Brian Flores – December 20, 2021
Monday, December 20, 2021
Head Coach Brian Flores
(So RB Duke Johnson’s camp announced that he’s been signed to the 53-man roster. Do you have any corresponding roster moves or any COVID list updates for us?) – “Jaylen Waddle, he’ll come off COVID today, as well as Phillip Lindsay.”
(I wanted to ask you about G Robert Jones and the decision to use him yesterday. Had he been practicing well? Did you see opportunities with a sixth offensive lineman package yesterday to do some damage in the run game?) – “Yeah, I mean every week it’s gameplan-specific. We felt like putting Rob in there in some heavy packages at tight end would help us or potentially help us in the run game. We decided to do that and we thought he did a nice job in there.”
(We ask you every week. Is this the week finally that WR Will Fuller could come back and begin practicing?) – “Will’s had some setbacks in his rehab. I don’t expect him this week and I don’t expected him back this season.”
(Also, RB Malcolm Brown. Could he come back? And one other question about the special teams play where the direct snap went to S Clayton Fejedelem. Was that by design and was there a miscommunication?) – “Malcolm Brown will practice this week and we’ll see how that goes. The special teams play, I’ll take full responsibility for that. My call. We didn’t execute it. Thankfully the defense kind of bailed us out there. We need to do a better job of execution.”
(After now watching film and seeing DT Christian Wilkins’ touchdown celebration, how would you rate your big man’s boogie? It seems like he got really into it out on the field.) – “Yeah, it’s good to see his teammates huddled around him and excited for him, and their support for him and his excitement to help the team with the score It’s always nice to see that. I can give you my opinion on defenses, offenses or special teams but dance, that’s somebody else’s wheelhouse and not necessarily mine. (laughter)”
(I wanted to ask you about some comments from some of the Jets offensive players mentioned about spacing your defense. They said that they expected going into the game to see a lot of that Cover 0 pressure that you guys were showing on film, but then post-snap it was more zone. I was just curious about the psychology of showing blitz or showing Cover 0 pre-snap and then going into more zone or maybe a man look that’s not Cover 0. What effect can that have on the offense and how they maybe approach things?) – “I thought they had a good plan. I thought they did a nice job of executing some of their protections and kind of blitz beaters. I thought they did a nice job. That’s football. You make it look like one thing and it’s another and you try to disguise things. We’re doing that really in all phases – offensively, defensively and in the kicking game.”
(I wanted to ask you about RB Salvon Ahmed who was up and didn’t play. Was that health-related or more kind of the way the flow of the game was going?) – “He just came off of COVID. We only had three backs so we were going to take three backs regardless. That combined with Duke was running it well, Myles (Gaskin) was running it well. That’s kind of how it goes. But initially, the plan was to get those guys more snaps. I thought they did a nice job with their snaps. Salvon was ready to go. He battled back from having a different week dealing with COVID and getting back and getting back into form. He and Myles both, I thought, did a good job from that standpoint.”
(Obviously DT Christian Wilkins had his moment in the sun yesterday and it seemed like a lot of guys kind of rallied around that and had fun celebrating that play with him. I just kind of wanted to gauge your take as far as how you view celebrating making big plays after all of the work you guys put in throughout the course of the week. What is your philosophy or take on celebrating when you do make a big play?) – “I think the guys work hard. I think they should celebrate. I think they should celebrate, I think they should support one another. I think it’s hard to score in this league. I think it’s hard to make those types of plays. You should be excited about it. I encourage that and at the same time, we’ve got 40 seconds to get ready for the next play. That’s about the amount of time that you have to celebrate. We were right on it, I would say, after Christian’s score. We ended up kicking with two seconds left. We’ll certainly have a conversation about the time limit on the celebrations.”
(How did CB Nik Needham play at safety? Have you and Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer and Defensive Backs Coach Gerald Alexander been working him there the past couple of years in case you needed him on a day like yesterday with S Jevon Holland out?) – “Nik is a smart player. He understands the defense just kind of conceptually, who is supposed to be in what spots. He hasn’t had a lot of reps there obviously throughout the course of the year but was able to step in last week, take some practice reps and then really step up for us. I thought we had a lot of guys who stepped up, Nik being one of them. But just being down a few guys. Duke, obviously. Nik. Isaiah Ford. I think that’s what we need. We need contributions from guys and really everyone. I think Nik, like I said, he’s smart, it’s important to him, he just wants to help the team. So safety, corner, nickel, we can really kind of plug him in in a variety of spots and feel confident that he’s going to get the job done.”
