Cameron Wake – September 9, 2018
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake
What’s it like to be a part of the longest game in NFL history?
CAMERON WAKE: You were out there. How was it?
We ran out of snacks in the press box.
CAMERON WAKE: We ran out of snacks in the locker room. Lots of peanut butter and jelly (sandwiches) and turkey sandwiches gone. Lots of carbs, so we will do some conditioning tomorrow.
How did you manage that time off and get yourself ready to go out not only once but twice? You were going to go and then not go, go and not go both times.
CAMERON WAKE: Yeah, there’s no manual for that. The first time it was kind of like … kind of in your mind, okay, this is halftime, and just they kept pushing it back 15 minutes, so you were always on edge the whole time. Now, the second one was like, ‘Alright, you guys are going to be in here for an hour and a half.’ It was just like, do I take my pads off, do I lay down, do I stand up, do I get on the bike? There’s really no way, so everybody was doing a lot of different things. But at the end of the day, they always talk about football is more mental than physical, and when you come out on the field, you have to be ready to go. I don’t know how it was out there for you guys, but they told us 7:30, and then all of sudden, they’re like, ‘Alright, in 10 minutes we’re going.’ So you’ve got guys laying down, some guys on the bike, some guys (looking at) plays on the (Surfaces), and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Alright, it’s go time.’ Like I said, the guys responded well. Everybody got back in the mode that they needed to be in, and obviously went out there and finished the game off.
Big plays in this game both offensively and defensively, and it seemed like it was a perfect opportunity for the pass rush, both tackles get knocked out at the start. How tough was it to try to put pressure on the guys? Seemed like they were trying to get the ball out quickly, whether it was QB Marcus Mariota or QB Blaine Gabbert, trying to get the ball out as quickly as they could.
CAMERON WAKE: Yeah, I think kudos to them. I probably would do the same thing if I was facing us. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to put that in the back of your mind and think each play, this is the opportunity we’re going to have to make them hold the ball. Even if they were going to go back, five-step drop, it doesn’t matter if they’re chipping or whatever protection they’re going, you’ve got to continue to fight and get your job done. Like I said, if they’re going to do that, I think that plays to our favor because we’ve got guys on the back end who are going to come up and put the ball on the ground. If it’s a day like that, I think those guys, as you see, like Reshad Jones and Kiko (Alonso) and those guys had a big day.
S Minkah Fitzpatrick made a big play at the goal line. He’s been out there a lot. I watched him today, and you look at him and he certainly doesn’t look like he plays like a rookie.
CAMERON WAKE: No, he’s definitely a tremendous asset. Like I said, we said to the guys that were going to play – the rookies – that ended when the training camp ended. We expect you to play at a high level, we expect you to play like a veteran football player, and he’s going out there, and he’s making plays every time he’s on the field, and he’s getting better every day. I told him his first NFL game had to be the longest one in NFL history; but we got a W, so I think it was all worth it.
Did you learn anything about this team today, or did it maybe solidify some things where you were maybe a little questionable?
CAMERON WAKE: No, not at all. I didn’t have a doubt, really. I feel like … I’ve been around these guys since April whatever day we started, and I kind of … I understood what the situation was going to be. It wasn’t going to be more … especially at that point, literally two hours of breaks sitting in your locker, kind of restart, start, restart – that’s a mental thing. And you’ve got to go out and snap back into it, get back on to hair on fire, blood boiling, getting after it football game. It was weird. There’s no manual, but at the end of the day, when they say ‘put the ball down, let’s play,’ I never doubted that our guys would be able to go out there and do it.
What was it like to see QB Ryan Tannehill come out and play like he did, his first game back?
CAMERON WAKE: Well, I heard him say, as well, we’ve been chasing him around since April. He’s been out there all preseason. So it didn’t really seem like his first game back because it’s probably portrayed, but obviously it was good to see him out there delivering the ball, making plays. Obviously he couldn’t wait. It’s been a while. Long overdue. But again, I think that his return, he did a good job.
Bobby McCain – September 9, 2018
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins CB Bobby McCain (transcribed by Paige Jefferson)
(What were the conversations like in here?) – “You know just about ball. We turned a couple of games on. Everybody got the wet stuff of them, changed. Just go back out and prepare because at the end we have to finish the game.”
(Was it hard to come out with that same intensity after two delays?) – “Not at all. Not at all. Not one bit.”
(How did you stay focused throughout the many delays that we had?) – “I just focused on ball. I just watched TV, watched the games that were on, the highlights and stuff. Like I said, we were in here for a little while so I got close with the teammates. Everybody just huddled up, and watched a little ball, and chilled out and waited until we could go back outside.
(What happened on the taunting?) – “I’m not really sure. I asked and the refs didn’t know either. I was celebrating with G5 (Reshad Jones) and it was a big huddle coming up around. I’m looking around. I don’t know what’s going. Somehow I’m right in the smack dab middle of it with my feet off the ground. I don’t know. At the end of the day, all that matters is that we got the win.”
Reshad Jones – September 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins S Reshad Jones (transcribed by Ken Mendonça)
(On staying focused for this game with two delays.) – “It was a long game, but guys stayed resilient. We did what it took to go out and win this football game.”
