Danny Crossman – December 22, 2020
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I wanted to ask you about the fake with the reporting or lack thereof – declaring eligible by LB Kamu Grugier-Hill. What’s the procedure for that and why is there some confusion sometimes with players that they thought they did but they actually didn’t?) – “Again, there shouldn’t be. The league has made an emphasis about the middle of last year. They’ve really expanded that process where they want everybody reporting whether you’re eligible or ineligible, so they’ve really widened the scope of what their expectations are, but it’s simply a matter of – again, it’s part of your assignment, the ‘takes no talent’ bucket that we’ve talked about here for a couple years, and just understanding how that has to happen.”
(Following up on that question – is it a matter of a player speaking, “I’m eligible” to one of the officials? Is it a hand signal and what specifically happened on that play?) – “It’s a combination. It’s the referee and it’s solely the referee. That’s changed. It used to be the umpire; now it’s the referee. And it’s letting him know verbally that based on your position and what you’re doing, whether you’re an eligible or ineligible player based on your jersey number.”
(K Jason Sanders as we all know is having this incredible season. Now though he’s got a miss in each of the past two games. Do you tell him anything to maybe get his confidence back on track or do you leave him alone?) – “His confidence hasn’t wavered. And for me, if he’s hitting good balls – and the ball he missed on Sunday was a good ball. It faded a little bit left at the end – but as long as his operation is clean and he’s hitting good balls, we stay the course.”
(I’d also like to ask you about the two-point conversion play. It’s one I’ve never seen before. I don’t know if anyone on this call has seen a hook-and-lateral on a two-point conversion. Can you tell us how that idea came about and what you saw in the execution?) – “Again, that’s the offense executing a good play; but any time you get can people to have to change what they’re doing in terms of where the action is going and where the final result is going, you sometimes give yourself an opportunity to have a successful play.”
(I wanted to ask you how you personally have handled 2020? We’re getting close to the end of the year now and it’s been just a year that none of us have ever seen before. How do you think you’ve handled it? What’s something that you can be proud of in the past year and what’s something that “man, if I had to do over again, I would?”) – “Oh geez, we don’t have enough time on this call. I think the thing I’m proud of is the fact that we’re here. That we’ve played 14 games, we’re getting ready for our 15th game. It’s really been a difficult season, offseason, season for everybody. You play the hand you’re dealt, but this has not been a fun hand to play. A lot of the things that you truly enjoy and make this job so special in my opinion – the camaraderie with the staff and the players and a lot of those things – it’s hard (not) to miss those things.”
Josh Boyer – December 22, 2020
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(Question for you – you guys are right up there in rankings. I know you try not to pay attention to all that from a defensive standpoint, but what in your mind determines “this is a good defense.” Like what is it? Is it turnovers, is it points allowed, is it yards, is it third-down efficiency, is it red-zone efficiency? What, in your mind, is the No. 1?) – “Wins.”
(What’s the challenge this week – you’ve done it before this season – preparing for two quarterbacks and if it Raiders QB Marcus Mariota, what does he present for your defense?) – “I think going into every week, you prepare for their entire roster and sometimes you’ve got to prepare for practice squad guys that could be flexed. Obviously we’re going to do our due diligence on Derek Carr, we’re going to do it on Mariota and we’ll study (Nathan) Peterman, too, as well. Usually, backups, no matter – it’s not exclusive to the quarterback position, but there’s usually differences. So we have to make our players aware of what we feel like their strengths are, what we feel like some things that they might struggle with and then we definitely have to be aware of who’s in the game. We’ve got a very good opponent this week. They have a very good scheme. They’re very well-coached. They’re also a team that things that have given us problems over the season, they’ll do those, too, as well. So we’ve got a lot of guys to prepare for and we’re working hard to do that.”
(When we spoke to LB Jerome Baker yesterday, I kind of complimented him on his performance against the run the last couple of weeks. He’s made a lot of tackles, he’s had tackles for loss, he forced a fumble, he’s had sacks. But he said something interesting and I wanted to ask you about it. He said “I’ve learned that I don’t need to make every tackle, sometimes I just have to make sure I’m a part of a solid wall.” Can you kind of educate me a little bit more on that in terms of what you want the players to do relative to assignment?) – “There’s 11 guys out there on the field and they all have to be working as a unit. If we have one guy that breaks down on every play, then a lot of times those are going to be big plays against us. It doesn’t hurt you every time, but the majority of the time it really does and I think a lot of guys – and we’ve talked about this before – the splash plays, the splash stats, sacks, interceptions, tackles for loss – sometimes if you go try to make those plays and it’s not within the structure of what we’re trying to do defensively, what happens is you open up creases and lanes for either quarterbacks to throw and step up in or for running backs to find and take off. So again, it’s really a team thing and a lot of times that you see guys make plays, there’s usually somebody else involved in it. We’ve had a number of interceptions this year where there’s been good pressure. There’s been a number of sacks this year where there’s been good coverage. And then we’ve had some really good individual plays, too. I’m not saying that, but I think it all kind of goes hand-in-hand and again, we’ve got a good group of guys that they care about each other, they play for each other and they’re all genuinely happy when somebody else has success. Eventually their time will come and because they have success, somebody else probably set that up, too. So I think that’s probably a little bit of what he was talking about.”
