Zach Sieler – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins DT Zach Sieler
(How much better connected is this defense now compared to five or six weeks ago?) – “Yeah, I kind of hit that earlier. It was bye week reflecting on what we did, what worked and what we needed to adjust on to keep growing as a unit. Got everyone healthy and back it’s been great.”
(You said teams are figuring out what they want to do and who they are. What are you figuring out about your defense right now?) – “I think for us after the bye, once we sat and reflected, we really want to work as a unit. Whether it’s defense, offense, special teams all together, and be the most dominant defense on the field every game.”
(And how close did you come to realizing your potential today do you think?) – “I think it’s every week. Just keep going and converting as a defense and how to play off each other, and the adjustments we make in-game. Just be confident with each other and uplift the guy next to you.”
Raheem Mostert – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins RB Raheem Mostert
(What was it like seeing the defensive guys ball out there and secure the win?) – “They did a hell of a job. Kudos to the defense, especially (Jalen) Ramsey. I think that he’s getting his stride. He’s doing an unbelievable job, and he has three (interceptions) on the year now. I know there’s a teacher out there that’s counting down to five, so it’s exciting to see that she’s going to be at school on Monday teaching the kids about those picks, and it’s going to be awesome.”
(No matter how you guys are doing, you can’t seem to lose at Hard Rock. This place is …) – “Kudos to the fans. They’re out here. At one point, Alec (Ingold) was sitting right next to me, I could barely hear him. It was just loud and impactful. Being at home, you just always want to take that home-field advantage and fingers crossed when we get to the playoff talk that we do have that home-field advantage because that will be very, very instrumental for us.”
(We’ve seen so many big-time plays on offense this year. To just be able to see those big playmakers do their thing on defense and specifically big defensive plays, how do you like to see that?) – “It’s fun. We’re just trying to play complementary football – both sides of the ball and even special teams. We have to step our game up… so if we’re able to go out there and just perform at a high level which we’re doing on offense and defense and special teams, then it’s a good formula for success so we’ve just got to keep that stride going so we’ll see what happens.”
Bradley Chubb – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins LB Bradley Chubb
(You guys weren’t in the best position all the time when you went out there on defense, yet you got the job done. What does that do for your guys’ confidence going forward?) – “Through the roof, man, through the roof. It’s one of those things that we, each and every week, talk about how we want to be the best defense on the field. Because they’ve got great guys on the other sideline, man, and we had to match that intensity, you know what I mean? Each week, we try to do the same thing and be the best us. I feel like today we’re the better version of ourselves. We still got a lot more to go, but it was dope to see that us take that step.”
(What can you say about the guys on the back end?) – “Man, they do such an amazing job. They make our job so much easier. There’s even times when I’m like, ‘Oh, the first move didn’t work, he’s about to get the ball off,’ and he pumps it and he has the ball again, ‘OK.’ That’s when that rushing coverage starts working together. On Ram’s (Jalen Ramsey) first pick now, I was so happy for him, because I felt like I got in the quarterback’s face a little bit and then boom, I see the team defense start to work together, man. It’s dope to see, man. Just got to keep carrying that on and make sure we make more plays.”
(Do you guys feel like the last few weeks you’ve come together to be the kind of defense you would expect to be?) – “No, for sure. For sure. It’s one of those things where there was kind of some soul-searching to be done. Nothing like bad at all, we just didn’t think we were playing to our standard. As we’ve been gelling, as we’ve been learning the defense and as we’ve been learning each other, it’s been coming together for us a lot better. It’s one of those things we’re playing for each other now, too, and with each other. So it’s just been beautiful to see.”
Jaelan Phillips – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins LB Jaelan Phillips
(Two turnovers in the second half. What got into you guys there?) – “Just continuing to play as we’ve been playing. Good things happen to those who wait. We just kept our head down, kept playing disciplined football, kept playing hard, kept playing for each other and, obviously, good things happened.”
(Your first interception. Is that the way you pictured it?) – “It’s funny because it’s exactly how it happened in college so I’ll take it. I got one in college and one now so far and it happened the same exact way. The quarterback getting sacked and he just threw the ball up and happened to be at the right place at the right time, so clearly my karma is all right. I’ve been living right, so I’m going to keep doing good.”
