Mike McDaniel – November 25, 2023
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Saturday, November 25, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(With LB Jaelan Phillips, do we have confirmation that the Achilles was torn? Then with T Terron Armstead, hoping it’s not as serious as OL Isaiah Wynn’s quad. Any sense whether Terron is serious or more of a day-to-day thing?) – “The Achilles is torn, for sure. The long road to recovery starts for Jaelan now. Terron’s isn’t as serious as Isaiah’s. It’s game-to-game, week-to-week.”
(Can you just take us through the emotions right now for the team and can you describe what LB Jaelan Phillips means to this team as a player and as a person?) – “The emotions, that’s one of the things that is making our team – on each game day, one thing that you can say, take all the critiquing out of it, is we have a very hardworking, straining team that plays for each other. I think that is a consequence of people really sharing each other’s journey. Everybody knows what was on Jaelan Phillips’ mind. He felt like he was ready and able and had put in all the work to make a big step in his game and he’s a big part of the team. But the fortunate thing that this team has is they do have a lot of – you don’t necessarily replace Jaelan Phillips. But you can have guys that are fully capable to step up and kind of get his production through different ways. We are fortunate enough to have some depth. I think our players understand that the only way that we can kind of do right by Jaelan Phillips – it’s the lesser of evils, is the worst-case scenario is for him to be going through his rehab and watching us not fully take advantage of our opportunity. So there’s an element of people playing for him, I think. We’re all very aware of, this is something very commonplace in the National Football League in terms of, you don’t generally go through a season without losing a player or two that is one of your core players. So it’s something that is a part of the journey. It’s really unfortunate for Jaelan. However, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s fully capable and I know his mindset will be that, as weird as it sounds now, you’ve got to figure out a way that it can be the best thing that ever happened to you. And that’s the challenge that we all have when something like that kind of really turns your world upside down. It’s tough to kind of get there, but eventually you do, and we find different ways to make it something that has helped and that will be a defining moment in a good way. So the challenge is long, but he has all his teammates, all the support. We all know that he’ll come back with vengeance when his time comes. But he’s got a long journey, for sure.”
(On a point you made there, you don’t just replace a guy like LB Jaelan Phillips. Will the plan now be some LB Andrew Van Ginkel and then a little bit more work for DE Emmanuel Ogbah?) – “Yeah, I think that’s the starting point and then you just let the players shape what that is exactly to a T. But without a shadow of doubt, there’s going to be those two individuals that will have to step up, and that will also open up opportunities. When ‘Gink’ (Andrew Van Ginkel) is not playing stack ‘backer, that means there’s very capable and ready – I think David Long (Jr.) will have to step up as well and play a role that he’s been thirsting for anyway. That’s why it’s kind of like a group of people. You don’t necessarily replace him, but it just gives different people opportunities and you kind of spread that out to do your best to compensate for that production loss.”
(I wanted to ask you about WR Tyreek Hill. It’s two weeks in a row now that he looks like he’s got dinged up a little bit. The hand and I guess the ankle yesterday, even though he played through it. What’s your thinking on him as far as usage? I know he’s got the most targets in the league. Do you weigh one against the other, midseason game, maybe watch his snap count?) – “I will say that targets are not the same as play-time percentage. If we deep dive into play-time percentage, I think there’s probably 15 to 20 receivers that play more than he does, which is strategic. We want him to be at his best. But I don’t think that enters into the equation relative to – he’s a football player that wants the ball and I’m not going to be like, ‘hey, man, you might get hit.’ Both the scenarios were kind of unfortunate too. He has an incredible history of being able to stay healthy and play in games. I can’t remember the – somebody could Google the stat up real quick, but it’s like a crazy amount – he’s only missed like two games or something. I don’t even know. He is a guy that does have to protect himself in the field. You guys saw probably on the TV replay how he got rolled up early, which was just unfortunate. But he’s at a really, really good juncture in his career. I think his teammates have expressed it. I think you guys can kind of tell by his energy. He’s at another level of professionality. He’s going to make sure that if there’s a will, there’s a way. I’m very confident he’ll take care of himself and we have a good working relationship, such a trusting relationship with the players and (Head Athletic Trainer) Kyle (Johnston) where we’re not going to press things too early. You know what? Do you represent several different fantasy defensive teams? (laughter) If you’re speaking on behalf of your fantasy defensive teams, then yes, that’d be a great idea. But outside of that, I think he’ll always be involved. We do manage his play-time percentage though.”