(What was the conversation like in here for those four hours you were spending?) – “We’ve been knew it was … (Head) Coach (Adam Gase) said all week there was going to be some adversity here, and it did come. When we went back out, we were prepared and ready to go.”
(Your first career two-pick game. You talked before the season that was something you hadn’t accomplished yet that you wanted to do. How exciting was that?) – “It was very exciting. It helped the team win a football game. But it wasn’t just me, it was a total team effort. The front seven played well. Those guys got after the quarterback, and I was just back there doing my job to make the play.”
Adam Gase – September 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Postgame – Tennessee Titans
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase
Needless to say, a bizarre game. You come away with a win. How did you manage it during those down times so that you were ready to come back and play the couple of times that you had to do it?
ADAM GASE: I thought the guys did a good job of transitioning from when we came in. They knew we had some time, guys just being able to take their shoulder pads off, just trying to get up every once in a while, move around. Guys stayed … they were hanging out and stayed engaged and talking about the game. There was a lot of time to burn.
When you go back before the first stop, they’re moving the ball down the field, and they go for it on fourth down. S Minkah Fitzpatrick comes up and makes a big play to keep them out of the end zone, and then you were able to go 98 yards and put it in the end zone. It speaks a lot for your football team being able to make that turnaround.
ADAM GASE: Yeah, that was good to see that we actually played off each other. That was the one time we did. We just … we need to take more … offensively take advantage of when our defense puts us in scoring position. We didn’t do that very well except for that one where they had the stop and we actually scored on it. We’ve got a lot of room for improvement, but that’s what the whole exercise is about.
Talk about QB Ryan Tannehill, what you saw out of him, his performance coming back for the first time after a year and a half away.
ADAM GASE: I thought he was good. We had it rolling there for a little bit. We’ll clean up some of the turnovers and maybe some of the mistakes. He didn’t make too many. It was good to see him back out there. He got knocked around a little bit, but did a good job of bouncing right back up.
A couple big plays from WR Kenny Stills, but S Reshad Jones with his interceptions really changed the course of the game for you I think at key times in this football game.
ADAM GASE: Yes, I mean, that’s why he’s a Pro Bowler. He seems to make the timely play, and he made a couple of them tonight. He made some big hits, and they had their run game going a little bit, and he made a really good play where he jumped in the hole there and had a really good tackle. You know, it’s good to see our better players really stepping up in those key moments.
Did guys eat during the break?
ADAM GASE: Yes.
Did they change jerseys?
ADAM GASE: No.
Did they shower?
ADAM GASE: I don’t know. I wasn’t watching.
What were the coaches doing?
ADAM GASE: We were working on our game plan stuff, trying to figure out kind of like what our next step was. A lot of conversations, sat around with the rest of those guys just talking ball.
What was your communication with the league or officials or anything like that?
ADAM GASE: I had none. Somebody would run down and tell me. I just figured they’d tell me 10 minutes before we were going out, and we’d be ready to go.
As a coach, you prepare for any situation, but do you ever in the back of your mind think of something crazy…
ADAM GASE: I mean, I won’t be surprised by anything. I think we’ve almost covered everything. (laughter)
Did that help you or hurt you? Could it have been better if.
ADAM GASE: I don’t know. We won, and we’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to improve on. We know that, but that was the team that was in the playoffs last year, and that’s — we knew they were going to be a tough opponent, even though we’re at home. We played like it was the first game of the year. We had some mistakes that we’re going to go back and say this can’t happen anymore, and we’ll improve from here.
Your young rookies, from what you’ve seen, what you saw, how did you think they handled themselves?
ADAM GASE: I felt like they were all very loose before we started the game. It seemed like everybody was playing fast. It’s going to really probably take some time to just kind of see how everybody fits in and really what their roles become. We’ve got an idea, but I don’t think we really got as good of a flow offensively as we wanted to, and defensively I think the young guys did a good job. It seemed like they were around the ball quite a bit.
Did you expect to have more opportunities for TE Mike Gesicki, or was it about what you expected?
ADAM GASE: I don’t want to say … it’s probably not what I expected, but it was just kind of how the game went.
How would you describe the chemistry between QB Ryan Tannehill and WR Kenny Stills?
ADAM GASE: Well, that’s trust. Those two guys trust each other. They work a lot. You know, Ryan and him always seem to spend extra time. Kenny and him really do a good job of using kind of that downtime when we’re going scout team with the defense, and they work on certain routes, and it seems like that one they got down pretty good. That was one of those plays where it was the right coverage versus what we ran, and they made a good play together.
Did you realize pretty quickly that WR Jakeem Grant was gone?
ADAM GASE: Yeah, I was standing … he was coming my direction. I just saw it was him and the kicker. I was just going, ‘please run by him.’
You see QB Ryan Tannehill almost every day; it’s different than what people here see after 600 days. Is what they saw the Ryan you’ve been seeing for the last 600 days?
ADAM GASE: As far as what? (inaudible) I mean, I think it’s been a steady climb for him since we got here and where he is now where he has more control of the offense. There’s still some things he’ll want to clean up. I know he’ll be mad at a few decisions he made where he might have had some better plays, and that happens. That’s part of playing the position. The longer you play and the more times you get in those situations and don’t make the same mistake twice, that’s when you really start having good things happen, and now instead of two touchdowns you have four or five. I think there’s a lot of good things that are going to come out of this game, and we’ll just keep trying to find ways to get better.
