Jordyn Brooks – November 17, 2024 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024
Postgame – Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins LB Jordyn Brooks
(What can you say about the defense’s performance today?) – “I thought we were OK. We weren’t our best today. We gave up some touchdowns I don’t think they should have got. We pride ourselves on being a Top 5 defense, so there’s some things we’ve got to clean up but I thought we finished well.”
(I saw you gather the team on the sideline. What was the message and have you had to do that before?) – “Just the timing of the game, I felt that the Raiders were gaining momentum and those times, you kind of want to get everybody back focused and let them know we’ve still got the lead, we just have to keep the lead and finish it.
(What do you guys say to each other in the locker room after winning but like you said not being fully satisfied?) – “Enjoy the win. Always have to enjoy the win because it is hard to win in this league. Enjoy and then the next 24 hours, get back to work because we’re not where we want to be. We’re heading there, but we’re not where we want to be. Be content but don’t be satisfied.”
-DOLPHINS-
Jalen Ramsey – November 17, 2024 (Postgame)
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Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024
Postgame – Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey
(What does it mean to get the first back-to-back win for the season for you guys?) – “It means a lot. It means we can start stacking them up, letting our preparation turn over to Sundays or Mondays or Thursdays, whenever we play our games. So it means a lot, but we’ve got to keep going.”
(Tell us about the interception. What did you see on the play?) – “He kind of just threw it to me, for real, and I had to get down there and make the catch, but that was it.”
(What do you like about your role with the defense? I see you sneaking up on the line, sitting on the pass, you got an interception, what do you like about your role?) – “Yeah, it keeps me in the game plan. It keeps offenses guessing a little bit. Just my versatility, going where I’m at, makes the linemen pay attention to me, makes the running backs pay attention to me, and of course, the receivers. So it’s fun. It keeps me motivated, it keeps me focused throughout the game. In the past when I’ve only played corner and things like that, it could at times get boring. I love the game and have fun but in the sense of being in the action, being in the game plan. So it’s cool, it’s fun.”
(DT Zach Sieler has a sack, DT Calais Campbell has a sack, just how big are those guys up front for you guys?) – “They’re literally big. (laughter) They’re big for us. Captains of the team, leaders of the team, they help set the tone with a handful of the other guys. They are super important to what we have going on this year.”
(Do you feel momentum building here?) – “We got to keep building so that’s all that matters. It’s what we feel in here and just continuing to build. Obviously we are happy, don’t get it twisted, but we can’t get too high or too low. We’ve been preaching that all year, even through the tough times and the good times like today. So, yeah, we’re going to keep building.”
-DOLPHINS-
Tua Tagovailoa – November 17, 2024 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 17, 2024
Postgame – Las Vegas Raiders
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (transcribed by ASAP Sports)
Q. Can you talk about a guy like Jonnu Smith, what he did today on the field to be able to also help with this win today?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think it’s super cool. We’ve had plans to implement him in the past within the offense, so be it, the defense doesn’t allow for him to get as many catches as we would like for him. But it’s been really cool to see his progression from the prime time game we had against the Rams to now. Just being in the right spots. It’s just a lot of the reps that we’ve gotten throughout training camp and leading up to this point. So all of this that everyone is seeing isn’t new to our team, but now that he’s being implemented more and getting the ball, going through the progressions, that’s just what it is. He’s a baller.
Q. You had all kinds of yards and points and last year was a special year offensively, but you didn’t do it like you’re doing it now. The 12-, 14-, 16-play drives. What’s been different for you guys?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think what’s been different with the quarterback play is now not trying to force things down the field if it’s not there. Taking the checkdowns, allowing our runners in space to go get first downs. Hopefully they can break a tackle and you can use that also as essentially a run play if you look at it in that sense. And we like our matchups with our guys in space, so that’s what I would attest to today’s performance for us offensively.
Q. Sometimes when players are off for a week or two or three weeks, they get a chance to see the game a little bit differently from the side. Was this something when you came back that you wanted to implement? To be a little bit more ball control, keep drives up, alive longer?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Not necessarily. I think coming back it’s more so how can we get back into our rhythm as an offense, finding that rhythm, whether it’s in the run game, the action game, the pass game, whatever that looks like and just protecting the ball. Not trying to force things if it’s not there. We’ve got good enough players to where if we get them the ball in space, we like our chances. That’s sort of been the mindset coming back. And really pocket presence as well. If guys want to drop eight or if they want to bring pressure, just feeling that out. If I still have time in the pocket, just moving subtly, things like that.
