Cameron Wake – December 3, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 3, 2017
Postgame – Denver Broncos
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake (transcribed by Ted Leshinski)
(For a long time we’ve talked about complete games and players’ desire to play complete games. Where does this game rank on that scale?) – “I’d like to think that that was 60 minutes, complementary. Words I’ve used in the past where defense is doing what they’re supposed to – getting the ball to the offense. They’re the ones putting points down. And obviously special teams is helping on both sides. That’s what we’ve been working at doing, and I think today we came out and did it.”
(TE Julius Thomas was saying that you finally wanted to have a game that felt like a party, he said, on your sideline. Did it feel like that to you: a game where you weren’t living and dying on every single possession?) – “It was a lot of fun, I’ll tell you that. I think whenever you make plays and guys are getting excited and celebrating and getting that energy and it’s contagious from one guy to the next, that’s the way you want things to be. The only way to do that that is to play complementary football, that contagious emotion and big-play mentality on everybody from special teams, offense, defense. If you want to call it a party, it’s a party.”
(How did it feel within the defensive line? You looked a lot more destructive than you’ve been.) – “Even still, we had a few plays we left out there, a couple of things we could’ve done better. But I think for the most part guys were playing together. As a d-line you have to play with the guys to your left and your right to be successful, and that’s another thing that we had a couple of issues with in the past. Again, today I think for the most part we succeed.”
(Field position, you guys seemed like the entire second half the offense was getting the ball at or near midfield, because you forced them to punt, forced them back into long punt situations. It certainly has got to feel good to put your offense in situations like that and give them the short field.) – “Well definitely. That’s something that, again, we work on is obviously playing together. When we get out there we can flip the field, or if they can flip the field, either way, giving each other the opportunity to go and be successful on the next drive. And even for a while they were on the field for I think three possessions in a row, because of the things that they did, whether it was special teams or offense. Again, playing together and helping each other out to make sure that we’re successful next time whoever it is, offense or defense, takes the field.”
(Is this enough for you to get motivated for next week in another big game against a very good football team that you just saw last week? Can you ride this into that game?) – “I think as far as I’m concerned it’s a game that you’re going to enjoy tonight. Tomorrow you’ve got to hit the reset button and get back to work. The way I work, obviously, whether you win or lose, you get 24 hours to celebrate or 24 hours to pout and then you have to move on. Obviously, next week is going to be a different game. Last time we played them, I feel like we did some things that maybe were a little bit uncharacteristic that allowed those guys to be successful. We’ve got to fix those things moving forward. We enjoy it and we’ll have fun and everybody’s patting themselves on the back but tomorrow at this time it’s time to move on and get back to work to make sure you have the same feeling again next Tuesday.”
(When you play at this level, this high level, does it make you make you wonder, “Well, why can’t we do this more often? Why can’t we do this more consistently?”) – “That has always been, as many times as I spoken, that’s more frustrating than never being able to do it in the first place. If we were a defense that just could never stop the run you would accept it, ‘Hey, listen, we can’t stop the run. We never do it. Let’s figure out a way to win despite that.’ But obviously, we can show some days we can stop the run, and then you don’t. Then you pass rush, then you don’t. And then you can score points, and then you don’t. That is frustrating. But at the same time knowing that the ability’s there, that’s encouraging, too. So, to go in and to continue to tap into the positives and I guess the potential, I think that is the rewarding part. We can continue to do that and build more confidence and go out and put a string of games together with that kind of mentality. Who knows?”
(Is the answer just as simple as guys executing their job or is it something much more that we can’t figure out?) – “I don’t think you’re the only ones that don’t figure it out, because we’ve had a few games where it has slipped through our fingers but that pretty much is it. It’s a simple answer, but hard to do. Most things that are very simple aren’t necessarily easy. Just get to the quarterback and sack him, that’s simple but it’s hard to do. Everybody do the right thing every play. Simple answer, but maybe not as hard to execute. Whether it’s this team, next team or the team after that, you can’t shoot yourself in the foot. Anytime you do that – I spoke (about it) before – if you’re fighting against yourself as well as somebody else then you’re at a disadvantage. Again, we’ve got to play together. Do your job – whatever your job is – and the reality is every play, 60 minutes.”