Talk about the attitude and QB Ryan Tannehill’s enthusiasm with the playbook and the offense, does that lead to you guys trying to go for fourth-and-1?
ADAM GASE: Well, the fourth-and-1, we’ve been talking about it really through since the spring that when we get in those situations that if we feel like it’s going to be the right coverage versus what we’re going to call, we’re going to go for it, and we felt like that was one of those situations, and it didn’t work out, but we’ve got confidence that our defense is going to try to find a way to stop them and keep them pinned back there. That’s just kind of the flow of the game. You have a good feel. You just know where you’re at. I felt like the defense was in a good place at that time. It would have been a different situation if I would have had a different feel. Maybe I would have kicked a field goal. But at the time the defensive guys wanted us to go for it I could tell. They wanted us to try to pop one there or maybe score a couple plays later.
There was RB Frank Gore with that long run.
ADAM GASE: Yeah, it seemed like we had some momentum going there. It didn’t work out this time, but we’ll keep attacking it.
Is that the recipe for you?
ADAM GASE: Yeah, I think that’s always been the recipe. It’s just got to be the right situation.
You kicked off seven and a half hours ago; how do you feel right now?
ADAM GASE: I’m ready to go home. You’ve got to stop asking questions. (laughter)
Cameron Wake – September 7, 2018
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Thursday, September 6, 2018
DE Cameron Wake
(Different thought for you going into this regular season game than maybe the preseason for you?) – “Not really. For me, if there’s an opponent across from me, he’s wearing a different color and they’re keeping score, it’s all gas, no brakes. It doesn’t matter whatever it is. I don’t care if it’s ping-pong, badminton, preseason, Super Bowl, I’m trying to kill you.”
(How has DE Robert Quinn helped you on the other side?) – “He’s a tremendous asset to the team. Obviously, he’s a great football player (and a) tremendous pass-rushing force. Anytime you have to make decisions when it comes to the offensive side of the ball … of course, that would probably be a great question to ask one of those guys on the other side, but how are you going to dispense your attention? There’s only so many guys you’ve got to use and hopefully the more that we can occupy, the better it is for the team in its entirety – whether it’s DBs, linebackers or the guys up front. I think everybody is going to benefit from other guys making plays, not only him. We’ve got other guys also doing the same thing, but I look forward to all of us causing problems and having good output as far as production is concerned.”
(You’re a guy who picks his spots when he has a message for his teammates, is there anything this week that’s come to mind you felt the need to share?) – “Sure; but what I’ll share is probably, I mean, it’s just a long offseason. I think April 25th-ish, we came back and pretty much everything we’ve done from that day until now is focusing on Sunday. All the drills, the conditioning, weights, studying, preseason, 9-on-7s, 1-on-1s, all of that stuff has kind of come to this moment. I think everybody kind of is ready. It’s time. All the talk, whatever I’m going to say now, doesn’t mean anything. Whatever I say tomorrow is not going to mean anything. What’s going to mean something is going to be when you put those pads on and you do your job on Sunday.”
(There’s been a lot of talk about changing the culture after what happened last season and some of the ups and downs there. What have you seen this year relating to that, and do you buy into changing the culture in the offseason?) – “Words have never solved a problem. It’s always come down to actions. It has to happen. It’s not something that we can just go out and say. It’s not something that you can speak into existence. Speaking something into existence is not a thing. You have to act it into existence. We can go out there and rah-rah-rah all we want, whether it’s culture, stop the run, get to the quarterback, score points, all of that. It sounds good. It makes good T-shirts; but you have to bleed. You have to do it and that becomes who you are. Whether you want to say I’m a rah-rah guy or I’m a tough guy, if you don’t go out there and be tough, what difference does it make? So Sunday will show what this the situation is, who you are individually, unit, team, so on and so forth.”
(You’re now in Year 10. What drives you? What’s your motivation?) – “Cameron Wake. Every day I look in the mirror. Being better than him. I’ve always been a guy I’ve never cared about stats particularly, somebody else, what he did, what he does, what the other guy on the other side of the league is doing. I have a very, very competition in myself and outdoing me, being better, being smarter. All of those things, keep stepping that bar up. That’s kind of the way I make my way across improving and I think if I continue to do that, then hopefully I can help this team. If I can help this team, then we can get more wins, and so on and so on. It’s just going to trickle down and trickle across and be contagious. If that’s not how you approach it and you’re worried about somebody else, what he’s doing, what he’s doing, I think you’re behind the 8-ball already. I just focus on being the best me I can be and I can look in the mirror every day and live with that. I think I’ll be all right.”
(Can you quantify what outdoing the 2017 DE Cam Wake would look like?) – “It’s hard. It’s hard. I think especially you guys, looking at this paper here, there’s all kind of numbers and probably statistics and what not; but that’s not always the picture that you’re going to be able to get from football. There’s so much more to it that goes into being a good football player or a good teammate or a good pass rusher, so on and so on and so on. A lot of it … Some of it is on the paper and some of it isn’t. To be a better me, I would be here for 30 minutes talking about that; but some of it is statistical, quantifiable, tangible stuff and some of it isn’t. I think if you are honest with yourself and only you know that, I think you’ll be able to look in the mirror again and say ‘Yes, I did,’ or ‘No, I didn’t.’”
