Zach Sieler – December 2, 2024
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Monday, December 2, 2024
DT Zach Sieler
(We were just having a talk about tackling in cold weather. How much tougher if at all is it to tackle in the running game in particular in cold weather?) – “I don’t think it’s tougher to tackle. I think we’ve got to do a better job on surfaces that aren’t ideal of breaking down and keeping our feet under us to make those tackles. And then running to the ball, swarm tackle.”
(What’s the spirit of the team right now? This team has been pretty resilient group. The five-game losing streak two years ago. All of the defensive injuries late last year. What is the team’s mindset right now?) – “We’ve got to take it one step at a time. We’ve got five weeks left. We’ve got to beat the Jets this week, we’ve got to roll. I don’t think there’s any step back or any hesitation from anyone. There’s no sense of that whatsoever. It’s make this push and let’s get this done.”
(Obviously you need help to get into the playoffs. Did you take a peek at standings at all or do you just figure you take care of your business and everything else takes care of itself?) – “I haven’t. That’s it. Absolutely.”
(What was said as much as you can tell us about the missed tackles? I don’t know if you guys have watched the film or anything. What’s been said about that?) – “What I (responded to the first question). Same thing. We’ve got to keep our feet. We’ve got to keep our feet. We’ve got to swarm tackle, run to the ball and play violent.”
(I’ll ask you what I asked WR Jaylen Waddle a minute ago. And it’s a narrative if you want to call it a narrative, but it’s something that’s been said and was certainly said after Thursday night’s game, that this is a speed team and not a physical team, not a tough team. What’s your response?) – “Shoot, I guess we’ve got to prove it wrong. If people think that, we’ve got to go out there and beat it. I don’t think that’s the case. I think we play physically up front. I think we play physically all around. I think we’ve got to make sure we’re showing that on Sunday.”
(Is there a mental switch that happens when you get into these December and later games? Or have you guys already had to turn that on with how the season has gone?) – “Ever since (our record was) 2-6 we’ve had to have that on. It’s definitely a mindset when you’re at that point. It’s like, hey, we’ve got to scratch and crawl out of here as best we can and it’s still possible. So it’s just a matter of winning these next five and it starts this week with the Jets.”
(What do you think of facing those Jets? Obviously a team you have a lot of familiarity with but haven’t seen them in such a long time and haven’t seen them with QB Aaron Rodgers either.) – “Yeah, I think they’re a great team. They’ve got a lot of weapons, they’ve got a great quarterback. He played a lot of ball. I think he’s probably one of the only ones that has played more ball than Calais (Campbell). (laughter) So definitely got to make sure we get in our playbooks and get into film study and see what’s coming at us.”
(All the good vibes you guys had from the three-game winning streak, I know that was a tough loss at Green Bay, but do those vibes still exist, the lessons that you’ve learned and all of that kind of stuff?) – “Absolutely. Obviously to get to this point, we’ve went through a lot and we’ve done a lot. And I think those games were a testament to that and I think it shows how powerful we can be; we just need to put it together in all three phases this week.”
(Have you given any thought either in the offseason or even during the season, under Head Coach Mike McDaniel you guys have had many streaks – win streaks and losing streaks – why do you suppose that is?) – “I guess I haven’t thought about that. I don’t know. I haven’t put much thought to that. I think it’s a matter of just the team in general and what we’re going through. We’ve got to stay tough when we’re winning and we’ve got to stay tough when we’re losing and either get out of it or keep it going.”
Jonnu Smith – December 2, 2024
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Monday, December 2, 2024
TE Jonnu Smith
(What can you say about your season? You’ve got – if I’m not mistaken – career highs in receptions and yards, you’ve been a main part of the offense through that three-game winning streak. What do you think of your season and maybe your last two seasons even.) – “All praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, first and foremost. Just having individually, the best year of my career, so that’s one thing that I’ve always understood that individuals don’t win football games. Lighting up the stat sheet doesn’t win football games, but I understand that individuals having individual success, if the bulk of the team is having individual success; then that’s going to lead to a bunch of wins, so I’m just trying to do my part and be the best version of myself for this team to put us in the best situation to win games.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel has talked a lot about overplay, capitalizing on overplay as an offense. How have you seen defenses adjust over these last few games as you’ve gotten more and more involved to try and take you away from the offensive gameplan?) – “We’re just taking what the defense gives us, man. You can’t play everything. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too, in this league. So we just continue to try to take what the defense gives us and just continue to execute. Like I said, you can’t guard everybody, you can’t guard every area of the field; so it’s just very imperative to us to capitalize when we see big space and opportunities to make big plays, whether it be down the field or underneath.”
(What’s the mindset of this team right now?) – “One game at a time, one game at a time. We’ve still got life, very optimistic, a lot of warriors in our locker room, a lot of fighters in our locker room, proud to be a part of this team, 100 percent and we’re going to continue to fight, continue to put our hard hats on and go to work.”