(You mentioned CB Jalen Ramsey. Only his third game back and doesn’t seem like he’s missed a step and missed training camp or anything.) – “That’s what happens when you’ve got elite talent and elite preparation and just the mentality really. Throughout that whole process I can’t imagine how tough it was for him just to see us out here playing. Obviously all the hype during the offseason and he doesn’t get a chance to come out during the regular season, so for him to come out and perform that way, it’s a huge credit to him because I know how tough that can be and he really had that fortitude and showed up.”
(Does it feel like you’re going to have to win a game in December or January like today?) – “Oh, 100 percent. I mean we might have to win the rest of the season like that. You never know how it goes and on any given Sunday in this league teams can bring their best stuff and we might not have our best stuff. I think the key is to just keep our head down and have that confidence in each other – defense, offense, special teams – and no matter what the situation is we’re going to pull it out.“
Jalen Ramsey – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey
Q. Where does the clutch gene come from?
JALEN RAMSEY: God. Everything I’ve got comes from God, all my gifts, everything. All my gifts, all my blessings, they all come from God, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Q. Were you okay after the pick, you got the wind knocked out of you or?
JALEN RAMSEY: I’m good.
Q. Did you – I’ve seen you do it a couple times before – but did you more or less bait O’Connell into making that throw?
JALEN RAMSEY: I’m just playing football. Sometimes it’s part of the game. I guess you can call it that, make him look open a little bit and then go burst a little bit, but just playing the game the way I know how to play it.
Q. How special was it for you given everything you’ve gone through to not just make plays today but make plays at the biggest moments to seal the game?
JALEN RAMSEY: I mean, it means a lot. The game, it’s all to God, Jesus Christ honestly. I wouldn’t be here without all the grace and mercy that I’ve received in my life, without my friends and family praying over me and praying for me. And then my teammates and coaches pushing me extremely hard, training staff, as well, weight room staff, as well, pushing me extremely hard to be the best version of myself, so I just get out there on the field and I just try to prove all of them right, and all the hard work that they’ve invested in me, just try to make it come to life in the game in whatever moment that it may be. It just so happened that it was that moment but it could have been any moment where I tried to just express who I am.
Q. The Dolphins have been on the negative side of turnover margin for most of this season. Based on your experience, what kind of role do turnovers, key turnovers, lots of turnovers generally play in the results of games?
JALEN RAMSEY: I’m personally not like an analytics guy, but I think like the analytics are like if you’re plus 2 you’ve got an 80 percent chance of winning, but in the same token, if you hold a team to under 17 points then you’ve got an 80 percent chance of winning. I guess it’s kind of like pick your poison. Would you rather have a lot of turnovers or like locked-down defense. Obviously you would want both, and that’s what we’ll strive to do for our defense and then our offense, to correct some of their mistakes. They’ll be explosive and do what they are. They are who they are. We’ve got all the confidence and faith in them. But yeah, it’s all good.
Q. Do you feel this is a defensive team now?
JALEN RAMSEY: No, no, I don’t never like to say nothing like that. It’s just a team. We’re all together. At times they’re going to have our back, at times we’ve got to have their back. We’ve got special teams, as well, and them guys can go out there and make some plays. Yeah, it’s just a complete team. We do have to play a little bit better complementary football at times, and we’ll continue striving to do that and be that team that we feel like we can be. But no, I would never say anything like that.
Q. Is the knee better now than it was three weeks ago, and do you think it still has room to grow?
JALEN RAMSEY: Definitely still has room to grow. I get fatigued a little bit, in the second half a little bit. Just my body overall. I do feel great. I feel extremely great. Put in a lot of hard work. But at the same time the only way to get ready for football and be really in football shape and feel like the guy I am is to play more football, and this is only my third game. Technically I’m just now ending my training camp preseason really, and then I’ve got to continue to grow.
Q. How were you feeling that last snap because you looked pretty good.
JALEN RAMSEY: I felt good.