(I wanted to ask you about the challenges of playing on a short week with obviously a holiday in the middle on the road going cross-country. Did you start your game planning as soon as the game ended on Sunday? How did that work?) – “It’s a difficult situation, but that’s what’s presented in front of us and you’ve got to cram as much in as you possibly can to compound. We are human, too, so there’s a holiday element here that sometimes you’ve got to be able to block all that stuff out and prepare and go. We’ve worked really hard all year to put ourselves in this position to play meaningful games, so our sole focus is on the Raiders and putting our guys in the best position to succeed. Whatever the clock says or the time says, things have got to get done. So that’s where our time, effort and energy has really been.”
(I wanted to ask you about Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden. What’s it like preparing for one of his offenses and how ready will you guys be for a Spider 2 Y Banana?) – “(laughter) I’ve actually had a couple interactions with Coach Gruden. He’s a University of Dayton alum and he’s a tremendous individual. He’s a very good football coach. His playbook is massive and he does a very good job of attacking defenses, so we have a big challenge, like I said, in front of us this week and he’ll be quick to adjust. They do a lot and there will definitely be a game plan element to it, so there’s a lot for us to prepare for. But again, we’re going to put everything we have into it and try to put the guys in the best position that we possibly can and hopefully we can go out there and execute.”
(You mentioned splash plays and splash stats. CB Xavien Howard obviously is one of those guys. Could you explain to someone who hasn’t seen him play why he is successful doing what he does?) – “First of all, he’s gifted athletically. He has a really good skillset. He’s strong, he’s able to diagnose plays, he’s got a good feel, he doesn’t really panic when the ball is in the air. And I would say the thing that pleases me most about Xavien (Howard) is he’s really a selfless player. He’s done really well in the run game and he’s really made some big plays for us. He’s just a guy that you can count on consistently week-in and week-out. He has a nose for the football and he’s done a really good job for us and he continues to work hard. He comes in and puts in a good week’s work every week and he’s striving to get better, so all good things to say about him and hopefully he’ll come in here this week and work harder to get better. He’s been a productive player for us, for sure.”
(Keeping on the theme with CB Xavien Howard, I wanted to ask you first your reaction to his making the Pro Bowl – I don’t think anyone was surprised at that – but how would you feel about his candidacy for Defensive Player of the Year? There seems to be more talk about him as a strong candidate for that award as well?) – “When it comes to offseason stuff or awards and stuff like that, I think we have plenty of players that are deserving of things that work hard and that are good players. Obviously stuff like that is out of our control. I’m sure ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) is a deserving candidate, but the important things for us as a group collectively are all team-oriented goals. We’re always happy for individuals and when they achieve success and like I said, I think we’ve got more guys that are deserving of things. ‘X’ has done a good job. Like I said, he’s played consistently week-in and week-out for us, made big plays for us. He’s been productive and really like a lot of things that don’t get seen, I would say he’s really a complete player. He can play in the run game. There’s a lot of things that when the ball doesn’t go his way that he does well. So as far as the stats and all that stuff, those things are great. They’re nice. But at the end of the day, our sole focus is on the Raiders and winning and everything that we can do – all our time, effort and energy is going to be put into that.”
Chan Gailey – December 22, 2020
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Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey
(I wanted to start by asking you about the offensive line. In our eyes, this was their best game of the year, certainly on the ground. What made it so successful, and the success you had with G/T Jesse Davis at guard…) – “I think that the guys that have been playing will continue to play if they are available. It depends on who’s available. The great thing is we’ve got some guys we really trust and like in some back-up roles. If they have to go in there like Mike (Deiter) had to do, he went in there and played pretty good. It’s a plus to have those guys available when you need them. We did some good things in the running game, I thought our backs saw some things really well this week. They were able to bounce outside a couple of times where we haven’t been able to do that before. Our line stayed on the downs really well. Those linebackers – we kind of pushed those guys back into the linebackers and those linebackers couldn’t see the fits as well. It was a combination of several things there, and we had some good downfield blocking too.”