(This offense had a stretch of games where the run game got going, then now it hasn’t been as much. Now QB Tua Tagovailoa has been throwing the ball around to you and even some to WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle, what do you think are some of the ways that can lead to some more balance? Both getting that run game and that pass game working together.) – “Yeah, we’ve got to find some obviously tranquility within the offense, you know what I mean? When I say tranquility, I mean more so balance, not peace. You don’t want a peaceful football team, that wouldn’t be a good football team. (laughter) But you definitely want to find some more balance in the offense and just get things back to where we know they can be. Like I said, it comes with evaluating the film, holding each other accountable, looking ourselves in the mirror, seeing what we can do better, and we started with that approach today and that’s just going to kind of be the mindset going forward.”
(Do you feel it is an emphasis for the team to get the run game back going?) – “Absolutely. If you want to win in this league, you’ve got to run the ball, plain and simple. I know even as a pass catcher – obviously would love to be in an offense where you throw the ball 40, 50 times a game. But if you’re not running the ball well, you’re just not going to win in this league. If you’re not going to run the ball consistently, consistently well, you’re just not going to win in this league so that’s just a point of emphasis that we strive to reach in this organization.”
(What do you think has been the key over these last three games? This has got to be one of the best three-game stretches of your career. What do you think has been the key?) – “Yeah, oh man, like I said earlier man, for me personally my faith in Jesus Christ has allowed me to just go out there, play free, play confident, you know what I mean? My faith has allowed me to know that I’ve been blessed with a gift that can’t go to waste, so it’s got to be daily work put in. Whether that be me staying after practice, me going out there before practice, recovering my body – rest is also a huge part of maintaining a high performance because you’re nothing without your body in this league – in any professional sport. So definitely got to take care of your body, but just keeping my mind right and again, just coming up here every day, being joyful that this amazing opportunity I’ve been blessed with to play this game that I love, that I still am in love with and just go out there, be free and be the best version of myself.”
Jaylen Waddle – December 2, 2024
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Monday, December 2, 2024
WR Jaylen Waddle
(I don’t know if you heard the LB Jordyn Brooks comments about the cold weather being a factor. What did you think? Was cold weather a factor in the Green Bay game?) – “No, not really. I think they just outplayed us, out-executed us and no, we’ve played in colder weather so no.”
(The new offense that you guys have, is this the offense that’s here for the future, do you think or do you think you guys go back next year to the big play passing offense that we saw the previous two seasons?) – “I think we’re doing a good job of taking what the defense gives us, not forcing plays, not putting the quarterback in bad situations where he’s forced to do something or puts the ball in jeopardy. So I think it’s just doing what the defense allows us to do. We’re doing a good job of moving the ball, just got to stay ahead of the chains. We’ll be all right.”
(Would you like to see it go back to where you and WR Tyreek Hill had all those targets and all those receptions?) – “Whatever helps us win. If it’s big plays, yeah, if it’s defense wants to keep its shell and make us drive; whichever helps us win.”
(What do you think can be done in cold weather games to maybe boost the team if you do face those scenarios again in Cleveland…?) – “It’s all about mindset. They’re cold, we’re cold. So go out there and just embrace it, embrace the cold and live in the moment, for real, for real. It was prime time at Lambeau so just live in the moment. You don’t get too many games like that.”
(What about the bigger picture? “This is a speed team and not a tough team” – do you hear that a lot and you heard it after Thursday night’s game? What’s your response?) – “I’d never heard that before.”
(How does the team bounce back?) – “We’ve got a tough opponent ahead in the Jets. So it’s a work week. Back to work. We’ve got five more games. Every game is essential now, so yeah, man, back to work. Keep the main thing the main thing. We’ve got a tough opponent this week.”
(When you guys went back and looked at some of the penalties and the mental mistakes, what would you attribute to some of them?) – “We definitely harp on – Mike (McDaniel) definitely harps on not killing ourselves before the play. We just have to be better in that aspect of the game. Yeah, we’ve just got to be better.”
(Are there times in the game where you or WR Tyreek Hill just don’t want to come out of the game and I say that because sometimes you need a couple shots at something before it happens, you know what I mean? Like are there times where you guys don’t want to come out of games in certain situations?) – “I mean unless we’re just extremely tired, we’re normally in the game and we probably get a play off and then go right in. So me and ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill) definitely try to be in the game. We know that it kind of affects how the defense plays us and trying to keep a shell on so yeah, we always want to be in the game, always.”
(Are you guys in a mindset right now where each game is an elimination game? Do you feel like essentially postseason starts now?) – “Yeah, we dug ourselves into a hole so every game is important now. Every game.”
(You mentioned facing the Jets. What do you think of seeing them again? A team that you have a lot of familiarity with but you haven’t seen them in such a long time, too?) – “It’s going to be a tough game. Every time we play the Jets, it’s going to be a tough game. A great group. Defense is always great. Yeah, man, we’ve got a lot on our plate this week handling everything that comes with them.”
