Josh Boyer – October 20, 2022
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer
(Can you assess CB Noah Igbinoghene getting significant snaps?) – “Yeah, I think this has kind of been the ongoing conversation all season. I think he’s been working very hard. We’ve been, I would say detailing and stressing certain things in his game, and I think he’s kind of risen to the challenge. I said earlier, I was very excited when he would get his opportunity, not knowing when that would be. But you always prepare guys like they’re going to play. I would say he’s been out there and he’s been very competitive. He’s been good at the line of scrimmage. And like all of our guys, we’re striving for consistency play in and play out.”
(Would it be fair to say that on Sunday versus the Vikings, the cornerbacks were pressing more than usual in terms of like press man coverage? Because I know, earlier in the season, the thing that CB Xavien Howard was talking about with a lot of the Cover Zero looks and blitzes, maybe sometimes he was playing more off than usual. And then you kind of can see and naturally kind of give up some space there and some yardage there?) – “I wouldn’t say that’s accurate. I think that’s a – I would say that’s a false assumption. It depends on the calls. There’s some calls that we have off. I wouldn’t say we were pressing more last week than we have in weeks past. I would say there’s certain calls that don’t put us up at the line of scrimmage and I would say that’s been pretty consistent throughout. I would say we do a variety of different things at the line of scrimmage. I would say the amount of times that we’re up there has probably been pretty consistent from game to game.”
(Obviously you guys did not win last week, but did the defense put in a winning effort aside from the WR Justin Jefferson 47-yarder and the RB Dalvin Cook 53-yarder?) – “No, because we didn’t win. I think the things that we talked about earlier in that week, that there were different things that we were going to do to detail certain things that we needed to improve – I think our preparation, and we talked about our players being accountable, that they would come to work, and that we would strive to improve. I think we’ve made some strides in certain areas. And I think there’s other areas that we can continue to make strides. I would say that we’re always looking for consistency. Each week is going to be different from week to week. But I think there’s some things that we saw some improvements on that we can build on and get better. You want to continually get better as you’re moving forward. And I would say at the end of the day, the most important thing is to put yourself or the team in a position to win. I think there were times that defensively we were able to play complementary football, or at least give the opportunity for complementary football. And then there were other times that we probably needed to be a little bit better. I think those are the things that we’re striving to do. I think the process, the players, the coaches, I think we understand our targets. I think there’s a lot of times the targets don’t change but if you’re doing the same thing that you’ve been doing and you’re getting the same results, then you need to change that. I think there were some things that we detailed a little bit different a week ago that we saw a little bit of progress with that hopefully we can build on moving forward.”
(The disparity in snaps between LB Melvin Ingram and LB Andrew Van Ginkel was the closest it has been all season on Sunday, 26 to 23. Was that entirely a gameplan decision? Or was it partly your conclusion that Andrew needs to play a little more and these two players are comparable in skill?) – “Yeah, I think it’s a week-to-week thing. We’re very comfortable with either player. So whether Van Ginkel is on the field or Ingram is on the field or Jaelen Phillips is on the field, it makes no difference to us. We’re very confident in those guys. Then I think just from a rep count, trying to keep guys fresh and stuff, we continue to do that. Ultimately, we try to put those guys in positions that we feel that they’ll succeed. I would say it doesn’t matter really. Certain guys have I would say certain qualities that are a little bit better than the other and we try to put those guys in those positions that highlight the things that they really do well. Sometimes that will be gameplan oriented. Sometimes it is a rep count that we’re trying to keep guys fresh. I would say the overall picture is we’re very comfortable with either one of those guys playing in the game. “
(What have you seen in the limited tape so far of QB Kenny Pickett from the Steelers?) – “Yeah, so obviously very athletic. I mean he can drive the intermediate throws, he can get the ball down the field, he can definitely scramble to run or scramble to throw. He’s making quick decisions for them. They do a pretty good job of putting in plays where he gets a quick read and he can make those decisions. I think he’s been productive for them. And, obviously, we’re preparing for both guys, which we would anyway, regardless of situation or injury circumstance, and both of them will present a challenge to us for sure.”
(What kind of things can you detail to try to increase opportunities at interceptions?) – “So, a couple things, just talking turnovers in general, one of the things is when you turn on the tape, are we making an attempt at turnovers? Are we punching at the ball? Are those things happening? Are we getting enough people to the ball? Because usually the more people you have to the ball, that’s going to create a greater opportunity for turnovers. And those boxes are checking off. I would say there is – we’ve had our opportunities where we’ve been in position to catch the ball and we got to make those plays. It’s all hand in hand. So like, for an example, if it’s a three-step (drop), it’s a quick-game pass, if we get our hands up, you tip a ball, guys are running to the ball, you have a greater opportunity to turn the ball over. One thing that we have to do, we had really two opportunities last week in the game – (Zach) Sieler forced a fumble. We had an opportunity there. And again, the more people you get around the ball, the better your odds are to get it. Now again, sometimes you can knock the ball out and bounce right up to a guy, like Alec Ingold from a year ago, when we’re playing the Raiders. We force a fumble, it pops up, he’s right there as a fullback, he catches it and there’s not much opportunity there. The same thing goes back with the pass game. So whether you bat balls at the line of scrimmage, you defend balls on a pass, and you have other people running to the ball that have an opportunity for that tip ball, then that increases your odds, which those are things that we’re working on. And then obviously, when you’re in good position, you basically as a DB or a coverage linebacker, become the receiver and your opportunity to go attack the ball, those are the things. Then the reality of it is you have to make the most of those opportunities when they arise because there’s only going to be so many. I think what you look at is are you setting yourself up for a chance to create them? And then are you making the most of them when you get those opportunities? So again, I think those are things that, we’ve looked at how we’ve detailed that, how we practice that. I would say we get good effort. We get guys run into the ball. As long as we continue to do that, sooner or later, they’ll come. And then when we have opportunities to catch the ball, we need to catch the ball.”
(What do you think would be the best ways for the players to reduce or limit penalties? When there’s a reduction in penalties, what usually goes along?) – “Yeah, I think – well, you start with the obvious like we can’t be in the neutral zone, we can’t jump offsides, hands to the face, defensive holding, illegal contact – the things that we can kind of control – our hand placement or fundamentals techniques, I think when you kind of drill that down, a lot of those kind of eliminate themselves.”
(The first career full sack for DT Raekwon Davis in 34 games last week. I was wondering, obviously stopping the run is by far in a way the number one responsibility for player in his position. Do you look at pass rush from that position as gravy that’s nice to have? Or would you ideally like someone in that position who can generate consistent pass rush?) – “Well, in that situation, the sack came up, it was really a passing situation for him, so he was in a straight rush. But whether it’s Raekwon or any defensive lineman, when you’re playing run and you’re trying to – let’s call it, it’s not a gap-charging scheme. You’re playing run, you’re trying to play square, you’re trying to build a wall. But what you have to do is when you recognize that it is play-action, you have to transition into a pass rush. And I think those are things that we drill and we work very hard at. It puts you a little bit behind the eight ball when you’re playing run. Then the harder the sell is of the play-action, or the better the sell is with the offensive lineman, then the slower you’re going to be on the transition. Now if they’re running play-action and it’s high-hat right away, then your transition should be very quick. Then again, it matters what you’re doing in the back end to marry the coverage with the front structure to allow those guys time to get there. So again, it just depends. Sometimes like when you’re playing man coverage, okay, if you have good tight coverage, then you might have a little bit longer extra second to get there. If you’re in a zone coverage that the quarterback reads pretty quickly and accurately, then time is going to minimize. And then again, if you’re a pressure scheme on the opposing side of the ball, they’re going, ‘Let’s get the ball out quick. Let’s get the ball quick.’ So that also minimizes when those opportunities come. A lot of times you would say defensive linemen that are playing run technique that have opportunities on play-action passes is when it’s a deeper route concept where it’s usually more guys in protection. There’s usually two to three guys out in the route, but that puts more guys into protection. And again, a lot of those times when that occurs, there’s usually about one one-on-one situation that somebody has to transition right to get the pressure there.”
