Kenny Stills – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins WR Kenny Stills (transcribed by Lexie Balboni)
(You’re at 5-4 now, nine games in. With all you’ve been through what does that say about this team?) – “I mean we just come back every week, strap the helmet up and go out there and play. We won this week and we get another opportunity next week. We just take it one week at a time and try to figure out ways to win games.”
(Aside from those penalties and everything, what else maybe were the Jets doing that hurt the offenses rhythm?) – “No. I mean they did exactly what we thought they were going to do. Sometimes guys get beat. They get paid too. They did a good job of executing when we didn’t.”
(How did you feel physically today?) – “I felt all right. Good enough to play.”
(Were you pretty comfortable as the week went on that you would be able to go today?) – “I’ve been doing this for a while. I’ve only missed two games in six years. When I want to play, I have a good idea of where my body is at. (Head) Coach (Adam Gase) and I were on the same page about it. I worked out this morning before the game and I was good to go and he trusts me to make that decision so we went on with it.”
T.J. McDonald – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins S T.J. McDonald (transcribed by Daniel Chavez)
(When you have a four interception performance like that, is it just a matter of time or is it something you guys were doing defensively?) – “I think it was just way overdue. We definitely needed that. We needed to get back on track, but we just had to knuckle down this week, get on the little details and that’s what we did.”
(How important was this performance on defense because of the last two weeks and because of all the injuries you guys have had?) – “It was very important, important for us. Like we’ve been saying all week, this fire won’t go out on its own. You’ve got to put it out. We know what we’re capable of. We showed it earlier in the year, got off track for a couple of weeks, and I think we are right where we need to be.”
(Is there anything in particular you guys were doing against Jets QB Sam Darnold to sort of allow him to throw balls directly to you guys?) – “He’s a young quarterback. Nothing is given. We took all of the interceptions that we got. Whether it’s disguised or whether it’s messing with our look or doing things that are different from weeks before, that’s just credit to our preparation throughout the week.”
Jerome Baker – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins LB Jerome Baker (transcribed by Paige Jefferson)
(Describe that pick-6.) – “My d-line did all the work. He threw it up. I came and got it and I ran as fast I (could) to the end zone. That’s pretty much it.”
(What’s that feel like when the crowd is behind you and you’re running and you’ve got real estate in front of you?) – “There’s nothing like it. It’s just the sweetest feeling ever, especially getting into the end zone and you see all your brothers run towards you. (You) get a little tired, but it’s all worth it.”
(What is it that you’re holding there?) – “This is the ball. This is it – my first one. I’m very thankful.”
(What did it mean to the defense to have a bounce back effort like this after the past couple of weeks?) – “It means everything. When we just execute and do our jobs and play together, we can be one of the best defenses out there. We’re just happy to be back in our Dolphins defense and I’m grateful.”
Ja’Wuan James – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – New York Jets
Miami Dolphins T Ja’Wuan James (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(How wild of a day was it that you felt the need, because of T Laremy Tunsil and all that, to be out there?) – “Yeah, as soon as I came back in, he went down. I’m like ‘Man, it’s crazy.’ But like I said everybody, especially the defense, did a good job today trying to get us this ‘W’ and that’s what we got. Now we can go watch the film, correct it, get everybody back healthy hopefully, and move on.”
(Are you pleased with the offensive line right now?) – “I feel like with the o-line, you’re never really pleased as an offensive lineman because technically, we do so much technical. We do so much with who we have to go mentally, so there’s always sometimes errors. We’re never going to be completely perfect, so we’re searching every week to better ourselves throughout this process, and then at the end, we can look at what we were; but right now we just have to keep our head down and just keep working and getting better.”
(But when you take everything into account, all the injuries, guys who have been lost for the season at the very beginning, do you feel like this group is pulling through?) – “I feel like we have a group of guys that play hard. That’s all you can ask for. No matter the circumstances, we have guys who come up each week (and) that’s what it seems like. Somebody’s back up or now somebody’s active, and they come in with the same mindset of if they have to play, it’s their opportunity. So I give everybody credit for how hard they play and how hard we practice every week.”
