Tua Tagovailoa – December 27, 2023
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Wednesday, December 27, 2023
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(I know you didn’t watch the episode I’m assuming, but we loved your spirited desire on Hard Knocks. They kept replaying you harassing everybody about opening the gifts.) – “Yeah, I was excited for the gifts that I got them.”
(What did you get the offensive line?) – “I got them MacBook Pros. Like some new ones. Lot of them have aspirations to be rappers. (laughter)
(Offensive linemen?) – “You’d be surprised brother. (laughter) You’d be surprised. You can do whatever you want with that MacBook.”
(The team is returning back to Baltimore where there was a historic comeback and a career game for you. I was curious, what do you remember from that game and really just that performance and what it meant for you in the moment?) – “Yeah, I would say what I remember from that game was it was a hard-fought game. Our team last year, we were able to not let the win or let the score dictate how we wanted to finish and how we wanted to continue to play that game. Obviously the result was a win, but it’s a new year. They’ve made some changes to their defense. Same scheme, but personnel wise, they’ve moved some guys around and they’ve also acquired some new guys. What they’ve put on film, they’re very sound in the back end. They’ll get to you on the front end and then also with their front seven in the run game, we’re going to have to be on our p’s and q’s when it comes to who we’re pointing out. What they’ve put on film is they’re very physical. So we’re going to have to match their physicality and we’ll be ready come Sunday.”
(Did you watch the Monday night game against the 49ers? And what were your impressions from their performance?) – “I didn’t watch. I didn’t watch the game. I think I was sleeping probably from after opening gifts and whatnot and spending time with family. But watching the film, they played the 49ers well. You don’t just show up to a game and get the amount of turnovers that they had. We know that they’ll be ready for us and we have to be ready for them.”
(I know you can’t come into a game thinking if we win this, we win the division, but how much is it at least in the planning of the week in your mind, in the players’ minds, that this is a chance to win the AFC East with a victory?) – “I’d say every time we step foot on that field, we want to win. It doesn’t matter what’s at stake, we want to win. If we know we win this next game, we win the following game, we continue to win, we’ll get to where we want to go to as a team.”
(You mentioned the Ravens are very physical. A lot of times when people talk about your offense, they mention the speed. What do you think about maybe the speed versus the physical description of this game?) – “I think both can be true. You can have speed and you can be physical as well. I think that’s what people misunderstand when it comes to our team. They see, yeah, okay, guys are fast. Guys are flying around the field. But look at our runs. Look at everyone that has man blocks, that has crack blocks. Guys are willing to take on d-ends that are way smaller. With the receivers that we have, we don’t have the biggest wide receiver crew, but guys get in there, they do what they need to do. And that’s what I would say to that. We have a fast and we have a physical team.”
(I’m sure winning a game is never a bad thing. It always makes you feel good. But we talked about the Baltimore trip last year and the historic comeback that you guys had there. You’re also coming off a nice comeback against Dallas as well. Does it feel any different when you win a game coming back like that? Extra satisfaction to know you can pull it out in the end?) – “Yeah, I would say when you’re able to do that, it does feel a little different. But any way we can get a win here in December, that’s what we want to do.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel has always talked about building momentum to this point in the season and sort of peaking at the right time. What has you convinced that is what’s happening in this process?) – “Well I don’t think for us as a team we even think about that. I think that’s what has me convinced that we have the right guys in the locker room I would say. No one is talking about, ‘oh, we need to beat this team to do this, we need to beat this team to do that.’ Guys come in and, ‘hey, how was Christmas? It was good, it was good.’ Then guys go to their meeting rooms and guys lock in. Then when it’s time for us to break and have some time, guys – we understand what’s at stake. But I think if you overdo it, it could get to a point where you start chasing ghosts in a way. Whereas if you study the way you study and you do things the way you’ve done things, and then if you add just a little one each time on top of that, we could possibly be the team that we’ve always wanted to be since training camp, since OTAs, things like that.”
(We saw a little glimpse of your leadership on Hard Knocks of you talking to T Terron Armstead at halftime and inside the huddle. I’m curious how you’ve maybe grown in your comfort in talking to your teammates in your own way?) – “It was just I think a conversation that needed to be had at the moment, or at the time. I can’t remember what was said. I can’t remember those instances. I just feel as if we’re just all in the moment at the time. As those scenarios play out, I was in the moment. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but with whatever was said, I would say my leadership is just that.”
(I guess just in general, what is your comfort at this stage of your career to speak to whoever it is about whatever point it is in that time?) – “Yeah, I think I’m very comfortable. Very comfortable. Just the way that I lead is different than others lead. But I would say I’m very comfortable with the way I lead.”
(In what ways does this current team feel more complete than maybe teams you’ve been on in the past?) – “Well every season is a new deal. I would say it sounds cliché, but every season you always hope and pray that this is going to be the team. I think what sets this team apart than any other team is the leaders that we have, both offensively and defensively. If I’m doing something wrong, guys are willing to hold others accountable to what they need to do. I would say that’s what feels a little different this year than maybe a couple of the other years with the teams that we’ve had.”