Danny Crossman – October 20, 2022
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(WR Tyreek Hill had a punt return that was -2 yards. Should he have fielded that? The one that bounced.) – “Yeah, that’s two weeks in a row where he’s actually done a fabulous job at saving field position. The previous ball was a ball that wasn’t a great ball and he got on it before it rolled for another eight or 10 yards. Then the ball this past Sunday, the guy hits an absolute bomb, 73 yards, and he saved field position by getting on it. So he has two returns, each for -2 (yards), but both are good plays because he’s saving field position. That’s where stats sometimes tell you one thing but it probably saved us about 18 yards of field position on those two plays. We’ll take the -4 as opposed to -18.”
(Did it surprise you that S Jevon Holland muffed that punt early?) – “Any time that you – you never like to see it. I think he took a late peek. As he was coming over to fair catch, he got a little but of a cutter ball played from the outside in and he was looking outside in. It’s always a dangerous deal. It’s scary. But those things happen. Hopefully we don’t have many of those because those are the disaster plays that you have to avoid, but that’s another example of…”
(There’s been a lot of good plays but Head Coach Mike McDaniel said there’s other things that are just not the way you guys have wanted to go. When you get things that haven’t gone your way in so many areas of special teams, what do you do? How do you work on that? And are you dissatisfied with some of those things that have gone on?) – “The job is to help win games. That’s the job. When you have plays that are not leading to you and your club winning games, yeah. I don’t know if disappointing is the word. There are a lot of other words I would maybe use. But yeah, that’s not why you’re in it. Those are things you have to eliminate. Now, we also know that things come and go and there are ebbs and flows and that’s part of it. But we’ve got to be able to create some more plays. Our opportunities have been limited. We’ve had six punt returns for the year and two of them are Tyreek (Hill) saving field position, one of them is (Jevon) Holland on a muff that you just mentioned. So we’ve got three returns in six games. When we do get the opportunities, those are the things we’ve got to take advantage of. And then those plays we’ve got an opportunity to make a play, you’ve got to make it. If you get a chance to make a tackle, you make a tackle. If you don’t make a tackle, the next thing you know it’s 20 more yards of field position. You just keep grinding and stay with the fundamentals. We’ve got some guys moving around a little bit. But you’ve got to make plays when you’re in position to make plays. If we can just do that, we’ll be fine.”
(Punt returns are down across the league, I don’t know if you know that.) – “They’re not. But certain teams – the numbers play out but some teams have a boatload of them and some teams have hardly any of them. We’ve had so many plus-50 opportunities where we haven’t really gotten any opportunities. We’ve only had two real good chances for the year. Some of it is they hit a good ball. Or they hit a bad ball and you don’t get things. That’s just part of it. Those numbers will change and it will balance out. When we do get the opps, now is when we’ve got to make something happen.”
(We’ve grown accustomed to seeing K Jason Sanders hit field goals over 50 yards pretty consistently until this year. Has there been a common theme in the three misses that you’ve found?) – “There really hasn’t. This past week was the first one that was a bad ball. That was a bad hit. A lot of his other hits, as we’ve talked about, are just missed, off the upright or what have you. When we send him on the field, we expect points. That’s the nature of the beast. It doesn’t matter if it’s 52, 54 or 56 (yards), when we send him on the field, we expect to get points out of it. That kick was a rarity in my opinion. I can say that because I’m with him day in and day out and I watch and see every kick he makes. So that was a rarity. But the bottom line is it doesn’t matter what you do during the week. It matters what you do on game day. We know that, he knows that and we’ve got to improve.”
(There was a time when 50+ yard field goals were almost viewed as … but nowadays, is it more the expectation to trot your kicker out because he’ll be able to hit it?) – “Without question. If you look at the numbers around the league over the last year – they go up every year. It used to be a strength/question. Now the strength of kickers and being able to kick 56, 57 and 58 yarders is not part of it. Now the question and the equation is field position, how the game is going, are you playing to the offense, are you playing to the defense? Now those are the more situational questions.”
(That miss was a fourth-and-10. Should you guys have gotten running into the kicker? It looked like K Jason Sanders got leg-whipped.) – “Those are hard calls. Unless things are just blatant and exact timed up, that’s not a call that’s going to happen. The bottom line is if we get the call, let’s get the call; but let’s make the kick and then we have a choice.”
(I don’t know if you happened to see the Monday night game but it ended basically off a muffed punt where the returner had a teammate blocked into him. I was thinking about you when I saw the play and I was curious how you would coach to not get your own guy blocked into you. What’s the coaching point there? Then on the other side, do you coach guys to try to push those guys?) – “Question one, it’s hard. That’s where communication and awareness and recognition is so big for not only the returner but for the corner and for the safety. Then yes, as a gunner, you are not able to touch that guy on a fair catch. So if you have an opportunity to deposit the defender into his lap and he’s the one that makes contact, it is a legal play. But yes, everybody in the league should and does work that, as far as I know.”
(It looked like a little bit of that happened with S Jevon Holland.) – “Yeah, close. He thought where the ball was, he would be able to duck inside and then the ball cut and it ended up not playing that way. But again, that’s where communication and recognition are huge.”
(There was a national game where the kicker sort of kicked through an injury. I wondered if the punter would be the emergency kicker. Does P Thomas Morstead ever take any sort of emergency practice kicks?) – “We have guys that practice everything for an emergency.”
Tua Tagovailoa – October 19, 2022
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Wednesday, October 19, 2022
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(So how does it feel to be back?) – “How does it feel? It feels great. I’m excited to be back.”
(Can you take us through just what it’s been like going through the concussion protocol to get to this point?) – “Yeah, it’s been a process, that’s for sure. Having to deal with the interviews with the NFL and the NFLPA and then having to go and see doctors outside with second opinions. So a lot of it has been, I would say, pretty stressful, but all of it is done for player safety. I’m glad that I got to go through those things to kind of understand more of the deals of concussions and the effects long term, short term, and things like that. So I thought it was great that I was able to go through those and go through that process and get cleared.”
(What was it like in the immediate aftermath of the injury and the last few weeks, what was it like?) – “I would say it was pretty cool with the support that was shown – a lot of love and support. I would say shout out to my neighbors that live in the community that I live in. They were very, very respectful, very kind, to have made some things. They brought over notes from their kids. Their kids would bring over candies, things that they would bake, things that they would color. So I thought that was that was super cool. I could feel the support, and my family could feel that. And then just guys from across the league reaching out.”
(The night it happened, obviously it was scary for all of us to see. Was it scary for you at the time?) – “I wouldn’t say it was scary for me at the time because there was a point where I was unconscious, so I couldn’t really tell what was going on. When I did come to and kind of realize what was going on and what was happening, I didn’t think of anything long term or short term. I was just wondering what happened.”
(Do you remember much about that night?) – “Yeah, I remember the entire night up to the point where I got tackled. After I got tackled, I don’t remember much from there – getting carted off, I don’t remember that. But I do remember things that were going on when I was in the ambulance and then when I arrived at the hospital.”
