Tyreek Hill – October 27, 2024 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024
Postgame – Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill
(How are things going knowing how much is at stake [inaudible]?) – “It sucks. Every time you lose in this league, it sucks. They are a good football team, but the end of the day, I feel like we obviously are a better football team; we’ve just have to prove it on tape as a team. Not just one player. We’ve got to play – every man on the field, everybody’s has to play better. And at the end of the day it’s got to mean something to you. It’s got to.”
(It seemed like there was a play called there to make a difference and it just didn’t happen on that little screen pass?) – “Yeah, there was. I went back and watched it on tape. Obviously there was a play to be made, but they get paid, too, on the other side of the ball. Those guys have a great defense, they did a good job at shutting us down and knowing what to do when the team needed it. Props to them.”
(Is Buffalo a must-win next week?) – “Each and every week is a must-win. Our mindset was a must-win this week, but next week, 24-hour rule, we’re going to move on and Buffalo is a must-win.”
Mike McDaniel – October 27, 2024 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 27, 2024
Postgame – Arizona Cardinals
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Q. What are you telling your team right now as this team is now 2-5?
MIKE McDANIEL: I know one thing, that — pardon my French, but no opponent that we play the rest of the year will give a (expletive). Yeah, we’re 2-5. Disappointed and it’s frustrating. I thought there were positives and negatives to the game and it’s magnified because of the situation we’ve put ourselves in. Situations like that, as tough as it is, it has to be – you have to immediately take your energy towards the next game while learning lessons from this game. I thought we had absolutely every chance to win it. I think collectively there is some – we always play really hard. I thought there was more execution but there were critical mistakes that I think it was tough to overcome one of the stronger games I’ve seen by a quarterback in Kyler Murray. He made a lot of plays for them and we can’t put ourselves in that situation as a team.
Q. You guys were pretty blitz heavy. It wasn’t all that effective at times. Did you think you guys maybe blitzed QB Kyler Murray too much today? Because he was able to kind of break it down.
MIKE McDANIEL: No, I think that was kind of the game plan going in and you know the stress that you put on coverage and you know you try to be effective in rush lanes. I think hindsight is 20/20. I did agree with our game plan going into it and in those situations, the guys know that it does put a high priority on guys that are free and have a shot at the quarterback, that you have to really rely on your technique and fundamentals, especially with a guy like that. I’m sure when I look at the tape there will be a handful of plays that we’ll talk through, Weave (Anthony Weaver) and I. But for the most part I thought guys were in position to make plays and there were just some critical ones we didn’t make and they did and that’s how you score more points than the opponent.
Q. How would you assess QB Tua Tagovailoa’s first game back?
MIKE McDANIEL: I thought it’s kind of what I expected. He did a real good job on third down but collectively I think the bigger thing was that we had a little bit more of our brand of football that we felt that is probably a silver lining if we weren’t sitting at 2-5. Guys didn’t really care about – when I tell you they’ve been all in on winning and falling short is hard for everyone, but we would have taken 3-2 as the win, but you can’t. There are no silver linings, really, in this loss. It’s testing us for sure. I feel good about the human beings we have. I feel like we’ve begun going all in with each other each and every week and it still hasn’t been enough, but the answer is not to take the foot off the gas. It’s to take a hard look, which will probably be pretty rough tomorrow, but that is what it is. We have to fix it. We have to get the win, and there’s going to be, moving forward, no team’s going to frankly give a (expletive) about our problems.
Q. What occurred on the mishandled snap? QB Tua Tagovailoa is saying he should have caught it.
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I think if you ask both of them, Brew (Aaron brewer) would say he should have taken a little steam off of it, and Tua said he should have caught it. The bottom line is backed up, we can’t have those type of issues. You can’t just give free points to people, so collectively, I think the way I like to handle it is, all right, we can’t go in shotgun or pistol backed up until you guys tell me you can. As competitors, they’ll take that challenge. They know, and Tua’s hand-eye coordination’s outstanding, so he’ll be up for the challenge, but you just can’t expect to win a close game (with plays like that). That ended up being the difference in terms of points but it wasn’t just that play. There’s a multitude of things that ended up in points, like not connecting and settling for a field goal on the 7-yard line earlier. Those are things that add up, so hard lessons and they have to be lessons learned if you want it to change and so we’ll have an opportunity to do that. It’ll be a long week, but we get what we deserve.
