Ifeatu Melifonwu – March 24, 2025
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Monday, March 24, 2025
S Ifeatu Melifonwu
(I want to know what does your name mean and is there any easy way to understand the pronunciation or is something shorter that guys generally call you?) – “Yeah, so first, my name means ‘reminder.’ It’s Igbo, I’m Nigerian, it’s Igbo, so ‘reminder’. So basically, my mom said when she was pregnant with me, unfortunately her dad passed away a couple months earlier so now whenever it’s my birthday, she knows it reminds her of when her dad passed. So it’s like reminder. And you say it, ‘ee-FAH-too, ee-FAH-too,’ but usually, mostly everyone calls me ‘Iffy,’ like ‘I-F-F-Y.’ So like college, high school, when I was in Detroit, coaches, trainers, media would call me ‘Iffy’ but usually when something is posted it will be Ifeatu. They don’t put ‘Iffy’ in the article.”
(I saw that your brother also played in the league, or still plays in the league, not sure. What did that do for you in terms of giving you a goal for something to aspire for?) – “Yeah, it definitely gave me a goal of just to see someone I’m related to, my brother, someone close to me just to make it. It inspired me to make it, motivated me to beat his numbers at Combine and everything. But more so, from a competition standpoint he just really pushed me and gave me advice on things to do or how the league would be.”
(First, the Dolphins had a fourth-ranked defense last year. What stood out to you about the unit just as a whole?) – “I feel like just the playmakers they had. Just the playmakers, (Jalen) Ramsey, Kader (Kohou) – obviously (Jevón) Holland but he’s gone – and Chop (Robinson) as well. I was in-season, so I wasn’t really watching the Dolphins that much, but I would always see – we would watch a turnover tape, and we’d always see the Dolphins and stuff on there and them just making plays and flying around and it looks like having fun as well.”
(What was your impression of Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver?) – “It was good. Great first impression, we had a great meeting when I went up there to sign and everything. Just excited for the opportunity to work with him and he said he’s excited for the opportunity to coach me as well.”
(I know you’ve had some unfortunate injuries throughout your career. Do you personally view it as just a bunch of bad luck or are there some things that you think you can do moving forward to limit injuries?) – “I think early on I didn’t do as much as I should have been, like just being young. But there’s definitely – sometimes it’s luck to be honest. Some stuff I had, like tackle and I got rolled up on with my ankle facing up. Sometimes it’s just pure luck, but there’s definitely stuff I’ve approached this offseason with my trainer and nutrition-wise and different stuff like that to help prevent injuries going forward.”
(How important is it to you to be a starter?) – “I mean, it’s very important. I feel like through the four years I’ve proved what I can do and people have seen it and my coach, Coach (Brian) Duker, when he was there when I was at the Lions, he’s seen it firsthand so it’s very important to me. I know I’m still going to have to go out and compete and earn a starting spot and I’ve never really had anything handed to me even since Syracuse days. So I’m excited for that opportunity but I definitely feel like as a starter there’s things that I can bring to this defense and have an impact on the defense.”
(Obviously, you would have been a full-time starter in Detroit last year if not for the injury. You’ve had starting experience, but the Dolphins haven’t signed anyone who’s started like 60 or 70 NFL games at safety. Did they tell you that they envision you being a starter in the post-Jevón Holland, post-Jordan Poyer era?) – “I mean, without saying too much the conversations that I’ve had are that it would be a great fit for me there and they’re excited to work with me. So we’ll see what happens. I’m excited to just get the opportunity to compete and that’s all I’m really looking forward to.”
(And your skill set, how does it fit Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver, Pass Game Coordinator/Secondary Coach Brian Duker defense do you think? What things do you do well that are important in this defense where obviously they’ve had like a Kyle Hamilton type at safety with Weaver’s background with Baltimore?) – “I just feel like from seeing me play in Detroit, I just feel like my size and speed and coverage ability and being able to tackle and blitz can really help anyone’s defense in general. So I’m just excited to see where I’ll play, how they’ll use me. Haven’t really got the opportunity to fully talk about that in depth, so I’m just excited and anywhere they decide to put me I’ll be happy at. Like I said, I’m just ready to go out there and compete.”
(You were with Detroit during the rise of that organization, and you remember the 2022 game you played against the Dolphins. The organizations have gone in different directions since then. What led to your guys’ ascent in Detroit and what can you apply from that to the Dolphins?) – “I feel like even going back to 2021, I know we were 3-13-1 but when you really watch those games and how we would lose those games, we would lose like last second field goal – Justin Tucker NFL record 66-yard field goal, Kirk Cousins last-minute drive. So we were right there and I feel like we just fully bought in from right when Coach (Dan) Campbell got there. So we knew it was just like keep working and we never lost our identity through it all. And it just showed, like just kept putting our head down and going to work and I feel like that’s what I’ll bring to the Dolphins. I’m just going to – right when I get there, just buy into everything Coach (McDaniel) is saying and everything Coach Weaver is saying and just put your head down and work and avoid all the distractions because I’ve seen both of it. Like we were 3-13-1, I’ve seen all the articles of how bad we were and X-Y-Z, and then we go to playoffs, NFC Championship and see how good we were, like the articles saying how good we were and all that type of stuff. So I feel like the most important thing is just to block out the good or the bad because it’s going to be up and down and just go to work every day.”
