Christian Wilkins – December 5, 2023
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Tuesday, December 5, 2023
DT Christian Wilkins
(Obviously I’m sure you try not to pay attention to the standings, but I’m sure you’ve been told multiple times that you guys are No. 1 in the AFC. Do you focus on that? Do you talk about it?) – “What day is it? Is it the last game of the season?”
(No.) – “Then I don’t care. Plain and simple as that. I will look up at the end when it’s time to look up and whenever that matters, but right now that doesn’t matter. We’ve still got five games left to play and that’s the mindset that we need to take in going into these last few games and these last few weeks and just have a mindset of dominance and being present in the moment so we can have our best foot going forward.”
(Outside of the standings and whatnot, just talk about the overall growth of the team just from start to right now.) – “Again, to the point I kind of just made, I think just the growth has come from a daily buy-in and a daily focus of being our best individually and then that obviously leads to team success and that’s being better each and every day, each and every game. We still haven’t played our best game yet. We’re doing some good things, but we’re still on that quest for perfection day-in and day-out and that’s the ultimate goal.”
(It’s weird that you say that because I actually agree with you. I don’t think you guys have. Even though you put 50 up on Denver, you probably could’ve played better. You didn’t even some of your key players that game. What will it take to play at your best?) – “Again, just the same thing I keep saying, same thing I’m hitting. Just getting to the point where you’re making every day meaningful, intentional and just focusing on that because then when you get to the game, it’s all easy and then you’re just playing good ball. But yeah, we haven’t played that perfect game yet and it’s hard to do. It’s hard to get there, but again, we want to continue to peak and continue to hit our stride especially at this point in the season. This is when you want to peak and play your best ball.”
(When we talk about characteristics of certain players, when you talk about S DeShon Elliott and LB David Long Jr., you hear the word intensity. Tell me about that aspect of their game and what they bring to the table from that standpoint.) – “Definitely. I’ll speak on those guys a little bit because they’ve been great additions to our team. Not just because of their talent and what they can do on the field, but just the energy they bring, their vibes. Just good dudes to have around and high character dudes who love ball who just fit right in and fit like a glove when they came in just as far as a personality standpoint and they’re able to help us a lot. That’s a good word to describe both of those guys because typically just as people, they’re very good people, good character guys, pretty chill for the most part. But when they’re out there playing, they’ve got that juice, they’ve got that intensity and ball is important to the them and they want to be their best. I really like having those guys around and they’re big pieces to our team.”
(What are the challenges of playing without LB Jerome Baker? I don’t think you’ve ever played without Jerome.) – “I don’t think not one game. ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) has been here since I have and since before me. He does a lot of good things for our team, but one of the fortunate things for our team is we have a lot of guys who can step up when their number is called and that’s important for good teams and we’re lucky to be able to have that. Duke (Riley) or whoever it is, who has to step up and play more, will be ready and I’m sure of that. Obviously you don’t ever like to lose guys, but if other guys who we know are reliable and dependable can step up, that’d be great.”
(I know you’re a guy who has a weekly routine. Does Monday Night Football throw that off a little bit?) – “I’m not going to lie. I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be tough for me because I’m such a routine guy and just kind of having an extra day, and as much as I love playing and getting to the games, you’ve got to wait an extra day, a full extra day – you’re at night now. But I’ll be fine, I guess. I got to do it, but I’m typically so routine that I’m going to be twiddling my thumbs and I’m going to have to fill some time, but there’s a lot I can do to fill it with – watch some extra tape or something. I’ll figure it out.”
(So was today that extra day or is Saturday that extra day? How does your calendar work?) – “Right now I’m just trying to keep my week as normal as possible. Today was my normal Tuesday for the most part and I’m kind of figuring out what I want to do with a couple days later in the week, but I’ll figure it out.”