Q. How did you feel about how QB Tua Tagovailoa protected himself out there and did you have any talks before the game about his approach or afterwards?
MIKE McDANIEL: I think Tua had his mind — I think the time (out), this season on this team, it really left an impression on the residuals of his decisions, so we had talks leading up to it. I think the biggest thing was that he knew his teammates were going to give him a chance to play a pretty clean game. He had a good amount of clean pockets and then when he didn’t, he was decisive and kept himself out of harm’s way and I think that’s big for our team as we try to get through this rut.
Q. Did you adjust anything from a game plan or play calling standpoint to try to be more protective of QB Tua Tagovailoa?
MIKE McDANIEL: I think it’s always been part of my job and seeing how there were injuries to the quarterback four games into my tenure here, I think that’s kind of old hat. We just kind of play our ball and as a coach, you make sure that you either have the protection or you have opportunistic situations for the eligibles to get people open in the time of the play, so he can do what he does. But I don’t think you can do right by a football team if the guys playing the game, you have to – you can’t really think about anything but how do we move the ball and score points. So I thought it was good for his teammates. I think the team felt this was, at times, more of a picture of what we had envisioned the entire time for how we played football, but it wasn’t clean enough to win and that’s the big takeaway for me.
Q. S Jevon Holland’s knee is not being feared significant at this time, is that accurate?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I don’t have all the information on it, but we’ll find more out. It didn’t seem, but I really would be talking ignorantly if I forecasted anything. I’ll find more out tomorrow.
Q. Can you speak to the challenge of going 2-5 and where this team is headed?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, it’s a significant challenge. It kind of reminds me of — at this point, I can’t remember what the streak was, maybe it was two games or three in 2022 and we had that night game. I think the biggest thing is that you have to understand that all the heartbreak has to go into your next opponent. It’s the next opponent and it’s a divisional game and I know we have all the reason in the world to have 110 percent invested in it, so that’s what my expectation will be. I think it’s rough – 2-5 is rough. But in the NFL season, you can’t really take what your record is at this stage and extrapolate. That’s where you get causes for concern. You have to go take your best game and try to win one football game and I think that’s a really cool football place to play, and guys – I think we have the right guys and if they weren’t motivated for this one, they would be the wrong guys, and I’m not nervous about that. Just want to make sure that all of our energy is put towards what we’re able to do, not what has been done.
Q. Going back to QB Tua Tagovailoa protecting himself. What was your reaction during that scramble, I think it was the third quarter, when he actually got down and slid?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, my reaction was I think he’s going to get the first down. I’m pretty sure what he’s going to do, but you never know until it happens and it was what I forecasted he would do. But when he’s mindful and not trying to run defenders over, he generally is able to stay pretty healthy, so I was excited that he didn’t hesitate and that he was very convicted in how he approached space, found space, and got himself down.
Q. Are you relieved that this is behind QB Tua Tagovailoa now that he’s back? He was untouched really today.
MIKE McDANIEL: I wouldn’t say relieved because that would insinuate that I was nervous about it. You know football is football, so you just try to put together a best plan that players can execute and I think that that’s part of the coach’s job, put guys in a position to succeed and for him, he does very well when he’s able to see the field and we protect well. There’s a lot of – I think the player ownership of our team, receivers running routes, beating bump coverage and the offensive linemen executing the protections, I think the players took it very personal in terms of their job and their responsibility to the team and to play effective football. The bottom line is if you’re giving up quarterback hits or sacks, you’re probably going the opposite direction of where points are. So I wouldn’t say relieved. I would say that the game played out in terms of that circumstance kind of the way I envisioned. I just envisioned us in the win column, not in the loss, but no one cares about my visions.
Q. What was the challenge playing without DT Zach Sieler and how long do you foresee you have to do this?
MIKE McDANIEL: It’s very challenging. He’s a big part of our team. I think there’s a lot of guys led by D-Hand (Da’Shawn Hand) but a lot of guys that were up for the challenge and just feeling his energy. Talking about Zach and in the locker room just as we left, he will be out no longer than his body — like as soon as his body allows, he will be out there. I wouldn’t envision it being too long just based upon his vigor and he didn’t like not being able to affect the outcome of the game and we are a better team when he’s on it.