(It’s a weekly conversation of every big game there’s this MVP talk about this team or that player. With this case, with Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, obviously your play as well, what do you think about that in a game like this? It means so much to the talk of MVP.) – “Oh, I couldn’t care less about that. I got a lot of respect for Lamar. The things that he’s done throughout his career. I can vividly remember when I was in college, I think he was in the NFL, and he reached out to me. He told me I was balling, and I thought that was the one of the coolest things. I think that was the year he won the MVP. But just the amount of respect I have for him, who he is as a player. And then I’ve been hearing talks about what people say about him and whatnot and how he handles himself and how he goes about his business. Very respectable. Very commendable. He’s a baller. That’s just flat out what he is and that’s what he does. He’s a gamechanger with what he can do in the pocket, throwing the ball deep, on the run and then he can make you miss with his legs as well. I got a lot of respect for him.”
(If WR Jaylen Waddle can’t go, what does that do to this offense after you guys had to recently overcome being without WR Tyreek Hill?) – “Yeah, it does make it tough when one of your star wideouts is down. But like I’ve said time over time, it’s next man up. That’s the mentality we have. Whoever is in, I have trust that they are going to do what they need to do and they have trust that I’m going to put the ball where it should be and make the right reads and whatnot.”
(So here’s a stat I think you’re going to like. The last four weeks, you guys are +8 in turnover margin. Obviously as a quarterback, you have a lot to do with that. What’s the value of that overall?) – “I think it’s good. Anytime you can do that, not turn the ball over, and end drives with kicks, I think that does a lot of good things for our team. I say that with the merit of obviously we didn’t have a good game against Tennessee, but with the merit of these other games, it’s worked in our favor.”
(That time that Lamar reached out, did he call you or was it social media?) – “No, it was on Instagram.”
(Have you guys had much contact since then?) – “Just when we play. Just when we play against each other.”
(As we continue to see RB Raheem Mostert just have a career season, as a quarterback, what do you appreciate the most of just knowing him? Besides the fact that it’s helping to win games, just to see that out of him?) – “Yeah, if you heard his story then you’d understand why his teammates gravitate so much to him. Obviously everyone has their own story, everyone has their background and things they’ve come from to be who they are today, but I think he has a really cool story. He has a really cool perspective on life and how he goes about his life with his family, obviously his kids and his wife. Sort of knowing that and then him traveling from teams when he got to the league. I think he only had 18 touchdowns in however many seasons he’s played up this point this year. Now he’s broken that for his career and then also he holds the Miami Dolphins record. We have conversations about that. Like, oh, I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing that. Now I’m going to go share with social media right here. (laughter) But yeah, I’m just very happy for him and I think that’s what makes and allows his teammates to gravitate towards him is understanding who he is and hearing his story.”
(You talk about the individual stories. I think Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned the ‘you can’t’ guys who have been told you can’t do something throughout their career. How have you maybe connected with your teammates on each of your individual you can’t stories?) – “Yeah, I think everyone has one that’s in this league. There’s not one person that hasn’t had one or two or three people tell them you couldn’t do a certain thing or you couldn’t do this or do that. But for others, it’s the level of you can’t that some people get. Some guys on the team can’t relate to and others can, but it’s cool to see everyone’s journey. It’s just cool to see the success of the team with a lot of the guys on the team that have had people that have doubted them.”
(I wanted to throw kind of far back to Alabama and your time playing for Nick Saban. What was it like playing quarterback for Saban? How did he kind of see the position?) – “I would say Coach Saban never necessarily focused much on the offensive side of things. He let the offense do their thing. He was focused more on the defensive side. But I can say when we did have bad practices, it was when the offense was destroying the defense. And when we had good practices, it was when the defense was destroying the offense. (laughter) That’s what I would say. And he held a lot of pride in that. But throughout my time playing there, he has a lot of jokes. He’s very sarcastic when the offense would come up and in the drive in the 2-minute deal against the defense. He’s very sarcastic. It’s pretty funny.”
(I know he played DB at Kent State. Did you know he played quarterback in high school and won a state title and everything?) – “He’ll tell you that he’s the best athlete. He’ll tell you that. But I don’t know, he’s a coach now. He didn’t play any further than that. I don’t know. (laughter) But I got a lot of respect for Coach Saban. I appreciate the things that he’s done for me and whatnot.”
DeShon Elliott – December 27, 2023
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Wednesday, December 27, 2023
S DeShon Elliott
(Have you watched the goal line play you made Sunday? Have you even marveled at it when you watched it? Have you gotten texts from friends about it?) – “I didn’t really watch it until I had yoga on Tuesday. I was doing yoga and I was like, ‘My arm hurts under here,’ and she was like, ‘I know why.’ (laughter) She should me the video fully and I was like, ‘Oh, makes sense.’”
(Have you heard from friends? Have you gotten texts from people you haven’t heard from in a while who saw the play?) – “I mean, that’s kind of normal honestly, because it’s football. At this point, everyone texts you or call you whatever, but it was the holidays. I spent time with my family, so for the most part I didn’t have time to really get back to most people, but I appreciate them.”
(Some folks might assume that there was no chance to stop the player from going into the end zone. How would you describe the approach that you took on that play?) – “Honestly bro, I’m just playing ball. I was going for the ball. I was trying to take the ball away. I was ripping for the ball and ended up ripping his arm and my momentum brought him back. Instantly, I knew he wasn’t in. He thought he was in, but I knew he wasn’t in. It was a smart play, hustle play, and we preach that every day. So that’s nothing new.”