(With Christmas right around the corner – non-football question – I’m asking, what’s the best Christmas gift you’ve gotten and what’s the worst Christmas gift you’ve gotten and now the situation you’re in as an NFL player, do you find yourself having to play Santa Claus?) – “That’s a good point because I was going to probably say, I’ll start off with the worst. The worst gift I probably get is nothing. Because now for some reason, when you get to this point, apparently gifts aren’t important. People think gifts aren’t important to you that you don’t care about nice, kind gestures and thoughts and that’s kind of messed up. You definitely find yourself playing Santa Claus with a big-ass bag. You’ve got to fit a lot of gifts in there for a lot of different people. That’s definitely for some reason as of late in my life, I haven’t received a lot of Christmas gifts. I don’t know maybe specifically what was the best gift I’ve ever had, but I just knew Christmas was always special and meant a lot to me as a kid. Just a little personal – I grew up with a big family, a lot of kids and my mom always worked very hard to make sure we had good Christmases. Like I remember – those are some of the best memories I had as a kid. Just waking up, all eight of us, nine of us running downstairs – energy galore, stairs about to break and I was ready to open gifts on Christmas morning. So I always like this time of year and it means a lot to me and I remember I had Nerf hoops, I had a Game Boy one year that I really loved, a Power Rangers kite – I was out there in the neighborhood running with my kite, with my Power Rangers purple kite so that was really cool. Some jacks. I learned how to play jacks and marbles with I was young. And then just always spending time with family which is important which I encourage everybody to do and definitely appreciate it.”
(So with teammates, do you guys exchange gifts?) – “That’s a big thing that we like to do. Each group kind of does something different or some guys like to go as far as doing stuff for the team. Obviously like ‘Cheetah’ (Tyreek Hill) did, and I did appreciate that because again, to my point earlier, we don’t get a lot of gifts, so I definitely appreciate my guy ‘Cheetah’ hooking up the team. But yeah, we all kind of do our own thing there.”
(So what can somebody get you? Because people always think “well, this guy can buy whatever he wants, he probably has everything.”) – “Yeah, but again, I’m a simple man and again for me it’s always more the thought that matters and in my older years – when I was a kid, I didn’t necessarily, ‘no, I want this,’ but I definitely appreciate that more now. It’s the thought that matters. Like it’s nice to be thought of or it could be a picture of an experience we had or whatever it is.”
(Somebody could knit you a sweater…) – “Yeah, a sweater and I’ll appreciate that. A nice hot meal or something. I don’t ask for much, so whoever’s listening, whoever’s thinking – get your boy something nice and thoughtful, I appreciate it. (laughter) But more for me, it’s definitely about the giving and I don’t just say that as a cliché thing. It’s nice to – especially for people that don’t expect much or anything, it’s nice to be able to give people a little bit extra this time of year.”
(So QB Tua Tagovailoa took his guitar playing to the ManningCast. I’ve seen him play ukulele, but I’ve never seen him play the guitar and he’s clearly taking his game up a level. Has he played for his team?) – “Not really and we might have to encourage him to do that or something, learn a little Christmas – we can go caroling or something. He can play his guitar. I don’t know. Learn a couple Christmas hits. But yeah, he did his thing last night on the show. I saw that and I was kind of singing to a couple of the songs he was playing and I guess Tua is a man of many talents and I didn’t know he could play the guitar like that. Again, more the ukulele, but he sounded pretty alright.”
Bradley Chubb – December 5, 2023
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Monday, December 5, 2023
LB Bradley Chubb
(So many of the top AFC teams have fallen in the last three weeks since your guys’ bye. How do you guys stay focused? Why haven’t you guys slipped up at all?) – “I feel like our goal is bigger than the No. 1 seed. Our goal is to hoist the trophy at the end and that comes with handling business each and every week no matter what the position is. We kind of just continue the same approach each and every week – the same mindset, the same intensity, the same focus and it’s been working out for us. We try not to look too far down the line and just take it day by day as we practice, and week by week as we play these games.”
(Getting that No. 1 seed would be a big help, though. It is a bye to the second round.) – “It’s a huge help. It will be a huge help for sure. It’s definitely something to work towards and it’s definitely a goal of ours. I was just saying that it’s not the end all, be all. It’s one of those things we’re going to continue to fight for, and the chips are going to fall where they fall at the end of the season. We’re just going to be looking up at the best version of ourselves no matter where we are at.”