(I was looking at the AFC standings, which I know you probably don’t spend a lot of time doing. But there are 10 teams with six or seven losses. So they’re all sort of bunched up and clustered together. What do you think will determine which of those teams actually make it through over the course of the end of the season here?) – “Execution. I think that’s always something that we talk about. Mental toughness. Mental toughness and physical toughness. I think those are the things that it takes to finish strong in the season. There are a lot of good teams, obviously, throughout the league. There will definitely be some competitive games. We know that. We’ve got a big one coming up against a very good team. We’re just kind of putting initial eyes on the Saints and this is – we’ve got our hands full. We’ll certainly have our hands full.”
(I just wanted to get clarity on S Jevon Holland because he was taken off the COVID list and then couldn’t play. Like RB Phillip Lindsay and WR Jaylen Waddle, is he now able to return to the team and practice even though he didn’t play yesterday? And you just keep him off the COVID list?) – “Activated. We have to activate him the Saturday before the game in order to potentially get him back. So he’s still on the COVID list. I hope that kind of clears it up. He has not cleared COVID protocol yet.”
(So not on the COVID list but hasn’t cleared COVID protocols as of right now?) – “Yes.”
(I would assume you saw some of the Saints on Sunday night. I wanted to get your thoughts on if anything jumped out that you may not have already known about them.) – “That’s a tough, physical team across the board – offense, defense, special teams. They’ve got a lot of great players. Obviously they’re well-coached, really across the board. Sean Payton, (Pete) Carmichael, Dennis Allen, ‘Riz’ (Darren Rizzi). I think they do a great job. They’ve got a lot of really good players. They played well last night. They’ve been playing well. Like I said, we’ll have our hands full.”
Myles Gaskin – December 20, 2021
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Monday, December 20, 2021
RB Myles Gaskin
(Can you take us through the whole process? Obviously you were out for a week with COVID or on the COVID list. Your relief when you found out that you could come back and then getting ready for a game after one practice.) – “Like you said, getting sick and everything, getting COVID and whatnot. On the front end, because it was the bye week, it worked out where I could just focus on getting healthy and then once I was feeling better, it was pretty much time for the game and it just worked out kind of perfectly to make that one Friday practice and be ready for the game. I felt a little bit better beforehand, so I would run at a park by myself. I just did a little few things but yeah, I just made sure I was ready, locked in on the gameplan so when my number was called, I was ready to go out there.”
(I wanted to ask you about the fourth quarter run but you piqued my interest with the running at a park by yourself thing. What was that like? How did you choose a park? Which day did you run?) – “Just Thursday before practice. There is a park by my house in Miami Lakes, just by my house and nobody was over there. I just wanted to see if I could get my wind back, just see where I was feeling because COVID does affect your lungs and everything and all that type of stuff, with this being the second time I had it. I just wanted to test it out myself and got a few striders in. I felt pretty good. For myself, I was really concentrating on trying to be able to make the game and just testing where I was.”
(Did anybody see you? You weren’t wearing Dolphins gear or anything were you?) – “Nah, I wasn’t decked out. I was dolo. It was just an empty park, just grass. Got some 50s in, like 10 50s and kept pushing.”
(You had a 30-yard run on the game-winning drive. Thinking about that play, can you tell me what you think worked well on that play?) – “The o-line did their job. The hole opened up right where it’s supposed to be, right where you practiced it all week and it just worked out. Everybody did their job, I was able to hit the hole in stride and that’s just the type of runs you hope for in the fourth quarter, especially in that Miami heat. Just trying to finish the drive, trying to finish the game.”
(What did you think about RB Duke Johnson, the game that he had and just what he has brought to this running back room since joining on the practice squad?) – “Had a great performance. Very happy for him being able to do that back home. We were talking about that before the game, being able to play back home and what it’s like for him. Just that experience of being the older dude, he brings a lot of energy every day. He still helps me out a lot just being the older guy, being in this league longer than I have been, how to take care of your body, things like that, just trying to pick up everything I can from him and just seeing what he did yesterday is just inspiring and just trying to build off of that.”