(There’s a possibility that S Jevon Holland may be back this week. What changes when he’s in?) – “He’s ‘8-ball,’ ‘Snowman.’ He makes a lot of plays. To have a guy like that back on the field would be amazing for us as a defense. I think we played pretty well with him not being back, but I think him coming back would just help our level of play. We need him for this long stretch, end of season, playoffs. We need our captain; we need one of our leaders back.”
(No disrespect to S Brandon Jones who has been playing amazing. What’s the difference between S Jevon Holland and him with you, as just playing together?) – “I mean we all hang out together, we all study the same film. It’s more of I played a couple more games with Jevon (Holland) than I have with ‘B’ (Brandon Jones). But regardless, both are great players. Both have made a lot of plays. I’m happy for ‘Von’ (Jevon Holland) to come back, just so we can all possibly play together. We’ll see how that shakes out.”
(Were you in the same draft class as QB Lamar Jackson?) – “Yeah, me, Lamar (Jackson), Zach (Sieler), Mark Andrews, pretty much everybody over there still.”
(Wow, that’s some draft group.) – “It’s a version of a homecoming a little bit.”
(How have you seen QB Lamar Jackson develop in the NFL since his first year?) – “Now I think he takes care of his body a lot more, eating right, working out the way he should. He’s always been a natural leader, but I think he’s taken on the role of a leader. He’s an MVP player. He’s fantastic. Back in the day, we would say, ‘Lamarvelous.‘ (laughter) He’s great, and all you can do is try to contain him. There’s no stopping Lamar Jackon, but you can try to contain him as much as you can.”
(What are the feelings being in the visitor’s locker room after spending so much time with the Ravens?) – “I’m not even thinking about that. I’m thinking about how we’re going to approach this game. I don’t care about the visitor’s locker room. It’s about how we can win this game back at the Bank.”
(Just being QB Lamar Jackson’s teammate, what do you take away from that that will help you on Sunday in stopping him?) – “Shoot, nothing. You kind of know Lamar (Jackson) when you see him. Just put on the tape. It’s not going to change. He’s been the same since he was in high school. He was a baller in high school. There isn’t nothing you can really take away from it. You just got to do your job, play your keys and ball. (laughter) That’s all you can really do.”
(The Ravens let DT Zach Sieler go. Did you have any clue that he could become the type of player he’s become?) – “With as hard as he’s worked, all it takes is the right system, all it takes is an opportunity and Miami gave him an opportunity that he deserved, and he’s run with it. I’m proud of him. He used to live in an RV when we were in Baltimore. To see where he’s came, to see him with a wife and having a baby now, I’m very proud of him and he’s blessed. I’m glad to have him as my teammate.”
(The identity of the Ravens has always been, going back to Ray Lewis – I was at that Super Bowl with the Giants – black and blue, tough, physical, hardnosed, bloody in the mouth, punching, all that stuff. How would you describe the identity of this Dolphins defense?) – “This is going to be a heavyweight fight. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
Mike McDaniel – December 27, 2023
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Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(What have you learned since we talked Monday about WR Jaylen Waddle’s injury? Do you see him missing game time?) – “It kind of speaks to a bigger thing. If it weren’t for this team, let’s say Jaylen Waddle was the only person I coached on this team, I would say in my career he’s one of, if not the toughest, fast guy that I’ve ever been around. It just so happens that all of our fast guys are really tough, which is cool as football players. But him being that way, it’s tough to rule him out for this week. It’s a high-ankle sprain. It’s not overly severe, but high ankles are tough when you make a living on cutting, so we’ll see how he responds. I’m not going to take this opportunity away from him just because x, y, or z isn’t able to. I wouldn’t put anything past him. However, it is a high-ankle sprain, so we’ll see how that goes.”
(What’s the situation with RB Raheem Mostert and WR Robbie Chosen?) – “Raheem, he’s a 20-plus touchdown running back in week whatever-teen of the season, so he’s got some bumps. He got another bump on his ankle. But good luck telling that guy – like, that’s not a tree I try to climb. We’ll just manage him accordingly. Luckily, he’s a consummate professional, so at this stage in the season, for him, the years in the offense and where he is at a preparation standpoint, he’s able to get away with minimal reps during the week and that’s how we’ll approach it because I’m not sure if you guys noticed, but he’s really hard to tackle on Sundays. So that’s a good thing. I’m very optimistic, pleasant – we’re still in the process of the protocol with Chosen. But he’s responded well and so he’s checked the boxes so far that are available to him.”
(So is WR Robbie Chosen going to practice today?) – “He’s not at that stage yet, but he’ll be around and might be able to do some walkthrough participation and things of that nature. But he’s progressing well.”
(Is OL Robert Hunt getting closer to the point where the week to week turns into days?) – “I’m starting to feel that it’s borderline day to day. I’m not quite sure if it’s day to day yet, but it’s feeling like it is. That’s literally how you have to go about injuries with your players. I can feel his confidence. The great thing is, it’s so imperative at the NFL level that the player and training staff relationship is very healthy. What I mean by that is there’s trust on both sides. So when you have that, we do a great job, the whole training staff does, and the players with the relationships that (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) and his staff have, to keep pressing without overboard. That’s why it kind of gets a little gray with soft tissues because you’re trying to – I mean, the dude wanted to play a while ago. But he also doesn’t want to play half a game and then be out for the remaining, so we’re balancing that. He’ll have an uptick in his day to day this week, starting today, and we’ll see how he responds to that. So that’s why it’s getting closer to day to day. It almost feels like it, but I’m not sure if it’s totally day to day yet. It’s that gray area.”