Mike McDaniel – November 29, 2024
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Friday, November 29, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Do you have any sense yet about how severe CB Kader Kohou’s back injury is and are you hopeful for having CB Kendall Fuller back for the Jets game?) – “Hopeful for both. More information on Kader (Kohou), it didn’t seem to be severe but we’ve got to get more information.”
(As you reviewed the tape of last night’s game, in particular I wanted to ask you about the three plays from the 1-yard line. What did you see on tape and what might you do differently as a playcaller?) – “I would do four plays, like I said I thought there was an opportunity for us to score from the 9(-yard line), great effort but a minor execution fault on the perimeter got us to the 1(-yard line). The next play, we had a critical assignment mistake that got us kind of stuffed at the 1(-yard line), then we had a bootleg which we just needed an extra tick to layer the ball out there a little bit further. That was a huge opportunity to score and defense did a good job on the edge to kind of layer the ball and then I thought the defender got to Jonnu (Smith), it was a bang-bang. You hope for a call there, but it’s 50-50 when those happen, it’s just one of those football things. The fourth down call was what I was eluding to last night, I was disappointed in just because this is the way I kind of look at fourth down; sometimes going for it on fourth down you’re successful, sometimes you’re not. I can’t really hang my hat on the result, but what’s important to me is in those situations that I give the players an opportunity to make a play in that moment of truth. In that situation, the defensive presentation was a little difficult for the play. I put Alec Ingold in a really tough spot who got caught up in foot traffic, and with the pocket kind of compressed at the point of attack, there wasn’t really a play to be made. So those are the ones that for me I don’t view as acceptable, I expect better in those situations. I think just going through that, that’s kind of the microcosm for the game where everybody played a part in something and executing football in a way that we hadn’t in the past month offensively and as a result, we came up short.”
(I wanted to get your reaction to a comment that came out of the locker room last night postgame. LB Jordyn Brooks, “We were soft.” What’s your reaction?) – “I think specifically what Jordyn (Brooks) was talking about, I think that has to do with the tackling or the lack there of. So much of the production over 100-some odd yards for them offensively was as a result of tackling, and I think that was a collective issue. It’s two-fold, really. In my mind, it’s hard for me to assess 100% with conviction opinion one way or the other, but I think two things were at play; I saw a consistent failure of tacklers to bring their feet through the tackle, just picture diving and leaving your feet to try to wrap up, as opposed to bringing your feet through the tackle which is our No. 1 fundamental emphasis when we do that. Whether that was because of the cold or the short week, either way both things are consistent with the opponent; the opponent has a short week and the opponent is playing in that weather. There are some things that kind of we took a step back in the football that had gotten us out of 2-6. I’m not sure – whatever factors at play, we need to attack this game singularly and focus on the stuff that we didn’t do that contributed to the result that we had been doing. We got out of, I think the last five guys – even before the three-game win streak, there were three games that we lost but they were all one score, so you saw us playing better football. Then we travel to Green Bay, and unlike the Monday night experience, we didn’t bring some of the nuts and bolts of how we play football and paid for it severely. A 13-point game, three-and-out after the defense was defending a short field based upon a kick return that we gave up too much yardage on special teams, then we had a special teams turnover, too many mistakes there which wasn’t acceptable, so you give up seven points there and then you’re denied on the goal line – that’s 14 points there in a 13-point game. It’s frustrating but it’s also not that complicated from my vantage point. I think it will be very clear when talking to the team, I think they’ll agree. In the National Football League, you learn hard lessons a lot, and we’ll have to hear about all the things that come with this loss and I’d prefer that. I want things earned, not given, and we have some work to do to earn what our goals are.”
(I’m wondering if you guys talk playoffs at this point. Is that still the big picture goal or is strictly week-to-week, game-to-game right now?) – “I think it’s an understated thing that I bring up from time to time just because I try to address things that I know that come up in conversations. I absolutely obsess about – there’s only one thing you can do about your football season, about your football team, about your football play, and that’s through one opponent and when you do that, case in point, we have the prototype right in front of us. When we were 2-6, we weren’t talking about getting to 5-6, we were talking about one opponent. And then when you talk about that one opponent, you talk about how you’re going to improve your football play or how you’re going to execute your football play on that very day, and then you put that to bed and learn from it and go to the next. So the focus is very much on the New York Jets. We have seven losses and that’s the amount of losses we had last year in the playoffs, and we had eight losses, I think, the year before. So a lot of things happened the last five weeks based upon my experience in the NFL, so you just worry about the one opponent with the life of our season absolutely being above water.”
(You guys had been so good about the penalties and reducing the penalties, and they cropped up last night. What happened last night in that respect?) – “That’s another microcosm of the issue. We can’t expect to have the results of the previous games and take a gigantic step back. To the players’ credit, some of those things were absolutely gigantic reasons for losses earlier in the season. And so what happens there? Well, you put a point of emphasis on it, you really focus on it and to their credit, we played really clean football which is how you win in this league. One of the biggest things that good teams do when they’re playing good teams is they play clean football and allow the opponents to make mistakes – that’s what the Packers did to us last night. So in moments like that, you can’t regress on something that has been monumental in your development over the course of the season. If the collective investment is to the standard, it should be an easier lesson to learn in terms of we have the prototype in front of us as how to clean that up. Part of it I think is taking a hard look on short weeks how we can get that done, because I think our team does a great job preparing for opponents, and then why our some of our fundamental principles and foundational principles of our football team regressing in short weeks? That’s something that’s my job to figure out and will be the rest of the coaches to apply it and the players to execute it. So I have some substantial things to work on but things that we are capable of based upon my observation and direct experience this season with this football team.”