Austin Jackson – December 20, 2021
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Monday, December 20, 2021
G/T Austin Jackson
(How did it feel to get the run game going the way you guys did, rushing for a season high as a team. And also watching RB Duke Johnson, the veteran, do what he did at his first home game back with his hometown Dolphins?) – “It was great. Like you said, it was definitely great to see Duke back in his hometown, back in Hard Rock (Stadium) making plays like he’s been doing. Huge credit to our backs, they had a great game. They did an excellent job reading. It feels good when the outcome of your work is that. We look for plenty more 100-yard rushing games definitely. That’s going to be our goal.”
(You played well again yesterday. You didn’t give up a quarterback pressure. Obviously you were a part of a run game that really good. Are you at the point where you look back at the decision the Dolphins made to move you to guard as a good one in your career? And if you’re not at that point yet, do you think you’ll ever be at that point and feel that way?) – “I definitely think moving to guard has enhanced my career and me as a player. Just the knowledge that it’s given me as an offensive lineman, it’s forced me to really focus on my technique, which is something I think I needed at tackle as well. I think playing guard is definitely going to help me become a better and greater player that I am and will be.”
(Has the feedback you’ve received on how you’ve played the last few weeks, has the feedback from Offensive Line Coach Lemuel Jeanpierre been positive? Are you playing well in your eyes and in the team’s eyes?) – “I’m doing my job, definitely. If you’re not doing your job, they will tell you. (laughter) So I’m definitely doing my job. My mindset is whatever position I’m at on the field, I’m going to put 100 (percent) into it and I think this organization knows that as well. Every week we come in and have a new team and we’re just looking to win.”
(As a group, the offensive line has helped reduce the number of sacks as the season has progressed. What do you think are some of the reasons and some of the ways in which the offensive line has been able to limit pressures and sacks?) – “To eliminate pressures and sacks? Playing better, I guess. (laughter) I don’t know. You can look back at other games where we’ve had off days, and yeah, our communication was bad, especially on my end. Like I could’ve done different stuff with my technique. I think the focus has always been there. We’ve always been focused on executing. But obviously when you go into a game and it doesn’t go your way, you have to figure out what else you need to do. I think we just got to the point where collectively as a group, as a team – because it doesn’t just start with the offensive line, we all work together and get on the same page with stuff to help us out in situations. I think us collectively doing that over and over again and leaning on each other and not pointing fingers – it’s so easy to point fingers. We didn’t do any of that. We just stuck together and worked to execute.”
(You were listed as questionable on the final injury report with illness. How bad did it get and were you ever concerned that you might not be able to play?) – “It wasn’t bad and I don’t think I was concerned about playing.”
(Next Monday is going to be your first Monday night game. A spotlight game with everybody watching, does that hold extra meaning for somebody like yourself that hasn’t played in a Monday night game before?) – “I have not played in a Monday night game. You’re right. I didn’t even think about that. Coming from the Pac-12, I remember we played at night almost every game. Like it was rare for us to play at noon. I definitely look forward to the later night games. I think they are fun. It’s like high school ball. Like Friday night lights. It’s good energy. We get to go up against a great opponent too, the Saints. We’ll have our assignments that we’ll need to execute, but they have a pretty decent front, good edge rushers, good interior. They are a good team. I’m looking forward to getting with my guys and coming up with a plan and executing on Monday night. I’m definitely looking forward to that.”
(How about the notion that mentally, not only the fans are watching this game, but pretty much your fellow NFL players around the league are watching that game as well?) – “Definitely. Everyone is watching those Monday night, Thursday night, Sunday night games. Everybody is watching those. It definitely is. We just prove ourselves right. We don’t just try to prove the whole world wrong. It’s not the Miami Dolphins against the world. We just lock in together and try to prove us right. At the end of the day, that takes you a lot farther than trying to prove a bunch of people wrong.”
Nik Needham – December 20, 2021
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Monday, December 20, 2021
CB Nik Needham
(You played every snap yesterday and it looked like you played a lot of those snaps at safety whether it was a split safety or a single-high safety look. I was just curious, when you line up at safety, what are some pre-snap stuff and post-snap stuff that you are looking for as keys as opposed to when you are in the slot?) – “When you’re back there, you get to really see the whole offense. You get to see the whole formation if it’s a two-receiver set, 11-personnel, it it’s trey, you get to see if it’s a loaded set and you can really see that more – which is like an RPO set so you can see more, get more intel back there. Just communicating with Brandon (Jones), he gives me a lot of help back there. We’ve just got to just build our chemistry. You just see a lot of different stuff from the safety position. It was my first time doing it at free safety. It was cool.”