Q. No surgery needed?
MIKE McDANIEL: Yeah, I wouldn’t be prepared totally to handle that question. They’re working through some things, but I leave that to the experts.
Tua Tagovailoa – October 27, 2024 (Postgame)
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Sunday, October 27, 2024
Postgame – Arizona Cardinals
QB Tua Tagovailoa
Q: What was it like to finally be back out there? How are you feeling having gone through the game?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It feels good. It feels good to be able to come back and play with my teammates, to hopefully help in whatever way I can to get a spark going for us offensively or get the mojo going for the entire team. It feels good but a tough loss today against a really good team, so that diminishes not just what I’ve done, but a lot of what other guys have done individually as well.
Q: Did you feel like you were in a pretty good rhythm, did you feel like yourself early on? Or did it take a while to start settling into a rhythm?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would say I felt like myself. Like I said, I’ve been preparing for five weeks as if I were to play while I was on IR so that’s what it was. So it felt normal coming out there.
Q: You came back to a tough spot. You guys are 2-5 now. What’s next for this team?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: We got to keep chopping wood. That’s it. Keep chopping wood. Don’t look for any external motivation from anyone. Just look within. What can we do to get better? What can we do to continue to encourage each other? Because that’s what it takes. It takes everyone inside that locker room if we want to get to where we want to go.
Q: What did you think about the crowd’s reaction when you had the scramble and you slid and the crowd roared and chanted your name. What did you think of that?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I thought that was super cool. It was super cool. I think anyone would think that’s awesome.
Q: You said you recognized sort of the need to make adjustments to remain available. Do you think that played out today in any way?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: What do you think?
Q: It looked that way.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, so I would definitely agree with you. I’m just trying to avoid the big hits if I can. Sometimes they’re unavoidable. If there’s a free rusher and you got to get the ball out, you take a hit, but just for me putting myself in those situations, I would say just obviously for the past five weeks, I have been able to just really think and ponder about my decisions.
Q: A lot of good plays today but the one negative was the safety. What happened on that one?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I got to catch the ball. That’s it. So, yeah.
Q: Do you have any lingering hesitation or nerves — did you have any lingering hesitations or nerves before you actually played?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: No.
Q: So there was nothing unresolved?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: No.
Q: How do you balance being aggressive and playing without thinking but also like you were talking about having to be mindful of the positions you put yourself in?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think it’s just continuing to practice that in practice, kind of having a different mindset when running the ball or when I’m trying to escape the pocket and there’s nothing there, not trying to be a hero, just things like that.
Q: How well do you feel the offense played as a unit?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Well, I think there’s a lot of things we can continue to get better at. As a unit, we look to end the drive with points every time we’re out there. I believe we’re too talented to not end drives with points, so we got to go take a look at what we can continue to do to get better for our team, to put points on the board so that a situation like that doesn’t happen.
Q: What was the feeling at the end as the Cardinals are running down the clock and it’s kind of a helpless situation when you’re just watching the game?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: That’s exactly what I would say the (offense) felt, just helpless. We didn’t get another opportunity to go out there and give our team a chance to hopefully put some points on the board. So yeah, it’s not a good feeling.
Q: How much of an emphasis was it today to get WR Tyreek Hill involved in the game?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It was an emphasis to get everyone involved in the game. For sure Tyreek, but as you can see with how they played their defense, they were really keying ‘Reek and trying to keep a shield over him and when they did give us opportunities we tried to take advantage of those, with those one-on-ones with ‘Reek. Outside of that, we were just playing the plays as they were, reading it out.
Q: You were 11-of-15 on third downs. What was the key to what you guys had there?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would say good Thursday practices with that. I would say everyone’s been locked in with – what I would say is what I expect of them with where to be on the field, knowing what to do in certain looks and whatnot. I would say that’s a testament to the guys in studying within their playbook.