Q. From a fatigue standpoint I was wondering –
JALEN RAMSEY: When I say fatigue, I don’t mean necessarily like my wind. I did get my wind knocked out, but I don’t necessarily mean my wind. I mean my muscles, my body, I feel them getting fatigued a little bit, legs getting a little shaky, not as crisp, so that’s something I’m still working my body into that shape, premier shape that I want it to be in. I’ll get there because I ain’t going to mind working my ass off, and my teammates are helping me a lot with that. So we’ll get there.
Q. That first interception I think a lot of DBs probably see it as pass breakup as best. Do you see that ball and you have to dive for it as that’s a pick?
JALEN RAMSEY: Again, I feel like I’ve been extremely blessed by God, with my body, my long arms, my abilities. I just tried to go make a play, and yeah, I always – PBU is cool. I always want to get a pick no matter what. It’s just different techniques at the time, if I feel like I’m in phase or out of phase, but in that particular instance I felt like I was in good enough shape where I could dive and try to go get that, and yeah, that’s just what happened.
Tua Tagovailoa – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa
Q. Who gets most of the credit for maintaining the run game – RB Raheem Mostert, offensive line? Who gets the credit there?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: The entire offense gets the credit. Needless to say, our defense was able to will us through that game and help us win that game. We need to be better in the second half offensively, and it starts with me. As we came out, can’t turn the ball over the way I did, and that’s what it was. State of the union was that, and we can be a better team. We can be a better offense for our team when I stop turning the ball over and doing things like that.
Q. All the metrics offensively have been great this year except short yardage. How do you clean that up and execute that stuff on the third and fourth-and-shorts?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, it takes a lot. It takes all of us. With the play, with me understanding what we’re trying to do with that play, if we have a read key, if we’re trying to hand it off, if we’re trying to pass it. We all have a job, and we just haven’t been in sync, and we’ve just got to do a better job at that.
Q. Next week you guys have a Friday game. You probably haven’t played Friday football in a while since high school. What would you tell your high school self to get to the point where you’re at today?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would tell my high school self to be right where he is. The things that have came up in my life throughout my journey, I couldn’t have foreseen them, and they’ve made me who I am as a person. My character has been built through all of those with what I’ve learned in high school, through college. So I would tell him just be where you are and just continue doing your thing. There’s nothing that I could tell my high school self that would potentially get him to the NFL where I’m at. God has a way for everyone, and that was just my way.
Q. You said that when you stop turning the ball over that the offense can click there, but is there a common theme? I know one was an interception and one was a fumble, but what’s the common theme right now in the fact that there were a couple turnovers today and you want to clean that up?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, that’s all it is. The common theme is miscommunication, and that’s starts with me. Maybe I have to talk to the guys and express certain routes to them differently, and so it all starts with me. That’s what I’m going to say. I’ve got to be better with that, and we’ll be better for it.
Q. On top of that, did you see anything specific that defenses are doing to this offense the past couple weeks, or do you see it as more self-inflicted stuff like the turnover situation?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I see it as more self-inflicted things that we do, turning the ball over, not being able to convert on downs that we should be converting on. But then again, these are good teams. All these teams are in the NFL. The NFL is a tough place to play football, and we’ll take this win and we’ll learn from this.
Q. What’s it like having CB Jalen Ramsey on the other side for your team?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It’s amazing. He got the entire crowd going. But he’ll be the first to tell you that all these interceptions, all the things that he’s been able to do has been because of the pass rush and because of the pass lanes that they’ve been practicing throughout practice. Our team is a better team having him in the back there, and like I said, those guys on that side of the ball, they willed us to win today.
Q. It’s been a long time since this team was 7-3. Just the significance of being atop the AFC East at 7-3?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, the job is not done. There’s nothing accomplished to being 7-3. But as far as our focus today, we won the game, and we’re going to take that and we’re going to learn from that film.