(I wanted to ask you about run-pass options. How important is the run element of the RPO to actually make that style of offense work? When in the college football era did you see the RPO start getting success?) – “Wow. I can’t even remember when that was. It was back in the 2000s when all of that started. The run element is huge. If you don’t have the run element, the PO (pass option) part doesn’t take effect. You’ve got to have the run element. You’ve got to be able to put it in there and run it. Then if they collapse, or they move the linebacker or whatever you’re reading, then you have the opportunity to throw the football.”
(I’m asking about WR Lynn Bowden Jr. and his development, and just how he’s progressed throughout the season. What is it about his skillset and ability to typically make that first defender miss that makes him so dangerous and useful for your offense?) – “I’d say that you can watch kids that come through today and which ones played tag growing up and which ones didn’t play tag growing up. If you played tag, then you know how to make a guy miss. He played a lot of tag, I guess, because he can make a guy miss. I’ve had a couple of guys like that in my career that can make a guy miss and see the field and see the next guy. There are a few of those out there and he’s got that little knack to be able to side step, juke, whatever term you want to use. He’s pretty good at avoiding that head-on collision, that full-speed tackle. He sees things very well and can control his body. His development has not been as quick as he’s wanted, but he had a lot to learn. He had a lot to learn in our offense. He got here late. He was learning what to do and where to line up and how to run the routes and where we wanted him. He’s really, really come on really well in the last three to four weeks. He’s starting to find where he is in the offense and make contributions. When he makes contributions, then that gives us more confidence to continue to use him and it’s a two-way street there.”
(With RB Salvon Ahmed, for him to go undrafted and go on to have the success he’s having, what are his attributes – and maybe what you were just talking about is one of them – his attributes that weren’t readily apparent in college that are showing up now in the NFL?) – “He’s another one. Everybody looks at speed. ‘Oh he’s got great speed.’ But he’s got some awareness about blocks. I think (Running Backs Coach) Eric Studesville does a great job of explaining principles of running. Who you’re looking at, where you think the crease will be, when do you take the crease, when do you look for the next crease. I think Eric does a great job of teaching running backs about the theory of defense and defenders and how they see things. These guys are starting to learn those little things that are going to make the difference in being an average back or a good back, and then maybe eventually a great back when it’s all over with.”
(What has changed either from you or from QB Tua Tagovailoa or the offense as a whole, since the Denver game that has really led to Tagovailoa’s play over the last couple of weeks?) – “I don’t know if you can put your finger on one thing. I think it’s been a combination of him getting more comfortable. I thought Denver did a great job. They did some things that we didn’t plan on and it hurt us. That’s my job. It wasn’t him as much as it was me in that ball game. I think we’ve progressed in learning where he’s comfortable, what he can do, how we can incorporate what he’s comfortable with and what we have available to us, using our personnel better – things like that. It takes time. You don’t like to say that. You want it to all come together immediately, but it takes some time for all of that to happen. I think we’ve been working towards seeing what we can be at some point in time. I don’t think we’ve gotten there. I think we’re still progressing, but we’ve made some progress.”
(You’ve faced Raiders Interim Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach Rod Marinelli’s fronts before and defenses before. What type of things, coming into this week, you’re looking to see with your offense, especially last week, which you may be able to exploit?) – “We try to look at Rod and I really call upon those other coaches that have faced him because as we talked about a couple of weeks ago, I threw away all of my notes. I don’t have any more notes. I remember when Rod was in Dallas that we played them. I’ll try to think back to that, but it’s just you try to see what they did last week that was different from the weeks before and see where they may be headed with their defense, and you just adjust. This really is going to be a game of adjusting on the move.”
(In looking back at some of the longer runs on Sunday, it seemed that TE Adam Shaheen, TE Durham Smythe and even guys like WR Mack Hollins and WR Isaiah Ford got involved in blocking. When you get the tight ends and receivers involved in blocking, how does that contribute, especially to longer runs?) – “You seldom have a long run without those guys blocking. Unless somebody falls down, you seldom have one of those. That’s something we’ve been working on and trying to get better at each week is how we can control those guys in the secondary, how we can affect them and get them blocked. They’re getting better every week. It wasn’t just yesterday. I thought they’ve been getting better each week doing that. So we’ve got to continue that.”
(Tight ends so often are judged strictly by the number of catches they have, which makes it easy for a guy like TE Durham Smythe to fly under the radar. How do you assess his value to the offense because of his blocking?) – “He really does a good job. He does a lot of things for us. He can play multiple positions, he’s very intelligent, he’s a tough guy. Just coming back from the knee injury he came back from this year, he’s a true tough guy. I feel like he’s very valuable to us as a football team, as an offense. He plays special teams. He does a lot of things to help this football team become successful. I’m glad he’s here. I’m glad he’s on our side.”
