Minkah Fitzpatrick – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins S Minkah Fitzpatrick (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: On touchdown return…
A: I was actually on the blitz. When I walked into that 3 by 1, Diggs and those two, they were vertical. I had a couple guys call it out. I was able to just go since I was on the blitz, and I didn’t have to be patient. So, I just went. Kirk was looking at them the entire time, and I just looked at him.
Q: On defense during 2nd and 3rd quarter…
A: We did our job well around the board. We stopped the run, stopped the pass. Covered more on the back end, even when he was running around. Our 1st quarter, nobody was doing their job. We weren’t covering the back end, we weren’t stopping the run. When that happens, we work off each other. When we can’t stop one, it is hard to stop the other. But the 2nd and 3rd quarter, we did a good job of stopping each phase of the game.
Q: What surprises you most about what happened on defense overall?
A: It surprised me how fast they got points on the board. It hasn’t happened all season, 21 points in the first quarter is way too much. We’re not happy about it, but we’ll use it as a tool on the next games. There’s not much we can do about it now.
Kenyan Drake – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins RB Kenyan Drake (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: Describing today’s game…
A: Personally I played my worst game of the season. I let the team down, missed a couple key blocks on third down. So you got to look yourself in the mirror and be motivated to get better.
Q: What were they doing up front?
A: Whooping our ass, that’s what they did. So we got to look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we want to finish the season.
Q: CBS’s report on apparent ankle injury sustained in the game…
A: Yeah, I got twisted up earlier in the game. It’s not an excuse for anything; it’s football.
Q: How do you feel about you and Kalen [Ballage] finishing things out for the rest of the season?
A: I am so proud of that kid because all he does is work hard in practice and gives his best effort and shows up. He’s finishing with the ball every time in practice and it shows in the game. He has a bright future in this league.
Q: Were you okay on how you were used today?
A: That’s not my job.
Q: What are the challenges that popped up today?
A: We just didn’t do our job. That’s plain and simple; that’s all I can say.
Kalen Ballage – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins RB Kalen Ballage (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: What was it like for you to get heavily involved in this game?
A: It was good to be out there. I have been waiting for an opportunity for a long time. I have been playing behind some really talented running backs, but it was nice to be out there.
Q: Tell us about your long touchdown run?
A: I saw some space and took it. It was nice to put some points on the board and get us back in the game.
Q: With Kenyan Drake and Frank Gore being hurt, what do you want to accomplish during the last two games of the season?
A: I want to continue doing what I have been doing. I stay prepared and practice hard. When these opportunities present themselves, I am ready to play.
Q: On the Vikings getting 9 sacks… Is there frustration?
A: The game is over now. We are already on to next week and we need to fix our mistakes. It is part of the game. Those guys get paid too. They make plays, we make plays, but at the end of the day we have to correct it and get ready for next week.
Ja’Wuan James – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins T Ja’Wuan James (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: On the delayed blitzes…
A: Yeah, we were waiting to see what kind of protection we were in. Then if somebody stayed in, they could add in late. Like I said they had a good blitz package for us.
Q: On the team’s playoff hopes…
A: Honestly, they tell us each week to take it, 1-0. This week we couldn’t and next we have to do that. Then at the end of the season we can look up to see what type of position we’re in.
Q: On the feeling in the locker-room…
A: It’s not good, especially from our standpoint as offensive linemen. We had a lot of sacks today. It messed up our rhythm and our offense. We have to watch the film, correct it, and move on to next week.
Cameron Wake – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: What did they do that the Vikings were able to score 21 points in 1st quarter?
A: They did whatever they wanted it seemed like. I’ve said this many times, it’s not good football if you are going to be inconsistent. I said this to Reshad [Jones] I’m sure we can do it all, really. We just have to run, we can rush the passer, we can cover receivers, take the ball away, and so on and so on and so on down the line. And then there are games that you can go back and look at where we don’t. It’s not ‘can’t’; it’s ‘don’t.’ The reason? No idea. Way above my understanding, above my paygrade. If I knew the answer, it probably wouldn’t be happening, but there’s inconsistency. It’s not complementary. It doesn’t work.
Q: Were you surprised by how the game played out?
A: I don’t know the exact quote, but they say that disappointment is a disparity between expectations and outcome. So, I was very disappointed today.
Q: Did wins the last couple of weeks raise expectations?
