Adam Gase: David Fales is a “gamer”
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins needed to make a quarterback move this week with starter Jay Cutler sidelined with rib fractures. The Dolphins opted to bring in David Fales.
Miami had the choice of activating former 7th round draft pick and local product Brandon Doughty to back-up Matt Moore but opted to go outside the team and bring back a quarterback that was on their roster in training camp.
Fales was drafted in round six of the 2014 draft and backed up Jay Cutler in Chicago. The offensive coordinator was Adam Gase. Gase is familiar with what Fales can do and while his performance in camp wasn’t all that inspiring, Gase believes he can turn it on if needed in a game.
"(What do you like about QB David Fales?) – “I’ve been around him for multiple times. He’s smart. His recall is really good. He has a game … I don’t know, he’s a gamer. (He’s) the kind of guy you throw in there, it looks bad and he’ll figure out a way to make a play. It seems like we’ve got a couple of guys that are the same way. Sometimes in practice it might not look great, but when we get out into a game, he just figures out a way to move the ball.”"
Fales won’t have to “game” so long as the offensive line can protect Matt Moore. Something they have struggled doing all year with Jay Cutler who has had mere seconds to get rid of the ball many times this season.
Moore has a similar gunslinging mentality as Cutler but doesn’t have the same arm strength. That wasn’t a problem last Sunday when he entered the game, threw an interception and then rallied the team from 14 points down. In the last two weeks of football Miami has outscored their opponents in the second half by a combined 37-0.
The Dolphins do not know how long Cutler will be out. Some say it will be 2-3 weeks but that is speculative at best. When asked about the decision to go outside rather than go with Doughty, Gase said it was about time frame.
"(Why QB David Fales instead of the other choice which was QB Brandon Doughty?) – “We’re just kind of looking at how long this is really going to be. We felt like this was the best decision for the organization right now.”"
The Dolphins are in an interesting position. They have played only six games and have ten more straight in front of them. The teams bye week which was scheduled for week 11 will not give the team time to get healthy. This is all going to get a lot more interesting if Matt Moore plays like he did on Sunday.
Should Moore light an offensive spark Adam Gase will have a tough internal decision to make when Cutler is healthy. Lucky for Gase he has some time to worry about that.
The above quotes are courtesy of the Miami Dolphins communication department who released the transcripts of the Adam Gase press conference this afternoon.