(Sunday’s game is a so-called hat and t-shirt game. If you win the division, you get the hat and the t-shirt. What would it mean to this organization to win the division for the first time since 2008?) – “Well, I didn’t know that, so let me process that. That was an ultimate goal of the team’s, so they’d be very happy with that. It would be secondary in the moment to this game and winning this game. I found out in the locker room after the game against the Cowboys that we made the playoffs. You just told me about the division. The main thing that is so terribly difficult for NFL teams to do is down the stretch of the season, narrow your focus to the opponent and nothing else. I know you guys got a little sensitive about telling guys to F-off. That wasn’t the spirit of it. The spirit of it is occupying your mind with things that are outside what you can control. The ultimate outcome of the game will determine whatever, but the time you’re spending doing this, you’re not doing that. As I stand here at the podium, I think that would mean a lot to the team. However, I haven’t really looked at – the Baltimore Ravens have the best record, for good reason, in the National Football League. All three phases are playing at a very high level. How lucky are we and how blessed are we that as competitors, you don’t get into the National Football League to be like, ‘hey man, I really want to be average.’ You want these types of games. You want to go against the best and that in itself, justifies 100 percent of our attention. The things that come with the residuals, those are awesome too. But you want to talk about a team that will make you pay if you are outside the lines of what your focus should be, they will, fast and furious, teach you to regard them. We have our hands full in that regard but we’re also in a really, really cool moment to be present and enjoy because we are building on an entire season of work. Then we have this week of prep, starting with today, and then we get to go compete against as good as it gets in the National Football League, and that’s kind of why you sign up.”
(Last time you guys were in Baltimore, QB Tua Tagovailoa had a career game. At the time, I think there were a lot of questions about Tua and how he would fit into this offense and whatnot. Looking back at that moment, what do you think that meant for Tua and showed?) – “Well, I think especially for a young player like Tua, but just in general, kind of the process of an NFL player is desired development and not ever staying the same. Look, you watch game tape of yourself perform every week, and then you say ‘I didn’t do this, this, this as well as I’d like.’ And so the objective is to continually improve and see how many things you can improve upon. Well, I think that game was one of the things in the journey and growth that I know Tua got to learn from. One of the plays that stands out over the year or two years here over a lot of plays, was the interception he threw throwing to (Jaylen) Waddle in the second quarter, because it was just out of character. So we had a moment on the sidelines. ‘Dude, you’re trying to win the game on every play. That’s not your job.’ And then I think I can be quoted as saying, ‘That interception, don’t do that.’ That’s what I said. And then he didn’t and it was phenomenal. But that’s the journey of a NFL quarterback because you have those moments and then another week comes by and you don’t – every game is it’s own. There’s so many different variables. He had success in the second half. What makes Tua unique, and one of the reasons why I have so much belief and trust in him, is he was more focused on the first half. That’s what occupies his mind. From that game to where we’re at now, he would say to himself there’s been definite highs. You can just look at his numbers. It’s really, really, really hard to play the quarterback position at the level that he plays it at. But there’s also been so many things that’s learned from as well. I feel like that game he was probably let’s say arbitrarily he was 20-years-old. Now, I feel like he’s 32. Still in his prime. I’m in my prime at 40. (laughter)”
(Question about turnover margin here. I know you value that. I know you value December football. You guys in the four games of December are plus-eight in turnover margin. Very open-ended question – what does that mean for the team’s focus or what does that say about the team’s focus? What can it do for the confidence? What can it do going forward? What does it do for play calling for you and Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio, any of that kind of stuff?) – “It was really low-key genius from the football team’s standpoint because you go into the season and set low expectations for turnover margin, right? (laughter) No, quite honestly that’s what I concern myself with across the board with everything. Intent and progression, improvement. Things happen, you put your best foot forward, you get the results; what do you do with those results? I know one thing, that turnover margin doesn’t improve if you have people just like, ‘yeah, his fault.’ So I think that speaks to accountability. Right now, I’m very happy with the football team because what I see is coaches putting it upon themselves to give players tools in a relentless fashion and I see players relentlessly taking those tools and asking for more. So in general for me, I’m at peace if that’s the case. Football is a crazy game. You can only control what you can control. A lot of things go into it. The ball is oddly shaped in general. It bounces funny ways, but if you are controlling what you can control, and you’re focused on the things that the team totally necessitates you to be focused on, and you do that across the board at a grand scale? Generally good things happen. When you have a talented team, even better things happen. It’s as paramount of importance as anything to me and that is that the process of getting better at things because I’ve told you guys plenty of times – I think that is the biggest obstacle in the way of people in general, but it’s also the most ironic because not many people are pretending to be infallible and godlike so you’re going to make mistakes. The tough-minded individuals can go after that while maintaining their confidence and hunger, and I’m excited to see how our team practices today because I can feel that guys are at this stage in the season, as hungry as they’ve ever been, which is really cool when you’re getting ready to play a good opponent.”
