Darren Rizzi – June 5, 2017
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Monday, June 5, 2017
Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi
(Has WR Jakeem Grant caught every punt that has been kicked his way this spring?) – “Has he caught every single one? No. He has not caught every single one, but he has certainly looked much improved. The nice thing right now in camp is we have two punters – a righty and a lefty – which I’m not going to say was purposeful, but it’s great to have a guy from each side and getting as much work as possible. He’s out there every day. He was a little disappointed … He just looked at me like I was crazy because our JUGS machine – when it’s wet at the end of practice, you can’t shoot the JUGS – and he was looking at me like, ‘What are we doing?’ because he had been doing it every day. He has been catching a ton of balls. (He) looks a lot more comfortable back there. Again, we’ll see how that progresses moving forward. But (he is) certainly a lot more comfortable than he was a year ago. He’s certainly still a work in progress, but looking good.”
(We saw WR Drew Morgan back for returns today. He did just a few at Arkansas. Do you think he’s well equipped for that if you need him, and what else can he do on special teams?) – “What we’ve been doing is every day we’re working more and more guys in, trying to get as many people as possible to fill the role. Some days we’ve had Kenyan Drake back there, Senorise Perry, Drew Morgan – we mix a bunch of different guys. We obviously know Jarvis (Landry) can do it. Kenny Stills has done it before in his career. Drew is one of those guys that had done it in college, not a lot of reps in games, had done it a lot in practice – kind of like Jarvis, to be honest with you, and Jakeem both coming in. We’re really working Drew at a bunch of different spots right now. He’s working a little personal protector on the punt team, working a little bit of gunner. Really what we’re doing with all of the rookies right now is finding out what their skill set is and what their positions are. (We are) working a lot of techniques stuff right now, a lot of fundamentals, trying to get a lot of those guys caught up on things that they haven’t done before. A lot of these rookies have never done what we’re doing before. But he’s a guy that can definitely … It looks like he’s fairly comfortable back there, more than most. We’ll see moving forward how he does as well.”
(You had a fair amount of in-game responsibilities beyond special teams last year, game management stuff. Is that still the case in 2017?) – “As far as I know. (laughter)”
(Did you do anything this offseason to study tendencies, stuff like that?) – “Yes. What we do every offseason is we look at a bunch of different situations. We really go back and look at all the reviewable plays. That’s one of the things that I’m charged with during the game – myself, (Assistant Special Teams Coach) Marwan Maalouf. We go back and look at all the reviewable plays from last year. That’s one example. All the plays we lost review or won review, we go back and look at all kind of stuff. We look at a bunch of different 2-minute situations. We go back and look at a bunch of ones we thought we might have played different. We go back and look at good timeouts, bad timeouts, a bunch of those different things. We spend a good part of the offseason looking at a whole bunch of things in terms of situational football. There’s a bunch of different special teams things that come up – as we all know – situationally. So yes, we spend a lot of time during the offseason doing that.”
(Was there one or two areas of improvement you saw that you’ve enacted those changes or will enact those changes this year?) – “We try to play those reviews out as if we were live, in-game, because you don’t have that much time to make a decision. Ironically enough last year, we didn’t have a ton of reviewable plays (because) just the way the games transpired, and then we had two big ones in one game. We had like a drought for a long, long time where we didn’t have any. And then all of a sudden it was the Jets game where we had the Dion Sims non-touchdown turned touchdown, and then we reviewed the spot on the third down, made it a fourth down and they didn’t get it. It ended up being two huge plays. And then all of a sudden, we went into a drought again. You never know when they’re going to come up. So we try to practice those as if they’re live. We’ll put them on the big screen and say, ‘Right here, are you thinking review, not review? Challenge, not challenge?’ You try to practice as much as you can. It’s hard, because it’s hard to do it in practice. You can’t really practice reviewing a challenge in practice. With that as well – like we’re practicing right now – myself, I’ll watch the offensive and defensive plays and look at the sideline plays and the end zone plays, and you’re saying to yourself … You’re always trying to work yourself, because you have to practice it like anybody else. You’re saying to yourself as you’re watching it live, ‘Is that one I would’ve reviewed? Is that the spot I would’ve reviewed? Are his feet inbounds? Was it a catch through the end zone?’ All those different things that you can review. It requires a lot of film work and really trusting your instincts. Fortunately – knock on wood – we’ve been pretty good with it in the last couple years, and hopefully it continues.”