Q. Talk a bit about having to limit an explosive player like Maxx Crosby on defense. How did you guys game plan for him? And how ultimately are you able to pull off limiting him to just five total tackles?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: He’s a dawg. Everyone knows that around the league. If you watch his tape, he’s in every play. Dude has a motor like no other. Got a lot of respect for him. Got a lot of respect for his game. A lot of what we did was because of where he was on the field, so we had a lot of check outs of runs and things like that to go away from him. Once you get somebody like that going in a game and he gets a rhythm, it’s sort of hard to stop it regardless of the scheme or whatever. Players make the plays work, so got a lot of respect for him.
Q. When Divine Deablo was closing in on you in the last touchdown, did you see Jonnu? Did you know he was going to be there the whole time or did he all of a sudden come open to you?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: You know, I don’t know – I think that was, for Jonnu, that was a feel-space kind of play because essentially that wasn’t what we called for that play to be. And I think he just felt space and was, like, ‘if I break it in, like, I could run into this guy over here.’ And he kind of just throttled going forward and was just, like, ‘yo, I’m over here.’ So I got out – I think at the beginning of it the motion kind of messed up what they wanted to do. I think they were trying to get into a (Cover) Zero look. And I think 5, with the communication in the back end, I think it was messed up. That’s why they dropped it. It was 2-for-3 and they were trying to bring 5. But it helped that they had that communication error because he ended up adding late. So that was cool.
Q. As a leader of the offense, just to give Jake Bailey essentially the day off with no punts. Can you describe that feeling?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Free money for him. Good for him. Great for him. We took a picture. Had zero punts. Happy for him. It should signify that, for the most, part things are going well offensively.
Q. What keyed the 10-for-14 on third and fourth downs? What was the key?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think just staying in it, continuing to have the Seakeeper mindset and each play stands on its merit. Just go through my reads. And having it in the back of my head with what other teams have played prior to us on third downs that they could potentially do that instead of what they would normally do in those down and distances and having those answers. So I think everyone was dialed in and locked in on that.
Q. Going back to the past two games, how close or far do you think you are to playing your best football?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I think it’s a week-to-week thing. We’ve just got to build off of what we can learn from this week. We move forward. We see what the next opponent is and things that we can do to get better to give us the edge to win that next game. And we’ll continue to move forward. I don’t think anyone can play their best game essentially. But you try to minimize the amount of mistakes that you have in games. So I think that’s what we’re trying to do.
Q. On that topic, just talk a bit about, there’s a couple of big playoff-caliber matchups ahead, however you do have New England next Sunday. Just talk about not looking too far ahead, especially against a team you guys have already beaten earlier in the season.
TUA TAGOVAILOA: We’re looking forward to playing New England, but first off we’re going to enjoy the win tonight, go home to our families, hang out with our friends, whatever that looks like. And we’ll come in Monday, watch the film, put that to rest, and then we’ll get on to New England and focus on that week.
Q. I think you had extended play completions to Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. I might be missing another one, but are those plays particularly rewarding? Do you get a personal sort of rush of confidence when those occur, the extended plays?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: Yeah, sure, if you will. Yeah. Any time we can extend plays and keep their offense off the field and we can continue to be on the field, you love that at all times. I just got to be better with protecting the ball inside the pocket.
Q. Just to put up the amount of points you guys did, how gratifying is it understanding, all right, like, all this, we’re finally seeing this on Sundays?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: It’s cool. It’s cool. We’re glad that everyone gets to see it. One thing that I know with the players in the locker room is they’re not satisfied. There’s a lot of things that we wish we could have done better, especially on my end with my play, with some throws. I wish I could have had back for certain guys. But that’s just the way the game goes. It’s football. You learn from it and you continue to play the game as it is.
Q. Your first touchdown came on a tipped ball on fourth down. Your last touchdown of the game just popped wide open. First time all season winning two in a row. Do you feel like you have more momentum going into the back half of the season?
TUA TAGOVAILOA: I would say any time you can get a win in the NFL, it’s a momentum builder for your team, for the locker room, for the organization. It always feels better when your body is hurting after a win than a loss. I would say we’re looking forward to New England next week. We’re going to enjoy this game and move forward.
