Ryan Tannehill – May 25, 2017
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Thursday, May 25, 2017
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill
(How’s the knee?) – “Feel good. I’m feeling good. I’m feeling back to 100 percent. Everything feels totally normal and I’m excited to keep pushing to get better next year.”
(Is it good to wear the brace? Does it keep it stable? Is that something you’ll be wearing throughout the year?) – “The brace doesn’t really do anything for stability. It’s more just protection and getting used to it, getting comfortable. I am going to be wearing it during the season, so I just want to wear it now so that I’m comfortable throughout the year and it’s just second nature at that point.”
(Does the brace limit at all your mobility?) – “No.”
(So you feel you can move the same way with the brace as without?) – “Yes. That was one of the concerns when I first started wearing the brace back in January, just moving with it. I’d worn one previously in college, and I kind of thought that. So, that was kind of my hesitation: ‘Aw, man. This thing is going to really limit me a little bit.’ But it doesn’t at all. That’s one thing that I’m excited about. I guess the brace technology, the fitting is a little better. There’s an extra strap on there that I think that wasn’t on there on my previous brace and that kind of holds it in place and allows you to keep the mobility.”
(How close were you to having surgery? Was it ever a real consideration? Was it 50-50? Were you close to having it done?) – “It was always a possibility. There was a period there where we didn’t really know what was going to happen. It was kind of my body … Just seeing how my body responded and was healing and thankfully we didn’t have to go that route.”
(We thought we might see you in the playoffs. If the team advanced in the playoffs, do you think you might have had a chance to get back out there?) – “I don’t know. It’s tough to say sitting here. It doesn’t really matter at this point; but I’m glad to be healthy now.”
(Doctors can tell you that you’re well and 100 percent. Other people can say it. When did your body say “I’m 100 percent”and that you knew that you were 100 percent?) – “It started feeling good probably at the end of January. I was rehabbing it hard every day – a few hours every day. I really got comfortable with my rehab and kept pushing and pushing and pushing. It finally got to the point where I’m comfortable with it, I feel like I can make any cut, and I trust it. That’s the biggest thing is do you trust it? Are you able to move without thinking about, ‘Is something going to happen?’ Once it got to that point, I really felt great about it.”
(You obviously haven’t been hit there or anywhere really (since the injury). Is that something you want to happen at some point?) – “I never want to be hit. (laughter) I think that’s something in the game where it settles you down a little bit sometimes. The first hit of the year is always like … Because we don’t get hit. Everyone else gets hit during camp, so it’s usually that first or second preseason game when you finally do go to the ground, and it’s like, ‘Alright, everything is fine.’ But as far as the knee goes, that plays no factor into the knee. That’s just a normal process every year, to get that first hit under your belt.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said you weren’t real happy, obviously, with how the season ended for you last year. Can you talk about how that’s carried over to now and your motivation for this season?) – “Yes, it’s obviously tough. You feel like you’re getting things going, you’re getting on the right track, you’re starting to play well and then you have things shut down for you. I was excited to see our team finish the season strong and get into the playoffs. Obviously, we didn’t finish the way we wanted to, but we made big strides last year. I think everyone in the building got a taste of that success and what we want to accomplish. Obviously, it’s not getting to the playoffs; it’s winning a Super Bowl. I feel like that taste makes everyone a little more hungry around this building. That little success that we tasted is something that’s going to push us. It’s been pushing us since January to go at it even harder and get back in the dance and hopefully win the whole thing.”
(How important was it for you to come into camp with that ‘no restrictions’ label and that you’re 100 percent and there are no restrictions in what you can do coming off the injury?) – “It’s big, because this is such a growth period for everyone – quarterbacks, everyone who steps foot on the field. This is a big period that you can work on the little things that go into playing the position. Year 2 in this offense, everyone on offense is really detailing things I think more than ever. Especially last year, grasping big concepts, understanding schemes and what we’re trying to do this time of the year. Since we have a year under our belt now, we’re able to understand the concepts as our foundation and now we’re fine-tuning things (and) getting details a lot more exact where maybe we missed a few plays a game last year because of details. Hopefully we can clean those up and make those (plays) this year.”
(But you personally do not have any restrictions on what you can and cannot do moving forward?) – “That kind of falls in line with exactly what I said – being able to use this time to improve and get better each and every day. It wasn’t ever really a question for me, like I said, back in January, whenever I felt good and knew I wasn’t going to have surgery. To be here is just kind of normal at this point.”
