Mike McDaniel – October 23, 2023
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Monday, October 23, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(I want to ask you about LB David Long Jr., is he in concussion protocol after the hit? Does OL Isaiah Wynn’s quad look like a multi-week potential IR type of thing?) – “David Long (Jr.) was cleared last night. Just the timing of which didn’t – he came back out to the sidelines at the end of the game, but once he came back out from the locker room, he would have had to go through an entire warmup process. In the timing of the game, it didn’t make much sense. He came in today and cleared again and reported no symptoms so he should be good to go. And you asked about?”
(OL Isaiah Wynn, is it a multi-week quad potentially?) – “We are getting more information, but it does look like it will be weeks, as it wasn’t a bump or a bruise. We’ll gather more for specificity, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing him for weeks.”
(Any worries about WR Jaylen Waddle and the back injury lingering?) – “It’s something that we’ll be on the front end of trying to treat it. He seems like – from the information that I have today, I would expect him to be practicing. It looks like he’ll be alright. They found a solution and got it loose, which is why he was able to come back in the game.”
(We understand that the Miami Dolphins are going to be on Hard Knocks In Season.) – “Yeah? You guys heard that?”
(Yeah, we heard that.) – “I heard that too.”
(What’s your reaction?) – “I wouldn’t call it a team decision. But at the same time, you guys know me well enough that I steer clear of worrying about things that we can’t control. It’s something that I conveyed to the team for the first time today, and I see some positives with this particular team, just knowing that there’s a lot of things in terms of when we do have success on the field, that people kind of are curious as to how that happens. I think they’ll see exactly where that comes from. I don’t think it’s a bad thing for people to see our day-in, day-out hard work. I know there’s a lot of guys on this team that will garner interest, really. I think that a platform for them to showcase who they are and really the fanbase to get to know the players and coaches better, I can understand the value to the National Football League, to HBO, to NFL Films, and I can understand the value for the Miami Dolphins. It’s something that I think that this particular team is equipped to handle, just because the focus of really how they go about their day-in day-out jobs. I’m also very proud of this organization, having been in multiple. I know that this is, from the top down, a very healthy, all moving in one direction organization that I think it’s not bad for the organization to be seen as that, because it’s a cool place to work. We will take it for exactly what it is and make sure that we use it only to our advantage. It’s not a bad thing to – in the National Football League, the bottom line is if you’re getting done what your whole mission statement is, it’s going to be done under a spotlight. So getting used to having a weekly spotlight for this young team isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.”
(Have the cameras started rolling? Or when will they start rolling?) – “Well, I mean, you tell me? Are they rolling? (laughter) There’s not a ton of information that has come our way as of yet. I know it will start sometime after we take our trip to Germany. Then, as I understand it, it will be through the finality of the season. It will be part of our DNA really after the Germany game at some point.”
(I know after you played in Buffalo, WR Tyreek Hill mentioned on his podcast that the crowd noise was a factor. I know you guys had a couple of pre-snap delays and false starts. Did you feel like the crowd, on the road, that environment, had any impact on maybe the flow of the offense?) – “I mean, most certainly that’s something that you’re working through. There are additional variables that have to do with changes in lineup that compound that. But that’s something that I think you have to be very accountable. You can’t just point fingers, and you have to look at what you’re doing. As a group, the same way that you attack pre-snap penalties in the offseason is the same way that you attack those type of things with regard to hostile environments. It’s not going anywhere. If you’re playing in big time games, that will always be the case. So it’s valuable reps that we definitely fell short of doing our standard. That’s part of the evolution as you go through a season that you’re trying to be your best at the end of the season. You’ve got to progress to that. So it’s one of the many things that we have to work on.”
(Day after, the run game, what is your assessment of it? Should you have run more, could you have run more? I saw last night you said you were behind the chains a little bit and that Philly did a good job. Your day after assessment?) – “Probably the biggest opportunities that we kind of squandered just so happened to be in the run game. We had some details that were just a hair off that were negative plays that through our lens, we see as explosive opportunities. That’s a vast difference that greatly affects your overall production, so for the most part, we’ve been pretty locked into our opportunities and have taken advantage of them in the run game, and last night we didn’t. So you have to assess why, and you can’t do that without giving credit to the Philadelphia Eagles that were playing a version of themselves that is aggressive, that’s a talented front. They weren’t hesitating at all, so when you play a talented front that is aggressive by nature, you have to be on your p’s and q’s, and when you’re not, it takes opportunities away. It takes the amount of run calls away. The complexion of the game changes, so there’s a lot of things to take away from it. I didn’t see a situation where it was like, ‘OK, we can’t block people at all.’ But we were getting some negatives that we’d gotten used to this season as being substantial gains that definitely affected our overall production for sure.”