(How much of a factor was special teams last year in terms of WR Rashawn Scott being active ahead of WR Leonte Carroo late in the season? What exactly can Leonte do well on special teams as far as what units he’s on and can do well?) – “I’ll start with Rashawn Scott. He’s a guy that progressively had gotten better throughout last year. We watched him all through camp and then through the season on the practice squad. He’s a guy that was arrow up all year, always practiced hard, always felt like he was on the verge of breaking into the 53(-man roster). We felt like at the end of the year, we went for a little bit of a change up those last few games. We thought Rashawn gave us a little bit more at that point than Carroo did. It was obviously a joint decision between the offensive staff, myself and (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase. Moving forward, you come into the offseason like this, everybody is at a clean slate. Leonte Carroo – I just call him Carroo; I don’t even mess with his first name. I don’t know why I’m trying. Carroo is moving a lot better. He has actually looked like he has really taken the offseason seriously in terms of movement and moving around. Like I said, we have those guys doing the same stuff everyone is doing right now. They’re all working the same types of things. Carroo, I think, played about 100 plays last year roughly – give or take a few on special teams. Obviously, he had a little more experience than Rashawn, but I was really happy with the way Rashawn played. It’s a good battle right now. We got a battle going on at that receiver position, in that room. Just like the guys we added – Isaiah Ford and the undrafted guys. Right now, those guys are all competing for those fourth, fifth, sixth spots, whatever you want to call it. They’re all in the mix right now.”
(A question for you in your role as Associate Head Coach and somebody who has been here for a while: If this team is better than last year, would it be because it has got more talent? Would it be because of system or because it executes better? What would you say?) – “D: All the above. (laughter) I’m not trying to be funny. It’s one of those, I think year after year … There has been … You mentioned the years I’ve been here. I’ve been on, I think, teams that were 7-9 that might’ve had more talent than we had last year. I think last year, we played well when we had to within the game. We played well when we had to within the week. I think Coach Gase did a hell of a job last year of once we started off the beginning of the season 1-3, of tightening the ship around here and getting guys, bringing them in a little bit, reeling them in a little bit, and we run off a bunch of games there. Did we acquire some talent? Yes, I think we definitely acquired some talent in the offseason between the draft and free agency, so that has helped us. We kept a lot of our own players. I think a year now in the system with all the players in the program – whether it’s offense … Defensively, we’re still going to have some changes, but there is still a lot of the same terminology, so the guys that (have been) around, there’s not that much that’s going to change. I’m sure (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) is going to have his own certain stuff that he’s going to do. And then special teams-wise. I think when you’re moving forward from Year 1 to Year 2, that’s going to be a huge factor that the guys have been in. I think where we are right now compared to where we were a year ago systematically, programmatically and organizationally, is heads and tails from where we were. I think all of those things that you mentioned, I think it’s a little bit of everything. I really do. I think that whole thing gathers together, makes a recipe for success moving forward. At the same time, when the season comes, we’re going to have to play well in those games – in those crunch times – and that’s what we did well. You look back … You guys know the thing. You look back at our games last year, and we had big plays at big times. The Rams game, the Chargers game, the Jets game – you go on and on and on about these games we won in the fourth quarter – and the Bills game. You look at all those games where maybe in years past, we didn’t win those games. That’s kind of how I view it from my seat. The couple years we went 7-9 or whatever, we didn’t win those games. We lost those games. This year, we made the plays to win. Guys stepped up for whatever reason. I don’t think it is one thing. I really don’t. I think it’s a combination of things. I think a little bit of it is all the things that you mentioned. They could all factor in, for sure.”