(I think you guys have seen the Titans the last two years. One was when QB Marcus Mariota was healthy and one when he was not. That 2016 game with him, he had some success. What did you guys learn from that game?) – “That’s ancient history at this point. I think it doesn’t really matter. I think now the guys we have to deal with now is the team we’re going to play. Of course they’ve got a lot of new pieces, a new scheme, new this, new that. So it’s probably less about what they are going to be doing and it’s more about what we’re going to do. If I punch you in the mouth, I really don’t care about what you’ve been doing or not doing. It’s just the nature of the business. I don’t really care, I’m going to go out – I’m going to say we – we don’t really care. We’re going to go out and do what we do, play our technique and if we do that we’re going to go out and be successful regardless of what happened in 2013, ‘14, ‘20, ’22, whatever.”
(Speaking of your individual matchup on the edge. What do you see in T Taylor Lewan and T Jack Conklin and if they’ve got to play T Dennis Kelly and how you can fare in those matchups?) – “I’m pretty consistent on how I look at guys. I study like anybody else. I see weaknesses and strengths and things like that. You try to line those up with what you’ve got. You line their weakness up with your strengths. At the end of the day, it’s a guy I look at as an opponent. He probably thinks he’s better than me, I think I’m better than him, and on Sunday it’s going to be pass or fail. I look across our line and I feel we have the guys to get the job done; but, again as I’ve told you before, T-shirts, rah-rah and speeches is good for TV maybe, but it doesn’t win games. It doesn’t change the outcome of how your season is going to go. You have to put on the pads and put in the work. On Sunday, that will be very evident one way or another.”
(You spend 349 days getting ready for 16 games, what’s that like? All that work and if you’re not on that day, it feels like a failure probably.) – “Yes. Again, you guys have asked … The people and of course those last however many days – I don’t know how many days from the last game until Sunday – but people don’t see that. There’s no SportsCenter highlights. There’s no TV shows about it. The majority of what goes on, no one sees. Everybody sees Sunday at one o’clock until 3:30 or four o’clock – whatever – and that’s all they know; but there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes. I think, again, that’s why this is the greatest team sport in the world because there is so much at stake. You don’t get 100 games to figure it out. You have, like you said, 16 chances. You work the rest of the year for those 16 chances. And it’s probably going to come down in the NFL as we saw last night to one play. Just one. You don’t know which one. It could have been the third one, the 15th one. Everybody think’s it’s the last play of the game, but it got decided good or bad somewhere along the line of the game. A game of inches. All of those sayings and all of those thing, it’s the reality. It’s heavier than you can probably express to somebody who hasn’t been on this side doing it. It’s some of the greatest highs and some of the lowest lows. That’s why we go through what we go through in order to achieve that six hours of joy and pleasure of winning a game and to avoid those 16 or so hours of sorrow. Again, it’s heavier than I can explain to you until you put some pads on.”
Jakeem Grant – September 7, 2018
Friday, September 7, 2018
Wide Receiver Jakeem Grant
(Where have you improved the most in the last year moving outside?) – “I would say just all areas – route running, understanding coverages, hands, just everything. Just understanding the concept and just knowing the playbook inside and out and knowing what each guy has, so I can go out there and not think about what I’m doing and just be fast, run fast and play fast.”
(What was your reaction last year when they approached you about moving outside?) – “Me? I was just like ‘let’s do it coach. Whatever, let’s do it.’ It was something new for me. It was the first time that I was going to be a predominantly outside receiver. In our offense, one guy can easily be in the slot, but whenever he (Head Coach Adam Gase) said ‘Jakeem, I’m going to try you out at the X,’ I was like ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ It was something new and I just learned it and the rest was history. I actually love it. It’s actually night and day, and I can see the bigger picture from the outside now. I loved the move, I just love it. So, I appreciate him for moving me outside.”
(What is it about being outside? Do you kind of lick your chops a little bit knowing you can burn those guys?) – “Definitely. You can easily come across a one-on-one matchup at any time. Like I said previously, just seeing the bigger picture. In the inside, you have to look through linebackers and all kind of things like that; but outside, you can see where the safety is at clearer and you can understand what coverage it is. With that, there’s a lot of film studying that took place and also going out there, (Wide Receivers Coach Ben) Johnson harped on it, (Assistant Head Coach/Offense Shawn) Jefferson harped on it – find out where those safeties are and they will tell you what coverage it is. So, the first thing I do when I get outside and get lined up, I find out where those safeties are and they tell me what coverage it is and what coverage it isn’t.”
(How much outside did you play at Texas Tech?) – “Slim. Very minimal. Like I said, this is my first time playing outside and it’s night and day. I love it.”
(The first time they came to you with this idea, what was your reaction?) – “My reaction was ‘let’s do it coach.’ I was like ‘it’s something new. I’ve never played outside before,’ and I was like ‘I could easily get a one-on-one matchup at any time.’ I was like ‘with my speed, that’s a home-run ball.’ I like scoring touchdowns, so I was like ‘you know what? It’s whatever. I’m down for it.’ I was up for it, and I appreciate him (Head Coach Adam Gase) for moving me because I’ve been doing a good job at it and I’ll continue to do a good job.”