(How did you think the pass rush did without LB Jaelan Phillips?) – “I thought we did pretty smooth. A lot of guys got hits on the quarterback, sacks on the quarterback. We for sure missed his presence out there. Just the energy, the flying around and stuff. But I feel like the guys held up well and all we got to do is keep stacking these sack and quarterback hits, and getting after the quarterback affecting them, and it’s going to do numbers for us and the guys on the back end as well.”
(What have you guys learned about Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio so far and his style and the way he likes to attack offenses?) – “He’s a mastermind. He understands everything there is to know about an offense. He knows what they are doing on third, second and all of those distances. We know that he’s going to put us in the best position no matter what the call is. We just got to go out there and execute. That’s our main thing.”
(What stood out to you about LB David Long’s play?) – “It’s been dope seeing him fly around. He’s one of those dudes that will hit anything and get up screaming. He could’ve hit you and he’s going to get up screaming and hyped. He has that contagious energy that you need as a defense and as a unit, and he brings that for sure. It’s been helping us out a lot.”
(Another high-energy guy is S Deshon Elliott. Tell us about playing on the same unit as him.) – “Like I said, all of those guys have the same intensity, the same motor, that hit stick when they come down and everyone in the stadium feels it. It’s been dope playing alongside those guys. I know they are going to continue to bring that energy, and when we play for each other, it’s hard to stop us. That’s one thing we’re going to try to keep doing is playing for each other.”
(Despite the loss of LB Jaelan Phillips, just talk about the growth of the overall defense each and every week.) – “Just the growth overall, it’s been dope to see how guys come into their own making the defense ours. It’s not just this is the call. It’s like ok, we get to be in this call, how are we going to attack it and make sure everybody is on the same page on this call? It’s been cool to see everybody buying in and playing for each other and playing with each other. We just got to keep this thing going. We got five more games, four at home, and we need to lean on each other. Sometimes it’s not always going to be the best position for us, but we just got to keep locking in for each other and do what we’ve been doing, and it’s been working out.”
(Since you’ve been on the team, you’ve only lost in the stadium once I think against the Packers. What’s different about playing here than maybe some other stadiums?) – “Just the energy. The energy our fans bring. It just feels like home. When you’re on the sideline and you see those guys over there burning up, and we’re in the shade cooling, it just feels like we’re home and we’re going to enjoy it. That Packers game it was actually cold. It was like 30 degrees. That played into their hands. (laughter) It’s just taking care of your home turf. We practice right here and we do so much work right here, it’s just a hop, skip and jump away to get to the stadium we want to protect that. We look at that as our home and how we operate. We want to protect that at all costs.”
(What would it mean to be here during the playoffs as the No. 1 seed?) – “It would be huge. Like I said, that’s one of those things that’s a part of our goals, and we know the energy and momentum that our crowd brings. It will be for sure an advantage to have that in the playoffs as well. We’re just focusing on these games coming up and letting that take care of itself.”
(Have you had a chance to talk to LB Jerome Baker? It doesn’t appear to be season ending, which is good. Have you talked to him?) – “Yeah, I talked to him. His head is high, his spirits are up. Hopefully we have him back out there pretty soon. You don’t ever want to see a player go down, a loss for our defense, but it’s going to allow other guys to step up. When ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) is back, it’s going to be just like he never left.”
(What have you seen from LB Duke Riley that makes you feel he can handle the workload?) – “I’ve been seeing Duke itching all year. Every time his number was called, he stepped up in a big way. He’s been itching for that opportunity, and like I said when one guy goes down, it’s an opportunity for another guy. He’s been making the most of that opportunity. Like I said, it’s kind of like we haven’t missed a beat. It’s dope to see him come into that role and when he came into the game, taking over the defense and taking over the calls, and doing whatever he needed to do to help us come through with that win. I have full confidence in Duke and I’m excited he’s on the field with us.”