(Are you all satisfied with the depth at the linebacker position? Have you and General Manager Chris Grier discussed the possibilities of exploring free agency at that position as well?) – “Yeah, that’s something we look at throughout the year and we’re keeping abreast. Anytime you have a little nick by any player, you’re kind of assessing that. We had workouts a couple of weeks ago. As far as any time you get injured, you assess that whole process to figure out how you’re going to best serve your roster through whatever means necessary. Whether it’s on our team, which we have a couple players that have opportunities to get a little more exposure that I think they’re ready for, but also we’ll continue to do that. It’s ever evolving. Basically anytime someone goes down from that position group, if there wasn’t an immediate workout before, we work some people out just to assess the state of the union.”
(Quick follow up. The game was on Friday and you typically play the Friday song on Friday. Were you at all tempted to incorporate that pregame or postgame?) – “No, it’s kind of like a chill (song). I could’ve done it postgame but at that point, I had forgotten. But pregame, we’re not making it to the game. You make it to Friday to get to the game. You’re at the game. It would have to be like a remix Tecmo version. Maybe you can come up with it. Some house music Friday song, then we’ll be in business for our next Black Friday game.”
(That’s a pretty physical football team you guys were able to rush for 167 yards on the ground. Also you hit a couple verticals against press coverage. I was curious how impressed you were about your team’s ability to not only match that physicality but dictate things with that 15-play drive to close it out there late?) – “There’s always things as coaches, the point of coaching is to improve players, so there’s always stuff to improve upon. If your locker room is correct, no one’s trying to play the perfect game. They are expecting to play and get better as they progress. But that being said, it was kind of a perfect scenario for the parallel between what I was hoping the team was and what they showed that they were. A short week is physically demanding. There’s a lot of different distractions with regards to holiday season and having a nationally-televised game. We go to New York and you want to make sure guys are worried about nothing but themselves and how we play as a team. There’s only one way that you can beat that football team is what your saying, is you have to match and/or exceed their physicality. I thought that was, for a short week, that was very encouraging to see. You could feel the momentum of the game. I think there’s something you can’t totally quantify it but there’s an element on every good team I’ve been on where people play as a team, the different phases do. So I keep talking about that. And every time it shows up – I could feel it yesterday. Someone would make a play in a different phase off a play made or when someone was down, someone countered and swung the momentum back. The greatest example we could ever have is the unbelievable play by Jevon (Holland), and not only the play Jevon made but the pass rush that had to move the quarterback in the pocket, which got the receivers down the field further, which made them as tacklers worse. Then the effort with the plays made by the defense like Christian Wilkins and Bradley Chubb blocking at the point of attack. It was like everyone recognized this was a moment on the defensive side of the ball with no time left to rectify a couple of things that happened offensively. Those types of things are monumental. That’s what I saw was physicality on all three phases and continued team development, which is the most important thing in my opinion.”
(Earlier in the season, it seemed like CB Jalen Ramsey sort of created a blueprint for a player who is injured keeping themselves mentally engaged with the team, helping their teammates. I’m curious if there are lessons to be learned there that can help LB Jaelan Phillips as he’s dealing with this injury. He was pretty open with the confidence issues he’s had and just how challenging it was for him to be hurt. So I’m wondering if there are some lessons to be learned?) – “There are some definite lessons. I think it’s a different application considering Jalen Ramsey was at the beginning of the season working to the middle. However, what Jalen Ramsey did, you’re exactly right. That will forever live in my memory bank. I guarantee it has residuals. Now it’s a different exercise to be in the back end of the season. The biggest thing will be what maximizes Jaelan Phillips’ ability to recover in his best self. I’m sure there’s, for him, he’s really going to want to be around the guys just knowing him. But you also want to build perspective but don’t want to make yourself completely miserable because it’s tough to just sit there and have that taken away from you. There’s a balancing act. It’s probably early in the process to say exactly what that looks like, but without – I know every player on this team going through injuries, especially ones that have an extended timeframe, are absolutely impacted by what Jalen did and the blueprint in that regard is real.”