(The debate show narratives for the week will be that the Ravens are tough and physical and smashmouth and the Dolphins are fast and smart and someone said, “cute, basketball on grass.” What do you think about all that?) – “To spend your time worrying about narratives, I would be a stressed out individual because I know there’s a lot of narratives around even myself personally. I think that generally there’s always going to be something that you have to prove. I don’t get upset about people insinuating or making statements about things as though they are fact, speaking on whatever history they have. You have an opportunity to prove a whole litany of things every – it’s the great thing about this profession, what we do, is you get an opportunity to define yourself every single game and to do that, you have to define yourself every single work day. I think it is kind of odd though. I feel like – I haven’t checked lately – but I feel like we’re pretty good at stopping the run and running the football. That’s generally not associated with cuteness. Whatever. I mean, there’s always going to be something. We talked about it all the way back in Germany. If we didn’t beat the Chiefs, we knew exactly what the narrative was going to be. Why would you expect anything else? You’re a young team that does have athletic, fast players. Well, until whoever’s talking about it – if it’s an opposing team, you have the opportunity to prove otherwise on Sunday. So I don’t harbor any resentment. Clearly I’m the toughest guy in the room, so that was a mis-association. (laughter) But I’m very confident in our locker room style of play. These eyes, which is subjective, doesn’t see it that way at all. But the great news is you get to prove it every Sunday.”
(On Hard Knocks this week, we got to see a little bit of how you were preparing for Cowboys QB Dak Prescott. How much can that roll over to this week against Ravens QB Lamar Jackson? Or is Lamar just that unique of a player that it’s a whole different ballgame?) – “I think Dak is a unique player in his own regard. If you want to talk about the strongest quarterback I’ve ever seen in the pocket, Dak Prescott is that. Lamar is one of one in his own regard. It’s been really cool to watch a guy coming out of college. You could tell that a lot of people used his crazy athleticism against him so he was like, ‘no, I’m a quarterback’ and if I remember correctly, he didn’t run at the Combine. I’m sure it would’ve been really fast. But then to watch his game progress each and every year, he has the same running ability, which is as good as there is in football regardless of position. Like unbelievable. And he is that same player and has developed every year in the pass game. You can tell he has a chip on his shoulder. You can tell his teammates absolutely love him and he presents a challenge that you don’t have one guy stop him. That’s what’s cool about going against a player like him is a team has to not stop him (but) contain (him). And it’s a team effort. It takes coverage, rush, all of that, and they present unique problems that is literally exactly what happens every single time you play a playoff game. If you’re in a playoff game, there’s really good players that have unique skillsets and the name of the game is solving problems collectively, coaches having a good plan, players buying into the plan, players fully executing the plan and bringing their unique talents with them. And it’s definitely not easy and I offered my skillset to be scout team quarterback to try to replicate it, but it was not accepted. (laughter) So it’s hard to even give an appropriate look because he’s just that type of player and outside of this game I’m just happy for the player because what I recognize is you talk about an unbelievable talent, but even him, he’s had to define himself. He’s had people tell him what he is and he disagrees. And how can I tell? It’s not because I’ve had a conversation with him. I see better than I hear.”
(What’s the balance of game planning to get to stuff that you really want to get to versus taking away what the defense is really good at?) – “Well, it is quite the balance. It goes back to why each and every week is so interesting in the NFL, because it’s not like you’re like, ‘Got it, there’s the formula.’ It is an incredible balance of putting your players in the best position to succeed. What does that mean? That means doing things that they’re adept at, but also if your whole offense was A-gap dive plays and they had 530-pound defensive tackles, you’d have to adjust, right? So it’s a balance that is not an exact science. I think it’s one of the reasons it’s very, very important for coaches to find an emotional consistency because everyone is human. If you’re not careful, you can go awry, one way or the other. This is a great example – this Baltimore Ravens defense – because they do a lot of varied defenses. I’ve been so impressed with the defense now relative to the last time we played them. They were a very good defense then, but what I see are guys with a lot of skillsets that play super aggressive, that are confident in what they’re doing. And in those types of situations, with a defense that plays very convicted but has a lot of multiplicity, you do have to make sure that you’re not trying to find the perfect play for a whiteboard. You have to find that natural balance of competitive advantage but conviction in your players and fit them. It’s something that is literally an every week job for all of us, myself included. The great news is it’s pretty black and white in this business. Did we win or lose? Every loss, I suck. But that’s the way it should be. It’s hard to be in the NFL, it’s hard to have any of these positions, so you can’t frown upon those things. It’s a challenge each and every week, and yeah, we’ve got our hands full this week.”
Mike McDaniel – December 25, 2023
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Monday, December 25, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(I wanted to talk about shins. So WR Jaylen Waddle’s shin injury, there was a report today that he was going to have it further examined. Did the information suggest that he might miss a game or more? And with RB Raheem Mostert, he told reporters yesterday that a shin caused him to leave the game. Obviously he came back. Did you not play him more in the second half because he reported to you some discomfort or lack of mobility or because trainers told you it might not be a good idea to use him a lot in the second half?) – “We were addressing the information given back to us by the player with (Jaylen) Waddle, and as of today it seems to be more of a high ankle that we’re going to have to get some more information on because we know those can be tricky; so that will be pending some more information, but it looks to be a high ankle. Raheem (Mostert), it wasn’t really necessarily that. That’s the relationship that he and I have – Eric Studesville and myself – because we have so many tough-minded, tough players on the team, we’ve become kind of like body language readers. Raheem wanted to go in the game. It had nothing to do with that, it was more that we could tell that it was pretty painful at the time so to the credit of the room, we have so much confidence in that room and all the different guys that you kind of are able to ride the momentum. I think it was just really the disposition Jeff Wilson had the entire game and being a Texas boy, it kind of made sense. But it wasn’t because he was unable or that he was saying that he couldn’t go. It was quite the opposite. Just kind of a relationship professional kind of read into what was going on and thought that gave us the best chance in those particular moments.”