(Christmas is coming up. What’s the worst gift or best gift you’ve gotten? Or does your family with you being an NFL player, rely on you to be Santa Claus?) – “Yeah, I’m for sure Santa. But it’s not like I have to be Santa. I do it because I want to. Being able to help my family as much as they helped me growing up, all of the things I ever wanted, it’s hard to say what my favorite gift was because my parents did whatever it took to make sure me and my brother had a good Christmas. If I had to point out one, I’d say remember when we first got a PlayStation. We were jumping up and down and got the TV to go with it. We didn’t know how to act. He got the TV and I got the PlayStation. They kind of did it like that. Yeah, that was probably the best one. Then the worst one, I’m not going to say who but I got a Secret Santa gift one time – not recently – but it was pretty bad. I’m not going to say what the gift was because the person will know what the gift was, but I got some bad ones for sure. (laughter)”
Mike McDaniel – December 3, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023
Postgame – Washington Commanders
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
On QB Tua Tagovailoa changing the route on WR Tyreek Hill’s first touchdown reception and on the throw by Tagovailoa on the second Hill touchdown reception:
“That was something that we discussed during the week and it was really in the hands of the quarterback if he thought that Tyreek would have a shot on the slot fade to adjust his route. It was part of the play that I was well aware that we were going to do. It was something that we kind of planned to have that option but it’s up to [QB] Tua [Tagovailoa] to recognize the appropriate time. I think we can all say that that was the appropriate time. And then deliver a ball. You talk about command of really the game, what’s going on, when to be aggressive, when not to. It didn’t surprise me, but I think that this was something that really the whole team knew Tua was gonna come out and have a day like this with the way that he operates and the way he’d been frustrated about turning the ball over. To be that aggressive while having that burden of frustration is exactly what you hope for with your starting quaterback. We have to learn from things and have lessons, not scars. The connection between Tua and Tyreek in terms of two players playing together is about as good as I’ve ever been around. Hence, some of the plays they’re able to make each and every week. The second touchdown was he threw it to the right spot and it wasn’t the exact coverage that we planned on doing that, but the depth perception that Tua has down the field is pretty rare, so he can really feel when a post-safety is not at the depth they need to be. For him to be able to do that under a hair of duress is why he’s doing some special stuff on the football field. I think the leaders of this team going out there at the beginning of the game and kind of taking the reigns of what kind of game it would be had a substantial effect on the entire team and then in conjunction with the stops the defense was getting really put us in an advantageous situation.”
On the difficulty of Hill’s catch:
“It’s insane. Specifically for really fast guys. It’s something that Tyreek has always been very adept at but to, just think of it this way, in the heat of battle you see the ball and then you just turn away from it and try to find it again. That is very difficult. He makes it look super easy. But that ability, there’s few and far between that are able to make that play down the field wide open or not. Tua knows that and he knows that if he puts it far enough sometimes that Tyreek has done that several times in practice before. The fact that it was in stride makes it even more impressive of a catch because a lot of times when guys go blind to the ball, they’re able to make a play if it’s by stopping them and hitting them in the stomach. To go Willie Mays on it is pretty impressive. ”
On the connection between Tagovailoa and Hill being one of the best he has ever seen in his time as a coach:
“I think they’re both tremendous players and my thing is I think they’re tremendous players that can make plays on their own for sure. But together the important thing for this team is that you’re seeing the best selves of both players while playing together. For me, I know they’re elite players but working together they’re finding that Tua’s able to be super aggressive in certain windows because he trusts what Tyreek’s going to do. Tyreek’s able to be super aggressive because he trusts Tua’s field vision and knows that if he is putting the ball up in the air a little bit over the middle to just track it and catch it because Tua’s not going to lead him in harm’s way. The aggressiveness they play with is very unique and their ability to make plays together that other people can’t is the result of both of their numbers. They’re independently awesome but together they’re even better.”
On how the franchise’s history with struggling in the beginning of December makes this win more important:
“This team is obviously within this franchise but the history has nothing to do with this team. I think it says a lot about where this team has grown from last year. If you take a look at our 12th game last year versus this year. I think we talk about it a lot, but talk is just talk. What I’ve seen is coaches and players fully commit to the idea of getting better and it says a lot about the team because everything that you see last week, this week is an accumulation of deliberate intent and guys are getting better at their craft. Really in all three phases there’s a lot of growth and I think that is imperative if you’re trying to win games down the stretch and when you have the choice of winning or the season being over in that area of the season, that comes regardless of what team you are. It gives you the chance to really utilize the entire season of growth and do something special that everyone wants to do. The one thing that I really feel from the team and what makes me so happy to come to work and so confident on Sundays is this team doesn’t care who we’re playing. It doesn’t have an effect on how they prep and I know through experience that those residuals are paramount, huge and dictates how your season goes.”