(A couple of your players commented on the turf at MetLife Stadium, and I was just curious if you had any thoughts or cared to comment at all about the turf there at MetLife.) – “I mean whatever I say is going to be bold print. I don’t like injuries. I would encourage to follow the science, whatever that is because I’m not reading books on it and I’m not studying it. That’s not my role. I think everybody is incentivized for the safest situation possible. For me, if I did know with factual evidence through study that any sort of injury was 100 percent avoidable on a different playing surface, that would make me lose my mind. I would flip over tables. But I don’t have that. But if that’s there, it’s super important because our game is a vessel of the best players performing, so if we’re not doing everything we can to ensure that they have the ability to play, then we’re being counterproductive and should just take a lesson from hamsters and run on a wheel. We should run hamster laps. So I don’t know. I just hope everyone does their due diligence. In my profession, I just have to believe that’s being done, has been done and is going to be done. It would be ignorant of me, meaning lack of knowledge, if I just said ‘Yep, it was the surface.’ I don’t know that. I hope it wasn’t, for sure.”
(I was curious if LB Jaelan Phillips might consult Aaron Rodgers’ specialist about a speedy Achilles surgery to maybe help him come back sooner.) – “Yeah, hopefully they’re on the (Pat) McAfee Show this week talking Achilles. (laughter) I do know there was some information distributed in the periphery, because there was a lot of stuff going on. I don’t know him personally but I’ve heard great things about Aaron Rodgers and the type of human being he is. I think he was working some channels to get in touch with Jaelan as of last night through a couple of people that have some relationships with him. He’s a smart guy that is not afraid to chase the most exotic science. I think that’s kind of something that, specifically Jaelan Phillips, he’s not one of those old school, ‘I’ve always done it this way,’ type of guys. He would be open to whatever. I think player relationships are important for the actual tangible rehabilitation, but it’s also important to talk to the guys that have been through similar situations. You’re a performance athlete that needs to maintain mental stability and health with regards to being a professional athlete that can’t be an athlete at the time. I think all of those things are very important. I know as of last night, there were some things developing, but I don’t really know those tangibly yet.”
(Did LB Jaelan Phillips travel back with you guys?) – “He did.”
(On OL Austin Jackson’s ejection, I’m curious what your thoughts were looking back on that.) – “I don’t think it is a correlation. It’s not happenstance that it’s the first guy that’s been ejected since I’ve been head coach. That’s something that from the first day I started, I explicitly articulate that stuff outside the whistles are a waste. Ultimately, even in the moment, if you don’t realize this, in hindsight you’ll always recognize that it is kind of a selfish move in regards to you hurt the team and you hurt yourself. The one great thing about Austin Jackson is he’s given me so much reason to trust and believe in his – he shows me every day how coachable he is. I know he was very much in the tank about doing anything negative to the team. He’s really committed his entire laugh to do the opposite. So I’m very confident that won’t happen again, but it’s something that people have to realize on the front end that their actions have consequences. And if you are getting 15-yard penalties or are getting ejected, those consequences can be quite severe with regards to the team.”
(I wanted to get your take on OL Liam Eichenberg’s performance at right guard.) – “I really really like coaching the guy because he just gets better at stuff within the system once he understands it. And right now, we’re at a cool spot where that learning curve is super fast, so when he goes from center to right guard, he’s getting better with every rep. I think he played how we expected him to play – like a starting NFL right guard that is an asset that can make plays. He made a couple of plays in the run game that were humongous in terms of the outcome of the game. A couple of the runs that resulted in points had something directly to do with what he was doing on the line of scrimmage. And I thought he protected the quarterback well. It was an encouraging step. I wouldn’t say that I’m surprised, but you are always pumped when your expectations are matched by actual production.”
Mike McDaniel – November 24, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, Nov. 24, 2023
Postgame – New York Jets
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel
On Jaelan Phillips injury…
It’s his Achilles. Doesn’t look great, but we’ll find out more tomorrow. So, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but not fired up about it.
On the emotions he felt about Phillips getting carted off…
It was emotional. I think that’s one of the special things about this particular team, is there’s a lot of shared journeys. Everybody sees what he puts in on a daily basis and everybody knows how bad he wants to take steps in his game and be absolutely great in this League, which he has and we’ve been very proud of him the whole season. It’s very, very tough in the short term from my vantage point, and just my experience with people if it’s the worst case scenario, but you get the chance to write your own story, so he’s the type of person and he has the right mindset where he’ll be able to turn anything that’s perceived as negative into an eventual positive, but this is going to be tough and trying for him as we get our information back and prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario.