(You could use your speed for end-around’s as well, right?) – “Definitely. I definitely use the speed. I always harp on ‘don’t let them get their hands on you.’ The thing is, with my size, guys want to get their hands on me quick because they know they can’t run with me, so all I have to do is just continue to practice on my Mr. Miyagi technique – wax on, wax off. (laughter) That’s what I’m going to continue to do.”
(You deserve a ton of credit, obviously, for your improvement; but guys you would also credit for also helping you reach this point over the last year, who comes to mind?) – “I would say just the whole coaching staff, just for them to even have faith in me. Just saying ‘Hey Jakeem, we’re going to try you at the X position and see how you fit in there.’ Obviously, they knew that that was going to be a good role for me, and as time passes, they would expand my role and I continued to make plays and plays. So, just with them harping on ‘Hey Jakeem, you’re already fast. You don’t need to be 100 miles in a brake area. Your 75 is people’s 100, so just get it down and just understand the playbook and all of this and that.’ With them doing that, just having that trust in me and just wanting me to be better, it makes me want to grind harder and not let those guys down. So, that’s what I continue to do is just go out there each and every day and show them that I don’t want to let them down and I want them to be able to trust me.”
(The last couple weeks, how have you dealt with being in the concussion protocol and did you have any doubts that you probably wouldn’t play?) – “No, I had no doubts. I knew I was ready to go. Being in the protocol, it definitely stinks. I just hated it and I couldn’t be out there with my brothers and teammates out there having fun and making plays, blocking, going out there joking around. That’s like being at a family event. Once I got back, I just picked up where I left off and having fun when I got out there, because I was out there with my brothers, my family. We’re here every day with each other, so it’s a brotherhood and one big family. So I was glad to be back in there and they welcomed me back with open arms, just like I was here before.”
Adam Gase – September 7, 2018
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Friday, September 7, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(Do you have a status update on DeVante Parker?) – “He’s limited. He’s doubtful for the game.”
(We’ve talked about how difficult it is to contain mobile quarterbacks, but what is that challenge that it presents to somebody who has to spy them? And how do you determine who spies them?) – “I think it’s hard to replicate the speed and kind of the ability to change directions. He’s a better athlete really than almost every guy that you have on defense. That’s why we talk about being able to kind of box him in, being able to (use) multiple guys – if (Marcus Mariota) does take off – which is hard because he usually runs by guys when he gets loose. It’s a problem you have to be aware of the entire game. You can’t relax on any given play.”
(When you have to have a player spy a quarterback, what kind of stress does it put on the rest of the defense?) – “It just singles everybody else up. That makes it difficult and makes it tough when you want to pressure. You have to be smart when you do that. There’s a lot of little things that you have to make sure that you do correctly. If you one guy make the slightest of error, it can cause you a big play.”
(Except for WR DeVante Parker, do you expect everyone for Sunday?) – “YeahYes unless something happens between now and then.”
(Have you selected a backup quarterback for Sunday’s game, and if you can’t tell us, can you tell us what will go into the decision?) – “It’ll probably just be a gut feel. We’ll see when we get there. I haven’t really spoken to those guys yet.”
(Have you guys picked captains?) – “Not yet.”
(Last night’s game was delayed, I don’t know, 30 minutes because of weather, whatever. Do you go through contingencies because of warmups?) – “I want to say that might have happened to us in 2013 when we played in that Thursday night game opener against Baltimore. We waited for a while. You just try to keep guys loose and you try to organize. When you get a start time, then you start working backwards and just really get your warmup set.”
(Is that a real distraction?) – “I mean, you’re just ready to go. You’re just delaying something that you’ve been waiting for since last season.”
(Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains complimented T Laremy Tunsil as making improvement from the start of the spring to now. Can you give us a little insight on some of the things you feel he’s better at?) – “Well, he’s been challenged every day. When you’re going against Robert Quinn every snap, especially when you throw the ball, there’s no relaxing, which has been great for him because it’s hard. When he has his times that he wins, he’s doing a really good job. He really understands the game and our system to the point where he can try new things. He works well with Josh (Sitton). It’s been impressive to watch those two kind of work together and that chemistry on that side.”
(How is T Laremy Tunsil in terms of footwork and pre-snap…?) – “I mean, the guy is an unusual athlete for a guy that size. He could probably play a skill position if we wanted him to. He really does have unbelievable ability.”
(A few days ago, you mentioned how WR Jakeem Grant has become a legit fifth wide receiver and outside guy. What’s been the biggest step or steps that he’s taken in that evolution?) – “I think it was just once he moved him to outside. He just really took to that. He’s really hard to press. The majority of the time he’ll see off-coverage. We got some press in that New England game and he made the most of it. It’s really been growth ever since then. He’s had some really good practices where we got an opportunity to get him the ball and he’s gotten open. The longer he’s been in the system, the more knowledge that he has and the quicker he is to adjust to things. That’s the whole point of the drill is to keep learning and figure out how far you can push yourself.”
(Why did you think WR Jakeem Grant could make that move?) – “That was something the coaching staff – offensive staff – last year … (Director of Football and Player Development) Clyde (Christensen) brought it up with, I think it was Pierre Garçon might have been inside when they first got him and then they moved him outside and he really flourished. I think that’s maybe where the conversation started. We felt like we had nothing to lose and he wanted to play and he didn’t care where. We gave him that opportunity and he made the most of it.”