Frank Gore – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins RB Frank Gore (transcribed by Paige Jefferson)
(Today it was the defense stepping up. How great was it to see the defense play the way they played?) – “I was happy. They came out and they played well all game. We got the win and it was big, the way they played. The Jets, their defense is tough. They came to play and they played hard.
(I know before the game we were talking you said you wanted to get that rock. I mean you got it a bit but like we said the Jets defense came to play as well.) – “We tried. We had good plays. We had bad plays. That’s the game of football. You have good days, you have bad days. The main thing is we won. That’s the key of it.”
(You probably heard but you passed Barry Sanders – number 6 now in the all-time yards from scrimmage list. How does that feel?) – “I didn’t know that, but I’ll take it. Especially a guy who I looked up (to) when I was coming up as a kid. I felt like he was one of the top running backs I’ve ever (seen). I’m blessed by that.”
Akeem Spence – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – New York Jets
Miami Dolphins DT Akeem Spence (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(How was the defense able to respond today after the performances the last couple of weeks?) – “Just paying attention to detail. Our number one focus was just going out and stopping the run, and then reacting to everything else. Stopping the run, making them one-dimensional, then now our pass rush can work, now our back end can do the things they do well. That was pretty much it, just going back to the basics, not over-thinking things, not trying to do too much. Pretty much everybody just doing their job in the defensive call and just getting it done, play in and play out, one play at a time.”
(As the game progressed, did you feel any desperation coming from their end?) – “Oh yeah, because they were definitely trying to get some chunk plays, get on our side of the field, get things going, and it was a close game all the way until the end. They actually got the ball back and were moving it pretty well, so our defense had to stand up one more time, which we did. I was kind of proud we got to end the game on the field and go out there and close it out because that was really big for our defense after the last two weeks.”
(You put a lot of pressure on the Jets. Was there any trickery, or was it just constant pressure?) – “No, just me pushing the pocket, Cam (Wake) doing what he does outside well, and just everybody rushing together as one, and also our back end doing a great job covering and buying us that extra second that we need to slip off a guy and pounce on the quarterback. Just us constantly all day pressuring in his face making him bubble, overthrowing the receivers, and our back end picking it off, catching the ball when it was thrown to them. We just played a good brand of defense today and that’s just something that we had to get back to – not trying to do too much, not trying to cover up for a guy, everybody just doing their job and letting the calls play. Just playing defense.”
Brock Osweiler – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins QB Brock Osweiler
A little bit of a struggle out there this afternoon. How did you view it from your perspective?
BROCK OSWEILER: It was just a hard-fought and a tough football game. We knew going into this game offensively we had a great challenge. The Jets have a lot of good players on the defensive side of the ball. They play really hard. They are talented and they have a tough scheme to go against. We knew we were going to have a challenge today, and it was just a good, old-fashioned fight out there on the football field. It was fun.
It was fun?
BROCK OSWEILER: Yeah, we won.
Wasn’t the most fun game to watch.
BROCK OSWEILER: I’m sorry for that. (laughter)
You guys didn’t put up a ton of points, ton of yards, but no big defensive disasters either. Did you come out feeling like the offense played well today?
BROCK OSWEILER: I haven’t watched the tape yet. That’s just my immediate reaction. I’m sure there are things we could have done better as a unit. I know for starters, I missed a throw to Danny early in the game. That could have been a huge play for this team, potentially a touchdown. That’s something that I know I need to hit that throw. Danny did a great job getting down the seam, and I need to make that play. I’m sure everybody, when they watch the tape, they are going to have one or two plays like that. By no means do I think we played perfect. There’s always going to be things to clean up. It’s hard to win in the National Football League, especially a division game, especially when the opponents really know each other. The fact that we went out there today, we fought for 60 minutes, we got a win, I’m happy with it.
Talk a little bit about your defense. It was a game where both offenses were challenged trying to get points on the board, but defense came up, get 10 points off of takeaways from them and it certainly made the difference in the ballgame.