(You didn’t really do any of that in college or high school or anything like that?) – “Nah, I’ve never played free safety. I usually played corner and receiver in high school and corner in college. Slot was my first year, like two years ago but never free safety.”
(This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen you at safety, but who came up originally or what coach approached you about playing that and what was your reaction?) – “I think it was just all the coaches. We were just trying to gameplan with Jevon (Holland) down. Just see if someone can step up and fill that role just for this game. Someone that can communicate and just knows the defense. We all trust each other and just want to work on the same page. I think that’s just what it came down to on a gameday decision.”
(I just wanted to get clarity on the free safety thing. Was Sunday the first time you’ve ever played the free safety role in your whole life?) – “Kinda yeah. I’ve never really been back there like I said. I’ve always been a coverage guy. I’ve never really played the safety position until really this year. I’m just trying to step up and like I said, do whatever the team needs me to do and play to my best ability and try to play at the highest level. I’ve never really been back there like that.”
(Obviously there was a little bit of hope on Saturday that S Jevon Holland might have been able to come back. Did you know the whole week that there was a good chance you might have to play some back there?) – “We really weren’t sure. You see how it played out with Myles (Gaskin) and Salvon (Ahmed). We just really didn’t know. They just said be ready and if we need you, we need you. I guess things worked out and we came out with a W so it all played out well. It definitely will be good to get Jevon (Holland) back there for sure.”
(What did you think the defense did best in yesterday’s game?) – “I think just responding to adversity. We came out a little shaky in the first half, first quarter. We weren’t tackling well, we regrouped at halftime and all just believed in each other and tried to bounce back and you could see it out there. It just was a change of events in the second half.”
Robert Hunt – December 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
G/T Robert Hunt
Q. Rob, I do believe before I ask my real question, I think you’re the only guy who can take DT Christian Wilkins in a dance battle. Do you like your chances?
ROBERT HUNT: I love my chances.
Q. With the run game, obviously, it was going today. What was the difference and what is it like blocking for RB Duke Johnson?
ROBERT HUNT: It’s the same-old same-old really, man. We just try to come out today and we know we made an emphasis like we’ve been making an emphasis all year to try to get the run game going. Today it was in our favor. It felt good, though. It felt good blocking really for anybody back there. Duke made a lot of good plays. Myles (Gaskin) came in, made plays. It was good to see the run game open up, man.
Q. You said you love your chances against DT Christian Wilkins and the dance-off, but what were your thoughts on the moves he busted out in the end zone? Give us a rundown of your analysis of it.
ROBERT HUNT: Christian, he went crazy, man. That was awesome. I’ve got to practice, man, because if I would have did something like that, I don’t know if I would have had moves like him, but I like my odds to win. I can dance, but, no, he definitely came with the juice today.
Q. I’ve got two questions for you. I’ll start with the fun one first. What’s better, DT Christian Wilkins’ hands or your run after catch?
ROBERT HUNT: Well, Christian’s hands because my run after catch was illegal, so I definitely got to go with Christian’s hands.
Q. Fair enough. Fair enough. I want to ask you, you guys are back to .500. Came all the way back from 1-7. Can you still enjoy this, or do you still feel there’s still a lot of work left to the do?
ROBERT HUNT: The goal is to keep working to be the best that we can be. We always come in each week to try to get better, so the goal is to, like you said, to continue to try to get better.
Andrew Van Ginkel – December 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
LB Andrew Van Ginkel
Q. I think you guys held them to about 54 total yards, something around that, in the second half. What was working so well for you in the second half that maybe wasn’t working so well in the first half?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: I think it’s just we’re a competitive team, and everybody is going to bust their balls, so just knowing that we didn’t do well enough in the first half and that we got to come out and play better, and you just saw everybody buying in, and obviously everybody with the energy and everybody playing and feeding off each other really helped us.
Q. Just a quick follow-up. How much of their trick plays early on kind of caught you by surprise, and did it seem like maybe as the game wore down and they weren’t able to kind of go into that bag more, things kind of got a little more simpler for you guys?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: Yeah. They put a few of those plays on film, so we obviously knew a couple of them were going to come, and just be prepared. And I feel like we did a good job with that.
Q. You guys are 7-7. I don’t think I have to tell you that, but at one point you were 1-7, so when you take a step back and you go 1-7 to 7-7, what’s that like? How does it make you feel?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: Like I said earlier, we have a team that’s competitive and a bunch of fighters. No matter where we’re at, everybody is going to come out and play hard and play for one another. It doesn’t matter what your record is or who you are playing. You just have to go out there, have fun and play off one another.