(Do you think winning the close games is a reflection of the players, the coaches?) – “I think it’s a reflection of everybody – winning those close games last year. We didn’t win it one way. It wasn’t like the offense won every game with a 2-minute drive. It wasn’t like the defense held them every … It was something different every week. It was us driving down the field against the Rams to beat them. It was Kiko Alonso intercepting a ball. It was Kenyan Drake running back a kick return. It was Andrew Franks making a field goal with time running (out) up in Buffalo, and then Jay Ajayi having a big run. We did it a different way, and it was different people every week. It wasn’t the same guy. That was the most impressive thing to me. I think that is a combination of coaching and playing. It wasn’t one person.”
(Do you think that’s sustainable, because you look at – over history – those close games tend to even out over the long enough timeline? Do you think this team can go – whatever it was – [8-2] in one-score games?) – “It seemed like my first two years we were always on the short end, so I think we’re still making up for them. (laughter) Do I think it’s sustainable? I do. We have the same people in the building. We’ve added some great pieces to the puzzle. Again, it comes down to playing well in those crunch times. That’s really the bottom line. To me, that’s in any sport. You look at the NBA Finals, you watch the Stanley Cup, you’re watching baseball – whatever it is, it’s playing well in those (games). The talent sometimes at that point evens out. (In) the NFL, there’s a whole bunch of talent. The bottom line is, ‘Who’s playing well? Who’s executing? Who’s making those plays in the fourth quarter, in the times it matters?’ We did that last year. I think moving forward … I think the one thing (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase has done a great job of here during these OTAs is reminding our guys about not being complacent, remember the complacency thing. Everything we got last year we earned. I think he has really done a great job of reminding our players that is a huge factor. I haven’t seen (complacency) at all. I have seen our guys going out every day, working hard. I’ve seen a great work ethic even today out in the rain. We flipped the (practice) scripts around a little bit and threw some curveballs at them. They handled it very well. I really like where we are. I like where our veteran guys are. I like where they’re leading the rookies. This is the first time I can remember in a long time where I’m going out to do drills, and I have the veterans out in front telling the rookies what to do, and I’m standing back being able to watch and evaluate. That’s a comforting thing as a coach, because we have a lot of veteran guys that have been here and know what we’re looking for. That’s a really, really good thing.”
(You teased us with more talented Dolphins teams. What year are you leaning towards?) – “(laughter) Come on now, you know I’m not going to go there. You’re not going to get me to go … You guys have covered the team for a long time. You guys know. We had a lot of teams here in my years – I’ve been here eight years – there have been some teams where we had to win at the end of the season where we didn’t. We had to win some big games that we didn’t. We can probably point to two or three different years. We can sit here and talk about a bunch of different years, and last year we did. Again, going back to what I said before – not to beat a dead horse – but we made plays when we had to last year. We made those plays in the fourth quarter, and in past years we didn’t. That’s what I was getting at.”
(Getting back to WR Jakeem Grant for a moment. You mentioned earlier that he was working with P Matt Darr in the offseason. I know that’s one reason he’s doing better. Can you give us a sense of, for example, how many balls he’s catching a day? Is there anything technique-wise that you’ve done to improve his ball security?) – “One of the biggest things is going back and watching your video, obviously, from the year before. We videotape everything that he does – when we’re allowed to, when the rules allow. He’s watching the videos every day. He goes out, (and) he probably catches about 30-40 balls prior to practice. He probably catches about 10 to 15 within practice, catches another 30 or 40 after practice again. He’s up there. Let’s on average say he’s catching 75 punts a day, either off of a live foot or off of a JUGS machine, simulated punt off a JUGS machine. That’s during now. During the OTAs here, he’ll catch about 750 balls. When you factor in the couple days for minicamp, he’s going to catch roughly somewhere in the vicinity of 1,000 balls, punts here just in the spring and then we bring it to training camp. What has he done differently? I think just the experience. We talked a lot about that last year. It’s just one of those things. Punt returning is one of those things (where) if you haven’t done it before, it’s a very difficult task. It’s not something that’s going to come natural to a lot of people. I’ve seen some great, great, great talented players that couldn’t catch a punt. A bunch of them. Hall of Famers. It wasn’t in their DNA, if you will. It’s one of those deals where it’s a certain practice time. It takes, really, an awful lot of practice time and getting a guy used to it. That’s what he has done. He knew that he couldn’t just take the offseason off and come back in OTAs and pick up where you left off. That’s not how it works. That’s why he got Matt (Darr) down to Texas. That’s why he took it upon himself to work on it all offseason so that he felt like he was continuing his trend of improvement and not having to pick up where he left off or start over or any of those things. I think he has been really mature about it. I think I might’ve mentioned it the last time I talked to you guys: he was the one that told me that he was disappointed in himself in our exit interviews. He really didn’t feel like he put his best foot forward, and that’s why he really went out this offseason and put his mind to it to work at it.”