BROCK OSWEILER: Our defense was outstanding, they really were. Hats off to those guys. I think the coaching staff did a tremendous job all week with the guys getting the schemes in. And then for the players to go out there and execute today the way they did, create those turnovers like you’re talking about, the sacks were huge, that was really the difference in the game. Like I said, hats off to those guys. Tons of credit to the defense, and they had a tremendous day.
You ran for first down and looked like you were pretty nimble on your feet there as you were getting to the yard marker.
BROCK OSWEILER: Running is always my last option. (laughter) I’m always going to try to exhaust my progression, but sometimes it calls for a scramble and I’m just trying to do my job.
Talk a little bit about … First you lose JaWuan James for a while, he goes down, he’s able to come back in. And then you lose Laremy Tunsil on the very next series. Both your tackles at one point were out. Certainly a lot of adjustment at that point. How did you manage that?
BROCK OSWEILER: Injuries and adversity, that’s part of football, especially at this level. As you get into November and December, you’re going to have more and more injuries. To lose those guys definitely hurts us, but at the same time you don’t have time to think about it, you don’t have time to blink an eye. I think the guys who did come into the game, they fought hard and we did our best.
Green Bay next week. I would assume you’re going to prepare as you do as you’re going to get the start and go into that football game. What challenge does that present for you now that you guys are back over .500 with a chance maybe to get a little distance there?
BROCK OSWEILER: I would say every week in the National Football League is a challenge, whether you’re home or on the road. There’s no easy games. We know going to Green Bay is going to be a great challenge, but we look forward to that challenge and we invite that challenge. I’m sure the football team will have a great focus at practice all week just like we did last week and we’re going to try to build upon this. After Green Bay, we go into a bye, and we know as players that if we can go up there and get a win and go into that bye week and get healthy, we’re going to be sitting in a really good position.
How would you describe the character of your offensive line?
BROCK OSWEILER: Those guys fight. I’m the first one to say that football is never a perfect game. It’s just some days it’s just a good old street fight and that’s what it was today. The thing I love about those guys is they just keep playing. They just keep playing. There’s never a time in the huddle where anybody ever looks concerned or flustered. We are always organized. We’re talking. We’re communicating. We’re working as one and I love playing football with those guys.
What do you see when something goes wrong like Zach Sterup when he came in at right tackle? His guy got by him a couple times in the third quarter. Do you see the other guys picking him up or do you say something to him?
BROCK OSWEILER: People are always picking teammates up. That’s one thing Coach Gase and the front office staff have done a tremendous job here in Miami, they have put great people in the locker room and so there’s never people pointing fingers or getting on teammates. As teammates, we’re one unit out there and we’re always picking the other guy up, doing our best to help each other out because like I said, it’s a tough football game out there, and nobody’s perfect.
While you guys did enough to win the game offensively, their defense seemed to present some difficulties for you today. What were they doing that created a challenge for you guys offensively?
BROCK OSWEILER: It’s twofold. One, give credit where credit is due and the New York Jets, they have great players on their defense, they really do. Up front in the secondary, a lot of talented guys who constantly make plays and they play very hard as well. Then I think Coach Bowels and his defensive staff do a great job of creating the schemes that they play on defense. They always have you guessing. Very rarely do you see the same coverage back-to-back plays. They bring a lot of pressure. They move the front around and they are a good football team.
Minkah Fitzpatrick – November 4, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
Miami Dolphins S Minkah Fitzpatrick (transcribed by Daniel Chavez)
(Considering how much you guys defensively have struggled the last few weeks, what’s it like to put together a performance where you not only produce four interceptions and four sacks but limit the team to 88 yards rushing?) – “I think that’s a real good thing because we had to stop the rush and in turn we stopped the pass. If we do that, it just sets up everything else in the back end so holding them, a team that averages (a lot of) yards per game rushing is a great accomplishment. I think we needed it a whole lot going into this week playing the (Green Bay) Packers because they’re a great team.”
(Do you get a lot more of a feel for the game when you’re in there as much as you were and you’re not coming off in the base?) – “When you’re going off and on the field you don’t see everything, or it’s hard to see everything. You just lose the adrenaline rush, or something like that, that you may have. So just being on the field 100 percent of the time or close to 100 percent of the time, it felt good just being able to play out there.”
