Ryan Tannehill – September 26, 2018
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Wednesday, September 26, 2018
QB Ryan Tannehill
(A lot of improvement has come with you since you’ve come back, obviously, in a lot of areas. People name pocket presence, maybe, on top of that. You would say what do you think, about where you’re better than when you were here in 2016?) – “Hopefully I’m better in a lot of areas. I’m constantly working the details of playing the position, so hopefully I’m better in a lot of areas. But yes, I would agree, I think I’m a little better in pocket movement. We work a lot of drills with (Offensive Coordinator) Dowell (Loggains) and (Quarterbacks Coach) Bo (Hardegree). Dowell and Bo design a lot of drills for us, work on our pocket movement, ball security, being able to keep our eyes downfield, feel the rush around us and create our target line in front of our target so we’re accurate with the football. They do a great job of preparing us and putting us in drill work that prepares us for the game.”
(Now that you’ve worked with WR Danny Amendola in the offseason, regular season, can you see what QB Tom Brady saw in him as far as it’s almost like he’s always in the right spot, he’s kind of a safety net for you?) – “Danny has made some big plays for us. You look at some of the plays he made last game. That one he made was similar to the one in the Jets game, where he’s about to take a big hit and comes down with a big-time catch for us in a tight window. He always seems to have a knack of finding a space to get open. He has a great feel for that, whether it’s zone, those crossing routes or underneath. We have a lot of confidence in him and his ability to get open.”
(Not many quarterbacks have the advantage of three receivers with afterburners like you do. How big an advantage is that to the offense that those guys can kick into a fifth gear?) – “It’s huge when you have that much speed on the field and you can spread them out in all different sides. They can’t isolate one guy or the other. They have to really play all of them and it’s tough to do when you have that much speed on the field.”
(It seems like every time WR Danny Amendola makes a catch, he’s about to get nailed or something like that. What value do you place in a guy who seems unafraid of whatever comes across the middle?) – “It’s huge. To be able to have the confidence and the bravery – I don’t know the politically correct word to use here – in order to stand in there and make those catches in tight windows, knowing that you’re going to take some punishment afterwards is huge. Some guys can’t do it, but if you look at Danny, he’s a guy who has done it for his whole career and continues to do it. So, yes, it’s awesome to have. Hopefully, as a quarterback, I don’t want to put him in those positions too often where he is taking those hits. That’s on me; but it is nice to have a guy who’s willing to sacrifice and make those tight-window catches, because it definitely keeps the chains moving for us.”
(I think the Patriots have the best home record over the last 15 years or so. What’s so tough about going up to Foxborough and playing them?) – “They play well there. That’s something they’ve kind of hung their hat on for a long time is playing well at home. It’s what we want to do here is you want to play well at home. Obviously you want to play well on the road too, but we want to have that home-field advantage. I think that’s something they’ve done a good job of. We’ve had our opportunities up there. We’ve put halves of football together, but haven’t played a full game. That’s going to be a big emphasis for us this week is to go up and play a full four quarters.”
(You’ve played against some of the top cornerbacks in the league. How would you put CB Xavien Howard in that group at this point? Has he reached that elite level in your mind?) – “I’m not big in ranking guys, but he is playing at a really high level. I’m really excited about the way he’s playing. You saw it in camp, him build his confidence as camp went on. He started making more and more plays. He’s so long, he judges the ball extremely well and has great hands. He’s made some big plays for us. That one in the corner of the end zone at the end of the game there was huge. (It was) a tough catch through contact. If you look at the one last week on the post route in the back of the end zone, to have the savvy to get his feet down in the back of the end zone was huge. You see him taking these big steps on not only being physical at the line but (also) understanding concepts and making plays on the football. So, yes, he’s a well-rounded player right now.”
(What have you learned playing against Belichick defenses in your career?) – “I have a ton of respect for their defense up there. They do a good job of playing their game, but also throwing in something you haven’t seen before or that you’re not really prepared for. They do a good job of mixing it up. You never really know what it’s going to be. (There’s going to be) a little curveball they’re going to throw your way and you have to be able to adjust. That’s what it comes down to is on offense, we have to adjust better than they do on defense. Whatever that curveball is, we have to be ready to adjust to it.”