(With Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke, you’ve been here with him on staff for a year. What have you noticed about him that could possibly translate to becoming a good defensive coordinator?) – “I’ve known Matt a long time. We go way back to when we used to work the Boston College camp way back when I was a college coach. I’ve known him for a while as a person. The first thing I’m going to say is he’s a very intelligent guy. He’s a guy that’s … Obviously, he’s an Ivy League graduate. But more than that, he’s football intelligent – because I’ve known some Ivy League grads that weren’t that football smart either. Nothing against the Ivy League. No shots. (laughter) All kidding aside, he’s a very intellectual guy; but he’s football smart. Great football IQ. I think his relation to the players is great. I watched him last year as a linebacker coach and look what he did with Kiko last year on an individual basis. A guy that came in and maybe a lot of people cast off and he got him back into a leadership role in what he did with him. Watching him individually with his group, watching him associate with the players and watching him with the entire defense, I think his intellect is obviously going to help him in that, his football IQ, his relationship with the players – all those things combined will make him a very good defensive coordinator. There’s no reason for me to believe at all that he’s not going to do a great job and have a lot of success.”
Isaac Asiata – June 5, 2017
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Monday, June 5, 2017
G Isaac Asiata
(I know you guys liked the rain, huh?) – “Miami rain is different than Utah rain, I’ll tell you that. That was a tsunami. That thing was crazy. I’ve never got rained on like that before. That was fun.”
(Do you get a whole lot of rain in Utah?) – “It’s rain, but it’s like light rain. Our heavy rain (in Utah) is probably like a little drizzle here in Miami.”
(What was it like practicing in it?) – “It was cool. I mean it wasn’t hot, so that was nice. (laughter) I can’t complain.”
(How have you held up now three weeks into OTAs, going head to head with the better defensive linemen in the league?) – “Yes. I’m just getting caught up to the speed. I mean it’s really, really fast paced. It’s kind of like when you go from high school to college and you’ve got to get adjusted to the college speed; but then now, like everybody’s fast. Everybody is the best at what they do and so it’s tenfold. Going into week three, just learning … I’m trying more to dissect the playbook. I’m trying to learn my assignments so that I don’t have to think, it becomes second nature and I can just go out there play football.”
(Have you been asked to block DT Ndamukong Suh yet?) – “Yes. I’ve been asked to block Suh and he’s Suh for a reason. He has that, I guess that credential on him of being one of the best for a reason. I respect him for that. Every time I get to go against him I know I’m going against the best and that’s only going to make me better.”
(How many wins do you have?) – “Probably none. (laughter) But in the effort category, I’ve probably got some good effort, so that’s fine.”
(You were working with a lot at right guard. What’s that transition like for you considering you were a left guard?) – “They’re just trying to have me play … learn all three spots. For me at Utah, I played right and I played left, and I played a little tackle too. It’s been a while since I’ve played (right) guard. I like playing either side or wherever they want me to play at.”
(The last time we talked to you, it sounded like you were sort of, of the mindset that you felt that you needed to earn your stripes before you did the face paint thing. So where are you now? How will you know when it’s time to start doing that?) – “When I earn the spot on the active roster. When I earn some playing time. I feel still I haven’t earned anything. I don’t think I’ll earn anything until we’re into training camp and even then, for me, I feel like respect, especially from these veteran guys, especially on the O-line and the rest of the team, that’s everything to me – for me to earn their trust and the coaches trust. So I still feel like I have a long way to go and I just got to keep taking it one day at a time.”