(What’s been the hardest part of this journey over the last three weeks?) – “Just watching my team go out to battle and I can’t do anything to help them on the field. There’s things you can do in the locker room to keep the guys encouraged, to keep the guys going (and) motivated, but it sucks. As a competitor, I want to be out there with the guys. I want to be able to go out there and help our guys win games. That’s a terrible feeling that I could only watch from the sidelines.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that recently he’s kind of spoken to you about doing everything you can to protect yourself when you’re on the field and make sure that you’re not in a position to be in harm’s way. What was your takeaway from that message?) – “I mean, for me, I’ve always been a person to try to make something happen. Like that’s always been my mindset, if you will. Throwing the ball away hasn’t been something that I’ve done in the past really well because I’m trying to make plays. So just learning from that – if it’s not there, it’s okay to throw it away. It’s the longevity of me just being able to be the quarterback for this team and not try to make something out of nothing. Plays will come to us and that’s kind of what our mantra for our offense is.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned earlier today that he noticed how much you missed the game, you love the game and you love your teammates. Can you describe maybe what it was like when you got back on the practice field last week and then going into this week prepping to play?) – “Yeah, I went into last week prepping as if I were going to play, still – just being able to get back into football, getting to do team activities, throwing routes to the guys. But I would say no different than this week. I’m just really excited that I can prepare and play this Sunday. And I think everyone’s excited to go out there and compete against a really good Steelers team.”
(The Bengals game, including your hip injury at Alabama, was the second time you’ve had to be hospitalized for an injury sustained on the field. Do things like that weigh on you as you try to return or as you are just kind of in the moment?) – “I would say no. I would say those kinds of things weigh more on my parents than they do for me, just with me being their son. But I mean, I just want to go out there and do good – do good for our team, do right for this organization, do right for the guys inside the building that I see every day that work really hard. That’s all. I mean, I enjoy being here. I enjoy all the guys in the building. So when I’m not able to do something about it and help our team and our organization, then that just really sucks.”
(I’m sure you’ve learned more about concussion in the last two weeks than most of us will ever learn.) – “Probably.”
(What did they tell you about long-term risks? And how do you weigh them going forward?) – “Yeah, well there’s not necessarily as much long-term risk as say – let’s say guys get about six concussions. Well, those guys that only have six concussions that are playing the position that I’m playing, where we don’t hit as much, are less susceptible to getting CTE later on in their years than someone who’s playing a position where they’re constantly taking hits or blows to the head, which would be o-line, d-line, linebackers. That’s kind of some of the information that I’ve been given from a lot of these doctors that are the best of the best in their field.”
(How many concussions do you believe you’ve had in your life?) – “I don’t know.”
(What do you think of Brian Flores being on the other side this week?) – “Yeah, I think it’ll be cool being able to go up against the guys that he’s coaching on that side. I know he knows personnel really well from being here with us. But I think we’re all excited to go up against their defense. You hear a Pittsburgh Steelers defense and you just think of hard-nosed. You think of a really tough defense. They’re going to give us some good challenges in this game.”
(Is there some familiarity with you and Brian Flores, having been here two years with his level of knowledge on your play?) – “Yeah, of course. I’ve been with him for the past two years. So he definitely knows what I like and what I don’t like. But then again, schematically, this is Mike (McDaniel)’s offense and this isn’t the same offense that I’ve been running while he’s been here the past two years.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned that you’ve evolved and grown in various ways since the end of last season. What are some ways that you feel most proud of in those areas of evolving and growth?) – “I would say one of the biggest things is that the game’s not over when we’re playing offensively. That you’re going to have to continue to score points on the other side because we’re not giving up. We’re going to continue to march the ball down the field, continue to do what we execute best as an offense and do whatever it takes to win games.”
(What excites you about playing on Sunday Night Football?) – “I mean, it’s prime time. So that’s what excites me. We’ll be the only game on Sunday night. That’s exciting. You dream of being in these kind of games as a kid and we get this opportunity, so it’d be fun.”
(The Dolphins haven’t played very much – this is their fourth time ever playing on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. What does that kind of say about the excitement nationally around this team and you guys kind of getting the opportunity to show what you do well?) – “Well, it’s awesome that we get this opportunity. I didn’t know that statistic that this is only our fourth Sunday night prime time game. Ever?”
(Since 2006.) – “Well, I think for us, it’s another game. But with it being prime time and everybody being able to watch, we want to do really, really well.”
(Last year, similar circumstance. You come back from an injury with your team on a losing streak. Did that experience teach you anything? Or I guess, what did that experience teach you about returning when your team might be in a slider on a slide or not trying to press or do too much?) – “Yeah, that’s exactly it. I just got to be myself. I’m not the savior of this team. I don’t just come in and we start winning games. It’s a team deal. The defense gets us stops, the offense goes and puts points on the board, and the defense can help put points on the board as well as special teams. So for me, I just look at it as coming into this this week, just be myself. Don’t try to force anything. Don’t try to make plays that aren’t there be there. Just give our playmakers the ball and let them go to work.”
(I guess kind of piggybacking off that, you guys were playing really good ball and you personally were before the injury. I’m curious what you think your rhythm and flow will be like coming back this week?) – “Yeah. I think that’s what we’ll have to kind of go through this week with our guys in practice. I would say that’s just something that we got to just go through in practice.”
Justin Bethel – October 19, 2022
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Wednesday, October 19, 2022
CB Justin Bethel
(The last time you played boundary in the game was when?) – “The last time – I played a little bit when I was in New England. I had a couple of snaps out there when – same kind of situation, guys go down, you start getting low at the position and you just need some help. I just did whatever they needed me to do.”
(What do you think of the development of CB Kader Kohou so far as a rookie coming in and doing what he’s been able to do?) – “Oh, he’s been great. It’s always nice to see young guys come in and be able to make plays early. Because for me, I always want to see young guys be successful, hope they have long careers. It’s unfortunate that he got hurt, but I’m sure he’s going to keep working and do what he’s got to do to get back. I think he’ll be a good player in this league for a long time.”
(It seems like injuries are hitting certain groups on this team, obviously, quarterback and the secondary now. How concerned are you with what’s going on in your secondary?) – “I’m not really concerned. I think we have guys who know how to come in and step up and do it. Noah (Igbinoghene) did a great job of coming in and making some plays. I think that’s just kind of the name of the game – injuries, that’s how this league is. Guys are going to get hurt, and when your name is called on, you’ve got to be ready to step up.”
(Doesn’t that put that much more pressure on you guys in terms of communication when new guys are coming in or guys, say safeties, are playing corner or vice versa?) – “I wouldn’t say pressure. I think it’s – you practice these kinds of things; you try to prepare for these kinds of situations. You’re working in practice, so that you’re kind of ready for it. Obviously, you can’t be ready for everything when multiple people get injured, but I think we do a good job of making sure we’re ready for whatever kind of scenario comes up.”
I want to change gears a little bit and ask a little bit about special teams. I know you play a big role in that. First, let’s start with the good part. You guys seemed to work an awful lot on downing punts inside the 20, and I know you’ve had a role in that. Tell me about the satisfaction you get when you pull off a play like that.) – “It’s nice. I’ve just been doing this for a long time out there. Thomas (Morstead) has been kicking great, giving us great ball placement and making it very easy for us gunners to go out and make those kinds of plays.”.
(Is it that much harder? I mean, your momentum is taking you one way and you have to knock the ball in the opposite direction.) – “I think it’s a little bit of both. I’ve seen it so many times, I can’t even name how many I’ve downed. So for me, I think it comes a little second-nature. I think it’s a feel thing – you just kind of get a feel for it.”
(On the other side, though, you’ve had a lot of plays go against you on special teams. What are you focusing on to correct that right now?) – “I think for us, just the little things. Little things here and there, because all it takes is one person to break down and one little technique to be off. This is a team sport where your job kind of can affect the next person. So I think for us, we’re just going to keep working on the little things, knowing what we’re supposed to do and knowing where we’re supposed to be and just keep working at it and it’ll get better.”
(You mentioned getting action on both sides. When you finish a special teams play and then you’re back in the huddle, what’s the adjustment there?) –“It is what it is. This isn’t my first time. I had to – back in the day when I was in Arizona, I had the same kind of situation where some guys got hurt, and I had to start and then play special teams. Like I always say, I just got to do what I got to do and do what I can do to help the team win.”