On what Jevon Holland’s pick six did for the Dolphins momentum…
I talked to the team a bunch about this. I think too often we’re vulnerable in terms of, we have a lot of individuals putting more into everything than they’ve ever had before, and they’ve been playing football their whole lives. In those situations, one of my biggest concerns is that individuals put too much on themselves and not recognize the team of playmakers that we have and how we can play off of each other and pick each other up. That was absolutely a huge momentum swing that there are very few players that could have pulled off what Jevon did. I think Jevon’s the type of player that has very high aspirations of himself and our team knows he can be the best player on the field at any given moment. He’s watched a ton of Ed Reed tape and that was very reminiscent of Ed Reed for sure, so that was a cool moment that nobody on this team that was on the field will forget that particular play and that’s pretty special when you’re talking about that it will probably be the first play people think of when you think back to this game, so it was a big time play and something that our team needed.
On Tua Tagovailoa’s two interceptions near the end of the first half…
I think that everything’s a learning situation. I think Tua’s going to say that that can’t happen. I’m going to say that I definitely wasn’t right in my play call. So, we’ve got to work together. I put a lot of trust in his hands and he’s going to protect me in that way. The second one, that’s a tough one. I think it’s more the first one that I think in hindsight we can really have back. He’ll say both, but I’m always looking for those type of scenarios to make sure that we’re in our progression as working together that he’s in the appropriate space, because things are going to happen that you’re not going to like. One of the biggest obstacles that he’s had to climb is frustration within his own game within a game, and making sure that doesn’t linger. What I did see was him bounce back, and that takes a lot of training. Especially when he’s as accountable as a player as he is. He is absolutely positively so angry with himself in those moments, but to be able to come back and be with authority and do all the things that we ask him to do, to execute a down and out basis for the rest of the game, I thought was very encouraging. I also thought that he probably had his best third-down game against a really good third-down defense. That’s a good defense in general, but on third down, it’s not easy to move the chains. I think we were 11-for-16 on third down, so there was some good stuff there, too, so it’s not all picks in my mind. There was a lot of good performances by him, and also I really liked how he bounced back from that and didn’t let that keep him from playing the position as we know he is capable of throughout most of the game.
On how he views the trajectory of the Dolphins defense…
Well, I view the trajectory as more this way, right? Which is cool. We talked as a team at length. There’s part of the unintended consequence of the sight of the ball as starting off at a historical rate. There’s a lot of attention paid to that side. I think our defense was overlooked for a while. On top of that, they didn’t start exactly the way they wanted to this season, but it’s going to build. I think since Week Eight, up until this game, we’ve been number one in the league in defense stopping the run and I think that epitomizes the whole team. What they’re doing is what we’ve identified as what we want to do and that’s progress and continue to get better as the season progresses. And then, not cower in the face of obvious parts of our game that we can get better at. You have higher belief in the entire unit at the beginning of the season that what we’re putting out there in terms of run defense. What do you do about it? You work on that and emphasize it and there’s no shortcut to the gains that they’ve made. It’s hard work and dedication each week, belief in what they’re being coached, complete ownership of responsibilities. I’ve been talking about the way our defense has practiced since the Buffalo game. I keep bringing it up. It’s very satisfying for me as a coach because I know if you just focus on that, that the gains will come. I think people are just starting to see some of the stuff that we’ve held internally, the high belief and high esteem that we have for everybody on the defensive side of the ball including the coaches. As a result, we’re starting to have a team that’s complementing each other in all three phases. You can’t just show up and say “We’re going to stop this” or “We’re going to beat this” to beat the Miami Dolphins. You have to deal with all sides of the ball. We had a ton of plays made on the defensive side of the ball today. Plays that determine the outcome of football games, whether it be turnovers or sacks or just a very, very competitive swarming defense that I’m very proud to be a part of.
On the shuffling around of the offensive line…
We were just bored. No, I mean, what more can you say? You have all these lineup changes. You have people going in and out of different positions, but you see a group that understands, that learns. Not only with the reps they get, but the reps their teammates get. All that being said, the offensive line was the backbone of the most important offensive drive of the game which was at the end of the third quarter. I think it was a two-score game, I believe. It went 17 plays, over nine minutes. And I thought that kind of changed that, on top of Jevon’s interception, those were the two big moments in the game, as far as giving us a chance to win. I think you’re starting to see why we were so happy and why it was hard to just anoint people as starters in training camp, because there was a lot of really good competition. There was a lot of talent, a lot of the stuff that we look for. As a result, you can still be productive when the lineup is changing, so hats off to them. I’m very, very proud of that group and the resolve they have. I look forward to keep progressing with them as they continue to get better at all sorts of things each and every week.