(I wanted to address the OL Isaiah Wynn situation. Obviously having all backups on the left side of your line is not an ideal situation. How did OL Lester Cotton perform? Is OL Robert Jones ready to be contributing to a game?) – “I think Lester (Cotton) is a very accountable person and has come as far as really anybody that we’ve had on the roster since he joined the team last year. I think it’s a tough spot to be in – to go out there and perform against a front like that. There’s some stuff that I know he can do better that he would do better if he had the whole practice week as the starter. So first and foremost, I believe in the player and lost zero confidence in him, but he’ll be the first one to say that there’s some stuff that he would expect to be better at. And Rob (Jones) has been working his tail off to get in the position that he’s in right now to be able to actively play, so like I said from the beginning, we are fortunate to have depth and I look forward to Lester getting a lot more reps at the position during the week. Because the whole operation, the success that we’ve had up front has all come down to the most minute details that relate to the exact specific techniques and fundamentals of the defensive front. So when you are locked in on that, not only are you cerebrally locked in, but you’ve bought some well-intentioned, deliberate, physical reps to kind of get that down. It’s a game of inches. That cliché is real because that’s where our production comes from. Lester is well-prepared for the situation, so is Rob. They’ll be their best selves starting the whole week off with first-team reps as opposed to getting them mid-second quarter or whatever it was.”
(ESPN reported that CB Jalen Ramsey might play this week. What do you need to see out of him?) – “I mean, if ESPN reported it… (laughter) I just always find it interesting when I get that. There’s no judgment there. I think Jalen (Ramsey) had a great practice week, henceforth he got scout team player of the week on defense and was in a camo jersey on Friday. So not in the business of crystal balls, specifically with guys returning from injury, so we’ll take that a day at a time to make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves. When he’s ready to go – he can’t help himself, he will let me know.”
(There’s nothing physically at this point then? It’s just him getting back into football shape? Getting confidence in the knee, is that correct?) – “Yeah, there hasn’t been any sort of setbacks or any – there’s no concern. It’s really just you have a process that you go through, and you don’t try to get ahead of yourself so we don’t rush the process. He’s done such an unbelievable job getting to this point that you don’t want to nonsensically just force an issue just because you want him on the field as fast as possible. You’ve got to do right by the team and the player, but you’re right. There’s been nothing that’s been cause of concern or hesitation so far.”
(With the scout team last week, is it possible that he can be with the base defense this week?) – “Yeah, I would see that as a natural progression to start garnering reps and that will be part of the process. It was the first week, so we tried to keep him away from that. This week, the plan as of today which is Monday – which is very different than Wednesday – but as of today, Monday, we’d start working him into defensive team reps to see how he responds to that and dust off the old cobwebs.”
(If I could maybe get into your head a little bit, you talked about CB Jalen Ramsey and him wanting to be out there on the field. Can you maybe take me into what that looks like for you process-wise on when you’re ready to put him out there given he’s beating recovery time, he’s obviously urgent but you need him for the rest of the way?) – “That’s why you have to – that gets overwhelming to try to predict the future in terms of what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s a little out of my expertise and that’s why you literally have to take it day to day. You have to. So you can say, ‘Alright, well, today we know we can assess x-amount of reps.’ You get those reps and then you get the feedback so that you don’t – you don’t want to create a scenario where a player is saying, ‘OK, well I’m going to go play in this game,’ and then all of a sudden something maybe they can feel that we can’t test, now all of a sudden maybe, because of obligation to what they said they were going to do, they start making decisions for the wrong reasons. So you fight tooth and nail not to pinpoint OK, this game, so that you can protect people from themselves, as well as make it about something that it shouldn’t be. We’re not getting him back to play a certain game. We are getting him back to play football the way he knows how to play football, to do right by him as a player and by the team and make sure that’s a long-term solution and not a short-term. It’s kind of why inherently – I mean, I get annoyed when I have to speak in grayness more than you guys get annoyed listening to it – but it’s very pragmatic and intentional, because you don’t want to be chasing the wrong things. We’re trying to get him back so that we can have Jalen Ramsey and not some other version that he’s forcing his hand on.”