(TE Julius Thomas had his best two seasons in the NFL with Adam Gase as his coach. What kind of weapon can you utilize him as?) – “He’s a talented guy. I’m excited to have Julius on our team. Obviously, we’ve seen what he can do in his career so far. He’s such a talented guy. He’s big, he’s athletic, he’s strong. He can really create mismatch problems on the outside. We’re really just trying to build that relationship right now, build that comfort zone and be able to utilize him and create those mismatches that get talked about, and really be a weapon for us all over the field and especially the red zone.”
(Earlier this offseason, RB Jay Ajayi was talking about you and he made an interesting comment. He said “It feels like Tannehill has something to prove this offseason.” Do you agree with that statement? And what do you have to prove, if you do agree?) – “This is a ‘prove it’ league. You always have something to prove. It’s that hunger that’s always there. I don’t think anything has really changed. It’s just a constant desire to win and to do anything it takes to improve and put my team in a position to win.”
(DE Andre Branch said that they got a little too close in pass drills yesterday and that they were told, “Alright, back off.” With you coming back from this injury, was it natural having guys running at you? Or mentally where are you with guys coming at you like that?) – “I feel totally normal. Like I said, I felt good back in January, so my offseason has been pretty normal up until this point as far as throwing with the guys before we started up as a team and then going through the team activities before we started practicing against the defense. So, it has been pretty normal. I’ve been doing all of the drills and everything. It feels pretty standard as far as that stuff goes.”
(When you have guys coming at you like that, are you able to get past that … You’ve got bullets flying. You’ve got guys coming at you like that.) – “Yes. That’s playing the position. It’s second nature at this point. Like I said, I’m fully confident in the knee, and it’s not even in the back of my mind at all.”
(What have the doctors said about … because this would be a question I would ask, I would say, “Is this knee any more susceptible to injury than the knee I played with a year ago?” I’m assuming you asked that question. What did they say?) – “Everyone is confident in the knee and what it can do and that it’s ready to go. You wear the brace just to try to prevent another freak thing like I had happen the first time. I’ve been hit a lot in my career and never had anything like that where my cleats are in the ground and it just hit me at the right angle and I couldn’t get them out and just put that stress on the knee. That’s kind of the reason for the brace, just to prevent that type of thing from happening again. To answer your question, everything is good and strong, and I shouldn’t have any issues.”
(You consider that kind of a freak thing?) – “It’s rare. It happens occasionally to quarterbacks and that’s why you see a lot of quarterbacks wear the brace. I won’t be the only quarterback wearing a brace on my left leg. It’s never happened to me before. So yes, I would consider it a freak thing. Is it a hazard. I’ve seen it happen before, but it had never happened to me.”
(Does it help that it’s not your plant leg?) – “I don’t know. I’ve never really had a major injury before, so I don’t really have anything to compare it to. I don’t know.”
(You would just think that your plant leg is stronger and that you would have less problems going forward.) – “Right. That seems to make sense. It’s logical, but I don’t know.”
(If you started feeling better in January and now here we are in May, I assume you’re past whatever personal tests you need to make sure everything is good. Or do you still need to get back into a game and all of that stuff?) – “No. Like I said, I’m back in 100 percent and feel totally normal. There’s really no more checkpoints that I have to hit at this point. It’s, ‘Everything looks good and go play.’”
(You’re one of the more higher-profile athletes to do a stem cell transplant procedure. What made you go that route and what does it entail?) – “A lot of research and finding options that were available to me and specifically to my injury and what fit. I spent a lot of time researching, talking to people who are familiar with all of the different types of treatment, and that seemed to be the best fit for the injury I had.”
(Does it speed up the recovery? Or speed up the healing?) – “Yes, that’s the basic concept. Your blood stream is carrying stem cells to any injury you have all over your body. The ACL typically doesn’t heal because of a lack of blood flow. So they’re just artificially becoming the blood stream to carry the stem cells to the location.”
(So you feel like your ACL has healed?) – “Yes, it’s really strong and ready to go.”
(Can you share your thoughts on having the high school kids at practice this week and whatever interaction you’ve had with them?) – “It’s fun. I can put myself in those guys’ shoes of being a high school player. I never made it to an NFL game or around NFL players, but would go to the college … Texas Tech. I lived close to Texas Tech and my dad played there, so I would go to games there and just any interactions I would have with the guys, I can remember that being a pretty cool experience for me. So being able to take a little time and talk with those guys, sign a few autographs and wish them well for the upcoming year. Hopefully it goes a long way with those guys.”
(You recently came out at Texas A&M and spoke against animal testing. What is the thought process behind that and what motivated it?) – “Well, it was brought to me. Someone brought the video to me and kind of the background of what was going on there. Seeing those images just didn’t sit right with me or my wife. I just feel like we’re animal lovers – we’re dog lovers – and to see that going on was hard to see. I feel like there just has to be a better way there.”