(T Kendall Lamm left the game, came back, left again. Do you have any sort of idea of whether this is anything that might be concerning in terms of his availability for the Jets game or beyond?) – “No, I think he was battling. He’s a warrior for us. He had some back stuff and had an elbow thing, but he was showing his grit and his toughness last night. I’ll get more information probably later this afternoon, but nothing is indicating that it’s super severe, but as far as what that means for this week and this game, I’ll have to find some more stuff out.”
(A question about WR Malik Washington. Beyond the muffed punt, which you addressed after the game yesterday, I think it’s twice now in the past two or three games where he’s fielded a punt at the 5- or the 6-yard line and I’m wondering if you guys have some sort of set rule for him: “Do not field a punt inside the 10, at the 5-yard line,” or do you leave it strictly up to his judgement?) – “You have parameters, and the one last week, I think it was last week, but that was him really doing something calculated, it was dangerous, but it was also very smart in terms of how fast the ball was moving backwards and it was probably going to be pinned. He saved us some yardage, risky but heads up play. This one, I think it’s a tough lesson that if I know Malik Washington like I think – yeah, I’m pretty certain that I know – the good news is he learns lessons as well, fast. It’s a part of the reason he’s been able to contribute so much to our team as a rookie is it’s very important to him. It was terrible for a guy who takes the job of contributing to a veteran team as a rookie so serious. It was gut wrenching to see him learn this lesson of you’re in the Midwest, the winds are swirling, the balls in the air and it changes flight, and sometimes the best play, it’s like a quarterback learning to take a sack instead of throwing a pick. I know that’s going to be difficult for him but it’s one of those that you have to understand. And we talked about it during the week, with teams like this, games generally come down to turnovers and extra possessions, which it did and he had to learn a tough lesson the hard way. I know he’ll bounce back.”
(Obviously, injuries are a part of the game but how frustrating is it to lose two corners when you’re already down and there’s no CB Kendall Fuller as well?) – “I try to lead by example and one of the things that I think is paramount, and it’s probably to my fault, is that I refuse to allow myself, nor the team to make excuses. In the game, I really attach zero emotion to it because I think it’s important to focus on what you can control. In this game, there can be a snowball effect and it’s unfortunate, especially when some young guys are really cutting their teeth with some good experience and continuing to progress their game. I would say it’s probably more frustrating; we’ve had position fallout at tackle in 2022 and outside linebacker in 2023, but it gets even more frustrating when you have some young players that are growing in their game and you really want to see them continue to climb mountains. So that’s the tough part for the team and the individuals.”
Mike McDaniel – November 28, 2024 (Postgame)
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Thursday, November 28, 2024
Postgame – at Green Bay Packers
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(On the narrative of playing poorly in cold weather.) – “That’s the thing with narratives. There’s one way to change them and so my expectation would be those who, the naysayers, you prove them right, they’ll be louder. That’s part of the territory. You carry that until you do something about it, and unfortunately, we didn’t tonight.”
(On what went wrong on defense.) – “I’ll have to have a calculated answer for that. I’ll have to refer to the tape. From my eyewitness accounts, it’s an accumulation. Partial is that you have to give the Packers credit. That’s kind of their game. They put guys in space and force you to tackle them. That’s part the missed tackle players, part pursuit. Collective defense against talented space players. You need to stop the ball or force the guy to redirect and then you have to have a teammate come to your aid. Generally, from what I saw, it was a collection of things. I think that there were some positive parts to how they played, but I know that there’s going to be some frustrated individuals when they watch the tape because of that.”
(On how much of tonight’s lack of success is attributed to the cold.) – “I think, the weather and the cold, I didn’t really see that as much of a factor as it was playing football and technique and fundamentals of bringing our feet collectively and getting our hips into tackles and wrapping up. I think the biggest thing is that on a Thursday night game in a short week, you have to be clean, and we weren’t. They were a lot cleaner in terms of penalties. In terms of just our style of play. How complimentary we were specifically in the last game, we were not that tonight and I thought they made us pay. For instance, the first drive, you’re three and out to get the ball back, and that special teams turnover equaled seven points. A turnover on downs on the one-yard line equaled seven points. That’s 14 points in a 13-point game.”
(On what happened with WR Malik Washington on the muffed punt.) – “It was a tough spiraling punt that kind of turned over unexpectedly on him and as a competitor, he’s trying to field every ball, but when you’re reacting to a flight change at the last second, you have to fight your instinct and run the opposite way. He’s trying to be great and not allow an inside the five drive, but that spirit worked against us. The most important thing was hanging onto the ball. We’d prefer the ball on the three-yard line with our possession as opposed to their possession at the nine. That’s a tough learning lesson, but fortunately at least with a guy like Malik (Washington), it won’t be in vain. I know it’s going to be tough for him to swallow and for all of us to swallow.”