-DOLPHINS-
Mike McDaniel – November 17, 2024 (Postgame)
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Sunday, November 17, 2024
Postgame – Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
Q. The four long drives — 14, 16, 14 and 10 plays. What do you think when you absorb that, digest that, the four long drives?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I think you know you’re diligently working at various things in our football. I think last year we might have had three drives that were 14-plus plays the entire year. So it has been a focus of ours in anticipation of how guys were going to defend us and then as we’ve gone through the season, adjusting to how defenses have adjusted to us, and I think that’s a lot of hours of practice, meeting room – that’s what comes to mind, as well as the collective effort of our coaching staff, starting with (Offensive Coordiantor) Frank Smith, but all the position coaches being connected with the players and really focusing on fundamentals and technique to improve our game because the idea is if the whole orchestration of your offense is right, it shouldn’t matter who you go against or what they decide to do. So a lot of execution, a lot of people making plays, and a lot of fundamentals and detail that go into that earned productivity.
Q. What has TE Jonnu Smith meant to you guys and has he exceeded what you expected when you first got him?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I knew it was a great add by Chris (Grier) and the pro (personnel) department just because of his skills with the ball in his hands, and then I knew secondhand from a couple of coaches that have been on staffs before the type of person we were getting. But I think the collective of his play and who he is has really added something very important to our offense. Ultimately, he’s making defenses pay for the over attention that Tyreek (Hill) and (Jaylen) Waddle get, and that space that’s added by, let’s say, call it you have a linebacker playing in the alley between the numbers and the hash and his landmark is three yards deeper based upon our offense and trying to stop the in-breaks for Tyreek and Waddle. Well, he’s making full use of those extra three yards and adding a real cool element to our offense that we needed every yard that he’s had for us this year. It was cool to see him make plays in opportune times today.
Q. We asked you about becoming a ball control offense. On third down, what’s the key since QB Tua Tagovailoa has been back?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I think the development of like when Tua was out, our offensive skill positions didn’t throw their hat or they didn’t tap. This year, those tight ends, receivers, running backs, have done a very good job at developing their game within the season, which is very hard to do. So their attention to detail in situations today, the Raiders coming into the game were a very zone-oriented defense on third down. And today, they played virtually all man, specifically the first half, which is, as we are a group working together over time, we’ve learned to adjust faster to the unexpected because it’s been a long time since a defense has just shown up and done what they’ve done against other teams against us. You don’t get that exact work, all the plays that we’re running on third down during the week against man coverage. That’s the idea of them showing up and surprising us, but we’ve been focusing on fundamentals and technique to beat man each and every week from a route tree perspective. So being able to do that, having the amount of time, the protection plan being executed and then I think Tua has just been very, very – he’s taken a gigantic step in his game. He’s got control of the emotional piece of the football game and isn’t trying to force things unnecessarily, isn’t trying to make plays when they’re not there, but also finding ways to extend plays and making more plays than maybe the play that I gave him enabled them to do. So a lot of work, and I think the good news is although we haven’t gotten a 30-point offensive output all season, that’s been kind of the standard and expectation of the guys and they’ve been unrelenting in that expectation standard for themselves. So I think today, we got to tap into all that work and I don’t see our crew really taking the foot off the gas just because there’s a lot to prove each and every week. It was fun to get our first consecutive win of the season but we’ll have another tough journey next week and the week after that as that continues. I like where we’re at. We have a lot left to do.
Q. You have used basketball references before. What is the value of seeing the ball go in the hoop and the value of that win last week after being so close, two or three weeks before, the value of stringing two or three together?
MIKE MCDANIEL: Well, I think for this season, for this team, it’s monumental because there’s only so far that belief can last through adversity. And I think when you have a losing streak of like three games, that’s 21 days of – and you have the next week before the next game, it’s almost like a month of it’s not good enough, but then you have guys continuing to chop wood and holding themselves accountable and finding ways that they can burden themselves with that result and that’s trying. Worried? It makes you a little nervous when you find your fifth and sixth loss of the season consecutively on the last second. But then thankfully during the work week, my worries were appeased because I saw guys not breaking and going after it. So they deserve to be feeling the feeling of a two-game win streak. Based upon feelings that we’ve had for a couple of months at the beginning of the season, I think – I don’t know about you guys, but winning feels a lot better than losing. So I think we’re going to keep trying to do that.