(You talked last week about measuring stick type of games. You’ve had a couple this year that you’ve fallen short on, and I know there’s many more to come. As a team, what do you see as a common theme of why you haven’t been able to, at least this season, get over the hump against the couple of real quality, I guess elite-type teams that you’ve faced this year? What can you take from that moving forward?) – “I think it’s more like winning and losing games – this just in, I think you guys might know the only team to do it, win every game. For the record, it was the Dolphins in 1972. I told the team this before on Saturday night. I said, ‘OK, after the game, one of two things will occur. If we win the game, we are going to have to deal with a whole ton of hype, and will be crowned as, it wouldn’t surprise me to be, the best team football and that would be the carrying narrative. If we lose the game, we can’t beat good teams. That is just quite literally the nature of just going into the game and we’re playing a 5-1 opponent, and just knowing how things progress. There’s a whole week in between games, and there’s a lot to talk about and a lot of interest. So the narrative is going to be one or the other. Understand that literally either narrative matters nothing. Because we’re going to play this game – if we win it, I don’t want false sense of security. And if we lose it, I don’t want us to make more of it than it is. Bottom line is, listen, that team was in the NFC Championship game, won it, was in the Super Bowl and had their chance to win the Super Bowl last year. That is a heartbreak, and they’re on the heels of their first loss and it’s a tough environment. You have to earn those wins. Ultimately, as a football team, we’re trying to progress to the point that doesn’t matter where we play or who we play, that you’re able to win those games. So we have to learn stuff from the game regardless of the outcome. So I know the narrative is going to be there, and it’s going to be there until we beat a team with a really good record. The Eagles would have been dealing with the same thing if they would have lost that game, because that was the first five-win team they beat, or four-win team they beat was us. So that’s kind of the nature of the reality that is, listen, you are your results, and until you prove otherwise, you’ve got to be willing to hear the consequences of the results. I hear that and I know that we’ll continue to hear that until we change it. The most important thing to me is that we come out of that game with learning lessons to give us more confidence moving forward. I sensed a football team that knew exactly why they lost. Felt like it didn’t surprise them that they lost, because you didn’t do the little things that you have to do to win the football game against a really good team. And that just builds up hunger. We’ll see how we apply that this week against the New England Patriots, which is literally the only thing, amongst all the things, the only thing that matters to us.”
(I did want to ask a follow up about Hard Knocks. You said it wasn’t a team decision. What are the concerns about opening yourself up to the world?) – “I think it’s more of as a football coach, there’s enough distractions that you have to overcome, just in general, and in the natural – just the world that we live in and trying to get an entire team moving one direction. So I think that’s the immediate resistance. And then also some of the stuff that you don’t know until the decision is kind of made for you, that you’re worried about the some of the football competitive advantages leaving the building and being more accessible. I think in our short talks with the league and HBO, we’ve had that concern suppressed knowing that we’ll be able to protect our team and anything that’s a competitive disadvantage that may come up, we’ll be able to keep that from hitting the final copy. But outside of that, that’s why I kind of think that this particular team, I’m very, very proud, happy with just how we go to work every day. So this particular team, it’s not the worst thing in the world, because that’s what I think will be conveyed. You’re also just used to your routine, and that’s different. So you want to make sure that everything that you’ve been building stays true, and I think it will with our guys.”
(How is S Jevon Holland doing?) – “Jevon (Holland), he was cleared in the game, which is why he went back, by the UNC into the game. And then the standard procedure for that is the following day, you have a follow up. In that, he did report symptoms, so he will be in the concussion protocol which is something that we’ll work through and just worry about him getting healthy.”
(Going back to the keeping secrets in house part of this whole thing with Hard Knocks, what is the process if there’s something that’s maybe borderline issue, does a team get with HBO and you’ll work it out amicably together? Or does the team say no, this doesn’t go to on the air?) – or as a team, say no this doesn’t go on air?) – “I think the former is the way I understand it, that this is – also keep in mind, and this is something I had to be reminded of, but NFL Films is heavily involved and invested in this process. That’s one thing I can attest to just watching from when I was five years old, how their first and foremost objective is to document and document history and how good of a job they do with that. So this will be a working relationship, so it should be very amicable as I understand it.”