(You hear a lot about young players when you go from your rookie year to your second year, there’s a big difference and they say one reason is because before your rookie year you’re training for the combine. You’re not doing football skills and then after your rookie year, you are doing football skills and you’re making improvement. Do you agree with that and how did that affect you if that’s the case for you?) – “I agree with that. I don’t think it’s like because you’re training for Combine. Like if you have a good trainer, you’re doing your position stuff, too. You’re doing football stuff too because you still got to do Pro Day, Combine – there’s still drills and everything too, so I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s right when the college season ends, you’re working non-stop until the Combine and then Pro Day and then you literally only had – like me, I think I had less than two weeks and you go straight back into rookie minicamp and then OTAs. So you’re working the whole time and everything’s just moving fast, trying to learn a whole new defense. College is kind of simpler, just depends on where you were. And then sometimes you get to the NFL and your position gets switched. So you might have been a corner and now you get to the league and you’re a nickel, or you’re a nickel and corner, or you’re a corner and safety. So I just think a lot of stuff, it goes fast, and then I think your second year it kind of slows down a little bit. With me, I feel like – I was a corner in college and then when I got to Detroit, they had me learn corner, nickel and safety all at once; so a lot of things were fast at first. But then when I was playing, I was really only playing corner but then maybe second week in, I might have to go at nickel for a couple plays, you know what I mean? So that was my first year. And then for me, my second year is when I got switched to safety. So it wasn’t like necessary slowed down because now I’m learning a new position, so really like 2022 was my first year at safety but I wasn’t even fully a safety, I was both kind of. So my first full year at safety was 2023 and the whole time Coach Duker is the one that’s teaching me how to play safety. So that’s from Year 2 to 3 for me, that’s when it really slowed down because that was technically my Year 1 to 2. And obviously, we all saw what happened in 2023 when I was full time at safety.”
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine – March 24, 2025
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Monday, March 24, 2025
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine
(The idea of you and WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle and TE Jonnu Smith on the field at the same time is pretty exciting. What do you think having them with you on the field will allow you to do, even with all you accomplished for the Titans last year?) – “I’m excited for it to be a great opportunity. A bunch of weapons, a bunch of speed. I’m just excited to find my role within there and then try to find out the best way to operate. I’ve got a little bit of history with Jonnu. I played with him for a season here in Tennessee. I’m super excited. I really can’t stress that enough.”
(What has Head Coach Mike McDaniel told you about your role or what he likes in your game?) – “Big body and use what God gave me there and then just being that guy to take advantage of the opportunities on the field that present themselves, whether it’s mismatches and whatnot. You have a lot of weapons around me and finding open areas, being physical. I’m excited to see all the different ways that he plans on game planning, scheming stuff up because I know he’s got some great ideas.”
(We all saw how explosive the Dolphins offense was in 2023. It took a bit of a step back last year. What will it take to get it back to the 2023 version in 2025?) – “I guess I’ll learn more about how the offense works and the guys and their roles within it. But I think with any great offenses buy-in by everybody –not one guy doing too much or whatever it is but just buy-in by everybody, everybody accepting their role. When I’ve been in successful offenses, that’s what I’ve seen, is everybody just playing their part. One game, one dude might shine, another game another dude might shine; but just everybody playing their part and playing their role into making the chains move and getting in the endzone.”
(What were your first impressions of Head Coach Mike McDaniel?) – “He was fired up. The first thing I remember was just the energy that he had when I shook his hand, dapped him up. It was really cool. It was awesome just to feel wanted like that. He was fired up. I can’t wait to see what that looks like going forward in meetings, in practice and in the games.”
(The wide receiver blocking needs to be better this year, otherwise the run game is not going to improve. The wide receivers are a key element in this run scheme. What is your approach to that?) – “It’s a gritty game. I feel like with wide receiver blocking, you’ve just got to get dirty, you’ve got to find a way to make it work. It’s not going to look pretty half the time. You’ve got really athletic DBs, safeties, linebackers, d-ends sometimes and it’s just finding a way to get a piece of them at the right time so the back can get through. So yeah, it’s something I’m excited to do. I’ve always enjoyed blocking and as a receiver. I feel like it’s a lost art and I’ve luckily been coached pretty well in the last few years about it and how to get it done.”