On T Terron Armstead…
I mean, I think he’s battling through. No real updates with really anybody. It’ll be an exciting time with Kyle (Johnston) and the training staff over the weekend and on Monday. Luckily, we’re very well versed at adjusting, so they’ll be some capable guys that are healthy. Who those are and exactly what that’s going to look like, we’ll find out.
On the decisions to go for it on two fourth-and-short situations on the first two drives…
The first one we had converted I think a third-and-short on a screen to Tyreek (Hill). We’d gone down all the way to the five-yard line. In those situations, we’re just kind of reading the room as it would be with regard to your team. I felt very comfortable. I was very happy with the defense’s first series. It felt like they were ready to play. Kind of had that feeling all week. So, we went to something that we’re very comfortable with, putting it in Tua and Tyreek’s hands. Against a very good player, we came up short, but (the defense) proved us right by getting a stop and getting the ball back. So, the difference for me, you go for it on fourth and a similar difference at the 20-something and you get the first down, you still have 20 yards to go before you score a touchdown. The play I called, I kind of knew it was going to be, it’s fourth down, we’re going to take a shot at the endzone to score. But if you do convert, you’re talking about first and goal at the four, so the risk-reward of failure to me are a little different in the first quarter in the grand scheme of things, from the five to the 20 whatever, which was the difference in the decision making.
Bradley Chubb – November 24, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, Nov. 24, 2023
Postgame – New York Jets
Miami Dolphins LB Bradley Chubb
On the injury of Jaelan Phillips in the midst of a breakout season…
“Yeah could have obviously been but it’s just one of those things that at the end of the day I know is going to make him better, going to make the rest of the team, going to make everyone better. You got to go through those hardships in order to get to where you want to be, and yeah it is unfortunate, but every time he puts his head down and work, and get to get back and as fast as he possibly can, and we’ll be right there to support him the whole way. I told him whatever it is, I’m going to be there in the rehab room to make sure you do everything in order to be the best you. So I know he’s a person that wants to be great, and I’m going to make sure I’m there for him, and the whole team is on his side.”
On whether the field contributed to the injury…
“I don’t want to say whether it did or did not, but this is the field that gets a lot of talk about injuries and stuff, but at the end of the day we only control what we can. Hopefully this changes in the future, but as of right now I can’t say it was that or it wasn’t. It’s one of those things like I said, when somebody say something a lot, you kind of got to look into it a little bit, but at the end of the day we just got to keep pushing.”
On going from being the healthiest unit the last few weeks to sustaining key injuries tonight…
“Yeah it’s frustrating, you never want to see like I said, competing and going down like that. Obviously at the end of the day we got to understand that the season is going to keep going, unfortunate for (Jaelan) Phillips, but for us we got to make sure we stick together and make sure we’re flowing and doing everything, and try not to have a drop off in production.”
Jaylen Waddle – November 24, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, Nov. 24, 2023
Postgame – New York Jets
Miami Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle
On the importance of scoring early…
“I just think every time I go out there, scoring early, scoring late, you know that’s key, but we try to go out there and execute on every drive and get points.”
On the lift that the defense was able to give the offense…
“It means a lot, sometimes offense helps our defense, defense helps our offense. Defense is playing lights out. They haven’t allowed much the last couple of weeks, so going into today we really wanted to challenge ourselves to match their energy.”
On what it means for both him and Tyreek Hill to have over 100 receiving yards…
“We try to go out there and perform every week. Sauce (Gardner) and D.J. (Reed) are two of the top corners in this League, so going into the week, got to prepare. Luckily for us, we have two of the best corners that we face on a weekly, with (Jalen) Ramsey and X (Xavien Howard), so really get us prepared throughout the week to face top corners like Sauce (Gardner) and D.J. (Reed).”
Tua Tagovailoa – November 24, 2023 (Postgame)
Sunday, Nov. 24, 2023
Postgame – New York Jets
Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa
On the Hail Mary pick six…
“Yeah, that was crazy. I don’t think I’ve seen something like that before to end a half. Normally the guy either goes down, takes it to the half, or he’ll return it to a certain point and then get tackled. But to see Jevon (Holland) take that, that was definitely game-changing. That was very good that we could end it with points in that sense going into the half.”
On his interceptions…
“Mike (McDaniel) calls the plays, we’ve got to go out there and execute them. I didn’t execute them. That’s what that was. Very, very disappointing in how I did that drive, those two drives, at the end of the half. Just can’t do that, and put our defense in some tough situations, but our defense came through. But, needless to say, coming into the second half, I was very proud of how we were operating offensively. When we did get opportunities from the defense, we stayed in a long drive and ended that with points. Very proud of our O-line. Very proud of our run game. And very proud of this team. It’s hard to win road games, especially against a team like this, a division game. Very proud of our guys.”