(I wanted to ask a follow-up on WR Jaylen Waddle. He seems to have had a pretty rough go of it this year. It seems like every other week or maybe every week he’s had something. Given the fact that he’s fought through so many injuries, do you have a higher optimism that this won’t be something that will keep him out long term?) – “Yeah, I do, and he’s a really, really tough player and like you said, he’s battled through several things this year which has made him even more eager just as a playmaker to kind of make up for that with his play. So yeah, it does give me optimism because of the individual and because of what he has gone through for sure. He’s had several things that have been real that other players might take them longer, especially at that position, might take them longer to come back from, so I do have a lot of confidence in him for that type of thing.”
(With OL Austin Jackson yesterday was he just available in the event of an emergency but just wasn’t ready to start, play a full 60 minutes? Was that why you went with T Kendall Lamm at right tackle?) – “That’s exactly why. That’s exactly why. He was a warrior to even be able to dress and just we kind of knew it was going to go down to the wire, which it did, in the course of the week. We felt like that he could strain through some ball but to be able to go through the whole game, we thought that was unfair. We have so much confidence in Kendall (Lamm). It was definitely the most appropriate thing to do with regard to where he was at. That being said, I am very, very optimistic for him for this week.”
(And I also wanted to ask you about what’s coming up. A lot will be on the line in Baltimore this week. I know you treat every week the same even against the teams perceived by us to be lesser opponents, perceived by us on the outside in the media, but does it help that this win against Dallas immediately precedes the one you’re about to go into?) – “I think the whole season in its entirety helps. I think that each team has to learn lessons and a lot of times you learn lessons the hard way. I think that the bottom line is there’s a purpose with approaching each and every week with the utmost regard. And that’s because you know down the stretch of the season, you know when you get to games like this, you know in playoff games, that it’s going to feel a certain way. That you’re going to be all in, so you don’t want it to be all of a sudden, we turn up and now we’re going to try. You try to train that. You try to train how you’re going to approach end-of-the-season games early in the season. Henceforth, every game is the same to me and that way, the closer that your team can get to that, the less stressors that are imposed upon you in a week where you’re playing a team that has currently, they have 11 wins right now and I think that it’s exactly what you want. You want to be playing the best football teams in December and January. You want to go toe-to-toe with them and you want to earn victories. And so to do that, we’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to play the Baltimore Ravens this week. I think it does fit. I think that this past week does help the team just in general, because you’re finding out about yourself deep down, that you’re capable of beating any team. But it doesn’t hurt to be able to find a way to win against a team that was equally as desperate or whatever. That game meant a lot to both teams. So whenever you win games like that, it helps for ultimately what you’re trying to do.”
(Just wanted to touch on S DeShon Elliott and his touchdown-altering tackle. Can you just touch on his development from Week 1 to this point in the season and just what are your thoughts as far as just totality of this season so far?) – “It’s a really cool thing that he’s experienced starting in a new system. He had elements of this system in his career, but to find comfort and then become a guy that we really rely on to make plays, it’s been a really cool journey to watch him evolve in this defense. I thought it was really cool that play he made. It reminded me of in Jacksonville preseason, Jevon Holland had a forced fumble right at the goal line and in this defensive system, our system is built to make it really hard on offenses. And when you’re taking advantage of every single yard on the field and making them earn every inch, you never know what’s going to happen so I think it was such a cool play that he made because the next play we were able to get the ball back. None of that happens if he’s not straining. He’s in a rough position at the point of attack and goes above and beyond and it just shows why coach speak is what it is, why we emphasize every single play and you have no idea – that was a converted first down – and to a lot of people, maybe you don’t do that or fiercely go through a blocker to try to make a play on the ball because, okay, they already got the first down. First-and-goal, what does that mean? Well, they have to earn everything, so I think it speaks to that, it speaks to our philosophy in general. And then just to watch guys have high expectations going into the season, specifically on the defensive side of the ball and everything not work immediately and then to see their game progress over the course of the season; it’s everything you want, everything that’s satisfying in coaching and I think you’ve seen that immensely, especially in this last portion of the year. Both defense and special teams have found a way to really impact the game and take it over in a certain degree when the team has needed it, so it’s been really cool to watch guys develop in our systems and it’s kind of what coaching is about.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Tyreek Hill. He wound up playing his second-most snaps in that game with WR Robbie Chosen being knocked out of the game and WR Jaylen Waddle’s issue. So I’m curious as to whether he came into the game on a pitch count and that got elevated because of the injury issues or whether there was no limits to begin with and also how did he come out of the game with the ankle?) – “That’s a great example of why we make those tough calls sometimes and have a game day workout because you can’t – there’s residual effects to when people go down and he was ready to go. We definitely didn’t plan on playing him that much, but it was also very hard to get him off the field in a competitive game like that, which speaks to him as a competitor. But that’s why we do what we do, why we make the tough decisions sometimes that on the surface – first and foremost we will always protect the players from themselves, but we also have to protect the other players and make sure that guys if they’re able to go, can handle any unforeseen situations because we didn’t go into the game thinking we were going to lose both (Robbie) Chosen and (Jaylen) Waddle. But that very well could happen any game. So the guys you have up generally have to be able to go; if they can’t, you just have to be very aware of the potential residual. So I was just happy that Tyreek (Hill) could put in so much time. That’s the one – for a captain to be able to step that up and, like you said, play the second-most snaps he has all season coming off an injury; what that means is he was all in trying to play for the last two weeks and doing everything – I mean, he’s been living in the training room and that’s what you need from captains. That’s what you need from your star players if you’re trying to do anything in December. This is an accumulation of a lot of reps for all teams, all players involved. And when everything’s on the line, for him to come through that way with the stuff you guys saw, but then all the stuff that you didn’t see, where he’s been spending multiple hours every single day, trying to get his body right, we’re all very fortunate that he did that because he was able to have an impact on the game, even when he wasn’t touching the ball.”