Q: Is there enough time left in the season to recover?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think there’s always time, brother. There’s always time. Seventeen games. That’s a long time. A lot of games. So whether we’re counted out or we’re not, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to continue to play football. A lot of people in here know that I don’t know how many years ago we started out 1-7. We didn’t have half the guys that we have, and no disrespect to my other teammates, but I’m talking about the talent that we have here, we didn’t have half that talent however many years ago. So to give that group respect, we won the next (seven) games and I’m not saying we’re going to do that or whatnot, but it is possible. Anything’s possible. So we’re going to continue to trust each other, lean on each other, believe in each other, and we’re going to go do it next week.
Q: What are your thoughts as the next team you face will be the Buffalo Bills.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I’ve got no thoughts. We’ve got to beat them. They’re good. It’s the same thing over and over. You’ve got to beat them.
Q: What happened after the — when TE Jonnu Smith got the first down, those three plays after, was there anything in particular that Arizona was doing?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, there wasn’t anything new that they showed us. It was just poor execution offensively on our standpoint and I would say those are plays and that’s a series we wish we could have had back.
Q: When you see the team two weeks in a row lose a game after having a 10-point lead, what is it that you guys have to do to correct that?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: We just got to continue to play complementary football. That’s all it is.
Q: This doesn’t really have anything to do with this game, but we didn’t get a chance to ask on Monday. After the Week 2 game, fans donated I think it was $18,000, $20,000 to the Tua Foundation. Is that something you were aware of in the moment or what was your reaction when you saw that?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It wasn’t something I was aware of at the moment. I do want to say a big thank you to those fans and then I was told that a good amount of them were Bills fans as well. It is kind of a love/hate thing. It’s hard to hate them, also hard to love them sort of deal. So I really appreciate it from the Bills fans and then also to fans in general, just thank you.
Tim Bowens – October 27, 2024 (Halftime)
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Sunday, October 27, 2024
Halftime – Arizona Cardinals
DT Tim Bowens – Miami Dolphins Ring of Honor Halftime Ceremony
Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Garfinkel:
“Good afternoon. It’s a great honor to stand here today on behalf of Stephen Ross and the whole Dolphins organization and introduce a man who has left an indelible mark on this franchise. Today marks the first Ring of Honor induction in over 10 years, and although we’ve had countless alumni players who’ve left their mark on Dolphins history, it takes a special player and a special person to make the kind of impact that leaves their name forever enshrined in Hard Rock Stadium. Tim Bowens was that kind of player. The Dolphins drafted Tim in 1994, and it didn’t take long for him to make name for himself winning NFL Rookie of the Year. Over the course of his 11-year career, Tim was named to the Pro Bowl twice, dominating the trenches with more than 400 tackles, 22.0 sacks and most impressively started 155 games, the most for an interior lineman in Dolphins franchise history. Tim was the ultimate teammate; he was also one of the toughest as our very own Pro Football Hall of Famer Zach Thomas coined the phrase, ‘Tim Badass Bowens.’ Zach and Jason Taylor have both credited Tim as one of the main reasons why they wear gold jackets now; he did his job with consistency and set his teammates up for success. Tough, consistent, dependable and the ultimate competitor, he was all of these things throughout his Dolphins career. Tim, you’re more than deserving of this recognition. It’s now my honor to formally induct you into the Dolphins Ring of Honor.”
Former Dolphins DT Tim Bowens:
“Thank you. Thank you, Tom, Nat, Mr. Ross, the organization for letting me play my entire 11-year career here. I thank you. Special thanks to Coach Shula for drafting me and giving me that opportunity, and the rest of my coaches and my teammates, I love you guys. I appreciate the love, I appreciate last night, and I thank you. And to you the fans, I thank you for your support. I really appreciate it, thank you. To my family and my friends all in the stands or back home in Mississippi, thank you.”
Jalen Ramsey – October 25, 2024
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Friday, October 25, 2024
CB Jalen Ramsey
(With the secondary, obviously the nickel position with CB Kader Kohou out this week, how much of a challenge is that for some of the young guys to have to step up?) – “Just opportunities. It’s just an opportunity. Cam (Smith) is going to get to spin finally, happy for that. Happy for that moment for him. I can’t wait for y’all to see what he’s about because he’s a baller, I ain’t going to lie to you. He does some special things just in practice, so that will be cool.”
(How much of that is just confidence for a young player when they don’t play–?) – “He’s good. He’s good, he’s got what he needs. He’s good.”