Q. You had success on third downs the Raiders also did. What were you finding some of the challenges in that setting and what can you say about TE Brock Bowers?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I’ll have to look at the tape. We’ve been very successful, specifically in the previous game on third down. It was one of the reasons we were able to win that game against the Rams. And they found a rhythm where, I think, they were ultimately, including fourth downs, 10-of-16, maybe? I think it was 8-of-14, 10-of-16. It was tough. It made the drives last long. We need to find a way to get off the field and take advantage of some of the momentum on the opposite side of the ball, and that’s an important part of team football is playing complementary football and being able to put a team away when you have the ability to. I think that would have occurred earlier if we would have been able to find some success on third downs, but I was very happy with the fact that more often than not, even when they were driving, we kept them out of the end zone and had several, or we had a couple, four-point plays that helped the score be what it was. We had some tackling issues. Bowers, he’s legit. We knew coming out of the draft, we were very high on him, and he didn’t disappoint. He’s going to be a player that everybody knows for years to come, in my opinion.
Q. Can you talk about the defensive line’s efforts and what the return of DT Zach Sieler has meant to the team?
MIKE MCDANIEL: I saw an uptick in generated pass rush from my live observation, from our big guys, and it was really cool. Zach Sieler and Calais (Campbell) together do some really, really cool things in terms of working together, pass rush lanes, stunts, and just bringing the much-needed juice. I would say they’re probably the heartbeat of our defense, for sure. And everybody plays off of that. And we have players on all three levels making plays from some of the production they do in the run and pass game. So (they are) very important players to us. Zach, personally, he’s probably like my binkie. I don’t like doing game day without him. He’s the guy when we pray together in the locker room that sits next to me every single week and a lot of guys have really, if they didn’t already appreciate it, appreciate what type of playmaker he is for us. Every opponent ends up saying that he’s probably better than they realized, and that’s good for us. Hopefully they can keep doing that.
Q. After so many completions between 13 and 24 yards, what was it like to see that 57-yarder develop?
MIKE MCDANIEL: It wasn’t real. I was getting ready for my next call on the 30-yard line. (laughter) No, those are strenuous. If you can’t tell by my energy level right now, my eyes feel like they’re bleeding because you’re just staring at your call sheet and the defense. A lot of decisions to be made. It was nice to have one pop. And that’s what happens. You have to earn that. Well, in that situation, so many guys had made the appropriate play versus soft coverage, four-man rush, that it forces the defense to try to bring five or six. And the way that we operate in our offense and motion guys around, that makes it difficult to totally play sound. They dropped a guy and to Tua’s credit, he waited an extra tick longer to go get the ball to Jonnu (Smith). If teams want you to earn it, then you need to play that way to have explosives. Explosives are an important part of winning football, just because it’s hard to execute play in play out at five yards a tick. But if a defense wants to commit to playing keep-the-ball-in-front-of-you defense, then you have to execute in the ways we did and have long drives to force them to be a little riskier. But like we’ve seen all year, we’re going to have to earn those types of defenses, which is what I was happy with the collective unit that they were able to do that this week.
-DOLPHINS-
PFWA Pool Reporter Case Keefer Interview with Referee John Hussey – November 17, 2024
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PFWA Pool Reporter Case Keefer Interview with Referee John Hussey
Las Vegas Raiders vs. Miami Dolphins
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Question: When was the facemask penalty noticed and when was the flag thrown (third quarter, Las Vegas first-and-goal at the four, 5:22 remaining)?
Hussey: “So I announced the holding penalty from one official. Two officials were talking to each other and they were piecing it together. I think they both had a feeling or a sense that there was something on the play. So, they came together and were talking and as I announced the holding penalty, they confirmed the fact that they had a facemask, threw the flag and brought that to my attention. I just took the next step and did another announcement to include the facemask and offset both penalties.”
Question: Was that why the initial holding penalty seemed like it was already assessed?
Hussey: “I don’t think it was assessed or stepped off because I had just announced it. The two officials were talking behind me, and I wasn’t sure what they were talking about. But it did not cause me any concern. It is just one of those plays where they each had a different angle, and they wanted to collectively talk to each other to get to that result.”
Question: Was the call affected by either the replay or the reaction from the crowd?
Hussey: “No, we don’t officiate that way.”