(I wanted to ask earlier in the first quarter of the game, yesterday’s game, when Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb got off to a hot start, a lot was made about the decision to not shadow him with either CB Xavien Howard or CB Jalen Ramsey. It didn’t seem like you guys did that for the final three quarters of the game, so I was curious from reviewing the tape, what stood out to you about kind of being able to limit him?) – “I think it’s team involvement. Now it’s really easy to say, ‘yeah, just shadow somebody with somebody.’ That also has residuals. One of the strengths of our defensive system is that at the snap, the quarterback has very minimal intel as to what’s about to happen. And that in conjunction with our pass rush is really what has made our pass defense go and when you do shadow, there is the gain, but it does adjust your entire toolbox. And it’s one of the reasons why Vic (Fangio) is so elite as a defensive coordinator, is because he has complete ownership of his system that he created and understands all the pros and cons to everything. There’s a lot of things that come into play with where on each individual play, there’s a defensive player that we like to say has a hard down. And you have help certain places and there’s certain times that your defensive game plan allows for you to have more help in the slot than outside and vice-versa, so we have a bunch of tools. We haven’t really displayed all of them up until this point, but it’s not as simple as a lot of times you have to factor in a ton of stuff when you’re trying to come up with a plan, including does the quarterback flourish when pre-snap he knows exactly what the coverage is? Those things factor into our decision-making and we’ll continue to as we progress through the season.”
(It seems like every game win or lose, you’re always looking to see what your team can learn from that game to build upon moving forward. Yesterday you gave up a score in the fourth quarter… you came back and you made it work. You scored the go-ahead points with no time left on the clock. What do you think your team learned from that experience that’s going to help you in December and January moving forward?) – “I think that’s very much how I look at things. That’s very much how I’ll approach the review of this game with the team, because I do think that’s the hard thing about the NFL is that if you’re able to accomplish, you can really develop your team over the course of a season. In this particular game, it was entertaining to me because there were three phases that were trying to win the game, that thought it was their game to win. That type of mindset is everything you want. However, you don’t want to feel like a phase feels as though they have to win the game. There are times in football where you can have the perfect defensive call and you can have the perfect technique by defensive players and guys can make plays. So your coaching towards that, and hey, if a guy makes an incredible play, we have plenty players in all three phases that can take advantage of their opportunities. To be in a game like that, that very much had the exact feel you feel in playoff football, where there is a lot on the line and guys desperately wanted to win it, you can kind of have an aura of confidence, understanding that if all we want is your maximum effort, maximum attention and maximum preparation, and if you’re not able to win the game one way, we have a team that can win the games in multitude of fashions. I think the first two wins of the season on the road, the defense was out there when we won the game. I think those types of lessons are invaluable for a team the further along you go in the season. Every week inherently you’re going to have more investment collectively, because it’s just another week into the investment into the ultimate goal. As all that accumulates, you want guys to be confident that when push comes to shove and we have a lot on the line, we’ll find a way to win the game in a multitude of fashions. To end the game that way, that’s a thing that playoff teams do that win playoff games. That’s ultimately what you’re trying to strive for and build towards, and you’re capable of doing that if you put your maximum attention and all of your attention on the only thing that matters, which is the opponent, that prep that day, and then ultimately that opponent that game.”
(Hard Knocks has given us a chance to see your good moments and your not so great moments. We saw you after Tennessee say how ‘we now might have to go on the road to do what we want to do.’ Fast forward two weeks and that’s not necessarily true anymore. If you win out, you’re the No. 1 seed and you have home field. Is that a message you take to the team this week? Since it’s so close, and so tangible is that something you talk about, or is it still all about Baltimore?) – “I think it has to be about Baltimore. The NFL does a great job of teaching this lesson if you’re willing to watch and listen. I don’t know the stats behind it, but I’m willing to bet that if you’re trying to get rich quick, just go to December football and bet against spreads, because what happens is there are a lot of distractions. A ton of distractions. And every single week, you have teams lose to people that they should beat or whatever, because you do not for a second take your attention away from the team you’re playing against. If you do that, if you start thinking – ok, if we do this, and even thinking about two weeks, it short-changes the opponent. If you short-change the opponent that has been playing together all season and has a ton of stuff to play for, and even teams that are not even in the playoff mix, they know how many games they have left, and they will teach lessons. You can either get in front of that and prepare like as if it’s a one-game season, as we will do this week. Or you can find out that lesson the hard way utilizing hindsight, and then applying it for the next game. I think we have learned a multitude of lessons this year. One of which is our formula is as simple as today is Wednesday, we are going to go over first and second down for the Baltimore Ravens. We’re going to go over punt and kickoff, and master those for the opponent and nothing else. That is something that since I’ve been in the league, it has always been pervasive, and I think for us to do what we want to do, nothing matters besides the Baltimore Ravens. It’s an awesome test for us. They are a phenomenal team. They are playing tonight. I am anticipating it’s a tremendous game and our job is to get ready for Baltimore. I could care less about any scenario at all. It literally matters nothing to me. At this point, we’re in a situation where everything is helping us and leading us to ultimately where I think our focus needs to be, which is this one opponent, which will deserve all of our attention.”