Q. Hey, Andrew. Because we’re asking everyone, what were your thoughts on Christian Wilkins’ dance moves in the end zone, and what was it like to watch a fellow defensive front seven guy score a touchdown on offense?
ANDREW VAN GINKEL: I love it. That’s what I love about Christian (Wilkins). He brings that same energy every day, and just to see him go out there and play well, the flashy plays, like the touchdown, he does so much more than that that people don’t see, so when you see him score a touchdown, hats off to him because he is just a great player and brings that same energy every play.
Duke Johnson – December 19, 2021 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 19, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
RB Duke Johnson
Q. I know you have scored plenty of touchdowns here in the past where the Hurricanes, but to go to school basically walking distance from here and now do it in the NFL, what did this all mean to you today?
DUKE JOHNSON: It meant a lot. Like you said, growing up in the area, just being able to play football and just play well here, it meant a lot but it meant even more because we got the win, so that helps.
Q. What was it like to hear those “Duke” chants from the hometown crowd within your first few carries at home with the Dolphins? This is the only franchise where that would be possible so soon in a career with the team.
DUKE JOHNSON: It just reminded me of college. It felt like my college days again. Definitely enjoyed it.
Q. I can’t help but wonder, given all that was going on with the COVID list and the uncertainty within your running back room, what was your mindset going into this game? I mean, how much were you thinking that the team really needed you to kind of carry the load today?
DUKE JOHNSON: I really prepare every week as I’m going to be the guy, regardless if I’m the guy or not, so it was just kind of sticking within my routine and just doing what I normally do and I let the cards fall where they may.
Q. It’s hard to believe that you’ve been in the league so long and this is your first game that you’ve had two rushing touchdowns in one game. I’m sure you can’t believe it either. Just talk about that and also cracking 100 yards. That’s something a Dolphin running back hasn’t done all year as well.
DUKE JOHNSON: As far as the two touchdowns in the game rushing, I don’t know. There’s not much to say for me because I know at certain times with certain teams my role was always different. My role was this today, but it could change tomorrow so for me, it’s just about not really looking at the stats and looking at the touchdowns or the yards but whatever it is to win and help my team win. That’s kind of what it would be for me.
Q. On one of the touchdown runs it looked like you were really kind of churning your legs. You could kind of smell the end zone. You were trying to power your way through. It’s funny. For a lot of your career people thought of you as like a third down receiving back. Can you talk about the approach you tried to bring into today’s game relative to power and that sort of thing?
DUKE JOHNSON: For me it’s just about doing what the team needed from me and whatever the situation asked from me. I was just doing it and doing it with everything I have and that’s just me churning my legs and doing whatever it is. On that particular play, coach put me in and the thing he tells me is just give great effort and I try to give great effort in whatever I do.
Q. You had some fans I think from Liberty City Optimist in the stands today and what were some lessons that you learned from your times at Hart Valley Park that got you prepared to be ready to play today?
DUKE JOHNSON: I think the biggest thing for me was at the time the Commissioner was coach Sam and he was a guy that believed in kids, he believed in people and he supported us. I think the biggest thing that I learned from Charles Hadley was support from top down because at the time no one really thought that those kids could make it to where we are now except for the Commissioner of the park and he pushed us and made sure that we was the best people as well as football players that we can be.
Q. I know we asked you this earlier in the week and you weren’t able to give us an exact number, but do you know about how many family and friends were here today to watch that performance?
DUKE JOHNSON: Still don’t know. I have no idea. I’m pretty sure it’s a lot. It would be very hard to give you an exact number, but I’m pretty sure it was a lot.
Q. Could you talk about, you grew up close to the stadium and seeing that all your life growing up, what it means to have a game like this here?
DUKE JOHNSON: It means a lot. I think for me it means a lot to do it, like you said, in the area I grew up, the college field I played on. I think the most important thing is that I did it and it led to a win because if it led to a loss, it wouldn’t matter as much as it do now.
Q. How far were you from the stadium growing up?
DUKE JOHNSON: My high school is maybe ten minutes up the road. I lived maybe 15, so this is kind of the area I grew up in in high school.