A: Two weeks ago doesn’t matter today. Today is today, and they’re going to go out there and they’re going to bring their A game and give you their best shot, and you have to go out there today. I say it all the time. I don’t care if you won by 50, lost by 50, you can’t let last week affect how you are today. You have to go out there and give them your best 90 mile-an-hour fast ball, no matter what happened two weeks, five weeks, six weeks ago. I personally wasn’t thinking about last week; I hope we weren’t, because I guarantee Vikings weren’t either.
Q: Does it feel like playoffs are slipping away?
A: I’ll be real honest with you, I don’t know the formulas and the calculations and all the things that need to happen. I know when you have an opponent in front of you, you have to take care of your business. All the ‘what if’s’ and ‘if this had happened’…win. Let everything else fall into place however it is. You win your match-up. You take care of what you can control. And all that is left is outside of my perspective. I live by, ‘hope is not a strategy; you have to act.’ We had an opportunity today, and we didn’t.
Q: Did the Vikings do something different that they had 200 rushing yards?
A: Fundamentally, I could say they probably didn’t run any new plays that we haven’t seen before. We could probably look and see the personnel we’ve seen in the past, that we’ve stopped in the past. We could go down the line. We’ve faced probably top five running teams and we’ve met the challenge. But it’s NFL. There are no bad teams. Every team has good players, every team has good coaching, every team has an opportunity, and every Sunday you have to match and exceed expectations. That they’re 30th [for rushing] doesn’t mean much to me, because they’re going to come out and give their best shot, and we have to step up to the challenge and today we did not.
Bobby McCain – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins CB Bobby McCain (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: Why does this team struggle on the road?
A: I don’t know, that’s a good question. We blew a couple leads on the road, we played bad on the road, I don’t know.
Q: What contributed to their fast start?
A: We just didn’t play our game. We weren’t executing like we’re supposed to. That’s what happens when you give up 21 points in the first quarter. It’s hard to come back from.
Q: What worked well against [Adam] Thielen and [Stefon] Diggs?
A: Just playing our game, we wanted to take those two guys out of the game, Minkah [Fitzpatrick) and I. I mean they made two, three catches each but we didn’t execute like we we’re supposed to as a unit. We ended up giving up 41 points.
Q: On the impact of Minkah Fitzpatrick’s pick six..
A: It was a big time run, we came back out in the second half and we had a little momentum. We stopped them to three points a couple of times, but we gave it away. It’s hard, playing behind on the road.
Q: Best adjustment after the first quarter…
A: Just had to play our game, we didn’t execute. We didn’t execute like we’re supposed to front and back end, everybody. We didn’t do what we’re supposed to including myself. Execution and we let it get away from ourselves in the end.
Adam Gase – December 16, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Postgame – Minnesota
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase (Transcribed by Minnesota Vikings)
Q: On team’s performance today…
A: We had a good week of practice. We just couldn’t stop them, couldn’t stop the run and they were able to do all of their play actions out of that. That was the last thing we needed to happen was to get behind like that. That puts us in a different mode on offense and we fell apart on special teams. It’s not like we’ve been dominating the run game anyway. We just needed to hold out better than we did, and we didn’t.
Q: On how Vikings adjusted their running game and the success today…
A: It’s hard to tell from the sidelines. We’ll see what happens when we watch the tape.
Q: On why and how Ryan Tannehill was sacked nine times…
A: Not blocking. He had a couple chances where guys were open but couldn’t get off. We just didn’t block well enough. We knew what we were in for as far as the pass rush. They just beat us.
Q: On whether Ryan Tannehill was confused on the blitz…
A: It wasn’t hard to tell where they were coming from. When 55 [Anthony Barr] starts taking a sprint to the line of scrimmage, he’s probably coming.
Q: On deferring to open the game after a momentous win against New England…
A: Yeah, that’s the decision every week: do we defer or do we take the ball? We just felt like deferring was the best option for us. We could get the ball at the end of the half and swing it. We had an opportunity at least to get points at the end of the half, come out, and score. Then everything just dried up for us on offense. We just couldn’t get anything going in the run game. We got a couple here and there and then every time we had an opportunity it just didn’t hold up.
Q: On Kenya Drake’s limited utilization…
A: We just had different personnel packages and were trying to put ourselves in positions where we were using multiple guys. We knew it was going to be one of those games where we have to use all those guys.