(What are your impressions of their number 99 – DT Jurrell Casey?) – “He’s a very, very good player and he has caused us a lot of problems over the last two years. He’s been consistent, both in the run and the pass game. You have to account for him. You have to make sure … when you single him up, it’s tough.”
(There’s a new Dolphins shirt that has a slogan “Who You With?” I’m assuming all slogans kind of run through you?) – “I had nothing to do with that. I don’t know.”
(The locker room, that’s the players’ domain. How do you decide when to go in there and how much time you spend in there?) – “I don’t go in there a lot. That’s their area. If I go in there, I’m usually cutting across to the cafeteria or if I’m looking for somebody, I just need to tell somebody something real quick. But I don’t hang out in there.”
(How strong is that feeling that that’s their area?) – “I hope they feel that way. Not many coaches go in there. We try to stay out of there because that’s their area.”
(Sometimes you mention gut feeling. At this very moment, what’s your gut feeling about what you have to work with, what this team will do?) – “I’ve said it since the spring, I like this group. I like the way they work, the way they prepare. That’s what you have to do to get ready for Sunday and then when we get there, just lean on what you’ve basically gotten yourself ready to do. Don’t think and just react to the game and play fast.”
(How excited are you that the regular season is finally here?) – “Anytime you get to this point … you’ve been working since the spring to get here, going through training camp and you cut down the roster. It’s been a good week. It’s been fun watching these guys embrace kind of some of the changes that we’ve made and our schedule and kind of how we did things this week. Wednesday was a great test for us because it was hot. It rained and then it stopped and really kicked in the sauna, so that was good. That was good for us to go through.”
(Is that a pad or a glove that WR DeVante Parker) is wearing right now?) – “I think it’s a pad. I don’t know, I didn’t check it out really.”
(Have you guys had WR DeVante Parker try to catch yet?) – “Not yet.”
Matt Burke – September 6, 2018
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Thursday, September 6, 2018
Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke
(The most encouraging things to you this preseason? What were you emerged from preseason feeling better about your ability to do this, whether it’s S Minkah Fitzpatrick, whether it’s defensive tackles, whether it’s DE Robert Quinn. What, to you, were the couple most encouraging signs?) – “I was encouraged, honestly, by the way we progressed through preseason. I wasn’t necessarily happy with how we started, but I thought we got better as we went through week to week to week, really at all levels. I thought every week it was sort of something that we were either emphasizing or looking to work on (and it) showed up or a player that we needed to sort of start making some plays or showing that progress on an individual level, that happened. Obviously, some of the younger players that were playing a little bit more started getting some action between Minkak and even Raekwon (McMillan) and ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) and those guys. Obviously, from a new addition standpoint, Robert and obviously some of the production he had. I was pleased with, again, sort of the progression that I felt we got better with every week throughout the preseason and that was a goal and obviously hope we keep on that trend.”
(You don’t see a ton of mobile quarterbacks, but obviously you have one this week.) – “We see one every week in practice.”
(That’s true. In a game, I meant. What lessons have the last two years from mobile quarterbacks you faced do you think you can take going forward?) – “We’ve had, I’d say, mixed success with some of those guys. I think for us, the biggest thing is going to be obviously having a committed rush plan on how we’re attacking him on third downs and those sort of situations. (It’s) a little bit about getting the right athletes on the field and the type of players that we’re using to work him in. At the end of the day, if you only have four people rushing the quarterback and they have five offensive linemen, there’s some space in there and there’s ways (to get out). So, we have to try to utilize ways of dictating how we’re leaving some lanes open or how we’re closing some windows and those sort of things. I think one thing that sometimes you get … One thing I’ll say I’m cautious of is I think one of the mentalities is, ‘I’ll keep him in the pocket and mush rush and squeeze it down sometimes.’ A lot of times, those guys get sticky on blocks and then when he starts moving, they can’t get off to help chase or close things down. I think I’m a little cautious of telling those guys, ‘Just stand there and try to two-gap and fight it a little bit.’ We’re going to try to do some things. We’re still attacking and that’s our mentality, but we have to be able to dictate what windows are open and how we’re closing them and who … We’re always going to have a set of eyes on the quarterback from the back end as well, whether it’s in zone coverage or spying and those sort of things. We’ll have some different pitches hopefully and have some success.”
(Is there any concern on run defense – I know there’s concern for everything – but on run defense, your defensive line is fast, quick, but smaller and now behind them you’ve got young linebackers that might not always be in the right place.) – “They better be in the right place. (laughter) No, I don’t think so. Our scheme is designed on attacking and with those guys up front, in terms of size-wise, we like to build our power with speed and knock guys back with explosion as opposed to just raw size. Obviously, the bigger you can get and the more explosive you are, that’s even better for us. We’re trying to set edges in the run game and knock things back. The complement of the front line and the linebackers is that if those guys are climbing on our linebackers to the second level, then our front line, if they’re getting off the way they’re supposed to, should be able to make plays. Now if they’re concerned about stopping our d-line the way we’re getting off the ball, then our linebackers better trigger and make plays. Obviously, that’s something we’ve been working on in terms of those guys working together having younger linebackers that haven’t played in that system before. I feel pretty confident in our ability to play the run this week.”