On the injuries to LB Jerome Baker and T Terron Armstead:
“Don’t really know. I do know Terron was still available, so that kind of gives you the severity of it to what that looks like for this next week. I’ll need more time for that. Jerome’s the same thing. It’s really early. The vibe that I have is that it’s not season-ending but we need to really evaluate that the next couple days.”
On OL Rob Hunt aggravating the same hamstring:
“Yep. He did. Not to the same degree that the injury he originally had was but it was a re-aggravation. The severity of that time will tell.”
On Washington’s defense in person versus on tape:
“That’s something that when you have on the front end of the season some large statistical outputs you get used to team to team. You end up seeing something different than you prepared for and we’re well versed in that. We kind of expected that with the changes that went on. I’d seen their defenses before but knowing which one’s they were going to employ they were a little more consistent than usual. I think they did a good job. It took us making some serious plays for that statistical output but they also got us behind the chains a good amount. They were convicted and playing pretty hard so it was a challenge none the less. We’re fortunate that our guys made some plays in critical times. Really the group got comfortable with what we were seeing and probably one of the most proud moments of the entire game was that last series when you see that accumulation of understanding what they were being defended by to put that through a team drive together. It was pretty cool because it was hard to do that, which is a credit to their defense.”
On the pick-six:
“Phenomenal. It was awesome. It was knowing the situation that’s critical in allowing players to play aggressive is on the shoulders of the coaches and I thought when you have players that are prepared and locked in and know what the opponent is trying to do, to be able to aggressively get in that screen lane is something that on top of that for it not to be a PBU or a batted ball but a catch is a huge momentum swing it’s a huge play in the game but my favorite part of that play is it’s not just showing up on Sunday. Stuff that we saw in practice and they talk situational football or serious start, earned first down all the different things you can kind of get a beat on stuff and shoot your guns when you have conviction of preparation.”
On the team honoring LB Jaelan Phillips with their playing today:
“Absolutely. I think they did enough to make Jaelan [Phillips] smile which is important to them. This is a very tight group that doesn’t just live in their own experience, that really shares the journey with each other and each individual teammate and knowing the disappointment I don’t think they wanted anything to do with letting Jaelan down. This team and the organization is extremely important to Jaelan. He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do here so they took ownership of that and made sure to match what he brings which is a lot.”
On planning his offense with speed and adding Hill:
“No. We already had [WR Jaylen] Waddle and speed is something that throughout my career has been very beneficial to what we’ve been able to do and when you get the opportunity to trade for one of the best players in the National Football League from an organizational standpoint I was really proud of the fact that we didn’t blink at all and did what we had to do to do and then you kind of just lean into that. I’ve always kind of looked at football and the offense as very fluid kind of schematic thing where you’re adjusting to what your players are. The offense wasn’t really planned that way. I didn’t really have any hard plans of what it was going to be. I had some philosophical beliefs in certain things but it’s easy when you’ve been fortunate enough to be around a lot of different players and different scenarios. When you have speed like that you try to use it to the best of your ability and make defenses defend the entire field which is a space creator and very helpful for us.”
Jaylen Waddle – December 3, 2023
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023
Postgame – Washington Commanders
Miami Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle
On how it feels to beat a team that they were expected to beat:
“I think every win is special. Every win is hard in this league. So, coming in, especially in away games, it’s always going to be tough against a good team. It’s going to be tough. We have expectations for ourselves that we are going to go out there and play to our standard. We expect a good result.”
On how he thinks WR Tyreek Hill liked sitting the entire fourth quarter:
“Nah man. Reek [Tyreek Hill] is a competitive guy. So anytime that he’s sitting, it’s probably because they told him to sit out. But go crazy man. You can do what you want.”
On how important Hill’s first touchdown was:
“It’s extremely important. Away games, on the first drive it’s always important to go out and try to play with the lead. So, him getting us started was big, especially on the big play, which was like 70 or 80 yards. It makes the defense have to reconsider their game plan with hitting the ball early over the top.”