Q. Head Coach Mike McDaniel had mentioned that after you played the Chiefs game, the bye week, you were hard on yourself. It sounds like you’re hard on yourself again today. How do you balance your own gratification versus giving yourself grace?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I have a standard for myself just like everyone in here has a standard for themselves with how they go about doing their job, and I take pride in doing my job. And for me, if I’m not doing my job to the best of my abilities and to be the best in the league doing it, I shouldn’t be out there doing it. I’m sure each and every one of you here would feel the same within your profession. It’s not me being super hard or me not extending grace to myself. It’s just understanding, like you know you can do better. It’s to a place where I’m not beating myself up as much as I probably would have my rookie year or my second year just because of the people that I’ve had to help me through that. So that’s what I would say. I understand the state of the union, and I’m not blind to the mistakes that I’ve made, but it’s not more so that I’m hard on myself, it’s more so I know my expectation and the standard of what I can do, and it can be better, and I want it to be better. That’s really what it is, it’s being real with yourself.
Q. How do you feel physically today? You took a couple hits.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, I feel good. As good as I can be with whatever week we’re in, being 7-3.
Mike McDaniel – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Q. I think you guys put up the yardage that we’re kind of accustomed to seeing but 20 points. What would you say was the biggest thing hurting the offense or the offensive performance today?
MIKE McDANIEL: Two fumbles, and then we didn’t take advantage of the one time we got down there, and it was fourth-and-1, so we turned it over on downs. Then there were just some things – we’d usually get the drive started – I think we had only one or maybe two three-and-outs, but there would be something, whether it was a holding call or something we’d shoot ourselves in the foot. Those are things that you expect in an NFL game. You don’t expect to score 30 every time. I think our crew will feel as though they had the ability to for this game, but hats off to the Raiders team in general. That’s a five-win team that played as hard as anybody here at Hard Rock, and they get paid, too, so we’ll learn from the stuff that we can and get better from it, but ultimately it’s a team game, and when you do come up short offensively, you need somebody to pick up the slack. To have two fumbles on the 30-ish yard line in your own territory and have that equal six points, I believe, and then to have a couple very timely interceptions, that’s what you have to do to win in the National Football League. You’re not always going to supremely execute on one side of the ball or the other.
Q. Did you feel there was some rust in the operation a little bit coming off the bye?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, I didn’t feel that during the game. There weren’t that many – I was happy with the overall operation. There were times that we were changing the play based on unanticipated defensive personnel changes. They were trying to pretty much keep us off balance and not have a pattern. So there was a couple times that we were late in the play clock, but I thought overall the operation was solid.
Q. Three of the last four weeks now haven’t been up to I’d imagine the standard you would want. Has it been something common or just three bad games?
MIKE McDANIEL: No, I mean, I look at a game like this: It’s not necessarily a bad game, it’s a game that we came up a little short. I wouldn’t see any consistency with that in terms of like a pattern. How many yards did we have? I mean, that’s hard to do. Again, we’ll always be super critical. To call it a bad game I think would be – I guess hats off to us for raising your standard. But I was really happy with the way the guys approached coming off the bye. I think you learn a lot about people, how they handle – you probably learn more how they handle failures than successes, and I thought guys were intentional and deliberate to another level this week. I think that our team in general has kind of captured the idea of worrying about ourselves and each opponent is very threatening, and you have to bring your best. I think there is some stuff that we’ll really see in the film in the run game that we could have had more in. They were just kind of playing soft and really, really wide. Their alignments were different. There was some space there and I thought we could have had more, but overall I’d just like to see us hang on to the ball and not have some of the mistakes that really kind of cost us. But it was the first game that I can remember not playing with Durham Smythe and we lost (De’Von) Achane early and Braxton (Berrios) wasn’t up, so I thought overall guys in different roles stepped up, and we’ll continue to progress.
Q. Speaking of RB De’Von Achane, what happened to him? He only played three snaps and he was never ruled out but obviously didn’t come back in the game?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I think it was when he came off the field mid-series and ‘SA’ (Salvon Ahmed) ran on, we had two backs in the game, I think it might have been the second series, he kind of got landed on, and it was a little painful and we weren’t – he was politicking to try to come back in the game, but I was a little worried off the rust to go and do that. We kind of held him back, and we’ll see what it looks like tomorrow.
Q. Is it the same knee that he had just come back…?
MIKE McDANIEL: Someone landed on the same knee. So that’s kind of – we just didn’t want to mess with him. We had some positive feedback from the training staff at the end of the second quarter and after halftime, but I didn’t feel like at that point that would have been fair to him.