Jerome Baker – December 21, 2020
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Monday, December 21, 2020
LB Jerome Baker
(I’m wondering how often you’ve kept in touch this year with your good buddy Raiders LB Raekwon McMillan and how much you’re looking forward to seeing him Saturday?) – “Oh yeah, when it comes to ‘Kwon’ (Raekwon McMillan), that’s my big brother right there. I talk to him pretty much every week. We always just talk and just catch up on things. I’m definitely excited to see him. I’m definitely excited to see him play and do his thing. Definitely excited.”
(You guys have dealt with this before this season, preparing for more than one quarterback with the status of Raiders QB Derek Carr unavailable. How do you go about that this week and if it is Raiders QB Marcus Mariota, what kind of a challenge does he present, being a bit more mobile than Derek Carr?) – “It’s just a little bit more film work. You’re studying – honestly, you’re just putting more work in. You’ve got a bigger challenge in terms of it’s two quarterbacks and now you’ve got to put that work in to match that. But like you said, we’ve been doing it, so we’re definitely used to it. We’re definitely going to do that and when it comes to him as a player, he does it all. He can throw, he can throw on the run, he can run the ball. He does a lot of things. He gives us a lot of challenges. But ultimately our job is to ultimately come out with a win and get it done, so I’m definitely excited for that.”
(Is Dark Grind the LB Elandon Roberts brand and can you explain to us what that means?) – “Yeah, the Dark Grind is the work you put in when nobody’s looking. The work you put in when it’s just you and the grind. That hard sweat that you’re not doing it for cameras, you’re not doing it for people, you’re just doing it for you to get better. ‘E. Rob,’ (Elandon Roberts), he’s been around long enough; you can just tell he’s all about putting that work in when nobody’s looking. He doesn’t care who’s around. He doesn’t care if it’s coaches, he doesn’t care if it’s players – whoever it is. He’s just going to put the work in and get better. He got me a hat and I’m all for wearing his brand. I’m just happy he gave me a hat and I’m going to definitely rep it. (laughter)”
(I wanted to ask about the hat and in particular the impact of getting LB Elandon Roberts and LB Kyle Van Noy back into the lineup this Sunday. The three of you guys played a lot of reps in this game. I was just curious, what does it mean to the defense to get Roberts and Van Noy back in the lineup after missing them the previous game?) – “It means a lot. Kyle (Van Noy) and ‘E. Rob’ (Elandon Roberts), honestly they’re coaches on the field. We come to the sideline, we have a good idea of what went wrong and what we need to do before the coaches even say anything. That just helps all of us as a defense in the long run, so I’m always excited when those guys are out there and they coach me up, we coach each other up, we push each other. It’s just a great feeling when you have – in all reality – we have another coach. You have a coach on the field essentially, so it was definitely good to have them out there.”
(Two questions for you. One, you come from a college where the regular season ended, but your season never ended. You were always going to a bowl game and now in the NFL you haven’t tasted postseason yet, so if you can give us a sense for how much you’re hungry to get the playoffs and secondly, when you talk about Dark Grind, everybody has things that they have to do that maybe it’s not so much an inconvenience and other things, maybe part of your workout routine that you hate – what part do you hate?) – “(laughter) When it comes to playoffs, just going to The Ohio State (University), they prepared me for a lot of things I never would have even imagined. When it comes to the schedule, at Ohio State it’s pretty much, the playoffs just – we have to get there. That’s the standard. You at least have to get there. So when it comes to NFL, I want to get to that point of our culture is we’re getting to the playoffs and anything can happen in the playoffs. That’s the reality. So I’m definitely hungry. Our team is definitely hungry, but honestly I think the approach we have is just focus on this week and everything else will handle itself. If we win this week, if we do what we have to do this week, everything is still in front of us and that’s what I’m excited for. We’re going to come in this week and prepare and do what we’ve been doing and honestly just come out with a win and worry about the playoffs whenever they come. And the part I hate, for me I don’t really hate anything. That’s just such a strong word. I think for me, the only thing kind of bothers me, I’m not a morning person. So sometimes getting up at 6, 5:30 or something; it’s not as fun. (laughter) But I don’t necessarily hate anything.”
(In the last two weeks, I feel like you’ve played very well against the run. You’ve got about 17 tackles, maybe about three tackles for loss. In what areas have you really focused to do well against the run and in what areas do you feel like you’ve improved here in this stage of your career?) – “I think for me, it was just realizing I don’t have to make the tackle all the time. I don’t have to do the splash play. Sometimes building the wall is the best thing to do and for me, honestly, I study and I talk to ‘E. Rob’ (Elandon Roberts) because he’s quite good at run defense – the run stopping. So I talk to him, I’m in his ear, I’m in Kyle’s (Van Noy) ear. I’m pretty much just asking the question, ‘how can I get better?’ Sometimes the truth hurts, but you definitely just have to take it and you’re either going to just fold or you’re going to attack it and that’s what I’ve been doing. I want to be able to be on the field all three downs. I want to be able to help this team win in any way I can and I take that approach. That’s pretty much all I’ve been doing, is just trying to get better for this team. Whatever they need me to do, I’m down to do it. Yeah, that’s all I do.”