(Do you feel more into the game though because of that? Like when you get the juices flowing?) – “Yeah, the juices definitely be flowing, but you just kind of compartmentalize it. When I’m on special teams, I’m thinking about what I’ve got to do in this play, and when I’m on defense, I kind of just think of what I’ve got to do during each snap.”
Xavien Howard – October 19, 2022
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Wednesday, October 19, 2022
CB Xavien Howard
(What growth have you seen in CB Noah Igbinoghene? He seemed to play well Sunday when called upon.) – “Yeah, he’s playing well. He got the opportunity and took advantage of it. I got on him about picking the ball off – he was in position to make some plays on the ball. But a ‘PBU’ (pass breakup) was there, but I definitely want him to go to the next level by picking the ball off now.”
(How frustrating is it knowing that ideally, it would be you and CB Byron Jones on the other side and you guys would be all set and you haven’t been able to have that all year? How disappointing or frustrating is that for you?) – “It’s not disappointing or frustrating. It’s the next man up – it’s the NFL. People go down, and there are other guys that have to get in that role and step up. And that’s what I feel about that and that situation, the next guy just got to step up.”
Mike McDaniel – October 19, 2022
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Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(We failed to ask you about WR Jaylen Waddle on Monday. Is he going to practice today. Is he healthy to play Sunday? Do you expect to have him Sunday and do you expect to have him today at practice?) – “He’s a tough competitor. A tough, very tough kid. I’m very confident that if he is able to, he will (play). I’m optimistic. I don’t expect to see much from him today, but technically, I’ve already seen him a couple times today. He’s going to be working diligently. It’s important to him to play with his teammates. He’s a hard – as you guys have noticed at the end of training camp, he’s a hard guy to really, you really have to be in front of everything with him and be his own voice of reason, because he likes to push stuff. We like guys like that, because our medical staff can do their jobs and keep them out of harm’s way.”
(You’ve had several plays lately where you’ve had good success, downing the ball inside the 20, for example, but you’ve also had a lot of negative plays on special teams. When you put it all together, how do you assess the special teams of late?) – “I don’t look at everything entirely as one thing. I kind of go through the progression of each game because one thing specifically with our crew, meaning our team, we’ve had a good amount of lineup changes. So you’re assessing the way – the way I like to do it is what are we identifying the unit we’re playing against as? How are we preparing for them? How are the players executing what we prepared for them? Are we articulating things appropriately? Were things told correctly or not? I think that the results haven’t been where we want them – there’s no doubt about that. What I do see and what is important to me, I know is the fabric of teams that are able to have success in any phase is you don’t see loafing, you don’t see lack of strain. These are things that the miscues have to do with things that need to be coached up, and I don’t continually see the same exact thing. So my confidence has not been affected. It’s more that are we continuing to get better and do those same things that happen last week or the week before happen this week relative to our opponent?”
(Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin mentioned yesterday, as you have, that staff familiarity with players, talent and skillset can be overblown, but he did think that Senior Defensive Assistant/Linebackers Coach Brian Flores’ presence on the staff would be a useful resource in that area. Specific to QB Tua Tagovailoa and Coach Flores’ knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses, how might that affect the way you want him to approach things? How do you think it could affect the game?) – “Yeah, I don’t really – from my vantage point, I don’t really make a correlation necessarily with that. It is good to have familiarity with players in a sense of you know some of their strengths and weaknesses. But at the same time, I think that’s an evolving process for Tua (Tagovailoa). And also, every defense is trying to defend the offense. Defenses have tried various things against our offense with Tua at the helm, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t see a consistent theme. I think this game is about the players on the field playing against each other more than anything.”
(As someone who loves football a lot, what’s kind of your perception of Sunday Night Football? Playing on Sunday night, especially against kind of a historic team like Pittsburgh, who’s played on Sunday night a lot.) – “I typically don’t like abstract questions, except I do. (laughter) Sunday Night Football – Kyle Shanahan said this probably like 10 years ago and I jumped on it because it made a lot of sense to me, and it was that what’s really cool about Sunday Night Football is that more than anything, it’s not the TV, it’s not the viewership, it’s that you’re the only game on. And so on Sunday night in particular, the entire league is home from their games, and it’s an opportunity for players to perform in front of their peers. So that’s unique, because there’s all the stuff that’s going on. I mean, you catch box scores and highlights, but I think that’s a that’s a very cool thing in that respect. Then, once you get past that reality, I think it’s more of a challenge to understand it for what it is – anytime you are thinking about (how) this is a big game or national television, or things like that, that’s an opportunity cost from thinking about what you need to do in your given gameplan for your team to accomplish the goal. So it is cool for the players. I do tell them that. I told them in the offseason, I think I said to them after the past game, but beyond that, it’s more of a battle of which team can play football and ignore the noise, or the clicking of cameras, or things of that nature.”
(The fact that you guys didn’t IR QB Skylar Thompson, is that a sign that his tests came back pretty good?) – “That is a sign that his tests did come back. (laughter) Yes, that would be a good sign. It was more positive than negative overall. It was definitely not the worst case. And he’s going to be – I think he’s probably doing jumping jacks today with (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach) Dave Puloka. It’s probably not serious. (laughter) But he’ll get back into action sooner than later.”
(What do you want to see from QB Tua Tagovailoa over the next few days of practice to show you that he can be the quarterback he was before he went down against the Bengals?) – “It’s pretty easy considering there’s an extensive amount of time spent on the relationship between the starting quarterback and the head coach and the play-caller. So those are hours and hours of field, meeting room time and you get to know each other pretty well. So what I want to see is the same locked-in guy that I know when he’s on it, he’s laser focused, he’s in his normal mood, but he doesn’t lose attention span at the task at hand. That’s what I’ve grown to love about the guy. That’s why he’s been able to have some success in a completely new language and system. And that will be my expectation for this week because it is not the Tua Dolphins.”
(What have you seen from QB Tua Tagovailoa over the past couple of weeks as he’s been around the building?) – “Well I’ve seen his love for the game, honestly. In a simple but not simple form, I’ve seen how much he loves his teammates and how he loves the game of football. I can see that he understands his responsibility as a leader, which he is fully embraced and resonates with all the guys. So he knows that he has to be in the moment for the players that are playing and contribute the way he can. And so he’s been very positive. But I can also tell that he thirsts for the brotherhood, for the camaraderie, for the competition. There’s a saying that you never know what you had until (it’s gone). And I think it wasn’t that he didn’t exude that, it was just blatantly obvious to everyone around him that he was missing out on something that he truly loves. It’s a cool thing to find out in an adverse situation about a player that you coach.”
(If I could follow up on that really quick, you’re saying like embracing his role as a leader for the guys who are actually playing? I guess, how did he do that at practice last week when he’s returning from concussion protocol, but obviously knows that he’s not playing Sunday? How did you see him balance wanting to get back to work versus sitting back and letting QB Skylar Thompson and QB Teddy Bridgewater take over?) – “That’s not a lip service thing that you’re just like, I’m going to be a leader. And that’s what’s cool about it. What you saw was every single play of practice, saying the play – like after I say it, like he’d say it in the huddle. Then watching the timing of the concept, watching the footwork of Skylar, getting excited when perfect technique is executed, because he knows exactly what it looks like. And then you go through an entire practice – you’re used to being the starting quarterback, which in the NFL season, means you are taking every snap when the offense is up. So you get in a routine, where it kind of goes by fast because you have all this stuff going on. Well, to see that focus last for the entire practice also speaks to the point that it’s not just about him, his selflessness, which is why he has he has a unique aura of leadership that people gravitate to because it’s genuine, authentic and real.”