(You talk about opportunities, you have a unique one this week. You have a chance with a win to get a three-game lead on the Patriots. Do you sense any extra motivation, extra focus this week with that kind of unique opportunity?) – “I don’t think that reason plays into it. We want to climb here. We want a steady progression of taking it one game at a time. This is the next game. Obviously a division game on the road is a big game for us, but we need to be wired in no matter who we’re playing and no matter what the situation is. Yeah, we just have to keep staying the course. Like I said the past few weeks, we’re on the right course. We just have to stay that course, keep pressing the envelope and take advantage of the opportunities that come our way.”
(Given the Patriots’ history of success, is this kind of a measuring stick for this team?) – “I don’t know. It’s early in the season. We’re in Week 4. I don’t know if it’s a measuring stick or anything like that. Obviously I have a ton of respect for New England and what they’ve done and what kind of team they are. (It’s a) big opportunity for us to go up there and play well.”
(Have you seen anything different from Head Coach Adam Gase since last time you were with him in 2016?) – “Yeah, we’re all constantly evolving, growing as people, as players, coaches. If you’re not getting better, then you’re wasting your time. He’s grown as a play-caller. He’s grown as a head coach. The whole picture and everything that it involves. It’s been great to be around him and see him progress as a head coach.”
(Where would you say you and Head Coach Adam Gase’s cohesion is at this point?) – “We’re great. I was excited. When he came in and we kind of got together, I kind of immediately hit it off with him and knew we were going to be in a good spot and it’s just been a steady progression along the way. I’m really excited about where we’re at.”
(Are you surprised at some of the roughing-the-passer penalties that have been called? They look like maybe clean hits that have been flagged. What’s your reaction that?) – “I’ve seen a few that are tough. It’s a tough situation as a defender to be put in. I understand what they’re doing trying to protect quarterbacks. I’ve been on the receiving end of a few of those where you appreciate them trying to take care of you a little bit, but I do see the conflict that it puts a defender in. You’re coming off of a block, you’re coming full speed and to try to make the adjustment last second, it’s tough. I don’t have the answer for you or what the right answer is on either side, but I understand what the NFL is trying to do and I understand the predicament that the defense is in as they’re rushing the quarterback. It’s a tough situation.”
(When you try to put on the brakes the last second, we’ve seen what happened with DE William Hayes. He tries to avoid a flag.) – “It’s tough. Like I said, you’re rushing full speed, you’re coming off a block, you’re off balance and then you’re trying to turn your body one way or the other. It’s one thing when it’s a clean run and you have the ability to change your angle or hit on the side or something like that, but there’s going to be situations where the defender is coming off a block and it kind of is what it is. It’s a fine line. The officials are doing the best they can on officiating it as it’s written. That’s where we’re at right now.”
(Outside of the two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, how did the offense play Sunday in your opinion?) – “I thought we took a step forward. I thought we did some good things. Obviously penalties hurt us. Penalties hurt us big time. I think we had four drives that were basically stopped by penalties. We had a third down going in the red zone where we got a pass interference call, which was tough. We started off a drive with a pass interference call and we had two holding calls on top of that. Really, four times we were stopped by penalties. I think we had only 11 drives and scored on four others. We did some good things, but we have to eliminate those penalties, whether it’s technique or the way we’re doing things. We have to find a way to eliminate these penalties, be efficient on first and second down and be in manageable third-down situations. When we’re in third-and-long, third-and-9, 10, it’s going to be tough to convert those. You can’t consistently convert (those). You can convert one occasionally, but you want to be in third-and-6 or less and have a good shot at converting a lot of those.”
(How would you describe you guys’ season up to now?) – “We’re on the right track. I said this after the game, we’ve kind of established the right patterns the way we want to, the right practices that are going to take us to where we want to go; but we’re three games in. There’s a lot of football. It really doesn’t mean anything at this point. We just have to stay true to the path that we’re on and keep getting better.”
(Was that a good first step for WR DeVante Parker, the role that he played in the offense on Sunday?) – “Yeah, it was huge. I think DeVante came in and played fast for us. You saw it last week whenever he came back and started getting some good reps. He came in with speed and was playing extremely fast. He made the big catch down the right sideline for us. Tight coverage. He fought through contact and was able to get his hips in front and make a nice catch downfield. (It was a) huge play in the game for us when we needed it most. I look forward to more of that from him.”
(I think there was a third-and-long on Sunday where you had a run and you had a little stutter step. When did you add that to your game?) – “I don’t know. Gase got mad at me about that one. (laughter) We’ll see if he comes back.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase wanted you to get down or he just didn’t like the stutter step?) – “He didn’t like the stutter step. He just wanted me to go out of bounds. You’ve got to play the game, right? (laughter)”