(You mentioned physical and big body. What does that look like on the field when you’re playing? In the red zone, blocking, when you’re going up for a ball. What are you doing? How are you living out that physicality?) – “Blocking, it’s just using that to my advantage. A lot of times I can use that to maybe block a d-end, block a linebacker when it’s needed. I feel like sometimes they might be a little surprised the receiver is in there trying to block them. But then in the passing game, maybe it’s not creating separation all the time, but in a way it does, boxing somebody out for a jump ball or just positioning yourself so that you can make the catch on third down and move the chains. There’s a lot of different ways. I probably don’t think about it presently in the moment as much, but I can go back and watch the tape and be like ‘okay well, I can use my body here a little bit better to position myself better.’“
(You were undrafted. Tell me about your Draft night experience. Were you disappointed? Were you expecting to get picked? What were you hearing? What was that whole experience like for you?) – “I wasn’t really first day, second day. I wasn’t really expecting anything. I had realistic expectations just from my agent and whatnot. I was hoping for maybe a late round to find a way onto a team, but I wouldn’t wish it any other way or else I wouldn’t be sitting here with you all right now. So yeah, I was a little disappointed. After it all played out, you see names, you see guys that you can compare yourself to and it’s really easy to be like, ‘well, I feel like I’m better than him.’ But like I said, I wouldn’t change it for a thing because I’m really blessed to be sitting here talking to you all right now.
(As you’re watching those names go off the board, is there anger, frustration, motivation; what are you thinking?) – “Frustration for sure. And then I feel like after it’s all said and done, once I did end up signing as an undrafted guy, the motivation was probably the biggest emotion being felt.”
Zach Wilson – March 24, 2025
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Monday, March 24, 2025
QB Zach Wilson
(For starters, what is it that interested you in this job in Miami? This role, this position with the Dolphins?) – “What’s not to like, right? Extremely explosive offense and I think they do a great job, and it starts from Coach McDaniel and goes all the way down. I’d just say the offensive staff as a whole has done a great job. You’ve seen how Tua (Tagovailoa)’s development has gone, too, since he’s been there, and I think I’m just excited to be with those guys.”
(What is it that you think you’ve learned over the past however many months it’s been since you left the Jets? What did you learn from your time in Denver?) – “Yeah, a ton. Just processing in the NFL, pocket awareness, the ability to kind of progress more smoothly through my progressions and get the ball out of my hands and just maybe my understanding of the game I feel like has just increasingly gotten better since my first year in the league.”
(You mentioned Head Coach Mike McDaniel and the role that he kind of plays here. I just wanted to know, what were your early impressions of Coach McDaniel and how big of a sell was just his personality in getting you here?) – “Yeah, I think just extremely raw. His ability to be completely himself every single day is I think what you want in a coach and somebody that is going to give you exactly the same guy every single day and obviously he’s a phenomenal coach and shows how much he cares and invests in you. Those are some of the qualities I’m just the most excited for.”
(Do you embrace the journeyman label, or do you view your career in a different way or light?) – “Yeah, I mean I would like to view it differently. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with being a journeyman, but I still believe I can be a starter in this league whenever that opportunity comes. And so I’m just trying to put myself in the best situation with the best team and coaches and do the absolute best that I can and hopefully at some point, you can get that opportunity to show what you could do.”
(What’s been the most challenging part with free agency for you?) – “The most challenging part is just you never know what any situation is going to be like. From an outside perspective you always know what looks good from the outside, but you never know until you really get there and so it’s just trusting in the process and picking a spot that you feel the most comfortable in and just trying to make the most of it.”
(You mentioned QB Tua Tagovailoa’s development here in Miami under Head Coach Mike McDaniel. Is there an aspect of your game that you’re hoping to develop or improve upon from what you’ve seen that McDaniel has done for Tua?) – “Yeah, I mean we all saw how his first couple of years went that I don’t necessarily think were all on Tua (Tagovailoa) of course. You’ve seen what the ability to get people that believe in you and a staff that makes everything else around him better and he’s played at an extremely high level and so I don’t think that’s ever anything bad to be around or to see and learn from.”
(Sometimes when you enter the game as a backup it’s a stressful situation; the quarterback has just been injured. Everybody’s looking around at the huddle for leadership. When you enter that huddle as a backup quarterback, is it any different than entering the huddle as say, a backup left tackle or a backup running back? At the risk of asking a dumb question, is there more pressure on you in that situation than other players?) – “I don’t know if it’s pressure. I mean luckily, I’ve played in a lot of games in the NFL so far and so it’s just the ability to step in and make the offense feel like nothing’s changed. From a leadership standpoint, just command of the huddle, getting guys the information they need on each and every play and kind of just that not skipping a beat kind of mentality going in there that everyone feels comfortable that they’re able to completely do exactly what they’ve been doing.”