(So after the game, you mentioned turnover margin is one of the numbers that you look at, that you deem very important. My question is, are you a guy who subscribes to you are what your record says you are? And then the second part, aside from record and turnover margin, what are the other numbers either individual or team wise, that you value?) – “I guess it’s not really my personal belief in turnovers. That’s just straight up facts. And, as far as you are what your record says you are, I think there’s truth in that because to spend time saying, ‘well, but, this, that or the other,’ is a fool’s errand. However, I think teams are whatever they define themselves that day. I think the Miami Dolphins are as good as their Wednesday. It’s kind of, I think, the approach that when you watch great competitors across all sports and just people that are doing anything at a high level, there’s a common denominator there. And it has nothing to do with forecasting we are this or that or whatever. It is present in the moment and it is completely convicted (and) committed to what you’re doing, knowing that that will affect future outcomes. So for me, I’ve been on a team that was – last year I was on a team that won two games and then lost four in a row, then was in the NFC Championship game. In 2015, we were 5-0 in Atlanta and finished 8-8. I think people clinging to what their record says they are might be not quite focused on the job at hand, which is continuing to get better so you play your best football at the end of the season, which is what teams, good teams, end up doing. I think it’s very hard to do that. I think there’s a lot of noise about records and trends,. You’re 3-0 and you’re awesome, you lose three in a row and – that will always be the case. But it’s always going to be distraction techniques that if you’re truly committed to being your best and having your team be your best, you have to and feel very comfortable ignoring,
(I know you mentioned Sunday Night Football earlier. Another element of that will be the 1972 Dolphins honored. I know that you’re a man of history. What stands out to you when you think about that team?) – “There’s not a team that can be that iconic that still doesn’t quite get the credit deserves. The amount of adversity that was going on with that team, surviving the injuries, some of the close games, some of the little details – as you know, in this offseason, I was fortunate enough to speak with Larry Czonka about. Like the little details that maybe the non-starter third tight end on special teams noticed that ended up winning the game. You’re talking about a record that in a team sport, that is the strongest compliment or feat that a team has ever really done, in my opinion, in sports, because football is a funny shaped ball and it bounces weird ways and you have to have you have 11 people on the field representing one team at a time. So many things can happen. And the perseverance – when the streak got longer, the ability to not let the pressure crumble them, then changing quarterbacks in the playoffs. All of these things are, ‘Whoa!’ I feel very, very fortunate to be a part of an organization that manifests that because we talk about it every year. I know since I was five probably, Chris Berman and the champagne (on ESPN), like every single year. That’s wild because a lot of people are trying and unable to match that feat.”
(A popular topic, especially with the fan base, is the throwback jerseys. I’m curious if you have a preference on your current jerseys versus the throwback jerseys, if it was your choice.) – “I like winning jerseys. I like everyone to have the same jersey. (laughter) I find value in both. I really do. And that speaks to the history of the ‘72 Dolphins because there is a feeling that those jerseys and that uniform elicits. And not just ‘72 but all of the things that have gone on since that are really great things. So it is nice. I like wearing them as a change of pace. I also really do like our uniforms, especially when it’s hot out and we’re in all white
(With CB Nik Needham going down and CB Byron Jones not being able to return on this week, are you comfortable with the depth at cornerback? Do you anticipate the team might need to make a move to add to that spot?) – “You know, it would be weird if I’m a head coach for the Miami Dolphins and I’m not question about my comfortability with the defensive back group, because this is this is like one of the things that was fortunate in the preseason, when we were finding out a lot about these younger guys. I’m always confident in the group we have, just because they prove it to me every day. It is challenging. People get more reps that have already been seeing reps. But I think it’s to the credit of the personnel department, the players themselves and really our coaches, that guys are able to step in and play to the technique and consistency. If we didn’t have the competitors and loyal teammates in that room that were NFL talents, it would worry me. But just like it’s been going on since August, we’ve had guys get dinged and guys step up. That’s what that room does. That’s the only way those guys know how to do it.
(Do you have CB Keion Crossen and CB Kader Kohou updates?) – “They’re both – they both really want to play. They both definitely have a chance to only because they are trying to will themselves and it’s important to them. That’s one of the reasons we have so many good guys on the team that will fight through as much as possible. It makes my Wednesday, Thursday and Friday pretty questionable. But we’re all comfortable adjusting. There’s a lot of people working on the ship going in one direction.”
Larry Little – October 18, 2022
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Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Hall of Fame G Larry Little
(What does it mean to you? You’re looking forward to the reunion but what’s 50 years mean to you?) – “Well, 50 years means that we have gone 50 years and we’ve been often imitated but never duplicated. It’s definitely a great deal to me because I never thought our record would last this long or actually, because I felt some other teams would come along and at least tie us. Not that no team will ever surpass us. But you know, to tie us but not surpass us.”
(Did you at the time think it was – did it resonate, ‘Oh, we went undefeated. Boy, this was historic’ or did it…?) – “No, it never resonated with me because that was one year, and who would have thought 50 years later or 49 years later it’s still the record still standing.”
(I had a question related to you going to Booker T. You’re one of the few Dolphins who spent time at a high school locally and I wanted to know what did it mean for you being a trailblazer from Booker T. in the Overtown area and making it all the way to the Hall of Fame?) – “Well, it meant a great deal to me. You know, when I was a kid going to the Orange Bowl to see football games, we used to go see the University of Miami play. I could walk from my house to the Orange Bowl and during that time it was segregation and we had to sit in the bleachers and for me to come back to Miami when I’ve actually went out with the Chargers and played in the Orange Bowl, it meant a great deal to me, but then be traded here and finishing my career here in Miami means a great deal to me. To be the first – I wasn’t the first – some other guys went to play pro football, but to reach the level that I reached playing the game of football.”
(I was just curious how much you’re watching the Philadelphia Eagles right now. Their 6-0 start right now and also what odds would you give them and also what do you think’s the most important trait for a team if they want to finish a perfect season?) – “I’m glancing at them right now. I’m not looking very hard at him right now because they still have some games to play, but but they look like they have a very good football team from what I’ve seen so far. And you know, they’re a good football team, but it’s early in the year. I don’t even start thinking about them going undefeated because they have to actually play the Cowboys game in Dallas. So I think that would be a real big game for them.”
(What about the second part there? What do you think is the most important trait for a team if they want to be perfect? What do you think is the most important trait that you guys had?) – “To believe in it to believe in one another, to believe in your coaching staff, and we had a great coaching staff. We only had six coaches, compared to what, 25 now? And just believe in yourself. Believe you can get it done, although we didn’t talk about getting it done in 1972. But we knew we had a good football team from the year before and we wanted to redeem ourselves and we lost by losing a game against Dallas in the Super Bowl, but we didn’t ever even think about going undefeated. We only want to get back to the Super Bowl and win it.”
(I wanted to ask you a little bit about your offensive line and it’s obviously the best offensive line this team has ever head, and yet the way it was put together was rather interesting. I know you arrived via trade. What do you remember about that trade? Were you kicking and screaming about coming to Miami? Were you happy? Did you think that it was going to happen in the first place?) – “Well, actually, I was disappointed when I was traded to Miami because although in San Diego we didn’t win any championships, but we had a good football team. Some great talent on it. And coming to Miami being an expansion team, which they were at the time in 1969. And I didn’t know we would turn around as quickly as we did, and we probably wouldn’t have if Don Shula hadn’t come in to be our coach. And I had a good offensive line coach in San Diego by the name of Joe Madro. But then I got into Miami, I had Ernie Heffley my first year who wasn’t a bad offensive line coach. But then the next year when Monte Clark came, he made all of us into better football players up front.”
(And have you thought about how different would your life be had you lost even one game in 1972?) – “I don’t think – I think it would have been the same because you have other teams now that got close. The Bears were – it was the same with them – and the New England Patriots that lost one game. So I don’t think that much would have changed as long we won the Super Bowl. Just like for next year – it’ll be 50 years also from the 1973 team.”