Jeff Wilson Jr. – October 23, 2023
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Monday, October 23, 2023
RB Jeff Wilson Jr.
(Good to have you back on the field. How were you feeling physically last night, and did they give you any sense that they were going to ease you back last night in terms of, you had a pass thrown to you but didn’t have any carries?) – “Body feels great. Glad to be back with the team, with the guys. That’s always a blessing. Every opportunity you get is something you have to cherish because everybody doesn’t get those. As far as that, I really don’t know. All I know is stay ready and be prepared. I’m not a coach so I can’t control any of that. All I know is just lock in on what I have to do and be ready.”
(Can you tell us about the process of coming back? Because I know when it first happened, it seemed like you were close to even playing in that last preseason game and then it ended up keeping you out for a while.) – “It was stressful because that’s a part of the journey that you don’t want to miss, especially when you have the camaraderie with the guys, getting familiar and getting used to your o-line, your quarterback. So missing all that time, that definitely hurt me that way. But it’s football and this is something that I’ve been playing since I was five years old in pads. It’s like riding a bike almost. You just get on there and do it. Getting back at practice and getting back with those guys and feeling the lanes and feeling the cuts and the blocks again, it’s all been great. Like I said, it’s just a matter of time.”
(What’s your overall perspective on where this team can go as it starts to get a lot of guys back now? You just came back and then obviously RB De’Von Achane is on IR, and you’ve got T Terron Armstead and CB Jalen Ramsey going to be returning soon, and a few other guys.) – “The sky is the limit. Like I said, it’s all in-house. It’s all us. We’ve just got to keep on getting better and keep on striving for our goals, blocking out the outside noise and take it one week at a time.”
Bradley Chubb – October 23, 2023
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Monday, October 23, 2023
LB Bradley Chubb
(Can you detail kind of just what you and the whole pass rush have gotten going in recent weeks?) – “Just learning each other I feel like over time. We’ve got a lot of great rushers in the room that I feel like any time you do anything individually, it’s not going to work out in your favor, especially in a team sport. I’m not saying that’s what we were doing, but I’m just saying we weren’t all locked in together and I feel like over these past couple of weeks, we kind of just learned each other, learned how each other likes to push the quarterback off the spot and just playing off each other. We kind of saw on the sack that me and ‘JP’ (Jaelan Phillips) had, I came inside, Zach (Sieler) wrapped right around and just kept him contained in that pocket and stuff like that. So it’s just like I said – learning each other and growing as a unit and I feel like we just keep taking strides each and every week.”
(I’m going to follow up on exactly that. What was it like having LB Jaelan Phillips get some more snaps, now second game back under his belt, and beating Lane Johnson for a sack. That’s big. He hadn’t allowed one since 2020, if you were aware of that stat.) – “We talked about that one for sure. I encouraged him and just let him know – because when you’ve got things going on and stuff popping up and all that like he has been in his first couple weeks, you get a little frustrated and you get a little down on yourself and I just made sure I kept reminding him every chance I got just like, ‘hey man, be that dude.’ Like Lane Johnson hasn’t – like you said – given up a sack since 2020 and guess who he just gave up one to. And he called his shot right before we went into the two-minute drive, too, so it’s just dope to see him back out there playing like himself, feeling like himself and I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to get him to that level and I know when he’s at that level, I’m going to be at that level and everyone else around us is going to be at that level. So it was dope to see.”
(I wanted to ask you what the general message has been from Head Coach Mike McDaniel, Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio and the coaches you’ve spoken to or have spoken to the team in the last 12 hours after the game?) – “The vibes are still high. We still believe that we’re a team that has everything right in front of us. We gave up a big game but at the end of the day, these are the reps we need in terms of those atmospheres. That’s a Super Bowl team and they’re going to have a lot of success this season and we’re going to have a lot of success this season, but unfortunately it just didn’t pan out for us. So just getting those reps of being in that playoff atmosphere and responding – we score, they score – just getting to that ebb and flow of the game and understanding that we’re right there and everything we want is still right there ahead of us. We’ve just got to lock it in and let these losses turn into lessons. You hear that all the time, like the cliché saying of let it be a lesson, but that’s really what it is in terms of this team and understanding that when we get to these big games, we’re going to have to show up all around. I know and I got it in my heart that once we get to these big moments when it really counts, we’re going to be exactly where we need to be.”