Q. Just so focus on your defense, this is the second game in a row with a second half shutout. With DT Christian Wilkins on the drive before the CB Jalen Ramsey interception, he had a touchdown-saving tackle. Can you just touch on that?
MIKE McDANIEL: That’s Christian (Wilkins). If you ever watch him at practice and you watch him in games, he does that literally every snap that the ball is down the field. And I think on that play in particular when we go and review the film, there will be a couple guys that are salty at themselves because Christian probably wouldn’t have had to make that tackle had they had the same kind of mindset. But that’s what happens when you have players like that that have standards with which they go about their game, that you raise the level of everyone. Sometimes players don’t like to see that. They’re all competitive. When you get somebody pursuing pass to you, that sticks out to them, so hopefully we’ll get back from it, but he has continued to progress in his game all season, something that he’s done his whole career, so I’ve been very happy with him and what he brings to us is very important.
Q. With CB Jalen Ramsey, can you talk about the level of clutch he has, especially at the end of a game like this? How much confidence do you have in him individually that he can step up and make a play?
MIKE McDANIEL: I’m really hoping they throw at him, honestly. I mean, both interceptions were out of control in difficulty level. You could see him on the first one, see the ball, and he was the aggressor. I think he was behind the receiver on an in-break, and he bypasses him to get that thumbs-together catch that he’s diving for that a lot of receivers don’t make that reception. Then to track the ball down the field and to get contacted in the moment of truth and hang on to the ball, I mean, it’s huge. I think the whole team has gotten a little bit better to a degree since he’s been on our team or since he’s been back and that’s the type of effect that players of that caliber can have on people.
Q. When you look at the some of the short yardages, you mentioned the fourth-and-1 and later on the pitch to FB Alec Ingold. What would you say were some of the issues? Do you wish you had some play calls back or was it more of an execution…?
MIKE McDANIEL: Ultimately we have to – I think all the players will look at the second one. I think the first one – the fourth-and-1 I’d rather that have play call back for sure based on the defense that they did run. Every play I call, the intent is to work. I’ll always look at myself for each and every one. I think the one later in the game, I think the players will learn from that one. We had some open eligibles, and I think several guys were a little too amped up and didn’t let the play play out because we had some open eligibles and didn’t come up with anything. Yeah, those situations, it is what it is. Every single time something doesn’t work, inherently it’s like, yeah, I wish I would have called a different play that worked.
Q. Sanders made the 51-yarder for a seven-point lead. Obviously it was not an obvious decision. What went into your choice to go with the field goal attempt?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, that’s definitely not to my pattern or stereotype, but that was me adjusting to the particular game, and I was really super confident in the defense. I felt like a touchdown lead, they would really, really have to – I thought it was pretty safe. I thought those were big points, which is why I didn’t go for it, which kind of my knee-jerk. But I was adjusting to the situation.
Q. I wanted to ask you about the fourth-and-1 play where WR Tyreek Hill got hurt and then there was a play before the half where QB Tua Tagovailoa took a hit in back on the last play of the drive. You wanted the plays to work when you called them in and you had no way of knowing that Tyreek would get hurt or Tua would take a hit on those plays. How do you balance your aggression on those plays as a play caller and just trying to get more in the moment where an alternative decision could have worked, as well?
MIKE McDANIEL: I think the fourth-and-1, to me I think we would have gotten it – the reason I want that one back is because I think the execution of it could have been better, but for the execution to be better, I would prefer to put them in that exact scenario and be crystal clear. It was the difference between having a ball fake and not having the ball fake is what cost that one. The end of half, I didn’t question my decision Week 1 when I did the same exact thing. We did two of those plays starting with nine seconds and threw it down the field and got a DPI. I think you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Again, if I had a crystal ball it would be easier to call plays, but there’s an inherent risk in every play you try to execute. I knew the risks in that one, but I also knew the reward. If the defense played out the way I thought, it would be a down the field opportunity that we could have had the same situation as the Los Angeles Chargers Week 1, which those three points were pretty important.