(Were you one of those guys on the sideline on that Monday night game in 1985?) – “Well actually, I wasn’t because I was coaching at the time at Bethune-Cookman. And although I wasn’t here physically, I was there mentally because my team had a meeting earlier that night to watch the game on TV. Normally I kept them till 10 o’clock. I had them till 9 o’clock that night. They weren’t …. (laughter)”
(I’m curious – 20 years ago, 25 years ago, we’d hear like Nick Buoniconti call it “The Forgotten Team” – you guys, because the idea was you didn’t get your due for going undefeated. Do you think that’s changed in the last 10-20 years as really the years mount on what an achievement it was?) – “I think it does now because 20 years are good, but 50 years are just amazing. For us still be the only undefeated team in history, I like to say they like to say – once a team is getting close to going undefeated, they bring it all back from the day they start talking about us again, because other than that they forget about us. But you know, I’m happy that we are still being recognized because that is a tremendous accomplishment that we had. I’m quite sure the other guys that you’re going to talk to would feel the same way.”
(Going back to the question about referring to one of the best offensive lines we’ve ever seen in the NFL. Obviously, you have a couple of Hall of Fame running backs as well. I was curious how that undefeated team’s play style benefited the weather down here in South Florida as you guys ran the ball in this hot heat? Like how did those two things work together to make you guys the best versions of yourselves?) – “Well, you know, we could always tell when another team was sucking it up. They’re coming from the north. And late in games when we had to hold the football to keep the other team’s offense from coming onto the field. We relished that because we knew they were tired and we knew blocking and we knew (Larry) Csonka was going to running behind us. And Mercury (Morris) was going to be running behind me basically. And we relished that. We knew they were getting tired. See, what happened, too, a lot of people don’t realize this – before Shula came, we were on the other sideline. But when he came to Miami, he realized we could have be benefited by being the team that’s not in the hottest part of the stadium. So he changed sideline. He moved us to the other sidelines, so the other team can suffer like they’re doing now like they did against Buffalo this year.”
(You mentioned Coach Shula there. How tough is it going to be for you and your teammates to be out there celebrating this monumental moment, this 50th anniversary without Coach Shula?) – “Well, not only not having Coach Shula there with having, what, 16 other teammates not being there. It will be a joyous occasion for us and still is going to be a kind of sad occasion for us. Because, you know, we lost our last one this year who was one of my closest teammates, Marlin Briscoe. It will be sad not having Marlin there, just like all other 15 guys that that left us. But it will be a sad occasion by Coach (Shula) not being there because he was there for the last one. And some of the guys were there for the last one. They’re not here for this one and who knows, this is probably our last time being together as a group that went undefeated. I do know that Shula’s, his wife will be there on sat on Sunday, but it’s going to be a sad occasion.”
(You mentioned that you spent some time coaching at Bethune-Cookman. You also spent time coaching at North Carolina Central University. I wanted to know did you ever reach out to Coach Shula for some advice during that time or during your coaching tenure?) – “Well, when I first got into coaching, I had never coached before. So I asked Coach (Shula), with me not ever coaching before, what should I do first? He told me ‘no offense, no defense, and let your assistant coaches coach and don’t over-coach.’ That was the advice I got from him, and I also took the Dolphins playbook with me. And you know, and we ended up winning our first championship – we got a championship at Bethune my seventh year coaching and won it four years later in 1988. But taking some of his philosophies with me that I got from him, although I’ve never had a full coaching staff. I had nothing but part-time coaches. So one coach was my coach, he coached basketball, another coach coached women’s basketball, the other coach coached something else. So you know what, I was lucky enough to have those guys and they were good coaches also and we had some success there.”
(I wanted to ask you about the Hall of Fame. I’m sure it was an unbelievable honor for you and the teammates you have who made it to Canton. But as you know, there’s one teammate who has come very close and hasn’t gotten in yet. Bob Kuechenberg. How do you feel about that?) – “’Kuch’ (Bob Kuechenberg) had a great career and he had as good a career as any other offensive lineman in the Hall of Fame and I think he should be in the Hall of Fame. Although, you know, he was my teammate. And you know, it’s hard when you look at our offensive line with Jim Langer the center being in and me being in the Hall of Fame; it’s sort of like the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker corps. You know, Jack Ham is in the Hall of Fame, Jack Lambert is in the Hall of Fame. And Andy Russell, he was a great linebacker for the Steelers. He’s not in the Hall of Fame. So it could be pertaining to something like that. But ‘Kuch’ deserves to be being in there, no doubt. He played 15 years, tough as nails and I wouldn’t say he was as good as me, but he was a great offensive lineman.”
(What are you doing now? Are you retired?) – “I’m retired. My last day of working was January the 14th of this year. But ironically, one of my former players who is a principal now here in Miami, he called me a couple of weeks ago and said, ‘Coach, I know you retire, but how would you like to work two days a week at my school?’ I told the man I’m enjoying laying in my bed. He said, ‘You don’t even have to come until 10-1.’ I said, ‘Man, I’m enjoying laying in my bed every day. Not having to get up in the morning.’ I love being in my shorts all day. I don’t want to be dressed anymore. I love doing what I’m doing right now. He said, ‘We’re going to keep going after you, Coach.’ I said, ‘Okay.’”
(One other thing – off topic of the ’72 Dolphins, but I know you did fundraisers in Virginia Beach and that was important to you. Have you followed up with what’s going on there with they’re now limiting the number of African-American commissioners or something at Virginia Beach?) – “No, I’m no longer involved in that project. My main focus right now is minority scholarships. And last year we gave away $41,000 in scholarships. $1,000 for 41 different students. Also I donated $20,000 to my alma mater, Bethune-Cookman College for scholarships. So this is what I’m focusing on right now.”
(So one of the cool things about the 72 team, the stats are crazy. Zero [losses], 2,000-yard rushers, most rushing yards by team in a season. But what I think has been the most interesting part of looking at all the history had been specific plays – the interceptions in the Super Bowl, the fake punts, things like that. Are there any kind of standout plays either that you feel like were great plays for you? Or plays that really stand out your memory when you think back on that season 50 years ago?) – “Well, we ran a play called Float 38. That was me pulling and Mercury (Morris) running behind me. And that’s where he gained most of his yards, on Float 38 running behind me.”
(And then another question that I think has been interesting is the difference in the game in 2022, versus 72. Particularly the difference in offensive line play?) – “Guys hold every play now. We couldn’t hold back then. We had to keep our hands inside, and they’d be – they could call a holding penalty on every play in every game if they wanted to, and they have a lot of fat guys playing now, too, and there’s a lot of belly bumping out there. I was big then, but I wasn’t fat. I’m kind of fat now.”
(And in some of your previous interviews on the subject, you talked about how important losing 20 pounds before that season was to help you kind of block on the outside. Could you talk a bit more about that?) – “Oh, well, Shula made me lose weight. When he came to Miami, I went to his press conference and after the press conference they introduced him. And I said, ‘Coach, my name is Larry Little. I’m your right guard.’ The first thing he said to me was, ‘How much do you weigh?’ I said 285. And he walked off. Didn’t say another word to me and when I got my letter and to come to training camp, the letter stated that ‘I want your weight to be 265 pounds.’ And at that time, I was still big for an offensive lineman compared to the style of the offensive lineman today. So you know, I worked out to keep my weight down and that helped me a lot. Because, like you said earlier, this sweltering heat down here in Miami, I could play a whole game without really getting really, really tired.”
(You touched on this a little bit talking about offensive line play I wanted to ask you just help us get into the mindset of an offensive lineman. Coming off of Tua’s injuries. He took those two big hits in those two games. He’s coming out of the concussion protocol. He’s going to be back out there on the field. Obviously, the linemen – your goal is to protect the quarterback on each and every play, but what’s going through their head now knowing he’s coming back from such an injury, knowing that they’re going to have to take that extra step to protect him even more after what he’s coming out of this concussion protocol?) – “I was told not to talk about that today.”