(I don’t think that the score was really reflective of the competitive nature of the game. Do you feel like you have the athletes to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league?) – “No doubt, man. I feel like we matched up really well with this past team and it’s unfortunate like you said that the score was what it was, because even on the sideline we were thinking ‘yeah, they’re a good team; but were they a 31-point team to beat us like that and stuff like that?’ But at the end of the day, you’ve got to give your hats off to them. They executed their game plan to the highest degree and we’ve still got some holes to fill and at the end of the day, it’s a possibility long down the road that we could see that team again. We’re just going to have to be ready. My main thing is just getting the Miami Dolphins better and not having those types of games again.”
(The blitz this year has generally been effective. Knowing Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio as well as you do, do you think when both CB Jalen Ramsey is back and CB Xavien Howard is back, we might see more blitzing? Any sense of that?) – “He’s the mastermind. I don’t really know what’s going on through his head, but I know that once those pieces get back, I know he’s going to have something drawn up or whatever it may be and we’re going to be ready for it. I know those guys are licking their chops to get back on the field and I know he’s going to put us in the best positions to make plays and when you have a lot of playmakers on the field like that, something’s going to have to pop. Something’s going to have to happen so I’m just looking forward to having those guys back and I know they’re looking forward to being back on the field as well.”
(And one quick follow up on those guys. Once you have CB Jalen Ramsey and CB Xavien Howard both playing together, what impact does that have on a front seven?) – “It all goes hand in hand. They need us like we need them and as we affect the quarterback, get him off his spot, we know those guys can stay sticking and do everything they need and cause the quarterback to do one more pump or whatever it may be or we might get in the quarterback’s face, tip the ball up and they’re coming up with the glory. So at the end of the day, rush and coverage – you hear it all the time – it works hand in hand so I like I said, when we get those playmakers back, when we get our playmakers all on the same page, it’s going to be good.”
Mike McDaniel – October 22, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 22, 2023
Postgame – Philadelphia
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel (Transcribed by Philadelphia)
On the playoff-like atmosphere:
“You can learn everything. It was a very important thing. I kind of knew that going into the game that it was going to be that type of atmosphere and I think that’s very important for our team being on the younger side to experience. Those are critical. You have to feel what it’s like to play such a good team on the road. Your margin for error is so small, and it’s an important building block along your progression for the season, you know. If you’re going to lose games, you want it to be against a really good team, and you want it to hurt. The collection of coaches and players in the locker room right now are hurting because they feel like they left some plays on the field for sure. You know, losses, if approached the right way, if you’re not pointing fingers and you’re looking internally, can be a good thing too. So that’s what we’ll be determined to make this moving forward, starting with tomorrow.”
On the penalties:
“Well, without a doubt, you can’t be minus 10 in penalties. So, you look at the – what’s the commonalities for it. Is there a pattern, and you have to look at it case-by-case and look at it hard. You can’t just point a finger and say that it’s not fair. That doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s more about looking at ourselves, the stuff that we can control, and what things we can clean up in our game. You know, generally, penalties occur when you’re out of position in any phase. So, we have to start with that and make sure that guys understand and learn from stuff because if you’re going to go through anything that’s as frustrating as this loss, you might as well — you better make it worth it. That will be our focus for sure.”
On Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa’s interception:
“No, that one in particular, there was a couple double moves that are kind of built for man coverage, so it kind of disperses that way where they’re kind of close together. That’s something that we’ve been working on for a while. You know, those are the things you have to learn from in terms of that particular play with Tua because playing quarterback in this league is tough enough, but getting used to adjusting when you don’t have protection versus when you do. On that particular play, I thought we do have solid protection there, and so when Tua watches the film, I’m sure he’ll be critical of himself as the leader he is and where he’s at in his career. He’s pretty overly accountable for throws and he kind of let that one fly on his back foot. So, I was hoping [RB] Raheem [Mostert] could step back and make a play. He had an issue doing so with apparently what was legal contact down the field. That’s definitely not why we lost the game. For sure, that play, I thought Tua had a very, very good game all things considered and made a ton of plays under some duress.”