Q: On overall defensive performance….
A: Well on the first drive I saw a couple guys run out of their gaps and try and make a play to try and stop the bleeding. That’s not what we need; we just need everyone to play disciplined. Then after that, we’d stop them a little bit, then let a decent one off – like a 10 or 15-yarder. We couldn’t consistently get a shorter drive; everything just felt like it wasn’t going right.
Q: On short momentum shift after Miami’s defensive touchdown…
A: Coming out of the halftime, it felt like we had a good idea of what we wanted to do drive-wise on offense and you know, it was a one-play drive. After that we just could not get it going. Every time we ran the ball, something happened where they pressured us and we tried to make an adjustment and then someone would come free. Protection-wise we were just horrible.
Q: On the wide receivers’ limitations…
A: We were trying to compete balls. We got sacked nine times. We weren’t open all the time, but we got open enough that if we just got a ball off, we’d have had decent plays.
Q: On whether the defense’s issues can be fixed yet this season…
A: I mean I need to look at what happened in this game first. Last week we played against a team that came in and was running over 100 yards for three games in a row. We did it right, we played physical and played sound defense. It looked like a lot things were trending upward and this game it just fell apart for us.
Q: On players injured during today’s game…
A: Does it matter? Nobody cares.
Q: On salvaging the season…
A: We have to worry about improving on the positive things we have done in the last month and try to get as many guys healthy as possible and go out and try to win one game.
Adam Gase – December 14, 2018
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Friday, December 14, 2018
Head Coach Adam Gase
(We saw CB Xavien Howard testing out the knee. What’s the prognosis or status for Sunday?) – “He’ll be doubtful. We’ll just dig a little wiggle room just in case. Like I said to him, it’s all going to be about how you feel tomorrow and then (we’ll) kind of progress from there.”
(So you feel comfortable with CB Xavien Howard playing despite not practicing the past two weeks?) – “I’m not worried about that. It’s all about how he feels athletically. Can he move the way he needs to move?”
(How would you assess CB Torry McTyer’s performance?) – “I think he’s getting better. He’s not the biggest guy, but he’s not afraid to stick his face in the mix. He tries to get hands on guys. He can run and he can stay with guys. It’s just that repetition of getting your head around, getting your hands on the ball, finish the play. He does it a lot of the times, it’s just we have to eliminate some of those plays that completions happen on him.”
(Did CB Xavien Howard say that he was feeling good? Was there any pain or anything?) – “It’s kind of the process of what that is. He’s always going to kind of feel a little bit of something early. We’ll keep working through everything and kind of see where it takes us.”
(How much do you trust a guy to tell you when it’s a medical situation and guys are being honest with you about it?) – “The majority of times when we had to make a decision like that and you’re talking to a guy, I haven’t found any times where we’ve been like ‘There’s no way that they can go’ and they think they can go kind of situation. Guys have shot us straight. I don’t remember when somebody hasn’t, I guess is the best way to put it.”
(Has there been anything that QB Ryan Tannehill has done especially well since his return whether it’s decision-making or pocket presence or anything along those lines?) – “I think off of some of the play-action stuff, he’s done a good job of kind of moving and finding the window he needs to find. The one throw he had to Kenny (Stills) last game down the field, that was pretty impressive. That was an adjustment and those guys, for whatever reason, I don’t know how that’s possible at 40 yards down the field for them to make eye contact and they were on the same page. He was in great position to throw it as far as his balance. He threw that thing pretty far.”
(Defensive Coordinator Matt Burke said yesterday that S Minkah Fitzpatrick came in Monday morning to watch film even though you gave the players the day off. How unusual is that for a rookie to do something like that?) – “I think there’s certain guys that that’s the way they are. I think there was a lot of guys that showed up and did something. A lot of guys had been around long enough to know if you come in Monday, you can get a lot of the soreness out of your body. Some guys want to stick to their routine of that Monday, Tuesday off. Some guys that are really young, their bodies don’t feel the same as some of the older guys, so they take advantage of having a couple days off. They’re sore on Wednesday, though.”