(What’s your FSU prediction against Miami?) – “Noles win. I don’t know how it’s going to look; I don’t care how it’s going to look, but the Noles got to get this one. I know it’s been a little rough, a little rocky this season. We ain’t worried about that though, we’re worried about tomorrow night – 7 o’clock.”
(Are you going to be there?) – “Got to focus on my game. I wish, but I’ve got to focus on my game. My daughters, they’ve got their cheerleading outfits. If I can get them to get the game – I’m going to be in meetings, but if I can get them to the game so they can get some pictures with the cheerleaders, somebody at FSU hit me up. I ain’t want to hit (Mike) Norvell about this, because he’s got other stuff to focus on, but my daughters want to meet the cheerleaders, so somebody come through for me.”
Mike McDaniel – October 25, 2024
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Friday, October 25, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(As you know WR Tyreek Hill was on the injury report with a foot, WR Jaylen Waddle with a quad this week. Do you expect both will be available this Sunday?) – “Yeah, I’m feeling good. We’ll see how today goes, but yes, I feel very optimistic and feel good about where they’re at.”
(Did QB Tua Tagovailoa indeed clear concussion protocol?) – “He did. After going through the process and having a practice where we were able to initiate some contact with him and then he met with an independent doctor and was fully cleared. He is out of the protocol.”
(He will play Sunday?) – “Yes.”
(Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith had a cool story about how QB Tua Tagovailoa was popping into his office at 5 a.m. Can you just speak to his eagerness for this moment?) – “I think he’s done an outstanding job not doing anything but controlling what he can control, so in that he’s put his best foot forward to take care of himself, as well to be the leader of this football team just in a different way. All of that is – he’s been fully engaged, but he’s also become very aware that he is not interested in becoming a coach anytime soon, that his love is playing football. I think he’s eager, as everybody is. I think if you had any questions about how valuable he is, I think it’s pretty obvious. I think the team is excited to play football and have him be a part of it. He’s excited to play with his teammates and I’m very happy for all of those involved, but yeah, pretty eager.”
(What do you think some of those questions he had when he was at those early coaching sessions helped him learn about, maybe the offense or the team or your role?) – “First of all – if you needed another reason to go above and beyond with your actions and how much he appreciates every meeting, every time on the field, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Having that and being able to try to help the team without playing, you lean into how many different players need to be reached on a given week, how many different problems – it really forces you to get outside your own experience is the way that we’ve kind of talked about it. So like, all right, well this guy is running his route short, our cadence isn’t where it needs to be. Instead of just sitting there and stewing over it, he took action. That connects him to his teammates in a unique way because typically he’s not coaching them. And then understanding just looking at… it’s simple as when things aren’t successful, you can kind of have a better attachment to what’s most important on certain plays and certain things that we do in our offense and how valuable – people talk about his timing all the time. He plays convicted, he’s very coachable, but I think he’s found more confidence based upon how he plays and more reasons of why he does certain things, why we do stuff with technique and fundamentals, all of that. I think the simplest thing I can say is he’s – as a quarterback, you have so many things on your plate and you see the world through your own eyes, and this process gave him an opportunity to see the problems of other people. To really clear – the NFL work week, you put a gameplan in and how do you execute that gameplan, what needs to happen, how does walkthrough need to look, how does his tonality need to be. You can see when you’re observing – how should you respond to a bad play. I think all these things, he really took the time to be present, and because of that, you can feel even more even-keel player when he’s playing, understanding that it’s all about this next play, my technique and fundamentals, and then that play happened and then it’s the next play. If it was good or bad, should that affect your focus on the finer details of your job? Absolutely not. Should you be lashing yourself if your throw is off? That probably doesn’t help anybody. Maybe I can keep my frustration about whatever to myself when my teammates need me to, those types of things. It’s been a cool process and I think he did a great job, an unbelievable job controlling what he can control and making the time valuable.”
(Now that we know who’s starting at quarterback on Sunday, have you settled on who your backup will be?) – “I’m pretty sure I know who it is, but I want to make sure. After this practice, I think we’ll know with absolute certainty but I need to let the full work week playout before I stamp it. I think I know and I’ll let you guys know in my Sunday press conference after the game if I was right in my guess.”
(Do you expect to have LB Emmanuel Ogbah and S Jevón Holland on Sunday?) – “Yes, and yes.”