(I’m just curious how this year has been. It’s such a strange year and obviously you guys are finishing on a high note. I would imagine if you guys were losing, this season would be drudgery. With COVID and all the restrictions you have to go through, has it been a nice silver lining with how this season’s gone? How has it been just surviving this year?) – “I think this year was all about just being resilient. No matter what the season throws at you, whatever the world throws at you. You can’t just put your head down and mope around and just feel bad for yourself; you have to attack it, you have to get better at whatever you’re doing. You just have to attack it and go after it and I think our team as a whole, we’re built like that. No matter whatever challenge we have; if we’re down 20 or we’re down three, we approach it the same way. We can get it, we can get it done if we do it together. I think this year, that’s pretty much been – the fun ride for me is just seeing our team become a team and really have each other’s back. That’s pretty much been exciting for me, so happy just to keep getting it going and win as many games as we can and just do what we’re supposed to do.”
Isaiah Ford – December 21, 2020
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Monday, December 21, 2020
WR Isaiah Ford
(I’m sure a lot of my colleagues will ask about your role and your time up in New England, but I wanted to ask – rewinding back to the day after you get sent up there – when you saw the picture of QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, what did you think and did he do it properly in honoring you?) – “(laughter) Yeah, so ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) actually sent me a picture with the shorts on before he actually went out to practice, so I didn’t know if he was just like wearing them around the locker room or something like that. But that just speaks on the type of leader he is and the relationship that I have with him. ‘Fitz’ is my guy, man. He’s an awesome teammate, he’s an awesome older – like a brother figure – and I just love that guy to death.”
(Can you take me through your journey over the last couple months? What it’s been like to go from Miami to New England back to Miami?) – “It’s been a little bit of an adventure to say the least, but the thing that I’ve tried to do throughout the entire thing was just to control what I can control and focus on getting a little bit better each day, whether I was in Miami or I was in Foxborough. So just trying to work on my craft and get better and learn as much as I can and I’m just happy to be back now.”
(What was it like to put on a Patriots uniform? What was it like to kind of learn all their secrets in a short period of time?) – “(laughter) I was excited about the opportunity. It was something – you hear so much about that organization and you have so much respect for that organization as a fan of the sport and then playing them twice a year for the last four years. So I thought being in the facility, kind of seeing the ins and outs of everything and being a part of it for that short stint of time that I was there, was a learning opportunity for me. And I’m very appreciative of that and the time that I spent there; but like I said, I’m kind of just happy to be back.”
(Two questions for you. One, what was it like on the field Sunday? Were you and some of your old teammates in New England saying anything back and forth? Did Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick give you a stare? Anything like that? And secondly, the biggest difference between the Patriot Way and the Dolphin Way is what?) – “It was fun being on the field with those guys and the short time I was there, they were all extremely welcoming in helping me get acclimated with everything that was going, whether they were meetings and how things were structured and how things were done that way. It was good talking to all those guys. They were all happy to see me back on the field, so I thought it was good to see those guys and kind of speak to them. I think the difference, the biggest difference is probably the weather. (laughter) The weather up there that they practice in versus the weather that we practice in down here would probably be the biggest thing in my opinion.”
(I’m curious, going from I guess the beginning of November, the Dolphins trading you away, to coming back and logging 54 offensive snaps a month and a half later for a team in the thick of the playoff race. What did that tell you about yourself and the nature of the National Football League?) – “It’s a business. We all knew that when we signed up for it. I would say I’m just extremely grateful that this organization would allow me to come back. I think that speaks on how I’ve tried to carry myself on and off the field and how I’ve worked on and off the field as well, so I’ve always tried to be as good a teammate as I can and always worked extremely hard as I could and tried to learn and soak up as much knowledge and information as I could. But you’ve got to love this game. You’re going to endure ups and downs and go through adversity and obstacles, but the beauty of the game is when the opportunity does come like Sunday, you get to play and just to be out there with the guys that you’ve bonded with and things like that.”