(On the turnover on downs at the Packers one-yard line.) – “There’s three plays in particular. The first down on the nine and then the following play that I thought there was some technique errors that could have gotten us into the endzone. Then there is a play call that I’d absolutely like to have back. It was a collection of things over the four-play process that will be tough for us to swallow when we watch the film.”
(On what he told the guys in the locker room.) – “We didn’t come all this way to have this stop us. Yeah, your margin of error is smaller, but tough-minded individuals can learn from the things that kept us from the victory column this game and utilize it in last five games. The biggest thing is that you hyper focus on the next thing and take it one game at a time. The same way that we did when we were 2-6. I told them 5-7 pales in comparison to 2-6. To me, we positioned ourselves to be in a situation where we can withstand a one game setback and still be able to get things done. It’s a long season left, and a lot of things can and will happen, but the main thing we have to do is make sure that all these things that, specifically the self-inflicted wounds, that we use to our benefit and make sure that those things aren’t keeping us from winning football games and moving forward. If you are tough enough to withstand that, which I really believe our absolutely frustrated locker room who knows that it just gets really, really frustrating when you know you’re capable of winning a game and you can point to yourself as why you lost it, and that’s the biggest thing that they are eager to make right because they believe in each other and they believe in this team. We didn’t do it justice this week, and so you have to press forward and that’s really all you can do.”
(On still having more cold weather games this season.) – “There is correlation or causation and that will always be the case from my vantage point. We weren’t failing to snap the ball before delay of game or false starting because of the cold. I think that the tape will show that when we watch it tomorrow, but like anything else you eventually have to overcome it if you are trying to do anything in this league so that narrative like good teams and etcetera, etcetera correlation causation. It will always exist until you defeat it. So I think our guys will look forward to executing in the cold weather at the next opportunity because I think that they know that they can, so they need to and they want to, so we will take advantage of that opportunity when it comes.”
(On the injury to CB Kader Kohou.) – “Yeah, lower back. He cleared protocol. They checked him for that, but it was his lower back so we will find out some more information tomorrow.”
(On the injury to CB Cam Smith.) – “Yeah, his shoulder. I think it came out so he was in a good amount of pain so we will see what that looks like tomorrow.”
(On not activating LB Shaq Barrett this week.) – “In just talking with Chris (Grier) where are roster is at and the players that have earned the right to be on it, it is just a numbers game in the NFL so the timing I don’t think was necessarily ideal.”
(On if LB Shaq Barrett was clear with who he wanted to play for.) – “It wasn’t any measured situation like that posturing one way or the other. Like I said we just found out on a day that I had a press conference with you guys, and it was more of that. It wasn’t whether he wanted to play there or here. He knew we had his contractual rights, so it was more of where we are at, and let’s look at our roster.”
Tua Tagovailoa – November 28, 2024 (Postgame)
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Thursday, November 28, 2024
Postgame – at Green Bay
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa
(On why it took so long for Miami’s offense to get going.) – “Yeah, I think that the things that we progressed on, we somewhat ended up digressing within the first half. Pre-snap penalties, things that we thought we were getting better at. You look at penalties in general. Outside of the pre-snap penalties just the operation wasn’t our style of football that we showed and that’s not how we wanted to start and that’s not how we wanted to play, but I am proud of this team for continuing to stay in it. In the second half, we had an opportunity to come back. Nobody blinked. Everybody continued to stay in the fight.”
(On fourth downs not working out.) “Yeah, the play to Achane, Achane was where he needed to be. That was just a missed throw on something very simple. That is on me. On that fourth-down play where I took the sack, it was one of those where I seen Alec (Ingold) fall and as I got through to Jaylen (Waddle) I couldn’t really navigate to see if he won his matchup or not and by that time I was just trying to maneuver through the pocket and hopefully find an opening to find somebody on a scramble drill.”
(On if FB Alec Ingold was the first read on that play.) – “Yeah.”
(On if the cold weather impacted the slow start offensively) – “I wouldn’t say any of the things that were out there as far the elements are going to be used as an excuse for the reason as to why we started slow. When you are on the road, it’s always tough to communicate and operate at such a high level the way you want to and that’s why it is very premier that in walk through and practice, when it is loud, that you are locking in so that you know did I hear this, did I hear that, or did I say the correct thing in the huddle and are we getting out there and doing what we need to do to execute this play. So I would say from my standpoint and from our team’s standpoint we aren’t going to use any of that as an excuse as to why we didn’t get the start that we wanted.”
(On Green Bay’s run defense making things difficult for the entire offense.) – “I think it makes it challenging for any offense to go out there and not sort of be one-dimensional, but to mix in runs and then mix in play passes with those runs. Obviously tonight we were a little more pass heavy, but it does make it tougher, but sometimes that is what the game asks of you, especially when you are playing catch-up from behind.”