On how important it is that the team starts December with a win after a losing streak last December:
“It’s extremely important. It just shows the caliber of guys that we have on the team. Our coaches, our leaders, our captains. It speaks for everybody that is leading the team and commanding the team in the right way. We know how important December wins are and ultimately one play in the game can play into how important December wins are.”
Jalen Ramsey – December 3, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023
Postgame – Washington Commanders
Miami Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey
On what a good start on offense does for the defense:
“It’s great! We are always excited when they play up to their standard and explosive the way we know they are. That always helps and we try to match their energy. We were on the field first today, so we tried to set the tone first and then they matched our tone.”
On how LB Andrew Van Ginkel’s pick-six lifted the defense:
“We were turned up all game but that was a big play and a big moment. He obviously studied film, knew the play, jumped it and took it to the house. That was a big play in the game for us—good defensive touchdown.”
On how much fun he’s having playing football for the Miami Dolphins?
“Playing football is extremely fun, playing football on this team is extremely fun, and playing football with this secondary is extremely fun. I’m extremely blessed to be in this position and to be around these guys.”
On how he took Commanders WR Terry McLaurin out of the game:
“We didn’t have a game plan to take anybody out of the game. We just played whatever [Defensive Coordinator] Coach Vic [Fangio] called.”
On how they limited Commanders QB Sam Howell:
“Same thing, we just played the calls, played a handful of man and we were able to have sticky coverage. Howell was able to get a few off-schedule throws, scramble around, get it to his running backs, but we felt good and confident on the outside. We were hoping he was going to throw it around a little bit more, throw to his receivers like he had been the last couple of games, but I guess he wasn’t feeling it.”
Raheem Mostert – December 3, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023
Postgame – Washington Commanders
Miami Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert
On how he felt about the rollercoaster touchdown dance:
“Awesome. It was perfect execution. We did it one time in practice and executed it very well.”
On what is working so well for him this season:
“First off, I have to always give kudos to the offensive line. We’ve had some mixes and matches here and there. The guys have bought in and you can only thank them. They do a hell of a job. Me, I’m just trying to use my vision as best as possible and try to make that big play.”
On how important it is that the team starts December with a win after a losing streak last December:
“It’s very important. Then, you also need to think that with December ball, that’s when teams have their best ball. For us, we just need to keep this stride going and take it one week at a time. That’s all we can do. We can’t focus on the end of the year. We can only focus on what’s going on now and moving forward to this week.”
Xavien Howard – December 3, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023
Postgame – Washington Commanders
Miami Dolphins CB Xavien Howard
On what this win means to the team:
“It means a lot. We take it one day at a time. We’re 9-3, we have our next game Monday, so we have to keep going and keep striving.”
On how special the defense is:
“We’re special, we can be special, guys on the back end were starting to pick it up and make plays, but the whole defense is special. One of our main guys [LB Jerome Baker] went down, [LB] Duke [Riley] went in there and balled, [DE Emmanuel] Ogbah did too.”
On the importance of having players who can step up after an injury:
“Next man up mentality, that’s how we have to go about it. This is a tough game and people go down but the next man up.”
De’Von Achane – December 3, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023
Postgame – Washington Commanders
Miami Dolphins RB De’Von Achane
On how it feels to get extended playing time and play how he did today:
“Yeah. It’s always good when you’re on the field. Just being on the field and making plays and being productive. So, I’m just glad that I can come back and be 100% and help this team win.”
On how much it ate at him being out for a couple of games:
“Yeah, that’s mostly the hardest part. You know, rehab and sitting out. You know the game of football like I do. You always want to be on the field. You know that injuries are a part of this game, so I am just glad that I can come back healthy.”
On when in the game he started to feel like himself again:
“Once you get in. You know, a couple tackles the first time you get the ball. After that, you go back to being yourself. You go back to being you.”
On what stood out to him the most in his performance:
“I’d probably say the last drive, because of the amount of carries I got. The fact that I wasn’t tired, I was like ‘Okay, I’m back. Like I’m not hurt. I’m 100%’.”