(You’re obviously a little bit more maybe mature than some other players who might harbor some tough feelings about the situation, especially for a player like you where you’ve been promoted then dropped, then added back to the practice squad, promoted and dropped for your first couple years before even being traded. How do you kind of stay mature about it and not hold any ill-will after everything?) – “I think throughout my entire time in the NFL, the biggest thing that I’ve learned is to control what you can control, right? Because at the end of the day, whatever happens is going to happen and you can drive yourself crazy, you can have anxiety or a lot of stress built up if you focus on the things that you can’t control. The things that I can control are how I carry myself and how I work on the field, the information that I learn. I’ve tried to do that to the best of my abilities and I felt a lot better with the outcome and with just my general well-being, going throughout the days, of how I carry myself when I do that. The biggest thing for me is just going to keep my head down and control what I can.”
(If I remember this correctly, the Patriots seemed to indicate that they would have liked you to stay around, presumably on practice squad. What were the factors that went into the choice, if in fact there was a choice there, to come back to Miami as opposed to staying on the Patriots practice squad?) – “I just think the familiarity with being here. I think this is a special place in Miami – not to say that it’s not a special place in New England, but a lot of my guys are here. So to have that opportunity to be back with DeVante (Parker), Jakeem (Grant), ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick), (Patrick) Laird, Myles (Gaskin), Mack (Hollins), all those guys. I can keep going on and on and pretty much name everybody on the team, but it’s a special bond that I have with these guys down here. They’re all great people in Foxborough as well, but there’s just something about being home, you know? And I think that was the biggest thing that went into the decision.”
Zach Sieler – December 21, 2020
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Monday, December 21, 2020
DT Zach Sieler
(The sack you had yesterday, it looked like you came off of the edge of the defensive line. I was curious how have you been able to incorporate your skills to be able to rush both from the interior of the defensive line as well as off the edge like that?) – “I think the biggest thing for me is just the planning. Obviously things on the edge are much different than on the inside. For me, preparing for each game as if I’m going to be outside, inside or for both. Just knowing that going into the game, preparing for which I plan on getting my rushes at.”
(How helpful has it been that you guys have been good this year with what’s been going on in the external world with all of the protocols you guys have been through? I’d imagine if this was a 5-9 instead of a 9-5 team, it would be a rough season.) – “I think honestly with this COVID stuff, as hard as it’s been on us, I think it’s almost helped bring us closer. We’re almost in a – we’re in it together kind of thing. I think that’s helped and helped get us to where we’re at in the season now.”
(We saw CB Xavien Howard get his first forced fumble of the season. That gives him 10 for the season as far as interceptions and forced fumbles. Have you ever been around a guy that’s been around the football so much? Is there a skill to that? And how does he change the defense with his ability to always be around the football?) ]- “It’s huge. That flips the field. It gives automatic ball position. It’s a huge asset to have. You’re right. I don’t know if it’s a special skill he’s got, but he definitely fins – I think it’s the hustle. He’s always hustling to make sure he’s near the ball and wherever he needs to be.”
(It’s a short week and it’s early in the week so I don’t know how much, if any, you’ve gotten to see of the Raiders. But what, if anything, have you noticed, whether it’s on film or highlights, of their running back, Josh Jacobs?) – “I think they’ve got a very good offense and a good running back obviously – No. 28, Jacobs. It’s definitely going to be a challenge for us defensively. We’ve got to prepare for this week and like you said, it’s an accelerated week. It’s on a Saturday night instead of Sunday. Just prepare as much as we can and get ready for this week.”
(If you could, I was hoping you might be able to expand a little bit more on the answer you gave me about how this pandemic has brought you guys together. One thing that comes to mind is there are not many social activities beyond your house. These might be some of the few people you might see on a day-to-day basis. I’m curious, how has it brought you guys together?) – “Yeah. We’re going through daily testing, changes in protocol each week every week. Instead of just getting frustrated or discouraged by it, guys are rallying behind each other like ‘hey, we’ll get through it.’ Or if somebody gets it, ‘hey man, we hope you’re feeling alright. We’ll see you when you get back.’ Then someone else steps up and takes that role, filling in when someone is missing. I think that’s really brought us together.”
Ted Karras – December 21, 2020
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Monday, December 21, 2020
C Ted Karras
(How surprised were you about QB Tua Tagovailoa’s holiday gifts to the offensive linemen and what does that notion mean coming from a rookie quarterback?) – “I think it’s an amazing gesture. I think it shows how good of a leader he is already. It’s a pretty sweet gift and I’m very grateful. We’ve already made several of the sausages. We haven’t set up the grill yet, but I’m very thankful. It’s an amazing gift and obviously a very large gift. We’re going to set it up and smoke some meats here this offseason. I’m looking forward to it.”
