Adam Gase Having Strong Impact On Tannehill, Dolphins Offense
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
DAVIE (CBSMiami) – After a long offseason of waiting, the Miami Dolphins held their first practice of Training Camp on Friday afternoon.
Fans were lined up outside of the Dolphins training facility in Davie to get their first glimpse at the team and its new head coach, Adam Gase.
The entire day had a new look and feel to it, from the freshly installed shade canopy over the seats to shield fans from the sun to the fast paced, high intensity practice on the field led by a first time NFL head coach.
Gase said that overall he was pleased with the first day of camp but knows that there are a lot more practices before they start playing games that count.
"I think the first day of practice, everybody's excited to get back out there," Gase said. "The telling part's going to be when we got about six, seven days into this thing and you know you get a day off and you got to come back and you're in full pads. Where are we going to be there? It's easy to be excited on the first day."
One thing that has been a constant since Gase has taken over the Dolphins offense is that he isn't labeling any player as a specialist for a specific down or distance.
He's keeping everyone available for every possibility to make it that much more difficult on opposing defenses.
"I think if you have multiple guys that can do a whole bunch of things, it makes it hard for the defense to say, this guy can only do this," Gase explained. "If we can keep moving guys around and giving them options –different types of routes and different types of concepts, different types of runs and different guys running the ball, different guys catching the ball – the harder you can make it for the defense to game plan each week, the better it is for us."
Gase has taken a particular interest in his new quarterback, Ryan Tannehill.
Dolphins players have had nothing but good things to say about their new head coach, and Tannehill is no exception.
"I think everyone here in the building is excited about having Adam [Gase] as a head coach," Tannehill said. "I think that he's a great offensive mind. I think he's able to relate to players and motivate players, and that's something that we're excited about having over the course of the year."
In the past Gase has done a great job at getting the most out of his quarterbacks, from Tim Tebow to Peyton Manning to Jay Cutler.
He's already begun forging a strong relationship with Tannehill and the quarterback is making every effort to take advantage of the knowledge and attention he gets from Gase.
"I think just being on the same page, pushing me, making practice hard for me so that when it gets to the games, I've been in those situations before, and we're able to have success," Tannehill said. "And just focus on the little things – the details, whether its footwork, read, progression, protection – there are so many things that go into playing the position. I think that [Gase] is an expert in pushing guys to reach their potential, and I'm excited to have him."
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who has been a favorite target of Tannehill's during his two years in the league, is also enjoying his new head coach.
"Love him. Love him, love the energy that he comes with every day he brings to practice – to the meeting rooms – and he's allowing us to come out here and let us play fast," Landry said. "That's was this whole offense [is] about; that's what this team is going to be made of this year."
As for what Landry has seen from his quarterback under Gase, the answer was simple.
"Constant improvement."
With 43 days until the Dolphins open the season in Seattle, that's a trend that we can all hope continues.