(How do you think the relationship between LB Jerome Baker and LB Raekwon McMillan in college maybe helps them?) – “Very much. Very much so. You can tell there’s a relationship there. They’re different personalities for sure. I’m sure you guys have spent some time with both of them. Raekwon is a little more serious than ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) is. Raekwon is kind of like his big brother. I think it helps Raekwon having someone to talk to and that he’s comfortable with out there and those sort of things. They have a good back and forth. ‘Bake’ is always trying to sort of loosen Raekwon up and Raekwon is always trying to yank him back down to reality and focus and stuff. I think it’s a good relationship. Those guys work well together, and they’ve been fun additions to the room.”
(You mentioned their personalities being ying and yang. Have you seen that whether it’s in the locker room, on the field?) – “Yes, all the time. Yes. I can’t talk about ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) too much. I’m going to lose it here. (laughter) ‘Bake’ is a kid at heart. He likes to have fun, which … I encourage all the guys … I truly believe this, just probably in life: you have to be yourself. You can’t be successful in what you do if you’re not who you are. We don’t try to dictate personalities. Everybody has to be serious about their job and do what they’re supposed to do. ‘Bake’ is a little different than Raekwon, but sometimes Raekwon is tugging on him like, ‘Hey, man, settle down and let’s pay attention.’ You see times when Raekwon is serious and ‘Bake’ is trying to clown around on him a little bit to loosen him up. It is, it’s a good back and forth those two have.”
(How do you feel about those two guys – LB Raekwon McMillan and LB Jerome Baker – on the field Sunday?) – “We’ll see. I feel good. I feel like they’re going to be out there. We’ll find out.”
(You’re re-designing the secondary. You moved CB Bobby McCain, you moved S Minkah Fitzpatrick. Did it click instantly for those guys or was there a little bit of a transition process?) – “It’s both. Bobby has played outside for us before. He started a few games at the end of last year there. We always have been cross-training those guys. We don’t like to have just an inside guy or just an outside guy or whatever. He’s got some of that work there. As a unit, obviously that’s kind of a different collection. Really, a little bit with ‘Mink,’ (Minkah Fitzpatrick) how he interacts with inside guys too, a lot of times that nickel spot … Bobby was really good communicating in to Kiko (Alonso) and to Raekwon and whoever to work those games. A lot of times they’re dealing with each other in terms of passing stuff off. That was a new level of communication on the inside part of things. Bobby, for him to see, to really get the depth of work that he’s getting outside now, to see some of those things from that perspective, there’s always growing pains and stuff like that; but the one thing about both those players – about Bobby and Minkah – they’re both dedicated students of the game. They love ball. They’re always in the building. They’re always working at it. The approach, we had zero reservations about their approach to taking over those spots and doing what they’re going to do to put their best foot forward on Sunday.”
(On offense sometimes you hear the cliché, “We’ll go with the hot hand” if there’s two backs or some teams that run two quarterbacks in college. Do you have that idea with your defensive line or is it, “No, we’re going to split these snaps. It doesn’t matter who’s playing well this game. Our plan is to rotate?”) – “Yes, I think that’s the best answer. We’re going to wave our guys. Really, our philosophy is we want those guys fresh. The way we ask them to play in terms of chasing the ball and getting off and exploding and running and doing those things and playing with the relentless approach that you can’t ask a guy to do that for 75 snaps a game, no matter how hot he is or how good he is or all that stuff. Credit to (General Manager) Chris Grier and (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) and those guys for building some depth there a little bit that we feel comfortable with putting all those guys out on the field. We’re going to try to – like I said – try to wave those guys as best we can. We feel better about all those guys getting however many pitches they have. If it’s 25, 35, 45, whatever it is; but having them at full speed than having to play 75 snaps and many not getting what we want for half of them.”
(I assume you would want your – A-team isn’t’ the right way to put it – but DE Cam Wake and DE Robert Quinn are your… ) – “They’re pretty good players.”
(They’re good players. You want to make sure they’re on the field for the most important part of the game?) – “Yes. I think (Defensive Line Coach) Kris (Kocurek) does a good job managing the group and it’s hard. It’s a hard thing to anticipate that stuff. I think – I’ve got to get my brain straight here – the Baltimore game I guess it was, we had that long drive. We had a 16-play drive, the one they got points on after they kicked the field goal at the end that we held them on. Actually Adam (Gase) had made a comment … We got a stop at the end because it was a 16-play drive, but all those guys were going about two, three snaps, getting out, getting the next group in. Two or three more (snaps), get the next group in. By the time we got in to the red zone, Adam made a comment like, ‘Hey, man, A lot of times we do that on offense and they’re so gassed by the time they get down there. They played a lot of snaps in a row. You can kind of knock them in and stuff.’ And we obviously ended up making a stand there and holding them to a field goal. That’s the philosophy that if we do – hopefully that’s not the case a lot – but if we do get into longer drives, that there’s fresher bodies when in a critical situation comes in, those guys haven’t been playing for 20 snaps in a row and stuff like that. It’s hard. It’s not easy to manage a game like that from his perspective in terms of rotating that group in. I kind of leave that on him and make sure that, ‘Hey, I’m not calling certain groups out there.’ He’s got to get a feel for the game situation and how he handles his group and he does a really good job with that. That’ll be our plan to keep all those guys fresh as best we can. Hopefully it’s hot out this weekend.”