(Any sense at this point if QB Tua Tagovailoa’s injury or concern about what could happen is creating any unique tension in the locker room, something you’ve had to work through at all with the players?) – “No, I think the most important thing is that for anybody that’s concerned enough to ask, Tua met with a litany, a laundry list, a long list of medical experts, and zero of them recommended that he shouldn’t play football. So that means 100% of them were supporting the continued journey and I think that is as easy of a relay as possible. I think there’s a lot of things out there, a lot of – so I can’t tell you how many people or if many people asked him, but I know that’s what drove his confidence is making his decision in step with medical experts who fully support what he’s doing. So I think everybody feels good about that.”
(Will CB Storm Duck, CB Kader Kohou and OL Liam Eichenberg be available on Sunday?) – “No, no, yes. Oh, probably not, no, yes. So Storm (Duck), there is an outside, there is a small percentage chance for sure, but I’m pessimistic about that. Kader (Kohou), no and Liam (Eichenberg), yes.”
(What about DT Zach Sieler? Any reason for concern there?) – “Yeah, that was a kind of a – it was a first in my football history. He will not play this game. Timeline is unknown, and that’s kind of where it stands.”
(Was he poked in the eye in practice or something?) – “Yeah, there was a – yes.”
(On a personal level, how excited are you to see QB Tua Tagovailoa back?) – “Words can’t describe how excited I get for all players that have opportunities that I know they don’t take for granted, that they’ve earned. It’s very exciting from a human perspective as a coach of this team, it’s meaningful to watch people go after their dreams. And when you see someone with absolute certainty boldly go after something, then have it taken away for whatever time period, there’s nothing better than having football players that are all in. Not only because of who they are, not only because of their teammates and what they love about that connection, but because they truly love doing, exercising their gift and I think it’s hard not to be inspired by that.”
(It’s rare that you’re very adamant that a player will not play this many days before the game. How serious was the poke to DT Zach Sieler’s eye?) – “When I have certainty, I don’t like to BS. I think I want our team to win based upon winning the game, so I wouldn’t – it’s hard to say, however, it’s week to week. I just know he’s not going to be available for this game, so I like to trim the fat sometimes.”
(You had mentioned that nobody recommended that QB Tua Tagovailoa stop play football. Is there anything else you can tell us about what they either recommended he do, precautions he might take, protection he could wear? Anything that would involve responding to this injury to help prevent him from having another one or at least keeping him as healthy as possible.) – “Beyond getting into his personal nitty gritty – I’ll say what I’m comfortable saying (and) speaking on his behalf of is I think there’s been no stone unturned from just how you do everything perspective. From all the way to the most minimal thing with hydration and how you eat – I know in the locker room, he is my foremost expert on the brain. He knows a ton because we didn’t – no one in this process has trivialized any of this. As you’re coaching, I think he has a different understanding of the ramifications of his decisions, and I think in terms of how he plays the game and whether or not that one or two yards is worth everything else, I think that has been firmly put in perspective. I think he’s really gone above and beyond since 2022 really, and he’s taking it with that same seriousness, just probably leveled up a little bit. There’s not – it’s all encompassing and he’s doing everything he really can, in my opinion, to make sure that he’s on the field and not off of it.”