On the balance of being confident in the offense and being more cautious…
“Yeah, I think it’s doing much more than what is asked. Trying to be a little too aggressive on certain things. You just can’t do that. With that pick six, I basically—to look at it this way—kind of kept them in the game. Our defense played phenomenal up to that point and throughout the entire game. I just can’t do that.”
On if something changed in the offense during the game…
“We just went back to what we said we wanted to do. We wanted to establish our run game. We wanted to get those guys moving lateral on the back end. When we had opportunities to take our shots, we tried to take our shots. But I think our O-line, our receivers, our running backs, I think they did a phenomenal job on third down understanding what needed to be done in those situations and converting.”
On where he feels about his game going into the stretch run…
“I feel good about my game. I’m not satisfied whatsoever about what I’m doing right now. I know I have to continue to get better with that. Throughout these late stretches of having these games, we’re going to need better ball from me. I need to do that.”
On heading into the stretch run…
“Yeah, the sky’s the limit for us. Whatever we want to accomplish, everything’s right there in front of us and we basically turn it on fate here in this league. So, we just have to continue stacking those wins.”
On how he’s feeling physically…
“I feel good. I feel as good as I think anyone playing in the league is feeling right now in Week 12, Week 11, whatever week it is. As good as everyone else is feeling, that’s how I feel.”
On the cut on his arm…
“I didn’t notice it happen until I came to the sideline. That’s probably due to adrenaline. But, getting to the sideline and one of the guys came up to me and said, ‘Dude, you’ve got a big gash on your arm.’ So we got Kyle (Johnston) to try to get it cleaned up and then patch it up so we could go back in (inaudible). But, it’s what comes with the game. Everyone comes out of the game with nicks and bruises.”
On when the cut happened…
“I think it was when I tried to run for the first down in the red area. I think it was a third down or a second down and I tried to run the dude over.”
Tyreek Hill – November 22, 2023
Download PDF version
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
WR Tyreek Hill
(Did you watch Hard Knocks?) – “Yeah. My wife made me watch it.”
(What was your impression of the show, and also who is responsible for nacho-gate?) – “First, I was very impressed. At first, it was something that I didn’t want to do but my mom and my wife kind of insisted that we do it. The nacho thing, it was definitely her fault. She got back to the car and her and my mom were like, ‘Yeah, it was his fault the whole time.’ I watched the thing and I was like, ‘you hit out of his hand, though. You had me hot at this dude.’ And now I see the video and it’s like, you feel me? (laughter) It was funny though. Once I saw it on Hard Knocks, I was laughing my ass off. She told me when she got to the bathroom she had to put water in her hair. She doesn’t really like putting water in her hair because it will turn curly. I was laughing my ass off.”
(What is it like seeing yourself mic’d up like that? All the grunts, and sounds, and stuff you don’t even notice when you’re out there playing, you’re watching yourself do it.) – “I’ve never known me to grunt when I was running. It’s crazy. When I was watching it, I was like, ‘damn, I grunt when I run?’ It sounds like I’m hurting when I’m running. It’s cool though. To see how those guys are capturing everything is absolutely amazing. I’m glad to say that I’m blessed to be a part of it, grateful to be a part of this Hard Knocks story. Whenever we look back at this 20 years from now, we can say, ‘man, we used to do some crazy stuff back in the day.’ It’s absolutely amazing.”
(Is the hand Fortnite ready?) – “Yes. I believe my hand is Fortnite ready. I tried to play a few games last night, but I got off because I wanted to watch a little bit of Hard Knocks.”
(Can you talk about going against CB Sauce Gardner?) – “Yeah. They got a real good secondary over there. Sauce, and D.J. Reed. Two Pro Bowl caliber guys, All-Pro guys. Two of the best competitors in the league. It’s going to be a fun game. I feel like a game like this really sets the standard for us at the receiver position and our room. Nobody wants to watch film, and you’re getting clamped up. It’s definitely going to give us something to talk about in the receivers room after this game, being able to go against Sauce. I feel like we kind of got the advantage though (because) we get a chance to go against two of the best on our team, ‘X’ (Xavien Howard) and Jalen (Ramsey).”