(I wanted to get your opinion on what was the biggest factor leading to the Dolphins’ 250 rushing yards in the game?) – “I think everyone stepped up and did their job really well. I think as a o-line, we had a hat on a hat and got to the second level, and our backs had great vision and hit the hole fast. Our tight ends – Adam (Shaheen) and Durham (Smythe) – really had some key blocks that sprung us to some big gains. We’ve been working on that for a long time. It felt really good to get a bunch of yards on the ground and continue our push here in late December.”
(Not only did you have your best rushing day of the season, but you did so without a couple of the key pieces. How did you feel C/G Michael Deiter played down the stretch, and G/T Jesse Davis filling in at guard? The moving pieces didn’t seem to miss a beat this week.) – “No. obviously you never want to see anyone go down. With Mike (Deiter) coming in, like you said, we didn’t skip a beat. I was very happy for him to come in and play and play in a big moment and play really well. I think the film really speaks to the preparation and the hard work that he has put in these last five or six months in a different role. Coming into a game and playing really well, I was really happy for him.”
(I don’t think I’ve ever met an offensive lineman who doesn’t enjoy run blocking, especially when things are going well. I’m wondering while that is happening, while you guys are having great success run after run and they keep calling it, what was that like for you and your offensive line teammates emotionally and from a psyche perspective?) – “Well, we want to continue the success we’ve had. I think we had a lot of long drives and I think that can wear you down here in South Florida as an opponent. We did enough execution-wise to have a really big day and we do want to run block. Obviously it’s a little bit less higher stakes than pass blocking; but it’s just as challenging and probably a little bit more exerting. I think our conditioning held up and for us, we’ve been waiting on that for a while and we’ve been working really hard and putting in the time. I’m glad that we all got to share in the rewards here last night.”
(They say that you have to be able to run the ball in December and January to win. Do you think that’s still the case? Do you think this could be the key to you guys making a run here?) – “I think it’s definitely the case probably all the time in the National Football League. If you have a good ground game, it will definitely up your chances to win. This was a great performance for us. We’re going to have to keep grinding and keep working. We have a good opponent coming up here the day after Christmas in Las Vegas, and we’re going to have to do it again. That is the task of an NFL o-lineman. Now we have the next challenge coming up and it’s going to be a big week of preparation, a little bit of unique week, but I’m looking forward to going on another west coast trip.”
(We saw C/G Michael Deiter get some NFL action for the first time this season. I was curious to get your reaction on how excited you were to see him out there because after the QB Tua Tagovailoa scramble, he seemed to be pretty excited. How did you feel to see Michael get back on the field?) – “I was very happy for him. I’ve been in that kind of sixth-man role for several years of my career. To come in and make the most of the reps that you get and put good film out there, I was very happy for him. He’s put in a lot of hard work and every day he comes to work and is ready to go, and it definitely showed Sunday afternoon when he came in the second half and we had our best rushing performance of the year.”
(Offensive linemen can help really make running backs look good. After you looked at the film or even was thinking back to the game. What in this game did RB Salvon Ahmed and RB Matt Breida do that helped you guys look good?) – “I think we had a great plan going in and the backs definitely I would say make the o-line look good more than the o-line make the backs look good; but they were hitting the hole fast. They had great vision. The cutbacks were there. I think our tight ends deserve a lot of credit for sealing off the back side on a lot of the big runs. As an o-line, we had an hat on a hat and playing good assignment-clean football, getting to the second-level quick. It was a complete team effort and it showed. The film looked – it was fun to look at that film with runs we have been repping now for six months. We came out of the gate strong in the second half yesterday.”
Brian Flores – December 21, 2020
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Monday, December 21, 2020
Head Coach Brian Flores
(I wanted to ask you about the job the offensive line did yesterday. It kind of got lost in the mix a little bit, but certainly down two starters in the fourth quarter, they were impressive. Your thoughts when you watched the tape?) – “I thought offensively, I thought (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) called a really nice game. I thought our staff did a good job of getting those guys prepared and then they went out and executed across the board – o-line, tight ends, receivers, the backs ran hard and we executed.”
(To what extent is a running performance like that something to build on the rest of the way?) – “I think we want to build on execution. That’s kind of been what we’ve talked about on a week-to-week basis. Every week is a different challenge, so it’s nice to have some success, but it doesn’t really mean anything in the next game. We have to prepare and execute in whatever element of the game we’re talking about – kickoff return, punt return, kickoff, field goal, field goal block, run game, pass game, drop-back, screens, run defense. It’s about execution.”
(I wanted to get some clarity and I hope that – I’m sure you can provide it. On the two special teams plays that you guys had called back the last two weeks, were the players supposed to declare themselves as eligible and doesn’t that negate the fact that it’s a trick play? What were you supposed to do?) – “Yeah, they were supposed to have reported as eligible to the referee or umpire. We didn’t. Those are the things pre-snap we have to do a better job of. Did we report, did we not report; it’s one of those things where we have to do a better job coaching that. Obviously that starts with me and we’ve got to execute it better. Does that answer your question?”