(CB Bobby McCain is going to end up being the guy on the outside. Do you anticipate CB Cordrea Tankersley or CB Torry McTyer being the first guy to spell one of them if they need to?) – “I don’t know that we have any direct plans to do any of that right now. Again, it partly depends on who’s active from a team-wide approach and what Adam (Gase) decides to do there. I’m not sure that we really have any plans to rotate guys in right now at this point.”
(You expect what from CB Xavien Howard?) – “I expect him to do his job to the best of his ability.”
(Come on.) – “That’s what I expect out of him. Listen, all of our guys … I have high expectations for all our players. We have high standards in our room what we expect from them. ‘X’ has obviously been a developing player and an on-the-rise player for us, so I’m excited to see him play. It’s like any of them, we don’t … You start putting expectations on those guys in terms of how many picks you’re going to get or how many this you’re going to do or you’re going to shut this guy down and then they start trying to press the issue to me. I don’t want, ‘Hey, ‘X’, I want you to do this this year and make the Pro Bowl and have 20 picks and shut this guy out and your guy never catches the ball.’ Then he starts pressing and getting outside the framework of what we’re asking him to do. I know it sounds sarcastic, but I want ‘X’ to take every call that we send out there and execute that. I think the best of his ability will be a pretty good result. I don’t want him to think, ‘I have to get a pick this play,’ or, ‘I have to knock a ball down this play,’ or ‘I have to shut this guy down this play.’ I want him to play the defense. If he’s as good as we think he is, those plays will come to him.”
(After that New England game – last year with the 15 interceptions – did CB Xavien Howard feel like he had to replicate that week after week after week?) – “I don’t think so. Again, interceptions, they can not throw at him for a whole game. Some of that is out of his world, out of his realm, out of his control. Again, I don’t think so. But again, we don’t want to get into that game to where we’re pressing to make plays. We’re trying to execute our defense. Again, if those guys that we feel are good players are in the right spots and doing the right thing, then the plays will come. That’ll happen. I’m cautious of telling guys, ‘We want this,’ or ‘We need to do this.’ We need to run our calls and execute our defense. Sometimes there’s calls that aren’t designed for him to make a play. It’s somebody else’s job to make that play. If he tries to make the play, then we’re exposing something else. He’s got to just go play defense for us and he’ll be fine. His plays will come to him. If we’re right about the type of player that he is, he’ll make plenty of plays this season for us.”
(Was there a time in meetings Friday and Saturday where you said, “We need more than five linebackers. It’s not enough?”) – “No.”
(So five would seem a low number, obviously.) – “Again, listen, the roster construction is … We have meetings on that and the way I look at it is this: I voice my opinion to Adam (Gase) and to Chris (Grier) and to (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Mike (Tannenbaum) and all of those guys and I let them know what I feel like who’s earned a spot on this defense and who’s going to help us as we move forward and where we need depth and where we need whatever else. Again, those are team-wide decisions. I tell the coaches that. I tell everybody that like, ‘Look, when those decisions are made, that’s our team.’ That Hoosiers quote when he’s got four guys and he says, ‘My team is on the floor.’ That’s our team and if it’s five linebackers that we’re going to play with, we’re going to play with five linebackers and we’re going to go win some ball games with those five linebackers.”
(We’ve seem DE Cam Wake have two pretty good seasons after the Achilles injury. What would it take for you to not be sure about him at this point? Would he have to be like 50 years old?) – “I feel like I answer this question every year. I stopped looking at his age. It’s irrelevant in that case for him. I just look (at) what I see on the field. If no one in this room knew Cam Wake’s story and were watching him, you wouldn’t say he’s … How old is he? Whatever he is. You know what I mean? At this point, my first year or so, you’re marveling at it and you’re going, ‘This guy, coming off the Achilles.’ When we first got here he was rehabbing back into it that offseason when we first got hired. In maybe that first year … At this point, it’s just Cam. That’s who he is. Until his play dictates that he’s not capable of performing at an elite level, then I stop wondering about it. I just accept that’s who he is. Age is nothing but a number, whatever they say. He’s had a good camp for us. He’s been performing well. Again, we feel pretty good about our guys up front and the way they’ve been rushing and I’m looking forward to seeing Cam Wake play season No. 10 – his 10th season.”
(With DE Cam Wake, how much does DE Robert Quinn help him?) – “All of that. Again, it’s not just those two guys. We feel we got a lot of depth at the end position. Obviously, if you don’t, and you say you only have a Cam Wake as a threat, you see a lot of different protections over there – people are chipping, they’re putting tight ends over there, they’re doing a lot of things to try to slow him down. Obviously, the more threats you have to rush the passer, the less you can isolate one player. Again, now, you start getting to the point if Robert continues having some success, then now you’re worried about, ‘Okay, how are we going to block him?’ And then you forget about Cam Wake maybe for a day and that’s the game you have to play. Again, that’s part of keeping those guys fresh and rolling that group and having all of those guys throwing fastballs play in and play out and not being able to isolate a guy like that. Any time you have paired up rushers that obviously helps. It balances out what an offense can do to protect, because you’ve got threats from both sides.”