(How much work have you gotten with the starters with QB Ryan Tannehill’s group?) – “A little bit. I’ve been thrown in the mix. Like I said, they’re trying to put me … make me learn everything and just make myself more valuable, trying not to pigeon-hole myself a little bit.”
(What did they tell you guys about when you get a sticker on your helmet?) – “They haven’t said anything. I noticed that the first time we went out there that I didn’t have my sticker and I thought it was great. I thought it was a great thing to have to earn the Dolphins sticker and I’m all for it.”
(You have a pretty big personality. Are you allowed to let it out a little bit or not?) – “Yes, like I said, I’m a cheerful guy. You said it, I have a big personality; but when I go out there, I kind of try to stay more low-key. Nobody really knows me. I don’t need to draw any attention to myself. I just need to go out there and work.”
(I heard you went to Hard Rock Stadium with DE Charles Harris. So how was that experience just taking that in for the first time?) – “An NFL stadium is definitely different than an NCAA stadium, I know that much. When I went on the field for the first time, it was an overwhelming feeling. That stadium is beautiful. The Hard Rock Stadium is amazing. I look forward to playing games on Sunday in that stadium.”
Adam Gase – June 5, 2017
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Monday, June 5, 2017
Head Coach Adam Gase
(In regards to DE Charles Harris, on the days we’re here, he seems quite disruptive. Is that a consistent thing and what’s the next level for him in his development?) – “It is consistent. He’s really done a good job of trying to implement the techniques we’re asking him to do and doing everything in the run game (and) passing game exactly what he’s coached to do. It’s hard to predict how far we can take and what’s going to happen when we get in pads. That’s going to be a different world just because we’ll be able to do some different things offensively as far as the run game goes and some of the trap game type things. That will be a new world for him with what we’re going to do in training camp. I think it’s just going to be an evolving process for him. He’s just going to keep learning and see how fast he can adjust to the pro game.”
(When it rains outside, do you have a policy? I’m sure if there’s lightning in the area, you’re not going to be out there. Do you have a policy of sometimes we’ll stay out or we’ll always stay out?) – “I think it’s just what are we trying to accomplish for the day. Today was a good experience for us. (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) and myself talked about it once it started coming down pretty good of ‘we might not stay on the script here.’ We have some philosophies that we like to do when we do have these kind of situations come up. Play calling starts changing; the way we play defense starts changing. We both had to make those adjustments through practice so really the scripts kind of go out the window. You start calling it like a game.”
(How would you say the team handled the rain?) – “I thought it was good. It was really good to see the guys just never batting an eye. We had guys staying on their feet and we weren’t slipping and sliding all over the place. The grass held up well. It was good for us to go through.”
(Was today a blitz day defensively?) – “Not necessarily. Every day is just … We don’t really over-emphasize our periods. We don’t want our guys kind of cheating a drill. We just call them team periods. (Defensive Coordinator) Matt (Burke) and myself kind of choreograph what we’re looking to do. When we’re doing red zone, it’s pretty obvious you can tell when we’re going to be doing that. I thought the guys handled … They don’t know it is coming and then all of a sudden we start dialing up a few more blitzes. We’re very careful with what we’re really doing because we don’t want to start doing things where guys are stunting all over the place and then you get bodies on the ground.”
(Since OTAs began, how would you describe the way the defense has performed overall?) – “They’ve done a really good job. The speed has been outstanding. The coverage has been tight. Any time we have pressure, our fits and where guys are supposed to go has been really good. It seems like they have a pretty good grasp of the playbook right now. We’re just hoping we’ll keep improving. We just don’t want to get stuck on ‘Hey, we feel pretty good.’ We have to keep finding ways to improve.”
(Entering yet another week, what has the learning curve been like for the rookies? Are they grasping what you’re trying to teach them?) – “They’ve done a pretty good job. They’ve gotten a ton of reps. They’ve handled it well. I see those guys are very engaged in meetings. It says something about these guys that have either been drafted or found by the scouts as an undrafted free agent to where that emphasis of let’s make sure we’re getting the right kind of guys that can fit into our culture and understand what we’re looking for and listen to how we want to do our note taking, studying, in the meetings how our guys are learning. I thought what (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and the scouting staff has put together has really been beneficial for us this spring.”