(On having a 5-7 record.) – “As far as season hopes I would say that this one was a tough one for us as a team. I know what this game meant to a lot of the guys in this locker room. I wouldn’t say that the dream is dead for our team just yet. Anything can happen in this league and we are going to watch the film and look over things that we need to get better at. We are going to come back next week and just keep chopping wood. Keep chopping wood and find a way to win the next game and keep stacking those again.”
Mike McDaniel – November 26, 2024
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Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(I know all the focus obviously is on getting through this week and winning Thursday, but just to get this out of the way with Shaq Barrett unretiring today, are you and General Manager Chris Grier open to his return at some point next week or beyond?) – “Just to be candid, obviously there’s a reason why you target and sign somebody, and then I was fully caught off guard or caught by surprise this morning as I found out and it wouldn’t be reasonable or – I really haven’t had a chance to think about it. I think the team is counting on me to think about the Packers and I’ll get with Chris (Grier) and we’ll work through that, but there’s a ton of implications that go along with it in terms of team and roster stuff, so we’ll work through that as we just got the news today.”
(And with LB Tyus Bowser that sort of popped up – two injuries that he’s dealing with – do you expect him to be available Thursday?) – “He’s working through it. He’s a competitor that really wants to play so we’ll give him – what is today?”
(Tuesday.) – “Tuesday, Wednesday a little bit and we should know more tomorrow.”
(Where are you with LB Cameron Goode? You said he was ahead of LB Bradley Chubb, but is he at the point where his window can open?) – “Are you asking, is he ‘Goode’? (laughter) He is Cam Goode. I have nothing to report other than no setbacks. They’re getting closer for sure and there’s a lot that goes into it, but Cam is approaching ‘good’ or he is ‘Goode’ or he will be good.”
(What made S Marcus Maye the choice to make room for S Patrick McMorris?) – “Tough decisions, really a lot of roster variables and positions. You have to take into account anybody that has an injury in that position group that affects depth, so when you’re trying to make tough decisions and it involves a safety, a lot of the times it comes from the position group. But I absolutely have high regard for Marcus (Maye), and I would say it’s less about him and more about ‘Pat’ (McMorris) and the stuff he has to offer. He’s ready to go.”
(If I can just one more about Shaq Barrett, I know he kind of surprised you guys with the retirement in camp. Had you guys communicated with him at any point up to this week of that he’s contemplating this before?) – “No, so that’s why it’s just kind of news as you guys got it, it’s to us. So we’ll sort through that. The Tuesday of a Thursday night game, it’s tough to kind of totally know the way – I’ve got to talk to Chris (Grier) first and I’ve just got done with a meeting and about to go to another one. So we’ll get to do that, but I hadn’t had any communication.”
(Earlier today it was announced that WR Tyreek Hill’s tickets were dismissed. Knowing that the season kind of started and you were emotional about everything that had occurred in Week 1, do you have any response to that? Did you hear about that, that his citations were dismissed at all?) – “I have a lot of people make me aware of a lot of things, but I think with regard to the business at hand – I did go into depth into that situation when it occurred at the very beginning of the season, but I don’t think it’d be prudent relative to what this team is preparing for and I don’t really have much else to say beyond what I already have.”
(The Packers defense has 22 takeaways, eight games with multiple takeaways this year. What makes them so good at taking the football away from opposing offenses?) – “When you’re talking about takeaways and turnovers, so much of it has to do with the variable that you can’t control and that’s effort. The Green Bay Packers, a defense lead by Coach (Jeff) Hafley is a very high octane, high effort crew, so good things happen when you are pursuing the ball and have high strain. Some of those fumbles become turnovers when you have a collective effort, so I think it starts with the overall strain. They’re very ball aware; you can tell they talk about it a ton. A good zone defense that plays with vision and then has the accompanied pass rush that can make quarterbacks make a decision a hair earlier than they would like to. You leave yourself vulnerable to risky situations when pass rush and coverage are tied together, and I think ultimately, they do a good job of taking advantage of mistakes. You have an overthrow, generally it’s a pick – a lot of guys with ball skills in the back end. I think the collective effort doesn’t surprise me that they rank where they do without seeing the takeaways directly based upon how they play every play. When I did come across the takeaways, I wasn’t surprised because they play each and every down that way.”
(The balance in this offense right now, the ability to sustain and elongate drives, do you feel like this style is better suited for success in cold winter environments like the one you’re about to see on Thursday?) – “I think that the variables that you can’t control like your opponents, your matchups and weather, being able to adapt to certain circumstances is vital. Being able to be aggressive when attacking a defense, inherent in that is being able to have success in a multitude of ways. So being able to show up on a game day and survive the elements, maybe you show up and defenses flip the script and it’s an eight-man front and they play two man all day. Or they’re a two-man team and they just play zone spot drop. You’re constantly trying to sharpen the axe, so to speak, for every team in one shape or form faces elimination games. In elimination games, you don’t choose the matchup, you don’t choose the situation; you just keep playing or your season is over, whether that’s to get in the playoffs or in the playoffs. I think it’s important for teams to be not subject to matchup if they’re trying not to leave it up to fortune for their success or failure of a season.”