Q. It was quite an emphatic challenge flag throw?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I apologized to those guys. I’m not a ‘look at me’ flag thrower. What was happening is I was engaged in a conversation. I told people to speed me up on the replays that they got, and then I lost track that I told people that, and I was deep into the conversation, and then people were yelling at me, and I wasn’t next to an official, so I just wanted to get it in view. It wasn’t like, ‘yeah, take that, officiating.’ (laughter) Their job is hard and I was just trying to make sure that my – I literally instructed someone to tell me and then went and got in a conversation and blacked out, so the second they got back in my ear, because I saw live that it was going to be close, so there’s people in the box that have multiple replays that can – that’s how we kind of do that whole procedure. It was just me being out of position.
Q. How would you assess Tua’s game today?
MIKE McDANIEL: I was very, very happy with Tua because I’m always wary of Tua because he is so hard on himself. I knew he was going to be frustrated with the last game, and we had so much time in between. But all of my anxiety was kind of alleviated in the practice week. I think he might have had his best Thursday practice that he’s had since we’ve been here overall as a quarterback. Then the one pick he threw was – like the timing of the play, and (Jaylen) Waddle was running to the middle, he was running the deep post, and at the time he threw it, Waddle, it was single safety, so Waddle has to make a decision to go over the top or underneath it. And at the very moment that he threw it, Waddle hadn’t made that decision yet. Waddle went underneath, Tua threw it over the top, and immediately when they came to the sideline, it was like, neither one of them was frustrated and understood it was probably one of those things that will help us moving forward in terms of how I coach stuff because that scenario had never come up. I thought he was playing very well, and he had command, and he had a very even keel disposition, which is so imperative for that position.
Q. You’ve been praised all season for the offensive effort, but the defense especially in the last couple games has been equally impressive, guys like LB Jaelan Phillips, DT Christian Wilkins. Just how impressed have you been with that side of the ball?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I told the team probably a couple weeks ago that – my personal opinion, it wasn’t if but when that would occur. I think that there’s a lot of very prideful, very high-quality players on that side of the ball, and you figure it’s just a matter of time with the way that our defense is orchestrated from a coaching perspective, starting with Vic (Fangio), but really down to all the assistant coaches, and then you see guys strain each and every week. I talk about practice a ton, which gives you a little clue that I think that’s the difference maker in professional football, and all I’ve seen are guys continuing to get better at how they prepare for games, and it’s exciting because you tell the team that it’s a matter of time before you’re able to go punch for punch in any phase, and we’re starting to see that now, so I think that just generates more excitement within the locker room and more investment into each other because it’s a lot more obvious now at the beginning of the season. There was a couple games, our first two wins, in particular that the defense, that our defense really, that we ended up winning the game in the last possession, and so the whole season it’s been kind of a team oriented game, even though there’s been a lot of conversation about the offense. But now that we’re starting to see this team ball, I think guys are that much more motivated to do the very best they can with this season because this team has a tremendous opportunity every week and hasn’t shown anything but complete devotion to each other. They like playing football together, and that’s just an example when people don’t get down, they just continue to hone in on their details and work together. It’s a cool process to be a part of.
Tyreek Hill – November 19, 2023 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Postgame – Las Vegas
Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill
Q. I know you’re getting closer to your 2,000 goal, but when you hear the third grade class when they’re marking your stats, did you want to just improve the numbers from last game to this game?
TYREEK HILL: Man, I’m just trying to help this team win. That’s my mindset. Two thousand yards is just something just to get the fans and Twitter going crazy, but obviously the main goal for me is to win games, help this team win games. That’s my mindset.
Q. What happened with your hand?
TYREEK HILL: I got my ass popped. Unfortunately – I was able to make a play – but got my ass popped, and my hand, it was just in the middle of me catching a ball when dude helmet hit my hand. But it’s nothing serious, thought. It was just a little pain.
Q. I know obviously as an offense you want to put up more points, but in a game like this where maybe you don’t put as many as you want and the defense comes through, what’s that like to see them step up and seal the win?
TYREEK HILL: It’s good. I’ve been saying this all year. We always want to end the game with the ball. That’s our mindset because we feel like we’ve got the playmakers to do it. We’ve got obviously the head coach to dial up the plays. We’re more than capable to be able to hold on to the ball at the very end of the game to keep our defense out of those situations. But it’s a team game. That’s the beauty of the sport. You can always rely on another phase, which is defense or special teams, to make plays, and that’s what defense did today. They made plays for us.
