Ryan Tannehill – December 26, 2018
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Wednesday, December 26, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(How would you describe the way your relationship with Head Coach Adam Gase has evolved and where is it now?) – “It’s great. I think I’ve spoken on it a few times this year. It’s just gotten stronger over the years. I feel like he came in early and let me know that he had my back. He’s been consistent with that throughout our time together, through the ups and downs of being out last year and dealing with that. Everything we’ve dealt with over the past few years. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs and he’s been great through the whole process. I feel like we’re as good as we’ve ever been.”
(What does that mean to you to have Head Coach Adam Gase in your corner? At this point, I assume you know he’s going to be in your corner.) – “It’s huge. Any time you have a coach that supports you and does everything he can to make you the best player you can be, that’s what you want. You want a guy that’s going to drive you to be the best and help you be the best football player you can be.”
(Can you talk a little about the importance to you about finishing strong this year and playing well against the Bills?) – “It’s huge. It’s a big game for us. Obviously, a division game on the road. We all know how the road has been this year for us and we’d like to finish strong. A division game in Buffalo, a chance to finish the season 8-8. It’s a big opportunity for us and we want to finish the season strong.”
(I know there’s a game left, but do you look back at a disappointing season for you, a missed opportunity? What would you classify 2018 as?) – “Any time you don’t reach your goals, it’s going to be a bit of a disappointment, obviously. We wanted to be competing for a championship and getting ready to go into the playoffs and obviously, that’s not where we’re at. It’s frustrating. It’s disappointing. A lot of emotions go into that, but we can’t stop and think about that at this point in time. We’ll have a chance to do that once we finish the season; but right now, we’re just focused on doing everything we can to get ready for Buffalo.”
(What would you say to people who have concerns about your durability because you’ve had injuries the last three years?) – “I really don’t care what people outside this building think, honestly. As long as my teammates believe in me and the guys upstairs know that I’m going to do everything I can to get my body right and be out on the field and give everything I have. I’ve played through injuries throughout my whole career. Obviously, (there were) some that I couldn’t the past couple years. I look at those things as things that are out of my control. I can’t do anything about it. Injuries happen in football unfortunately, and you have to be able to fight through some. If you can’t fight through it, then you do everything you can to get back on the field as quickly as possible.”
(You’re a team guy and you always take accountability, but Head Coach Adam Gase said something this week that stood out about you – ‘nobody helps him.’ Do you ever in a quiet moment think ‘I wish my receivers were healthier, I wish I got more effective blocking’ be it from backs or tight ends or your offensive line? It would seem like human nature to go through your mind, ‘Why don’t I get more help?’) – “No. You can’t look at the game that way. I think you have to control what you can control and do everything within your power with what’s given to you in every situation in life, and especially in football. If I always played the what-if game or ‘Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve,’ then I feel like I wouldn’t be growing as a person or as a player. I always just try to focus on myself and what can I do better. If there was an opportunity to maybe move in the pocket or throw a little bit further to the right or whatever it may be, obviously you want to try to be really critical on yourself. That way, you know you can control that.”
(There’s been a lot of conversation stirred up about the fact that Adam Gase sits on the sidelines when the defense is on the field and sort of works with you guys in terms of adjusting what you’re going to do on the next series. Can you talk about what the process is like?) – “Usually, I come over to the sideline and sit with (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) and go through the pictures. Adam gets the pictures handed to him closer to the sideline. Usually he is closer to the field so he can kind of keep an eye on what’s going on in the game and also look at the pictures. Then we’ll convene if we have anything that we need to adjust going forward. Usually he is not over there on the bench with us. A couple of times throughout the game, he’ll pop over; but usually he’s up closer to the sideline. He gets the pictures on paper and we look at the (Microsoft Surface) and just try to get on the same page moving forward.”