(The no peace-sign moment with the ref pregame, how often do you have meetings like that with the refs?) – “That’s never happened with the referee before. That’s never happened with the referee before. That was just something the NFL wanted to just get out there on camera. (laughter) It’s crazy. I just played along. I just played into their little game. Just don’t fine me for saying it though. (laughter)”
(Did the refs do it for the Hard Knocks cameras?) – “Exactly. (laughter) The ref was doing it for the cameras. Bill Vinovich is an OG ref. What are you doing that for the cameras for? (laughter) You’re an OG, bro. You can’t be doing that. (laughter)”
(Is the peace sign banned?) – “I don’t think it’s banned. I don’t know. I think it’s suspended for the moment. Not banned. It’s just suspended for the moment. We’ll just say it’s suspended. (laughter)”
(You’re playing in the first Black Friday game ever. Normally on Thanksgiving, everybody is eating turkey legs after if you get player of the game. What do you think Amazon should do for players of the game on Black Friday?) – “I think they should fly us all to Disney World so we can eat turkey legs. The whole team. Whichever team wins. (laughter)”
(What do you think of QB Tua Tagovailoa taking his cornrows out?) – “I told Tue he should’ve left his cornrows in, because I was liking him having the cornrows, and him having the swagger to just wear a durag under his helmet. That was next level swagger. But the next step for Tue would be to get him a grill. A gold grill. That’s what we are working on now. (laughter)”
(Can he make the play calls with that?) – “Yeah. It may fall out, but he’ll be alright. (laughter)”
(With everything going on with the Jets, how hungry are you guys to go in there and just take care of business?) – “This is a great opportunity for us. Especially with the way things went on Monday Night Football with the Chiefs, this puts us in a real good spot. It’s up to us to take care of business. We can never overlook anybody. The Jets are a real good team. They’ve got a real good defense. They’re still trying to figure things out on offense but that’s just every team. Every team is trying to figure things out. We’re also at the point of trying to figure things out on offense. But back to the Jets, they got a real good team, a real good head coach, and we just got to go in there and take care of business. We can’t overlook them.”
Terron Armstead – November 22, 2023
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Wednesday, November 22, 2023
T Terron Armstead
(How challenging is this short week for you guys?) – “Yeah, it’s tough. It’s tough. It’s part of the game though. Everybody has got to do it. The Jets are going through the same process as they’re getting prepared, so no excuses or anything. It’s definitely tough on the body though.”
(Thanksgiving, what are you most thankful for?) – “For the present. Being here, being alive in this situation, blessed to be afforded this opportunity, this platform, a healthy family, healthy kids. It’s a long list to be thankful for.”
(First Black Friday game. Normally on Thursday, players of the game get a turkey leg and a whole big presentation. What do you think for Black Friday – big screen TVs?) – “Yeah, they’ve got to hand out some big screens, some laptops, iPads. (laughter) They’ve got to give you something – something.”
(Do you guys save – as far as celebrating Thanksgiving with your family and friends, are you going to wait until after the game? Or is that something that you’ll cram all into tomorrow then Friday?) – “It’s unique because we’re the traveling team, so it makes it a little more difficult. My family actually left this morning. So we’ll kick back this weekend. Probably the o-line might do a Thanksgiving dinner together after the game.”
(On Hard Knocks, your o-line dinner was featured. What’s your favorite part about you guys getting together?) – “The camaraderie. I get a chance to know these guys off the field. We rarely talk football. We might talk about the coaches, some stuff they said or called. But outside of that, we really just get to know each other, talk about other interests and off the field concerns, issues, problems, joys, activities, all that.”
(How have you felt with your knee over the last two games since coming back?) – “Just staying on top of it. Staying on top of it. Go out there and try to do my job at the best of my ability, continue to get more and more comfortable as I get more and more reps, which has been good. It’s been good, I feel like I’m progressing and getting better as I get more snaps.”
(Did you get to see any of Hard Knocks last night?) – “I didn’t see the episode. I did not.”
(Have you heard anything from your teammates about it?) – “No, not yet. I haven’t seen anything or heard much about it.”
(You guys are just in the game?) – “Yeah, we’ve been preparing, man. Yesterday was long, then I went back with the family and just kind of hung out for the rest of the night. Today I had to get back up at 6:30, so I didn’t get much chance yet to check it out.”
(I think it’s streaming, so you can see it later.) – “Yeah, I’m sure I’ll be able to watch it.”
