Ryan Tannehill – December 19, 2018
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Wednesday, December 19, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(So Packers Interim Head Coach Joe Philbin declined to say that QB Aaron Rodgers is going to be his starter this week. Does that mean anything to you?) – “It sounds very familiar but doesn’t mean a whole lot, no. (laughter) I can relate.”
(How are you feeling after nine sacks?) – “Not too bad. Thankfully I didn’t get dinged up or anything. I’m a little sore but not too bad.”
(Did any of those sacks affect your shoulder?) – “No.”
(When you went back and watched those sacks, how did you evaluate them?) – “You can’t put it all on one person or one group. I think it was a little bit of everyone. I could have done a couple of things differently. The line could have done a couple things differently – backs, tight ends. It was really everyone that was involved unfortunately failed at one point or another. We definitely need to come back and re-group this week and get back on track.”
(Your numbers at home are really good and the team’s as well. How would you describe the comfort level playing in the stadium here?) – “It’s good. It always feels good to play at home in front of your home crowd. We’re obviously familiar with playing there. It’s an honor to get to go out and step foot on that field every time we get to play at home. We want to put on a good show for our fans and win every game that we play at home. It’s definitely something we look forward to.”
(Is there something different about the road that makes such a drastic difference?) – “I mean it’s always different playing on the road. The snap count is different. The momentum of the game can change more rapidly, I think, on the road. But at the end of the day, it’s football. Those things can have slight affects in the game, yes; but it doesn’t change the game so to speak.”
(Can you talk a little bit about Jacksonville’s defense and why they’re so good? I know two weeks ago they shut out the Colts, which is pretty impressive. What do you see when you look at their tape?) – “They’re a talented team. I think it starts with the personnel. They have good players from their front to the linebackers and the secondary. All the way through, they’re really a solid team. (They’re) kind of a lot like we saw last week. They’ve stacked up good players at every position. They play fast. They keep things fairly simple. They play what they play and I think they do a good job of studying what teams do to attack them and really try to lock those things down. You have to give a lot of credit to the way they’re playing right now. They’ve played well pretty much all season, through the ups and the downs of their season. When you turn on the tape, you can’t tell what the score is by the way that they’re playing. They’re playing hard, they’re flying around (and) they’re excited to make plays. I have a ton of respect for this defense.”
(How have you seen RB Kalen Ballage’s growth from training camp to last weekend?) – “Kalen has been huge for us. I think just his progression throughout OTAs, throughout training camp, buying in and getting in the playbook and learning what to do, now you’re starting to see that (now that) he’s getting some opportunities in the backfield on offense. He’s taking advantage. You saw some of his talent last week. Not many guys can take that thing 75 yards untouched. He has the size to run tough and get the tough yards but then he also has the breakaway speed to be able to finish those long runs. He’s kind of a rare combo in that regard of size and speed.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said today that he was shocked that T Laremy Tunsil didn’t make the Pro Bowl. Maybe he will as an alternate or something but how would you describe his growth?) – “Yeah, Laremy has been huge. Honestly, I’m shocked too. He’s been such a good player for us this year. I’m really disappointed to not hear him announced as a Pro Bowl player. I think that he’s been every bit of that for us and the way that he’s played, both in the run and the pass game. He’s strong, he’s athletic (and) he’s everything you look for in a tackle. We have a ton of confidence in Laremy and I think he should get a little bit more respect for it.”
(We know every week in this league that you guys are always playing for a job but what makes a team, that has had a rough season like Jacksonville – you know those guys are playing for jobs – how much more does that make them?) – “Like I said, they’ve played all year. You can’t turn on the tape and see guys loafing or looking like they don’t want to be out there. They’re playing hard. They’re flying around. I think they take a lot of pride in playing good football on defense. Like I said, we have a ton of respect for them and know that they’re going to come out and play hard against us.”
(When you are under duress like you were on Sunday, do you talk to your guys and demand better or do you just sit there and take it? What is the reaction to nine sacks?) – “I think initially it’s just trying to get it corrected. You go look on the sideline, ‘Hey, what happened? Where was the miscommunication or misstep?’ If it’s a mental thing, that’s when I kind of get a little ticked off. If it’s some guy getting beat, that’s going to happen. They get paid too over there. The frustrating part was we had a few mental errors and sacks and free runners that we shouldn’t have been having free runners (on). Those are the frustrating ones that I think you look back and you’re mad about because we should have had some opportunities and we didn’t get to take a shot.”
(Are you talking about the stunts and stuff like that?) – “Yeah, stunts or secondary guys adding on. The protection has built-in answers for that and we weren’t able to get them. Like I said, it’s mixed around on every group but the mental error ones are the ones that frustrate you the most.”
(How does communication roll with the center pointing out stuff and you? Who has that responsibility and how does it shift off?) – “In our offense, the quarterback handles the Mike points as far as all of the protections and everything goes. That’s on me to make sure it’s set right and picked up either by hot (routes) or by protection.”
(Do you think because of your ankle injury, it’s one reason why they felt they could pressure you so much?) – “I don’t think so. You’d have to ask them. I don’t know. I felt all right. I got outside a couple of times. I think we started the game with a naked (bootleg). I think we showed early on that we’re going to be able to get outside and move a little bit. I wouldn’t say so but maybe they think otherwise.”
(How is the ankle?) – “It’s doing well. It’s progressing, obviously. It still doesn’t feel too good but we’re headed in the right direction.”