On coming in with the number one rushing attack and how much that affected his play-calling:
“We were behind the chains more than we were used to. We had some small nuance details of some plays that, hats off to the Philadelphia Eagles because they made us pay everytime we – maybe our track was a little too tight, or too wide or an offensive lineman was a hair off. We rely on the running game to have a successful offense. We got it going a little too late in the game, so that is something that we take pride in and will be sure to get better from moving forward.”
On having to win road games and what can a coaching staff do to make sure they are ready:
“Well, I mean, from my perspective, there is a good amount that falls on my shoulders because you are working through what your team is and what you can do and can’t do on the road. Sometimes coaches can get a little too aggressive with some of the things that they decide to do. I felt that it started it with me, if that was the case. There were a couple instances where it was correctable, but there was one where we had to use one timeout because I adjusted the play-call late, so that is not on the players. Then we weren’t as crisp as usual coming out of the huddle, which always leads to stuff, and we will take a hard look at that in terms of what we are doing and how we are doing it, and make sure that we get better because it definitely wasn’t good enough to win and to beat a football team like that. It was a shame because I thought our defense gave us a definite chance to win with the way they played and made some serious physical plays that were kind of wasted.”
On the condition of Dolphins LB David Long Jr. and S Jevon Holland after collision:
“So, [Dolphins S] Jevon Holland was evaluated by the specialist on-site and cleared so he went back into the game. [Dolphins LB] David Long [Jr.] came into the locker room and, you know, never came out of it. I’ll get a better update on that, haven’t had a chance to talk to [Dolphins Head Athletic Trainer] Kyle [Johnston] and his staff, so, I’ll give you the information tomorrow for sure.”
On how close Dolphins WR Chase Claypool is to contributing:
“[Dolphins WR] Chase [Claypool] had a package of plays that – circumstances, the game, kind of ran us out of. So, we’re expecting him to play a little bit more, but once you start having – with [Dolphins WR Jaylen] Waddle leaving the game it’s more difficult to get a newer player involved just that way unless it’s in his package of plays, like, which I said, we kind of digressed through what we were planning on getting done. He’s doing a great job, he’s carved out a little role with us already. So, I’m hoping that expands as he gets the opportunities to play within our offense.
On how injuries impacted the game:
“You know, good players – the more good players you have, it definitely makes you better, however it would be tough for me to really look at, you know – I kind of look at what we do have and was very confident going into the game – of the players that were scheduled to play a good amount of snaps, and I think it would be awesome to have players return to our team, but going without X, Y, or Z, whomever it is, wasn’t the reason that we lost. We were still capable of winning that football game if we’re playing our brand of football at its highest.”
On Dolphins CB Xavien Howard not playing tonight:
“Yeah, I know, that’s something that I talk to you guys a lot about is trying to protect players from themselves and sometimes competitors can be shortsighted in their scope, so, it just didn’t seem – with that position, with that injury – it didn’t seem prudent, to kind of, press the envelope at this stage knowing how important [Dolphins CB Xavien Howard] is for the entirety of the season. He had a good week and he’ll be chomping at my ear this next week, probably every day, because he definitely didn’t like watching this game in street clothes, for sure.”
On the team starting to come back after being down two scores:
“I think they felt very capable of doing that. The one thing I will say is that there’s some definite positives that came from this game. I felt like the team is at a place where they can compete in these types of atmospheres against a stubborn opponent. There’s still some growth that needs to be had and that’s part of the journey for sure. I was encouraged by our locker room temperament at halftime. I was encouraged by the way we came out to the field, and we were expecting to bridge that gap for sure. When it happened, I felt our guys were validated for sure, too short lived unfortunately.”
On how struggles from the offensive line affect the offense and play-calling:
“Yeah, it’s definitely part of the job. It’s not the first nor will it be the last, it can add a layer to your decision-making for sure. That is something I see as 100% my job. That’s something that’s not going to go away, and it can’t ever be an excuse. We have to be prepared if there’s any shifting and shoveling and it just wasn’t good enough tonight.”