(How do you compartmentalize the uncertainty about what’s ahead after this week, whether Head Coach Adam Gase will be back or whether you’ll be back?) – “You can’t think about it. Like I said, you focus on what you can control. What’s the good in wondering and pondering and wasting time thinking about it? It’s out of my control right now. I’m focused on winning this one game in Buffalo and doing everything I can to prepare myself and prepare the guys around me to go out and play well and win this game. Once it’s done, then the powers that be will make those decisions and we’ll go from there. Right now, we’re just focused on doing everything we can to get ready for Buffalo.”
(Turning off that noise is part of the job description?) – “Yeah. It’s easy for me because I don’t watch much TV or do much of the social media thing or anything like that. You focus on what’s in front of you, what you can control and just block out the outside noise. At this point in my career, I’ve had a lot of practice at it so it’s not too difficult.”
(Obviously, if it were up to you, you’d want to be back next year. Is that safe to say?) – “Yes, of course. I love this organization. I love the guys on this team. I love competing with the guys on this team. I’ve been here my whole career and love South Florida. I love what South Florida brings to the table. I’d love to be here.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR DeVante Parker. Since you’ve been back, he’s been utilized sparingly and in the rotation and out of the rotation. What’s going on there in terms of the chemistry and relationship and his productivity?) – “Honestly, it’s a little disappointing that we haven’t been able to utilize him more and get more out of him. I think he’s a very talented guy. He’s had some big games. I think in Houston, I don’t remember how many yards he had, but he had a big game. You kind of see the talent he has. He’s kind of making plays sporadically throughout the season. Honestly, he’s been doing really well in practice. I feel like our chemistry is really good right now. He’s running extremely well in practice – fast, moving in and out of his cuts. I feel like he’s finally getting fully healthy again where he can comfortably run. His shoulder, I think, kind of bothered him a lot of the season. He’s a tough guy. He played through it but obviously wasn’t 100 percent. I think he’s finally starting to get over all of that and we’re seeing it on the practice field as far as him playing faster and making more plays. Hopefully, we see that on Sunday.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said the same thing in terms of the practice field. Why isn’t it translating to the game for WR DeVante Parker?) – “Well, It’s tough when you’re not getting too many reps. He’s splitting so much time right now, at least the past week – maybe two weeks – he’s kind of been splitting more time and that’s kind of been at the same time as he’s getting healthy. I think those things kind of go hand in hand. If you’re not getting the reps, it’s tough to get into a rhythm and really stand out. Hopefully we get him going this week.”
(Going back to the injury situation for just a second, is there anything that you can do, will do moving forward to try to eliminate them? Is there any change that you need to make in your offseason preparations to try to cut down the injury rate for yourself?) – “No. I don’t think it’s preparation things. You look at how it started and it was a hit to the knee. Then in 2017 it was because the knee had been hit, it was partially torn and then it tore all the way. (It wasn’t like) I didn’t really rehab it or do anything about it. I rehabbed it just as strong as it could be and then it happened. And this year with the shoulder, I just got grabbed. It’s something you can’t plan for, you can’t account for. You just try to be as strong in those positions you can be in. Moving forward, it’s about controlling the game and not letting yourself get hit. Being able to get the ball out, move effectively in the pocket and throw the ball away and get it out as quickly as you can if you’re not going to be able to get the ball off. It’s a balancing act, though because you can’t just throw the ball away anytime somebody gets around you. You have to be able to stand in there and take some hits and make the throw when you need it downfield. Just knowing when that time is. All right, are you going to be able to get this throw off or you’re not, and being able to either protect yourself and get down in the pocket or get the ball out and throw it away.”
(Do you not worry at all about the future, whether it’s here or not, just because it’s your personality or because you know in your mind, ‘I’m an NFL starting quarterback. I’ll be starting somewhere next year. Hopefully here, but I’ll be starting somewhere.’ Does that go into your thinking at all?) – “I don’t know. Honestly, I haven’t put a whole lot of thought into it. I have a lot of belief in myself. I know what I can bring to the table, wherever it is. But, yeah, I want to be here. I want to finish my career as a Dolphin and win a championship here. That’s what they brought me here for, and that’s what I want to do.”