(It does. So every time somebody’s on the end of a special teams line, they have to declare themselves?) – “If you have an ineligible number, you have to report as eligible. If you have an eligible number, you don’t. That’s just kind of – rules.”
(You’ve been an advocate for diversity on many fronts in the past, whether it be for matters within your team or advocating for other minority coaches in the NFL. What do you think of the potential matchup between QB Tua Tagovailoa and Raiders QB Marcus Mariota – both Polynesian quarterbacks – and regardless of who starts for Vegas on Saturday – I know there’s some questions there – how do you think both of these quarterbacks have represented their homes and made the most of their opportunities to reach the highest level?) – “I think they’re both very talented. They’ve had a lot of success throughout their careers, lives. From what I know about Marcus (Mariota) – I’ve never met him, but what I’ve heard just in talking to people, this is somebody who embodies a lot of the characteristics that we’re looking for in a football player. Tough, smart, team-first. Obviously Tua is that same way. So a lot of respect for Mariota as well as Derek Carr and that entire team and organization. This will certainly be a challenge this week.”
(Yesterday you had mentioned that the injured guys came close to being able to play yesterday and I’m wondering in the case of TE Mike Gesicki, when he went down, it looked at least to my eyes, it looked like it might be a serious injury, so I’m wondering was the injury just not as bad as maybe it originally appeared or is this a credit to his toughness that he is on the brink of returning so quickly?) – “Mike (Gesicki) is a very tough guy and again, I think for those of us who don’t have medical degrees, it’s hard to say it looked like – we just don’t know. We’re not looking at the X-rays and MRIs and things like that. So we leave that to the doctors and that combined with Mike and his willingness of wanting to get out there and fight through some things. He, along with a lot of our other players, are really trying to fight through and get out there as quickly as they can. Obviously we wouldn’t put them there or even practice them if we didn’t feel like they could withstand a practice or a game. Their health is first. He’s fighting through it.”
(I’m just trying to find out what the prep schedule is for this week with a game one day earlier.) – “We’ll walk through tomorrow. We’re still talking through the rest of the week as far as how we’re going to handle that.”
(There was a third-and-8 play at the end of the third quarter where you had a RB Patrick Laird run for 12 yards and a first down. I’m curious, is that something where QB Tua Tagovailoa has the autonomy at the line to check to that call? Is it something that comes into the headset? I’m just wondering how you got into a running situation on a play where traditionally it’s more of a passing situation?) – “Key word: traditionally. It’s a good call by Chan (Gailey). I think it’s honestly one of my favorite plays in the game. They play some multiple fronts there. Let’s call it dime, 7- and 8-DB packages. Chan felt like there was an opportunity to stick a run in there and we got it. We blocked it up well. (Michael) Deiter came around and pulled on the safety, who was in a linebacker-kind-of-position. Laird made a real good run and picked up a first down there. I thought it was a really, really nice call by Chan.”
(I just wanted to get an update on G Solomon Kindley’s situation and also, are you guys planning to leave after Christmas morning after everybody gets to spend a little time with the family or are you guys leaving before Christmas?) – “We’re going to leave on Christmas Day. Obviously the game is on the 26th, so we’ll leave on Christmas Day. Solomon, he’s still being evaluated. He was in here this morning. He’s going to do everything he can to get out there. He’s a tough kid. We’ll see where this is. We’ve still got to kind of do some more tests. Obviously he’s treating and things of that nature, but we’ve got to run a few more tests here.”
(We know well your laser focus. What would your reaction be or what is your reaction if you overhear a couple of your players talking about the playoffs?) – “I don’t have a problem with people talking about whatever they want to talk about, but our playoffs are this week against the Raiders. That’s my – let’s call it the playoffs, this week against the Raiders. Let’s call it that. It’s one game at a time. That’s kind of where my focus is. That’s where we’ll try to direct their focus. If they’re talking about anything else, it’s about the Raiders. It’s one game. It’s a one game season. Let’s call it a one game playoff season.”
(I wanted to piggyback on that. You have the second youngest team in the NFL. I think your average age is like 25 years old. This month, it’s experiences that a lot of these guys have never had before. How invaluable is it, not just for this year but what you’re building, to be in a playoff race, to make the playoffs and to make some noise?) – “We’re in a one game season. That’s kind of – I think it’s hard to play in this league. Whether it’s September – obviously in December, when you’re playing in meaningful games, there’s a little bit of added anxiety or stress, if you want to call it that; but it’s good to kind of go through that and realize you’re just still playing football. But yeah, it’s a one game season for us.”