Q. You guys obviously put up a lot of yards on the field but maybe not as many points as we’re used to seeing. Was it some bye week rust or anything the Raiders were doing?
TYREEK HILL: No, I wouldn’t say that. The Raiders, they also get paid over there, too. They’ve got a lot of playmakers, Maxx Crosby, Marcus Peters, (Robert) Spillane, those guys. They do a great job of leading that defense, and they did a great job of stripping the ball out, forcing us to check the ball down and stuff like that. Yeah, they did a good job. Their head coach has changed the mentality of that team, and you can definitely see it, and you can feel it when you’re on the football field, the way those guys fly to the ball, the way those guys are having fun. I love what they’re doing over there.
Q. Can you explain that touchdown celebration?
TYREEK HILL: I really can’t. I really can’t explain it, man. I was just fired up. Just fired up. Any time I’m able to get in the end zone, it’s a blessing. Very grateful for that today.
Q. On that touchdown, picture basically four defenders that you ran. How much did you see them?
TYREEK HILL: I definitely seen them, but it’s one of those things that our receiver coach, he tells us, man, like you guys are fast enough to split guys, and sometimes me and Waddle look at him like, bro, you don’t know what it’s like to be fast. (laughter) But that’s one of those situations that he wasn’t wrong. So I know we’re going to go back into the film room, we’re going to watch it. He’s going to be like, I told you, you guys could have been doing this since last year, and ‘Reek, if you would have listened to me, you probably would have had 2,000 last year.’ It’s just one of those things. I’ve just got to trust my speed, and that’s what I did right there. I was like, (expletive) it, if I get tackled, I get tackled.
Q. To clarify, we’re talking about Wes, right?
TYREEK HILL: Yeah, Wes Welker, the slot guy. He’s a slot receiver.
Q. Next week you guys play on Friday night. Probably the last time you played on Friday night was in high school. What would you tell your high school self?
TYREEK HILL: Man, just have fun. Just do what you’ve been doing your whole entire life when you play football, and that’s just be you, be the ‘Cheetah,’ and just play fast. That’s something I’ve always been, the fast guy, the high-energy guy that’s on the sideline to get the crowd hyped. That’s me. I’m a character. That’s just me. That’s what I would tell my high school self.
Q. What do you think of being part of a first of its kind game on Friday?
TYREEK HILL: Definitely excited about it, but obviously we’re going to miss Thanksgiving with our family, so that kind of sucks, but like I say, any chance we get a chance to play this beautiful game of football, I’m honored, blessed, grateful, all that.
Q. What do you think of Jalen Ramsey?
TYREEK HILL: Oh, he’s a dawg. He’s the best corner in the league. For him to be able to go against two of the best receivers in the league, that also helps, too, me and Waddle. We can go tick for tat with that, but the way he laid out for that last pass goes to show how much he cares about this team because a lot of guys, they’ll knock it down, they’ll say, I could land weird. But the way he just laid out for his team really shows about how he cares about his brothers. I said that on the sideline. I’m like, bro, this dude is next level. For him to be All-Pro each and every year, for him to have made all this money, he’s still out there going 110 miles an hour, and he’s the same way at practice, too, though. I love it. I love it. I’m glad we’re on the same side.
Q. With the hand, did you get an x-ray or you just came back and got it taped up?
TYREEK HILL: No, I just came back and — actually I did do an X-ray. But it was quick. One of those quick things. Then I got it taped up and I was like, I can’t catch like this.
Q. Is it something you’re going to have to manage going up to the game on Friday?
TYREEK HILL: No, I think I’ll be fine, man. The only thing I’m really bummed about, I won’t be able to play Fortnite. That’s the kind of thing I’m bummed about. I won’t be able to play video games. Which is good for my wife, though. She’s got this new show she likes. She wants me to watch it.
Q. What show is that?
TYREEK HILL: It’s called – the Tyler Perry movie, the Family Business on Netflix.
Q. Did you wear the ring on your gloves?
TYREEK HILL: Yeah, I did. I actually got to get a rubber one because playing with this one, I didn’t too much enjoy it.