(Or maybe your thoughts just as a lineman in general after …?) – “Let me put it this way. It’s very similar to actually in 1972 when we lost about Bob Griese and Earl Morrall came in. And at the time Earl was 38 years old with no escape ability. And we knew we had to block a little harder and longer for Earl than we had to block for Bob. But then that year, Earl had the longest run from scrimmage out of any of our backs. Earl ran a 38-yard touchdown against New York Jets. So what your mindset is always to play hard. You knew you had to block off for your quarterback and we had to block that way for Earl more so than Bob. Not more so than Bob, but a little longer than Bob.”
So you’re conscious of that. In your head you’re thinking maybe a little bit more about who’s that back there under center at the time when you’re figuring out your game plan?) – “Not really. Just want to do the best job you can with what you have and no linemen like to get beat. It’s embarrassing and nowadays, too, and it started late in my career when they call your name out for holding. You don’t want to hear your name, ‘holding on No. 66.’ Oh no, goodness. No, you don’t want that. But playing offensive line, you have to have a lot of pride to be a good offensive lineman. You just can’t go out there and say I can’t – you have to have the mindset that you can’t let this guy in front of you beat you, and that’s what I had. I played some great defensive linemen, too – Mean Joe Green, Curley Culp, Mike Reid, Merlin Olsen. You have to go out there and say, ‘I’m not going to let this guy beat me because that’ll be embarrassing to me.’ It was embarrassing to me to get beat by anyone.”
(Give me your thoughts real quickly on – you mentioned earlier, “Wow, it’s been 50 years.” Are you surprised that no other team has been able to duplicate what you guys did 50 years ago. Tom Brady even just went out on social media and said bluntly football is hard. And not only is football hard, but going undefeated as he learned, he made it through the regular season but going undefeated and winning the Super Bowl. Are you surprised that no other teams have been able to do that over the last five decades?) – “Yes, I am. Like I said earlier, I never thought that we would be on top of the mountain by ourselves. I thought we would’ve been joined by someone else and it hasn’t happened.”
(In reading up and just learning more about the history of you know the 70s and the Orange Bowl specifically, I came to learn about Dolfan Denny, the superfan who’s in all orange and getting the crowd hyped up. I was just curious if you knew of him, if you noticed him while you were playing and just what impact he had hyping up the crowd back in the day?) – “I knew Dolfan Denny. I do know, too, that I believe he worked for Southern Bell with my sister, too. But I never paid that much attention to what he had when he was hyping up the crowd and not because my total concentration was on the game. But I knew of him for sure.”
(Could you tell that he really had an impact on getting the crowd hyped up when you guys were playing at home?) – “I think what really got the crowd hyped up that we noticed when they started you bringing out the white hankies. More so than Denny hyping up the crowd. I mean, at the Orange Bowl we’re seeing 80,000 people standing there waving those white handkerchiefs. I mean, that did a lot for us.”
(I wanted to ask you about Don Shula’s legacy. What does he mean to South Florida and the city of Miami?) – “Well, he is South Florida, although he wasn’t born and raised here. Shula is South Florida. What do you have a highway named after him? He had a hotel and country club named after him because of what he accomplished as a head coach and still being one of the head coach in the history of the NFL. And his legacy will always be around Miami, no matter how many years to come. If you want to know who Don Shula was and what he meant to not only Miami, South Florida.”
Bob Griese – October 18, 2022
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Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Hall of Fame QB Bob Griese
(Opening Statement) – “I heard everything, every word that (Larry) Csonka was saying. He was – in the huddle, he was on one side of me, and Mercury Morris was on the other side of me. And you saw how long Csonka talks and you saw how intelligent he is, well, Mercury thought he was just as talkative, and he was, but he wasn’t nearly as smart as Csonka. But occasionally, I would say, ‘Alright, I don’t have any ideas of what I wanted to call.’ It was like second-and-1 or third-and-1. I would say, ‘Anybody got any ideas?’ Well, gee, here we go. Csonka says P 10, Mercury Morris says Flow 38, and then (Bob) Kuechenberg is up there, and he’s playing left guard, or he might be laying center, and he has his suggestions. So that’s what I put up with. I just want you guys to know that Mercury and Csonka and Kuechenberg, and then (Head Coach Don) Shula is on the sidelines, ‘Bob, hurry up! Hurry up, Bob! Hurry up!’ I said – and he knew, he knew, he knew, he knew what the problem was. So I didn’t ask for suggestions of play calls very often, but when we were ahead, it was fun to see those guys jump in there. You just saw with Csonka, a very intelligent guy, very intelligent but also – I always liked that play in the Super Bowl where he came, got swept and he hit that guy on the sideline. Shula thought it was going to be a penalty on the other guy, but no, it was on Csonka. (laughter) I enjoyed seeing that one, I do.”
(I think one of the most interesting things about this season is how you ended up splitting quarterback duties with QB Earl Morrall over the course of the season because of injuries. I was wondering if you could just speak about that, and also because he can’t speak with us today, if you could just reflect on QB Earl Morrall?) – “I played the first five games. We were inside the five-yard line, and I called a – I don’t know what the play was called, it was a pass. I dropped back to pass, I threw the ball, and I followed through with my right leg, and one of the defensive ends – I think it was San Diego or Los Angeles? Anyway, (he) fell on my right front leg, and I knew immediately that this was not going to be a thing that I was going to play the rest of that game. I’m saying I’m wonder how many games I’m going to miss. It was a fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle. The dislocated ankle was much more serious than the crack in the fibula. So here comes Earl, Earl Morrall. Earl had been with (Head Coach Don) Shula in Baltimore. Shula’s second year with us, he brought Earl from Baltimore to us, because if anything happened to me, he had a lot of confidence in Earl. A lot of the guys didn’t see that yet, because Earl hadn’t played. Earl was not a good practice player. He was not the good practice player. So all the guys and the offense and the D-guys on the defense and the guys on the rest of the team were saying, ‘Uh oh. Uh oh, Bob’s hurt. Earl is going in. Did you see where he threw that pass on Friday? You see how he threw those passes on Saturday? Oh geez, here goes Earl.’ Earl was like, I don’t know, 38 or 39, which was – nobody played when they were that old in the league. So anyway, Earl comes in and just sets all the questioners, all the guys to the side, he answers all the questions. He leads us the rest of the way. And I’ve always said Earl was a great guy. We lockered next to each other, and he did a great job. There would be no undefeated season without Earl Morrall.”
(That’s great of you to say. I’ve got to say, one other aspect of that season for you that seems like something out of a movie is halftime AFC Championship game, Head Coach Don Shula talks to you about coming into the game. Can you just describe that moment a little bit?) –
“Well, I was ready. I was ready. In fact, I was healthy. I think I missed – what I miss? 10 games? 11 games? Like I said the cracked fibula was not problem, it was the dislocated ankle. I was getting treatment all the way from the time I got injured, well once they took the cast off, all they way up there. I had some friends and they played softball in the in the offseason. And a guy had a dislocated ankle like I did, and he said, ‘it took me two years to get over that dislocated ankle.’ And I said, ‘It took me five months.’ So five months and I was back playing. Everybody saw me in practice, I was running the second team. Earl Morrall was still running, he was doing his thing. Sometimes he was looking good in practice, sometimes (inaudible). (laughter) So anyway, I was throwing the ball well, I had a fresh arm. I mean, I had no bumps and bruises. I had no people stepping on me. Nothing was wrong with my head as far as bad plays. My arm was fresh, but Earl was doing a good job. So when Coach Shula came to me at halftime in Pittsburgh, the AFC Championship game, and he said, ‘You’re in,’ and I said, ‘Alright, I’ve been ready for the last couple of games.’ And he saw that and he knew that, and the rest of the team knew that. So I said, ‘OK.’ So, that was it – I just went in. Earl did a great job getting us there, and like I said, he’s a big part of that 17-0.”