(Is it a positive mental hurdle for QB Ryan Tannehill to clear with the slick field out there with his knee?) – “I think you guys are thinking about that a little more than we are or he is. He’s fine.”
(What makes this group of running backs unique, in your opinion, and is the approach different with the success you had last season going into this season?) – “I think it’s a very, very tight group. That whole group, they’re happy for each other’s success. If one guy is not on the field, you never see a guy standing by himself upset he’s not in the game. They are always kind of in it for each other. It’s pretty cool to watch over this last year then heading into the spring, how much they pull for each other. I think we’ve started something good last year with our running game. Jay (Ajayi) has really done a great job of taking the lead with that group and becoming really our bell cow running back. Those other guys are all trying to figure out ‘Where do I fit in best for us?’ They’re all ready to go if something would happen and they had to be the next guy. I really like that group and love the way they’re working right now.”
(When you get the rain coming down like it did today, do you almost embrace that as throwing the scripts out the window but you’re going to have to deal with something like that during a game. Do you almost embrace that as a challenge?) – “I personally love it because now it becomes a real game for us. We’ll see how our guys react to it and understand what we’re trying to do. We saw last year in the Arizona game, you have to keep your feet. The ball was popping up, popping all over the place. We were getting turnovers. We did a fairly good job of protecting the ball in that game and that’s probably what helped us win that thing. Just to get this experience of … Those balls today, it’s not like we got so many of them to where you’re constantly having a fresh ball. Those things were pretty water logged. I know (Equipment Manager) Joe (Cimino) was trying to change them out as much and as quickly – his staff is trying to get those things as dry as possible. But we kind of want that wet ball situation and to make it as hard as possible for our players.”
(Was there anything significant with either G/T Laremy Tunsil or S Reshad Jones?) – “No. It’s just I’m being soft and holding them out.”
(Do you have a timetable regarding the whole thing with the rookies and the decals on the helmets?) – “You guys are making a bigger deal of that than I am. We thought it was something different. We just wanted to make a point of everything needs to be earned here. Our veterans have really embraced that to where I think they appreciate that they know that rookies don’t just come in and are handed things. Every guy in that room knows the best players will play and nothing will be given to anybody.”
(Is G/T Laremy Tunsil injured?) – “Yes, but we’re alright. It’s nothing significant.”
(G Isaac Asiata, he played mostly left guard and now is being cross-trained. Is that just for the overall development of the line or do you envision him possibly contending for playing time?) – “We cross-train everyone because when you only have seven guys up on Sundays and one guy goes down, that can cause a lot of chaos. We always want guys to be able to play multiple spots. I know I’ve talked about this before. Just moving from right to left or left to right or to center, or if you get bumped out to tackle, it’s a completely different line of sight for you. It’s a completely different aspect you’re looking at things (from). So we’re always cross-training our guys. We try to get as many guys that can snap as possible because, as you guys know, when you lose your center and you don’t have a bunch of reliable guys in that area, it can be very costly for you. We’re always cross-training guys at guard; we’re always cross-training guys at tackle and the same thing at center, so we can find as many guys as possible to play all of those positions so if we do have an injury, we’re able to move some pieces around and we don’t feel like we’re going to be in a big hole.”
(Has G Isaac Asiata held his own so far?) – “I think so. It’s harder to tell with the linemen because they are at a disadvantage. There’s no pads. You feel like you’re on an island a lot of times because, especially with our d-line, those guys can get by you pretty quick, so you have to be pretty quick on your feet.”
(What is your comfort level with the backup left tackle situation? Is it T Sam Young? What are your other options?) – “We’re moving a lot of guys around. It’s too early for me to really say ‘This is the guy that’s going to back up the left tackle.’ We’ll just keep moving guys around and then whatever we find out our best formula is going into the season, we’ll make that decision later. Right now, we’re just trying to get guys reps.”