Emmanuel Ogbah and Christian Wilkins – December 19, 2021 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 19, 2021
Postgame – N.Y. Jets
DT Christian Wilkins and DE Emmanuel Ogbah
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Excuse me. Before I answer any questions, before we answer any questions, we definitely want our thoughts and prayers and ask everybody for their thoughts and prayers to go out to Elijah Riley, number 33. Obviously, you know he got carted off the field today, and it’s bigger than the game. It’s bigger than competition. We’re all brothers in arms in this league, and so we definitely wish him the best.
Q. What’s up, Christian. How are you doing, bro?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Mighty fine. Mighty fine. Thank you.
Q. You’ve never shied away from letting us know how athletic you are over the course of the past few years, but your dance moves were on full display after your very athletic touchdown. You pretty much did everything but throw out the kitchen sink. Just talk about the dive into the crowd, the worm, the windmill…
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: You said on full display? I was holding back, honestly. You ain’t seen me at a wedding or at a bar mitzvah or nothing like that. That’s when the moves are on full display. But it was definitely exciting. It was cool. I was happy I was able to make a play for my team. But yeah, I don’t know how I squeezed all that into 40 seconds or into however long the play clock was because I felt like I was going for a while. I enjoyed it. It was fun. Glad I could make a play for my team.
Q. Christian, to stay on the celebration, how long have you been planning that choreograph out, and have you ever jumped into the stands like that before?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Nope, never did none of that. I just went with it. Just did whatever felt good in my soul. None of it was planned. I did mess up because the one thing I did have planned if I scored today, I wanted to do the “Waddle.” Obviously, Jaylen (Waddle) didn’t play today, so I wanted to give him some love, so sorry about that, ‘J’ (Jaylen Waddle). Yeah, I kind of went rogue with my celebrations. That was the only thing I had planned, but yeah.
Q. I do want to stick to the – what dances do you break out at bar mitzvahs and weddings?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Like I said, I don’t really like to talk about it. I’ll be about it. If I’m at a bar mitzvah, I’ll do my thing and have a good time with it.
Q. If there was a dance battle between you and Robert Hunt, who is taking that?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: I don’t know. I’m competitive, so I’m going to go – I’ve got to go with me. I’m never going to say anyone is better than me at anything, or at least I’m going to get an A for effort always.
Q. I’ve go two for Emmanuel. Can you rate your teammate’s dance moves for us, and then obviously rate the performance at defense. Six sacks today.
EMMANUEL OGBAH: I was pretty excited for him. I didn’t know what he was going to do, so I kind of just ran out there and waited for him to do something. I’ll rate him a 10 out of 10.
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: My dawg. (laughter)
EMMANUEL OGBAH: He put something together, but as a defense, getting six sacks, I’m proud of how the defense fought back. We started off a little slow, but we got better during the second half. I’m just glad we finished off strong.
Q. Emmanuel, I wanted to ask you and Christian, too, if you want to chime in, what was the difference between the first half and the second half defensively because it looked like two different defenses out there from one half to the next.
EMMANUEL OGBAH: I’ll start off. I feel like we started a little slow coming off the bye week. We were a little sluggish. We can’t start off slow like that anymore. We’ve just got to start off fast every game, and we’ve just got to keep getting better together and keep striving for the best.
Q. Christian.
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Yeah, Ogbah hit on it. Bye week is obviously good to get off your feet and things like that, but we definitely started off – we were just shaking off the rust, I guess, and we did a good job of making adjustments and everybody just stuck with it. We dug ourselves in a little bit of a hole, but that’s what’s good about this team. We always just stick together and just try to get better.
Q. You guys’ defense had a couple of situations where kind of late in the game you guys are asked to make a big stop. At this point of the season is that a position you kind of relish to be on the field last and get that last stop, and what’s kind of the message in the huddle when you guys are going out for that last drive?
EMMANUEL OGBAH: It’s complementary football. When we’re given a chance to stop the offense, we do a good job in stopping them, and also, when the offense is given a chance to make some big plays and create a big play for us, we’ve just got to rally together and just play together, so that’s what we’ve got to keep doing.
Q. Christian, I wanted to get this opportunity. I’ve been asking some teammates about the one thing that they would want to take from Emmanuel Ogbah’s game. What would you want from his game?
CHRISTIAN WILKINS: Definitely Ogbah has elite get-off, and that gives him the ability to make so many plays in the pass game and really just the run game. He is explosive and things like that. I would take definitely his get-off. That’s where it starts. I got a lot more behind me. I got a lot bigger legs and things like that, so it’s a little harder to get that good explosion, but Ogbah has a great get-off, so I would take that.