(I wanted to talk a little bit more about how you mentioned the injuries that you suffered and QB Earl Morrall came in. Looking at this year’s Dolphins team, they’ve been dealing with injuries at the quarterback position. It’s derailed the season a little bit. They’ve suffered a few losses. Are you excited to see – It appears QB Tua Tagovailoa is coming back into the lineup. Are you excited to see him reintroduced out there onto the field? Is that the kind of spark that a team can have that will help get them back on the winning ways and really help turn the season back to where it was at the beginning with those three straight wins?) – “You couldn’t get any worse than having not only your two top quarterbacks, but your three top quarterbacks injured before you played six or seven games. But they’ll be back – none of them are out for the season. Tua (Tagovailoa) coming back – Tua will play and play well. The other two guys will heal. The thing we’ve found out is that seventh-round draft pick (Skylar Thompson) is pretty good player.”
(Another question just related to that a little bit. I know you were listening to Larry Csonka when he was talking with us. And he said listen, back in his day, these players could knock each other off their feet. Not the case anymore – the NFL really trying to protect the players and making rule changes. As a quarterback, what are your thoughts on the way the game is played now? I know there are some pluses and minuses. You see the questionable roughing the passer call with Tom Brady that social media erupted over. As a guy who played quarterback for so many years, what are your thoughts on the rule changes now to help protect players?) – “Well, when I played and all the other quarterbacks have played, they needed to protect the quarterback a little bit more. They may have gone overboard a little bit, but I would say I’d rather see them (stay) on the side of too much protection of the quarterback rather than too little, like they did back when we played.”
(We talked to Larry Csonka a little bit obviously before. He gets pretty excitable about the prospect of the undefeated teams losing each time that they have a chance. Can you talk about – is that a shared sentiment? Or would you say there’s somebody that gets the most excited about a team nowadays that loses the chance to match you guys? Or how does that go about with you guys?) – “Well, we’re kind of used to having one or two or three teams go undefeated, maybe halfway through the season, but this year was different. After, I don’t know, almost three games, there were only one or two teams still undefeated. I haven’t seen Philadelphia play that much, but I’ve seen some highlights. And like I guess like ‘Csonk’ (Larry Csonka) said, they could – but it gets tougher as you go along. It’s tougher, even the weaker teams have the chance to beat you. But yeah, they play one more game (or) two more games than we did. So I don’t know – if we went 17-0, they go 19-0. So they have one more game, but we still have the zero on the loss column.”
(Is there a certain trait you can point to that you guys had that you would say was the most significant trait for that team for not losing a game?) – “Oh, we had a hell of a defense. We had a hell of a defense, and we had a hell of an offensive line. We had the hell of a running game, which controlled, I think Csonka talked about it a little bit, we were out there not trying to score points so much but to stay on the field, keep our defense on the sideline and the opponent’s very good offense on the sideline. As long as we stayed out there making first downs and running that clock, we were doing our defense and our team a service and a disservice to the other team’s offense by not letting them on the field. So things change a lot. Back in that day, the thing was the running game and the offensive line and the running game. Today, it’s not that – it’s the passing game. So it’s kind of hard to control the field and the offense and the clock with a passing offense, but some people can do it.”
(I’m just curious, 50 is a big number – 50 years is a big number. But I remember at 25 years, Nick Buoniconti saying you guys were the forgotten team and Head Coach Don Shula saying you didn’t get your respect. Do you think by now that the undefeated and the achievement of it is on a bigger stage than it was back then and maybe what you guys deserve?) – “Yes, that’s a good point. That’s a good question. I think back then, so what? So you go undefeated, win the Super Bowl – somebody is going to do it in five years. Nobody did it. In 10 years – they’ll do it soon. 15 years, nobody has done it. 20 years? No, nobody. 30 (years), then the good teams come by, the Brady year, the New York Giants with Eli Manning beating the Patriots in that Super Bowl game. And everybody says, ‘Geez, that must be pretty hard to do, go undefeated.’ So yes, I think as time has gone by, I think more people realize that that was something special. We didn’t realize it was something special. We just thought – we didn’t try to go undefeated. We just went out there and tried to win each game. Win each game and that’s what we did. But it’s tougher to do now because there are more games. I think we get more respect now than we did back then because we went undefeated.”
(Just generally, how do you think like the game has evolved with the rules for concussions? Especially with what we know about CTE? How do you think head trauma injuries are like viewed now as supposed to back then?) – “I’m glad to see them protecting the quarterback a little bit more. A few years ago, they said, ‘OK, you can’t hit the quarterback below the waist, and you can’t hit him above the shoulders when you’re coming in there.’ Now, when the guy grabs him legally and twirls him around and throws him down and his head and his helmet pop back on the ground, now they’re starting to call that. I’m all for the quarterbacks – you can’t protect enough (is) what I’m saying. What would a game be without Aaron Rodgers? What would a game be without (Tom) Brady and some of these quarterbacks? You want to see them in there. As long as the rules are the same for both sides, both defenses and both offenses, I like it.”
(It just seems like there’s more of an awareness now for head trauma injuries as opposed to back in the day for all positions. What are your thoughts on that and how concussions and CTE are viewed now as opposed to back then?) – “Back in the old days – I’m looking across here at armoire and I see two or three of my helmets sitting up there. Inside those helmets are the way that helmets used to be made, and that was just straps. There were just straps in there holding your head away from the helmet and protecting it – not very good. Today, they’ve got these air-filled helmets on the inside that you can pump up and pump up, so the technology has come a long way. I see these guys hitting their heads and I say, ‘Oh, if that would have been me back int eh day, I probably would have had a concussion.’ But they’re much better – the helmets are much better, and they’re protecting the quarterbacks a little better. I like what I’m seeing.”
(I spoke to QB Tua Tagovailoa probably in the beginning of this season, he said he never had the chance to speak with you before. If there’s one thing that you could tell QB Tua Tagovailoa, what would that be?) – “Keep doing what you’re doing. He’s a bright kid. I would tell every quarterback this; when you drop back in the pocket, and you look to the right, and you look over the middle, and you look to the left, if nobody is covered and there’s no way to takeoff running, scrambling up the middle or scrambling to the right or the left, get rid of the ball. You have to think that. You have to say, ‘OK, I’ve got three receivers going out on the right and two on the left and they’re coming across the middle of field. I’m looking here first, then I’m looking here.’ And if not, I said, ‘I’m looking over here. I’m going to get rid of the ball over the middle. And if not, that baby is going somewhere. It’s going at the feet of somebody that’s covered. I’m getting rid of the football.’ And that that is a trait that the really good quarterbacks in this league have.”
(You spent some time as part of the greatest college broadcast team with you and Keith Jackson. What was that experience like working with him over the years?) – “Oh nelly! Oh nelly, I’ve got to tell you. Keith (Jackson) was – Keith was a great guy. My first game, he says, ‘I’ll take care of you.’ I never will forget, my son, Brian, was playing for Michigan and they were in the Rose Bowl. Michigan was ranked No. 1, and everybody was asking me, ‘How are you going to call this game without being favored to your son and to Michigan?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’ve been – we did five or six Michigan games, and I just call it the way I see it.’ I called – the Michigan quarterback was my son, I called him Griese. I didn’t call him – so anyway, we’re doing the Rose Bowl game, the National Championship, (and) Michigan wins. They win the National Championship. So they win, and Keith – it’s kind of near the end of the broadcast, kind of signing off and he says, ‘Woah, nelly. Do you want to know who the MVP is? I’m standing right next to his proud daddy.’ And I said, ‘Keith, you better take it from here, because I can’t talk.’ (laughter) He was a great guy – one of the best.”
