Cameron Wake – November 19, 2017 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 19, 2017
Postgame – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake (transcribed by Max Lerner)
(What was your perspective on the safety?) – “I thought it was a safety.”
(Did you hear a reason why it was called that way?) – “Nope, they didn’t talk to me very much. They showed it on the replay and it looked like a safety to me; but it wasn’t, so (I’m) moving on.”
(Do you think defensively you played well enough to win this football game? They had 17 points off turnovers, numerous penalties, turnovers that put you on a short field many times in the first half.) – “Not really, to be honest. I feel like when you sign up to play defense, like I’ve said in the past, there is no script. It’s first-and-goal from the 10 or it is first-and-goal from the minus-10; you really don’t know. Whenever the ball is put down, you have to go out there and keep points off the board. We had opportunities to make plays and even all the way to the end, (it was a) tie game and you feel like we can go out there and get a stop and change the whole course of this game, and we didn’t do enough. I really feel like it’s on our backs. There are no excuses about where the ball was or where they got the ball. If you have an opportunity to make a play, it’s on us.”
(Four straight losses, is there a way to salvage this season through the remainder of the six games?) – “We have to keep fighting. I’d like to think that, through the second half of the game, obviously we want to play a full game. Guys showed that we can come out there and we can continue to fight, regardless of the situation, put the past behind and move forward. We were just one play too short and I think moving forward, we have to have that same mentality. If we can build off that and put a whole game together – not just a half – I think that moving forward, things will be different. But again, you have to make the plays from start to finish and we let a couple slip through our fingers today.”
(I don’t think effort has been an issue for this football team. Does that make the situation you’re in right now more frustrating?) – “Frustration is not capitalizing on opportunities. I feel like effort hasn’t been a problem and we did a lot of good things; but again, all phases have to play complementary football for the entire game. It can’t be half to half or quarter to quarter. It has to be all together for 60 minutes. Effort hasn’t been a problem. I think we shot ourselves in the foot obviously on both sides of the ball from doing silly things, things that we are in control of. It’s not talent, it’s not effort, it’s a lot of self-inflicted things and those are the things that are most frustrating; but also the easiest to fix. So moving forward, I think that’s something we need to focus in on.”
(I don’t want to be a smart aleck but can you think of a game this year where you guys have put it all together like you just mentioned?) – “I don’t know. There are probably a few games you asked me about a couple of weeks ago and I couldn’t tell you any of the details. I focus on the next play. Obviously our record shows that we have not done what we wanted to do. The games we’ve won, we probably player better and the games we’ve lost, we probably didn’t play so well, not to be a smart aleck.”
(This is probably one of your longest stretches without a sack. How do you explain what’s going on?) — “I have high expectations of myself. Again, it’s probably not one thing; but at the end of the day, I’m not a guy to make excuses. Whatever the scenario of the game, whatever the blocking situation is, I’ve always been a guy who feels like it doesn’t matter. You have to go out there and you have to get your job done. If it’s getting to the quarterback is my job, then I have to do it, and all of those other factors that contribute to the issues or the frustrations of not getting there, you have to put them aside and go out and do your job. I’ve done it in the past and I have to do it going forward.”
(What was Head Coach Adam Gase like after the game?) – “Disappointed.”
(Was there a lot of yelling or was it subdued?) – “Next year, you make the team and then you’ll be able to figure out those things. It’s a members only (thing).”
(As a leader on this team, do you kind of talk to the guys about these penalties?) – “Yes, I mean I probably would say that is one of the most glaring issues is the self-inflicted things – the pre-snap or penalties or whatever it may be because on defense it kills drives, on offense it kills drives. Being detail-oriented and like I said, doing your job, whatever it may be – offense, defense, special teams –that is the only way you’re going to sustain drives, score and obviously on defense, sustain drives and get off the field. Again, some of that creeped up today. Some of it got fixed later on; but overall, if you take a few of those away and I think this game is a different game. You never know what play it’s going to be or what penalty it’s going to be. You have to focus in on whatever the situation is and execute. That’s been an issue but again, probably the easiest to fix. Moving forward, hopefully that is not going to plague us going forward.”
(Obviously teams take on different personalities each season based on new players on the team, but last year you guys found a way to make that play when in the past, you guys didn’t find a way to make that play. What is happening this year in terms of the missing ingredient?) – “That’s an interesting question. If I had the answer, I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you. I’d be upstairs making those changes; but I feel like it’s probably not one thing. It’s probably a few different things that all come into play; and again, I’ve spoke about it before. There have been games where we’ve turned around and done it and ‘Yay, everyone is happy. We won the game,’ but there are games like today where we literally are one play away from having a win. It’s hard to win in this league and most games are going to come down to one play here or there. Today, we didn’t make it; but I have confidence in the guys we have in the locker room that the same things we’ve done in the past going forward, we will be able to make that play.”
(It’s pretty strange to lose a starting linebacker the day before a game. Did LB Rey Maualuga let this team down?) – “Well, it’s always unfortunate to have somebody who isn’t up – whether it’s off the field, on the field – whenever you’re not playing with a guy you’ve counted on in the past, it’s tough; but honestly, I don’t know the details about what’s been going on to say whether he’s let us down or not. But shoelace, hamstring, off the field, all of the above, when you have to make a change the day before a game, it’s going to be difficult; but I have faith in the guys. (It is) next man up and you have to go in there and we expect you to play the same way as the guy he’s replacing.”
(You have six losses with six games left to play. Can the season be salvaged? Do you have zero margin for error to do so?) – “I’ve always been a guy that thinks we always have zero margin for error, from the time the first ball is snapped at the beginning of the season; but obviously as we get closer and closer (to the end of the season), the math starts leaning away from you. If our ultimate goal is to be champions and do things in the postseason, then obviously it’s more and more urgent is the word I’ll use. I always felt like this whole ‘must win,’ every game is a must win, and if there is more effort and energy next week then you gave this week, then you let me down this weekend. I’ve said it in the past, I’m a proponent of throwing a fast ball 100 miles per hour every play, every week – whether it’s playoffs, Super Bowl, preseason – you have to give it your all. We have to focus on winning one game and I feel like if you’re looking six weeks down the line, you’re going to miss the one right in front of you. So we have to focus on this game coming up, correct the things we didn’t do so well this past game, and we’ll take it one game at a time.”