On Dolphins CB Cam Smith not having any defensive snaps:
“It’s just the natural growth. There’s many different journeys that players take and he’s got a room of very capable players and I think you have to do right by the team and right by the player to make sure they’re appropriately versed, and the main thing with him is that by all testaments he’s getting better and better and closer and closer to doing that. You don’t just have guys learn on the fly with a position like that in my opinion because it’s like a quarterback where you don’t want to hurt their progression by having them see the field too soon. There can be scar tissue with that. I really like the way Cam goes about his business and he’ll see his time on the field at some point but tonight was not that night.”
Tua Tagovailoa – October 22, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, October 22, 2023
Postgame – Philadelphia
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (Transcribed by Philadelphia)
On whether this feels like a lost opportunity for him and the team:
“It’s tough when you come on the road against a really good team and you’re not able to execute the way you expected to execute. But you have to give props to those guys and their coaching staff. They did a real good job in preparing for us. Some things went well for us, some things we’re just trying to figure out there. But overall we just have to get better.”
On what he saw on the interception by Eagles CB Darius Slay:
“It was just an underthrow. That’s all it was. It was nothing more than just an underthrow.”
On playing a team that’s able to stop the run and how it changes the math for him as a quarterback and the offense:
“Yeah in a way it does change how we go about playing out there because there’s actions off of those runs that we’d like to get. And when the run game is not going the way you would expect it to go, then that kind of mitigates the way we run-pass and then it’s more of just a drop-back sort of game. But they did a really good job. Second half we came out with some adjustments. We got some things going in the run game. But really, for us offensively and as a team, it’s really just trying to sustain putting consistent drives together, being able to go out there defensively and getting three-and-outs and sort of playing off each other in that sense.”
On what can be done for the offense to be better on the road:
“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of pieces that go into our offense, a lot of moving parts. I have to communicate to the [offensive] line, the cadence in a loud environment. You know all of those things play a role in us going out there executing, especially with a loud environment, tough environment. But it’s communicating, it’s being able to go out and executing. It’s hard to, sort of, replicate crowd noise the way it is over here than in other places. You know, that’s the next step for us in what we are trying to do.”
On protecting himself during the sack by Eagles DT Jalen Carter:
“Yeah, that’s all it was. You know, I missed the snap point in what we were trying to do with that play. You know, there wasn’t anything else in that play so I just took that and protected myself.”
On anything positive he can take away from this game:
“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of positives we can take, but then again we have to come in tomorrow and watch the tape and see things we could get better with. You know, there are always [good things] that are [being] done, but none of those guys in the locker room remember those especially after a loss there. They’re all thinking of what we could continue to do to get better and help our team win games.”
On where he thinks the team is after this game:
“Well, I don’t think we listen to the outside noise in regards to how people feel about our team. I think the most important thing is the guys in the locker room sticking together and continuing to go. There’s a lot of football to be played, a lot of football, it’s a long season.”
On how the injury to OL Isaiah Wynn affected the offense:
“It affects a lot of what we do because he’s had a lot of the reps throughout practice week and then for [Dolphins OL] Lester [Cotton] to come in, I thought he did a really good job, you know, for what he was given to do, the task at hand. I mean there’s a lot of things going on, when it’s, ‘Are we trying to run this? No, it’s this look, we have to run it this way.’ The communication up there and getting that orchestrated for those guys is not as easy as it seems. I think they’ve done a good job. It was a team effort today. It took everyone today.”
On what he learned from playing against the Eagles:
“Well, we learned that the little things matter and they turn into big things as they continue to build up. This is a good test early in the season. People can say the penalties this, the penalties that. Like for us as a team we aren’t throwing that out as an excuse. They went out there. They did what they had to do to win that game. We didn’t do enough to win that game so it is what it is. We’ll go into tomorrow and learn from that. We’ll get ready for New England.”
On whether this game will help them down the road:
“Oh yeah. All of these games help us down the road. To me it felt like this game was a playoff atmosphere type of thing. I think that was a good rep for us early in the season. Leading down the road to when it’s crunch time.”
On things he can do to streamline the communication of the offense:
“I think the thing I can do is communicate to those guys prior to us going out there. I can do a better job in letting them know what we’re trying to get accomplished on this drive. Obviously we’re trying to get points on the board, but when [Dolphins Head Coach] Mike [McDaniel] does communicate to me what we’re trying to run, ‘Alright guys, it’s a run play. This is what the play is going to be. Just be alert for this look or this look.’ And they can communicate that throughout this being on the sideline before we go and start drives.”