(You mentioned earlier this week that QB Tua Tagovailoa is not the savior. I’m just curious, how do you tell that and really sell that to your guys who know his impact and believe that maybe that will make the inference of forward?) – “Because from the starting point, I think that’s been the tonality of this team, 2024, since we got together April 15 was that all right, well what we’ve done is not what we want to do. We have goals and it’s not to – the goals aren’t statistically driven. The goals aren’t to just get to the playoffs or something, and in that, you have to continuously get better as a team. So I think understanding how we’re all pieces of the puzzle and that the main thing that I’ve been pressing guys through this entire season, but particularly after the three-game losing streak and then after this last loss, is that you don’t have these losses – you don’t experience them in vain. They have to mean something, so what can you learn from it? That incessant coach-to-player accountability and then player-to-player accountability, we have a lot of guys – we have a team full of people that are trying to be the best versions of themselves. And when you lose games, when you have four losses out of six, your margin for error, you don’t get those opportunities to just, ‘Oh, that one got through our fingertips,’ and I think they understand that. So being very prideful individually, we all want to win, but what is our piece in that puzzle? We never stepped out on the field when Tua was our starting quarterback and just won the game because of Tua; we won the game with Tua and there’s 10 other players every down with him and then there’s 60 to 75 plays where our defense is on the field and then there’s the 30 plays that special teams is on the field. So I think the frustration of each and every game that we haven’t won, the frustration of football not being to our standard in different places, that affords you if you’re going to go through it, if you’re going to experience that failure, you have to make it purposeful. Because you’re talking about a group of – our locker room and our coaching staff and just everybody involved, the losing has been miserable, so you don’t just forget that. You have to do something about it to change the result, not hope. So I think there’s a lot of motivated guys that have enough on their own plate, super excited about Tua playing but we have to get better at our individual technique and fundamentals and how we play together each and every week, especially after losses, because you don’t do all the work, you don’t do all this – the only thing that you can learn are the lessons. Not that – yeah, I don’t like when our score is less than there, let’s do something about it so that’s not the case move forward, and all we have is today. All we have is today’s practice in preparation for the Arizona Cardinals, which is what our focus has and will continue to be for the next 48 hours before the game.”
(With CB Cam Smith coming back and CB Jalen Ramsey working in the nickel, what’s the thought process there with replacing CB Kader Kohou who has been an experience nickel player for you?) – “I think we have a lot of – some of our versatility within the secondary and how we kind of resourced jobs is a strength of ours. I think we have a lot of players playing in that position. Whether you have Jalen (Ramsey) playing nickel, Jevón Holland, whether you have – it can be different players of different positions to keep offenses off-balance and to utilize your really good players and put them in different positions for success. Within the whole secondary, I think not knowing who is the next man up or where they’re going to be, especially when you have some really elite players in the secondary, offensively you want to know where those guys are. You want to know, all right, well we do this formation, we’re doing this – we’re putting this guy over here because Jalen Ramsey is going to be over there. That adds layers of preparation, that adds just layers of uncertainty to the opposing team, and it allows guys different opportunities to make plays. I think that in a very similar way that we kind of attack offensive football where sometimes is this guy a receiver, is he a running back, is this a tight end or a running back; we put people in different positions, utilize different skill sets but also to keep the opposing team off-balance, because if it’s easy for us to execute and more difficult to prepare for, that’s a competitive advantage that we want to take advantage of.”
Terron Armstead – October 25, 2024
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Friday, October 25, 2024
T Terron Armstead
(Obviously, we’ve been asking everybody the same thing: your excitement level for QB Tua Tagovailoa?) – “Excited for sure. He looks great, man. He’s locked in, helping get everybody where they need to be, locked in on the details, all the small things. We’re focusing on those nuances for sure, that have been helping us lose games, so we’re trying to clean all that up.”
(Not like it was lacking before, but is there any extra boost of energy now that you know QB1 is back on the field?) – “He brings his own energy. He has an energy about him that’s contagious, that you have no choice but to gravitate towards and it’s very much reinvigorating and revitalizing for our offense that’s been struggling.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel told us the unfortunate news about DT Zach Sieler today. It’s such a game where you can get hurt in so many ways, how big of a risk is it in practice to have your eye poked with line play?) – “Yeah, it’s a real thing, man. Incidental, for sure. Nobody was trying to go for an eye, but you’re playing fast, playing low, big guys moving around, it’s unfortunate, for sure. Zach is one of the best players on the team – one of the best players in the league, so him dealing with that is definitely unfortunate for us.”
(Where are you on this “is Tua the savior” debate? WR Tyreek Hill said he is, Head Coach Mike McDaniel said “not really.” Where are you on that?) – “It’s unrealistic for one player to be a savior. Probably in basketball when there are only five people on the court, but you got offense, defense, special teams – there’s 33 starters. So he’s a huge part of everything we do, a huge impact; but for him to be the ‘savior,’ ‘the hero’ that tries to save everything, it’s unrealistic, unfair. We’ve got a lot of work to do, everybody else. We’ve got to be able to produce and create lanes for the runners. Runners got to go execute, receivers got to go execute – everybody, you know what I mean? So Tua (Tagovailoa) can’t throw it to himself or he can’t hand it off to himself, can’t block for himself.”