Jalen Ramsey – December 24, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023
Postgame – Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey
(Last week was the defense, this week was special teams. Just talk about K Jason Sanders’ performance, five field goals, three of 50-plus. Very impressive.) – “He’s super impressive and then the game winner, obviously, that was super big. It was a good game. He had a great game – actually, the whole special teams had a good game. There were some good punts and everything, good coverage. Braxton (Berrios) had some good returns, so special teams did their thing today, for sure.”
(What does it mean to you to know you’ll be playing in playoff games for the Dolphins?) – “Yeah, it means a lot. That’s obviously step one, to get in the dance and then we’ll go from there. We have to finish the season strong and then we’ll start those playoffs and it’ll be fun.”
(Does it matter, the narrative? They said you couldn’t beat a good team. Well, here’s a good team, and you guys beat them at home and took care of business.) – “Yeah, that’s cool. The narrative doesn’t come from us, that comes from y’all. We don’t really care. Like I said, it was just a good win.”
DeShon Elliott – December 24, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 24, 2023
Postgame – Dallas
Miami Dolphins S DeShon Elliott
(Did that feel like a playoff game?) – “For sure. I’ve played in the playoffs before, that was a tough atmosphere for sure. That’s a great team over there. Being from Dallas, I wanted to beat them so bad. I’m happy. That was my Christmas present today.”
(Was it nice to watch your offense put it away there at the end?) – “Yeah, we have faith in them no matter when they go on the field. But to see that, to see them in that victory formation, man, that was amazing. The whole time before he kicked the field goal, I just put my head down and was praying to God like please make this.”
(What does beating the Dallas Cowboys say about the Miami Dolphins?) – “We knew who we were, we know who we are. We don’t care what anybody else thinks. Regardless, next game we got Baltimore next Sunday. That’s where our mind is at now. We’re going to enjoy this Christmas night and then get back to work on Tuesday.”
Raheem Mostert – December 24, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023
Postgame – Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert
(What’s it like to close out a game, to finally close out a game on offense?) – “It feels great. I mean, I’m so proud of ‘Jefe’ (Jeff Wilson Jr.) – y’all don’t understand how close we are. For him to seal the deal the way he did in that fashion and then Jason (Sanders) kicked the field goal, that just tells you about the resilience of our team.”
(All the touchdowns, cracking 1,000 rushing yards, I’m sure you’ve got to be excited about that and doing it all on a win, how great was that?) – “A great feeling, I’m just blessed and excited. A lot went into it, but I’m just going to enjoy this.”
(I know you guys are always happy after a win, but I don’t see champagne being poured in here. Is that for a specific reason? You guys clinched a playoff spot.) – “Yeah, there’s still work to be done. We still have two more games left, we have the Ravens and we have the Bills – two tough opponents. We’ll see how it shakes out for them, but we’re going to celebrate this one tonight and tomorrow, whatever we’re going to do, enjoy the Christmas break and come back and get right to work.”
Andrew Van Ginkel – December 24, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023
Postgame – Dallas Cowboys
Miami Dolphins LB Andrew Van Ginkel
(How sweet was it to close out a game like that in dramatic fashion?) – “It’s great. Obviously, it shows that we belong. It’s a stepping stone in the right direction, so we just have to keep building and come together as a team.”
(They came in as the No. 2 scoring offense and you guys held them to 20 points. You had a lot of stops in the red zone. What went right for you guys defensively?) – “When you can limit an offense like that, obviously they’ve got CeeDee Lamb, (Tony) Pollard is a great running back, Jake Ferguson. All these guys that are weapons. They got us early and once we settled in and started to play our game, stick to our fundamentals and techniques and obviously (Defensive Coordinator) Vic (Fangio) put us in the right calls to make plays. It’s a step in the right direction, but we have to continue to improve.”
(What’s it like for you when you’re going off, LB Bradley Chubb’s getting home, DT Christian Wilkins getting home? All you guys are weaving it through.) – “We thrive off each other; we love seeing each other eat. When Chubb makes a big play, it gets us all excited. It’s just a love between us d-line. We feed off each other, and we want to see each other do well.”
(I know you guys are always happy after a win, but I don’t see any champagne being poured despite the playoff clinch. Why do you think that is?) – “We’re not done yet. This isn’t our ultimate goal. We made it to the playoffs last year, but we didn’t do what we wanted to do. We got bigger, a big surprise as (Head Coach) Mike (McDaniel) always says. Our goal isn’t to make the playoffs, so this is a step in the right direction, but we’re not done yet.”