(I wanted to ask you about your history with Head Coach Matt LaFleur. You guys were together for three spots. Having an intimate knowledge of a guy being on your coaching staff, you’ve been in meetings with, knowing his thought processes and him knowing yours, does that hurt you in the process of preparing for a game like this?) – “Just based upon successes and failures as your career goes, I think for me at least, earlier in my career knowing information or things that I thought that I knew, you can kind of overthink certain situations. I think ultimately with Matt (LeFleur), I just know the team is going to be super prepared. The second I start crystal balling things based upon the past, then I’m leaving myself vulnerable if he’s still working hard and changing which I know he is. I think the biggest thing is as a coach, I have such a high regard and respect for Matt. He’s been a big part of my career and was really helping me along during my career path when times were tough and when things were going well. Through all of that, I know that regardless his standard is that he prepares his team – offense, defense, special teams. He is going to be detailed, and they’re going to be ready to play and they’re not going to take you lightly and you’re going to have to play football to beat them. So that’s where I’m going to kind of leave it. Based upon my past, the second I’ve absoluted something to a coworker or a fellow coach – I got that out of the way before I was a head coach because I’d do it and then you’re wrong and then you’re like, ‘Sorry.’ As a head coach, people tend to at least pretend to listen to me more. So I try not to overly crystal ball, but the one thing that I make sure that the whole coaching staff and the team knows is that come Thursday night, there’s going to be a prepared motivated team that’s going to come after us and going to give us their best shot.”
(Given your relationship with Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur, is there any fun story or friendly wager that you think about as you prepare to coach against him?) – “Beyond some nonsense texts that I sent out after our game on Sunday that may or may not have incentivized – I was giving him the optimist, ‘Hey, if you don’t feel like trying that hard, it’s OK.’ (laughter) You want to talk about things that I probably shouldn’t say in a press conference at a microphone, we were at our late 20s, just cutting our teeth in the coaching industry and what’s funny is when you look back, you don’t feel like you’re young in your late 20s – or at least I didn’t, I thought I was like an adult. But some of the things that you think you know as a football coach, you’re not nearly as hardened from tough times and you think you have some answers and you get humbled along the way, and just some of the growing that we did as coaches, it was very impactful. He really pushed me and some of the other coaches I was working with because he’s a tireless worker and that type of competitive nature as you’re cutting your teeth as a coach in the league, it’s a big deal and it’s gone a long way in my career. I think the world of him and it doesn’t surprise me the success that he’s had. And he’s – I’m just going to have to concede, he’s probably the best-looking guy out there. I mean let’s just be honest, so I’ll concede that title for sure.”
(Sean McVay is pretty attractive.) – “You think so?”
(Yeah.) – “I don’t know. So you prefer Sean McVay to Matt LaFleur? I can’t wait until he hears that. (laughter)”
(A lot of the players have shared the times that they’ve watched Thanksgiving night football as they were little. Do you have any special memories of watching games on Thanksgiving night?) – “Yeah, I think it might be the coolest game to play in in the regular season. I can remember – you guys might remember – a snow game with Leon Lett. Like that’s one of my first TV memories, I was in Fort Morgan, Colorado – population like, 12,000 people in northeast Colorado, and I remember sitting there, watching that. I think it’s unique and special because everybody can relate to, ‘All right, well I know that my family is sitting down. My Uncle Ray is sleepy because he always eats too much turkey,’ all the different nuances of family time, but it’s always kind of centered around watching football after old school people would be watching the parade and stuff and then you turn on the game. So it’s something that everybody can identify with, it being a holiday experience that is annual, so it’s a cool thing to be a part of. You feel very grateful and that’s always a cool experience to have that platform and have everyone jump into your season journey and get the opportunity to play in front of America. It’s a really cool one that I don’t think is lost on anybody.”
(Did you get a chance to evaluate Jordan Love when he came out? And if so, how have you seen his evolvement as a quarterback?) – “Great player. I think what’s been cool is any time you watch people have expectations thrust upon them and then to be able to grow as a quarterback, you can see the influence on his game that he took from Aaron Rodgers but then you can also see him play his own style of ball. I think the way he competes is real cool; I think he’s not afraid of the situation. He will make the long, intermediate or short throw, so it’s been cool to watch him develop, and I know Matt (LaFleur) has a fun time coaching him.”
(With OL Isaiah Wynn activated, do you envision a reserve role at first for him and could there be competition down the road?) – “I think one foot in front of the other. I think right now – Isaiah (Wynn) is a competitor, so he’s working to be his best each and every practice. As coaches, we don’t always have the most patience in the world, but I think it would be silly of me not to take into account there was a year, almost a calendar year, where he didn’t play football. So you’re trying to put players in positions to succeed; I love him as a player but I’m careful not to put him in situations that isn’t prudent to his success. And there’s also some guys, Rob Jones is really playing at a high level and the facilitation of ‘Brew’ (Aaron Brewer) and both Rob and Liam (Eichenberg) has been a strength of ours during the course of the season. But you love those problems in terms of there’s only so many spots on the field that guys can play, so I’m happy for Isaiah to continue to work and feel better and better each and every practice so that becomes more and more difficult for us.”