(You guys have potentially – you’ve had seven offensive line lineups. The Jets are potentially going to have their eighth. How difficult is this stretch of the final month of the season for offensive lines?) – “Yeah, it is tough, man. You get to mixing guys in, but that’s the game and that’s the importance of depth and having everybody ready. We had one game with the starting o-line, and I think that was Denver, maybe Buffalo too, the beginning of Buffalo. So we didn’t get much with the original starting o-line, but we’ve got guys that are more than ready, more than capable, and have been playing well. That’s part of this game though, every position. Every position you’ve got to have depth. I think the deepest team goes the furthest, not necessarily the most talented all the time.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa was talking about how much you guys are practicing silent count this week. How much carryover is that to the game, just given that we can’t hear what it’s like on the field?) – “Right. That’s always a small, little, very important nuance of the game that fans don’t necessarily know that’s an impact or feel that’s an impact. That’s why we always try to hype the crowd up when our defense is on the field, because we know how challenging it is for offenses to not have that verbal communication. If the snap timing from the players and the center is off, it can be the difference between somebody getting back there early or some type of disruption. It plays a very important part of the game that people don’t really get a chance to know, especially on TV.”
Bradley Chubb – November 22, 2023
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Wednesday, November 22, 2023
LB Bradley Chubb
(Jets T Mekhi Becton is out for the Jets. What do you think when you see that?) – “I just know that whoever the backup is, is going to bring their best. It’s a short week, a divisional game. A lot of guys going out there trying to play to the highest standard. So the person who I think it is, I know I’ve played against and had some good battles against, but at the end of the day, you kind of never know. And my main thing is just be prepared for it all and go out there and play my best football.”
(How hungry is this defense to just keep things rolling five days later?) – “Keep it rolling, that’s the main thing. We’ve been playing good football together. We can’t read the news clippings and get ahead of ourselves because at the end of the day, we’ve got to take it week by week. It’s a short week and they did a lot of changes over there, so it’s going to be a new look for us as well. So our main thing is staying focused, focusing on each other and like I said, playing for each other like we always do and good things are going to happen.”
(Is it a friendly competition between and you and LB Jaelan Phillips just to see who makes the most big plays in the game?) – “Yeah, for sure. And you want that competition. We don’t say it out loud, but I see him get a sack – all right, my turn to get a sack. Or he sees me get a sack and it’s the same thing. When he got the pick, I tried to do everything I could to get me a pick, but it didn’t work out like that. But yeah, that friendly competition, that’s what you need on a team like this because we have so many talented players and so much to play for and it’s those little mini battles like that, that keep us fighting for each other and keep us all motivated and moving in the right direction, so it’s been dope.”
(Did you watch Hard Knocks last night?) – “I did, I did. I think it’s pretty cool, man, how they’re just kind of – not as invasive as you would think but still make a great production with all the cameras they’ve got and seeing all different types of angles of the game that I might not even see being on the sideline. I didn’t know Tyreek’s hand was hurt or whatever the case may be, so it’s just dope to see all the game day atmosphere and practice atmosphere shown to the world like that.”
(The viewers got to see a little bit of Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile which I’m sure… can you describe his fire, intensity?) – “He brings it every time. Every time he speaks to the team, players sit there and listen because he talks with that intensity. He talks with that demeanor that he knows what he’s talking about and it’s one of those things where he’s talking about getting the ball out, and that’s the big plays that we all want to make as a team. So every opportunity we get, the smallest things, we listen for sure. So it’s been dope to have him up there. I know (Joe) Kasper was doing it at first with the cakes and stuff, but both of those guys have really done a good job.”
(Thanksgiving tomorrow. Just how much of a fan are you a fan of the food?) – “I’m a huge fan of the Thanksgiving food, but it’s unfortunate because the past couple years being in the league, being in college, you don’t really get to get the full thing with your family. But I’m a huge Thanksgiving guy and any chance my mom can make up some sweet potatoes and mac and cheese for me, I’m all down. I love Thanksgiving.”
(First Black Friday game ever. Normally on Thanksgiving there’s like turkey legs for the players. What do you think they should do for Black Friday? Victory TVs?) – “TVs, I was just about to say that. (laughter) TVs or Apple watches or something like that. Some type of electronics. I think it’ll be dope. (laughter) Hopefully we’re on the winning end and try to figure it out then, but until then, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
(Do you save the big Thanksgiving meal this year until after the game or how are you guys all going to?) – “I actually did it on Sunday after the Raiders game. All my family was in town and we got a chance to sit down, break bread and kind of catch up a little bit so it was dope. We had a good time and like I said, on actual Thanksgiving for so many years, I haven’t really had a chance to celebrate because we’re always doing something, so it was good to see my family.”