(I want to ask you about WR Kenny Stills. Is it easy to move a player around or does it complicate things? I know he’s more advanced than most guys, but does it complicate things for the other players?) – “It’s easy when that’s the plan. It’s harder when, like the Indy game, we lose Danny (Amendola) and now we have to move him inside and now we’re going ‘All the stuff we worked on during the week, we have to kind of figure out how we’re going to do that.’ If we had something outside that was special for him, who do we slide inside if that’s the second option for the quarterback? That’s where it gets difficult. If we go into the game and we have it kind of planned out and the plays kind of accordingly work out that way, then it’s easier. If it’s an in-game adjustment, that’s when it gets tough.”
(I wanted to ask you about S Minkah Fitzpatrick. What can he learn from that Patriots game?) – “Every game that he plays, especially at corner, he’s learning so much so fast because it’s like … Especially when ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is out there, they’re going to go opposite a majority of the time. They’ll test ‘X’ a couple of times and then you see what happens, he gets a couple of picks. Minkah is getting a full gamut of routes. He just needs to keep progressing, which I think he’s doing. I think he’s been going against some really tough receivers. It’s going to be those little details. He needs to understand the rules in the NFL. Sometimes you’re going to get called for the slightest thing, where you might have gotten away with it in college.”
(You guys drafted S Minkah Fitzpatrick because you thought he was versatile. Have you been surprised with how well he can hang at outside corner?) – “I don’t know if surprised … I’m surprised that he’s had to move as much as we’ve had to move (him). It hasn’t been by design. It’s been by … We don’t have another choice. It’s been unbelievable how he’s handled it. He just goes, goes to work and figures it out.”
(I’ve always been taught if a guy has the hips and the feet and the speed to play cornerback, they’re a cornerback. If they don’t, they get moved to safety. S Minkah Fitzpatrick already proven that he can play cornerback, is that more of a natural position for him?) – “He does such a good job. One, as a safety, his communication skills are really good. He’s smart. He helps a lot. He makes other guys better when he’s playing safety, which can let some of our other guys just roll. When he’s out at corner, it’s probably him and another guy that would have to communicate. He does give us a lot of range back there, too, to give us a chance for turnovers. T.J. (McDonald) and Reshad (Jones) are so close … Their skill sets are similar. Those two guys, they want to get in the action, they want to be down in the box. They’re both good at what they do. It’s just there’s two of them, so we’re trying to rotate who’s down, who’s back and all of those things. And then Minkah’s athletic ability, especially when we slid him inside, caused problems for some of these smaller slots because he’s so big. He can move with those guys, get his hands on them and they can’t go anywhere. That’s where the versatility is great to have. I think corner is just so tough. He might not get a ball thrown his way, whereas at safety, he’s involved in so much and that’s the value of that.”
(When you’re trying to get sack from your edge rushers, how much can you scheme something, or is it pretty much you’ve just got to beat the man in front of you?) – “No, there’s some things that defensive line coaches do that can free some guys up to where you get a tackle running up the field, he picks the offensive tackle and then you duck underneath. They’ve got a whole gamut of things they can do off of that, where it just confuses the guard and the tackle and makes it tough on those guys. There’s a ton of stuff these guys do, especially now. It just keeps getting more and more to where they find ways to free up some of these ends.”
(The edge sacks, are they mostly beating a man?) – “If they come straight off the edge, it’s just one-on-one. On that play, the best guy wins.”
(It seems like now you have four guys that can give you some juice or something different in the run game. When you decide plays, are there plays for certain guys? How do you kind of determine when this is a RB Brandon Bolden situation or this is a RB Kalen Ballage situation? Particularly for those guys because RB Kenyan Drake and RB Frank Gore have bigger workloads.) – “Outside of the speed sweep stuff, all of those guys can do it. That’s not something we’d really want to do with Frank. But, really, if one guy went in, I can just call … I don’t have to worry about who’s in because they all can do everything else in the run game. We try to put certain packages in for – alright, Brandon and Drake, or Ballage and Frank – or whatever we’ve got that week. We just keep trying to mix those guys in. Those guys are all good players. They should play. It’s just trying to figure out, alright, who comes out, who goes in, receivers, the tight ends. You just keep trying to mix it. It makes it tough on the defense. They’ve got to start paying attention to who’s going into the game.”
(On RB Brandon Bolden’s big touchdown, you had both of those guys in the backfield. What do you like about that, the two-back setup?) – “It’s a lot of speed. It’s a lot of speed. Brandon is a tough runner. That’s a big dude coming downhill real fast, and he’s a good running back. When he came out of college, he was a good running back, and he played a lot for them early. He became such a good special teams player and then they got deep at running back.”
