and there’s three or four wide receivers on the field. One time you look up and there’s a fullback and two tight ends. He’s going to find out what the weakness is. What can he do to you and what can he take advantage of? That’s what he has done so well over his career and that’s why, as a young guy, he elevated, because he could figure out the matchups and expose them.”
(On DE Mario Williams’ status being a mystery and what that puts on the rest of the defensive ends and the depth for this week’s game) – “Obviously, him playing (would be) nice. You hope for the best but at the same time, that’s what this league is. If you get shorthanded in one area because you lose a couple guys to injuries, you’ve got to make adjustments and you have to have some plans put in place to where if something else happens in the game, you better be able to go forward because I know nobody is going to stop the game and be like, ‘Well, you guys are short on people.’ You’ve got to have something figured out and you better have a plan. That’s what our guys have to do. They’ve got to make sure that if something comes up, we’ve got to have a plan for it.”
(On what he would like to see RB Jay Ajayi do) – “Just what he is doing right now. Just what I’m seeing since we’ve been back. He’s been engaged in meetings. The thing about him that I know is really good is that he knows exactly what to do. He came out here today and he practiced hard. He’s trying to get the little details of things right. That’s all we’re asking from our players. Let’s come out here and let’s work and let’s find a way to get better for this day.”
Ryan Tannehill – September 14, 2016
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Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(On how important this game is) – “Division games are huge. You always want to start out strong and really play strong the whole year against your division so (it’s) a big game for us, on the road, against a tough team. It will be fun.”
(On what the team needs to do to get a win in Gillette Stadium) – “You have to play well for 60 minutes. I think that’s the biggest key for us and probably the part where we’ve failed in the past. We’ve had good halves there but just haven’t put a full game together up there. I think that’s the biggest key for us – playing strong for 60 minutes straight.”
(On the different challenge of playing New England’s defense opposed to Seattle’s) – “I think that’s what you get when you face New England, you really never know. They like to play their man coverage but they’re always going to throw something at you that they haven’t shown much of on tape and try to make you stumble a little bit – whether it’s in protection, a stunt up front, a blitz or a coverage that they haven’t shown. You never really know until the game gets going and it could be a couple of different things throughout the game. That’s one thing they do a good job of and we just have to stay on our toes and be ready and make the adjustment when it happens.”
(On how he feels when Head Coach Adam Gase says that Gase should listen to him more during a game) – “That’s the NFL. That’s football. You’re trying to make adjustments throughout the game. He sees things; I see things. We just have to be open with each other and communicate and get to those things that hopefully can work. He saw some things that worked as well, so it wasn’t like he was swinging and missing up there. He had a lot of good thoughts and good things that we went to, as well.”
(On if it makes him feel good that Head Coach Adam Gase said that Gase should listen to him more in a game) – “Of course it is nice. I didn’t know that he said that, but it’s nice. The more that we can communicate and be on the same page – not just myself but the other guys that are out there, (we can) communicate what we are seeing and what we are facing from the defense – we can make the adjustments on the sideline and get the ball in the right spot.”
(On what he was pushing for when he was talking to Head Coach Adam Gase during the game about that go-ahead drive in Seattle) – “Just concepts and things that I thought would be good, and they ended up working out.”
(On how much of a challenge it is to learn how to win games at the end consistently) – “It takes everyone. I think that (it’s about) finding a way to make plays when it counts. We saw some good things last week. I think the offense really hurt the defense in the fact that we couldn’t get them off the field enough throughout the game so (the defense) was tired at the end. That’s on the offense. (We have to) increase our play count, decrease their play count and keep our defense fresh so that way if we do get a situation where the defense is on the field at the end of the game, they’re fresh and they can get their pass rush and have the energy they need to stop the offense.”
(On if they can expect him to run more this year) – “I don’t know. I think it’s a week-by-week thing for us. If it can help us, I’m more than willing to do it and we’ll have it in the game plan. I can’t say that it will be every week but we’ll definitely evaluate it week by week if we think it can help us.”
(On the reaction to Head Coach Adam Gase saying that the team is going for it on fourth downs and to get used to it) – “It’s great. He’s had that mindset since he came here. He’s said, ‘Hey, early in games especially, if we’re inside the 50 and it’s fourth-and-short, we’re probably going to go for it.’ Just that mindset that we’re going to have another shot and four downs to make 10 yards is huge for a quarterback, knowing we can check it down and have another shot at it. Or if we run it on third-and-short and don’t get it, we’re going to have another shot, whether it’s a run or a pass. As an offense, we just have to come through. When we get into those situations, when it is fourth-and-1, when it is fourth-and-2, when it is fourth-and-3, and he gives us another opportunity to go out and have a shot at it, we just have to come through and make that play.”
(On how much of a building block that go-ahead score in Seattle was) – “It was big. We didn’t have much going all day; we had a lot of tough drives. But it came down to it at the end of the game, we needed a score. As an offense, we came together and marched the ball down the field and got it into the end zone. I saw a lot of things from guys that … You know, Kenny Stills and the receivers on the screen to Damien (Williams), they ran off full speed just like it was a pass. Kenny ended up taking two guys – the corner ended up chasing him from Damien’s side of the field across to get (Stills). That opened up the space for Damien to make that big play. Just the details like that – at a key situation in the game when (Stills) had no chance to get the ball and is not going to get much credit for it; but he’s a guy who really made that play go. That’s just one example of guys fighting for ways to make us go and get in the end zone. It was encouraging to see that happen at the end of the game when we really needed it.”
(On if playing complementary football between the offense and the defense is a point of emphasis this week) – “Yes. The defense played great last week. I think the offense really has to step it up. We have to stay on the field and keep ourselves in third and manageable. We got into too many third-and-long situations. We knew going in that if you get into a third-and-long against that team, your chance of converting is slim to none. That’s going to be every week. It’s tough to convert third-and-15s in the NFL. We have to keep ourselves in third and manageable and when we get into those situations, be clean in our communication, be able to get the ball off and complete the ball for a first down.”
(On what it meant to him to be elected a team captain by his teammates) – “It’s huge. I don’t overlook it; I don’t take it lightly. It’s an honor to represent these guys and the men that are in this locker room and the belief that they have in me as a leader of this team. It’s definitely an honor and now it’s a responsibility to lead this team and find ways to win.”
(On why it is challenging to put two halves together at New England) – “They’re a good team. They’re going to come out and they’re going to make second-half adjustments. I think there’s been a couple of times where we’ve been up at half and they’ve come out and made a few adjustments and we just haven’t hung in there like we should have. We haven’t made plays. We’ve turned the ball over and let them get back into the game and eventually take the lead. We have to take care of the football up there. They’re going to take care of the football. They’re not going to give you any cheap ones so as an offense, we have to take care of the football, and then make the plays when they are there. We’re going to have opportunities and we have to hit them when they count.”