Alec Ingold – November 26, 2024
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Tuesday, November 26, 2024
FB Alec Ingold
(What’s the earliest you can ever recall thinking to yourself, “I’d love to play on that field someday?”) – “That’s a funny story. Like I said, it’s a gathering space, right? So I was probably eight or nine years old, my cousin is getting married and they have wedding receptions there. So we’re up there and everyone is dancing, having a good time and they had one of the suites open where you could just get desserts or whatever. And I sat down there for like hours just staring out at the field like, ‘Man, I want to be out there. I want to be there one day. I want to play on this field one day.’ So that was probably the earliest memory of me dreaming about being able to play on that field. Played there in Pop Warner, played there in college – we played against LSU Week 1 my sophomore season – and then again as a rookie. So it’ll be fun to be able get back onto that field.”
(I’ve been to just about every NFL stadium but that one, what makes it so special?) – “I think it’s a community place; it’s faith, family and football there. That’s how people eat, live and breathe, it’s all about that organization and that sport. I think it brings people together, I think they’ve done a great job of continuing to renovate the place while keeping the history of it alive and well. So I just think they do a lot of things the right way. I think it’s going to be a really cool honor to be able to be on that field, especially for Thanksgiving. There’s been a lot of memories there for a lot of people growing up in that area.”
(Are you the most popular guy in the locker room these days, considering you’re going back to the crib with everybody in town?) – “I don’t know, I don’t know about that. I think Tua (Tagovailoa) might still be and I think we got Jonnu (Smith) over there who’s playing well, so we can pass that love around the locker room a little bit.”
(In the spirit of the holiday, what are some of the things that you’re thankful for and just being able to play on this evening?) – “First off, I think I’m thankful for being here, being where our feet are, all these opportunities. I’m thankful for family and thankful for being able to be adopted and brought into that family that I’m apart of and being able to have a platform that can advocate for those individuals and those families that might look a little bit different on Thanksgiving this Thursday, but it’s all the same and really special for all those folks.”
(I know you guys are preparing for the Thanksgiving night game, but some of your favorite dishes on the holiday – what can you indulge in? Even though during football season you guys got to –) – “Well I know mac and cheese is big up where I’m from, so you got to get as much cheese and all the cheese curds, all that stuff. Mac and cheese, you got good turkey is always pretty good, so I’m pretty simple with that stuff.”
(How many tickets are you responsible for?) – “My dad took good care of it. Our extended family is all taken care of, but I bet you there’s a hundred, couple hundred people that are going to be there all repping Dolphins stuff. I told them, ‘No Packers gear. You can’t bring it in.’ (laughter) So we’ve got a lot of extra Dolphins fans in the stands for this one.”
(Playing on that iconic field is one thing, but a Thanksgiving game and as big of a game as it is for the Dolphins – that’s the triple-threat right there, that just must be everything?) – “Yeah, it’s prime time and you think about growing up, families all sitting together watching football – I lived that. Playing in ‘Turkey Bowls’ out in the back yard, we played in ‘Turkey Bowls’ out in the Titletown district steps away from the stadium. That’s where I grew up, that’s where family kind of learned the love of the game. So for family and football to kind of be brought together on Thanksgiving night, it’s about as good as it gets.”
(I hear that all of the teams playing on Thanksgiving are going to have John Madden patches on their jerseys. When you think about John Madden, what comes to mind?) – “I think about the turducken. (laughter) I think about him being that voice of football for so long, every big-time game educating fans, educating families in how to play football. He was fun, he brought energy about him. Obviously a legend in the coaching world. He did a lot of great things for this game and I’m glad that we’ll be able to continue to remember his legacy.”
(I’m not sure if you heard, but Shaq Barrett came out of retirement. How cool is that that you guys own the rights and might be able to have him back here in this locker room?) – “Yeah, that would be good to obviously – any way that he is able to help this team, I think would be good for us. I think healthy competition always brings the best out of people, so hopefully it’s all good. Obviously enjoyed him as a teammate while he was here and wished him the best with his entire retirement and then coming out. You hope the best for all those guys that you walk across and meet along this league, you’re always a big fan of the players that you share this locker room with.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that QB Tua Tagovailoa has made significant improvement when it comes to emotional control in a football game. I was curious, coming into the huddle, do you know of any examples of that within the last couple years? Is he different this year at all?) – “He was singing all game on the sidelines, so I think he’s got his swagger back in his own way. He’s in his own skin. So I think it’s just a part of growing up and being in the third year of this offense, being able to play the game within the game. He’s been doing outstanding, I think we’ll continue that whole trend, so he’s doing a great job.”