(You talked about that you still feel that you’re a starter in this league. Proving that, what do you have to do this year to prove that? And will you feel urgency when you get in the game to prove that you’re still a starter in this league?) – “I think it just starts every single day in practice. Just the ability to show improvement but also go out there and just be consistent in my play, being accurate, getting the ball out of my hands and then just taking it literally one day at a time. And if that opportunity comes in the field, early in preseason, whatever it is, just taking advantage of that opportunity and doing exactly what I hope to be doing through spring training and also training camp.”
(A few minutes ago, you spoke about some of the areas on field in which you have worked: processing, pocket awareness. What have you learned you need to do or can do better or differently off the field?) – “Off the field, I feel like Denver was a good opportunity for me to kind of lay the stresses of being an NFL quarterback and just trying to be perfect every day to spending more time with the guys in the locker room, and growing that bond I think is always important and just enjoying every single day of being there. So I think that’s always an important aspect and then it carries onto the field of you just being more comfortable.”
Larry Borom – March 24, 2025
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Monday, March 24, 2025
OL Larry Borom
(Welcome South Florida. Obviously, you’re skilled as a tackle, guard is something you can play – there is a need on this roster. What have they said to you regarding guard and whether you’ll get an opportunity there?) – “Hasn’t been too much communication. I’m just excited to get in the room and just help any way I can.”
(Do you see yourself as a tackle, a guard or both?) – “I feel like I can do some of everything. So I think either or, whatever is needed to help the team win.”
(How would you describe your journey since you joined the NFL and your early days in Chicago?) – “Been up and down. Got drafted to Chicago, first year I think was a solid year. I mean I came off an injury the first game. The second year dipped a little bit. And then just been up and down from there. I’m just excited to get somewhere and have a fresh start, get a clean slate.”
(What did you like about the opportunity here in Miami?) – “Just everything. From the top down, everything’s in line. It’s exciting.”
(I’m working on a couple of things. One thing is guards being taller nowadays. You’re 6’5” – why are guards able to play guard at that height nowadays? Is it the pass blocking skills from tackle translate? Do you have any thoughts on that?) – “Honestly, I felt like from playing tackle to moving into guard the pass rush gets more confined, so that’s probably something to do with it. Just people evolving honestly, that’s about it.”
(And then I’m doing something on Draft night experiences. Tell me about your Draft night experience. Was it good? Did you go where you thought you were going to go? What happened that night?) – “Honestly, me and my whole camp, we thought I was going to go on Day 2. So that night ended, that was tough. But then Day 3, I didn’t have any idea where I was going to go.”
(So were you thrilled or disappointed? What was the reaction when you actually got selected?) – “I was still excited. It’s still a great opportunity, you know what I mean? It really doesn’t matter where you go as far as pick wise, you just got to do something with it.”
(How do you feel your skill set aligns with the Dolphins scheme, the outside zone scheme?) – “I think it suits it well. That’s something I ran in college. That’s something we tried to do in Chicago. So I’m familiar with it. I feel like I can get things done in it.”
(I see that you went to Missouri and this youngster Armand Membou, he’s in some of the Dolphins mock drafts as a tackle/guard. Do you still watch Missouri football? Are you familiar with his game at all?) – “Not too familiar with his game. I’ve seen some of his Combine highlights which were crazy. He’s a really good player. I don’t really know too many people at Mizzou since I’ve been gone, but he’s a really good player.”
(Have you had a chance to talk to Offensive Line Coach Butch Barry yet and what has he told you he likes about your game?) – “Had a good talk with him. We didn’t really go too much into the game. We just kind of went over just general stuff within the room and a lot of different things like that, but I’m excited to work with him, very excited.”
(Do you have any sense from the Dolphins, from General Manager Chris Grier, from anyone – I don’t know if your agent told you – what they like about your game? Was that every conveyed to you about what made them want to sign you?) – “Honestly, I don’t have too much info on that, just completely honest with you.”
(I saw that this was your first time being a free agent, what was that process like just having the freedom to choose where you would end up?) – “Honestly it was kind of crazy because it was just different. I’ve never had to deal with that coming off my rookie contract. It was eye-opening to a sense and then it was just a lot to process. It was very hectic.”
(If I’m not mistaken, you were with G James Daniels your rookie year in Chicago.) – “Yeah, I was.”
(Is there anything you can tell us about G James Daniels? His playing style, personality-wise, anything?) – “He’s a great dude. He helped me out a ton my rookie year. Played next to him on the right side. He’s everything you want out of a teammate. He’s a great player and just everything.”
(Sense of humor? Serious guy?) – “Oh no, he’s a goofball. He’s a jokester.”