(Earlier this week we saw you working with LB Chop Robinson after the practice and in the locker room. How much does that help him in terms of the technique that he’s going to face against offensive linemen of your caliber?) – “Yeah, we were really just talking ball, talking experience, what challenges I see, what he’s seeing from offensive linemen. It could help a little, it could help a lot, maybe not at all; But it don’t hurt. It don’t hurt at all. I love Chop. I love everything about him – his approach, his professionalism, his hunger. His production will come, for sure. He’s a special talent. It’s hard in the league when we are so fixated on stats and it’s a production-based league, for sure, but this is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. Some people come out the gate and have production and then fall off, but as long as he trusts his process, he’s going about everything the right way. He’s working hard and all that good stuff, the production will come.”
Calais Campbell – October 24, 2024
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Thursday, October 24, 2024
DT Calais Campbell
(You mentioned the Cardinals, and players will say it’s one game at a time, but at this point of the season where you guys are at, how pivotal is Sunday’s game to start a new momentum here?) – “It’s huge. It’s a big game, a real big game. I don’t think at the end of the day – as long as you always have a shot, you’re always going to fight and there’s always opportunity. You’ve seen teams, especially this team has done it a few years ago, where if you have to win every game, you put yourself in position. But the margin of error definitely has gotten a lot tighter and so we’ve got to be more on point. Our mindset right now is fourth-and-1, game on the line, what are you going to do? That’s the kind of mindset you have to have, and everybody has to have that mindset of if you count on me to do my job at a high level, consider it done. That’s how I’ve always kind of prepared, and if guys are depending on me, you consider it a win. I think if we all have that mindset, we’re going to win a lot of ball games. But at the end of the day, you can’t really worry about the next one, just winning this one and this one is huge, we need this one.”
(How do you take on somebody like QB Kyler Murray?) – “Kyler (Murray) is a beast. He’s probably the toughest tackle because he’s so quick and so explosive, so he kind of has both. Usually you have one or the other, explosion or quickness. He has both and then he’s just kind of a smaller guy, so you got to get down there and he doesn’t go down easy. He has good contact balance, so we have to really do a good job of keeping him in the pocket, make him throw from the well. He has really good presence in knowing how to like kind of move around or kind of manipulate the defense, so it’s going to be a tough challenge but we’re up for it. We’re practicing, trying to figure out our rush lanes and making sure we keep him in there. But he’s probably the best at it – him and maybe, Lamar (Jackson). Lamar is another different level guy, but Kyler is one of the toughest in the league.”
(Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver said it was like if WR Tyreek Hill was playing quarterback, is that a good comparison?) – “Yeah, probably. (laughter) But I will say though we’re up for the challenge. We’re up for the challenge. He’s tough. He’s a beast but it’s football. Every week is a tough challenge.”
(You played for Arizona for a number of years. Was the run to the NFC Championship game your best memory from there? What was your best memory?) – “A lot of good memories at that place. (laughter) A lot of good memories, nine years. I don’t know what I would say my best memory is, I’d have to really put some time to think on that, but my rookie year going to the Super Bowl was pretty sweet. It’s hard to beat that. Winning that NFC Championship game at home, against the Eagles and confetti falling on your shoulders and everybody is super hyped, it’s a feeling that I’m chasing again and hope that I get to experience again. But definitely a lot of love for the Arizona Cardinals fans, the organization treated me very well when I was there, a lot of love for them. I’m eager to go out there and compete against them.”
(I forgot, so what year was that Super Bowl?) – “(It was) 2008, my rookie year.”
(2008, you’re a rookie, you go to the Super Bowl. So if I were to tell you that 16 years later, you’d be in the Dolphins locker room, what would you say?) – “I’d have been very surprised. I did think that when I was in Arizona I was going to be there for my whole career. I was kind of shocked when the time came to go other places, but I think sometimes new beginnings are good for you. I went to Jacksonville, had another good big part of my career there and I think it was nice to go play a different position and be in a different environment, so it kind of brought the best out of me. But I’m eager to play against them again. Any time you spend time at a place and you develop relationships and you kind of know that place, it just gives you a little more of an edge and a little more energy when you go play against those guys, so it should be a lot of fun.”
