Jonnu Smith – October 14, 2024
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Monday, October 14, 2024
TE Jonnu Smith
(Your family made it out of the storm OK?) – “Yeah, we’re good, man. We’re good, made it out safe, thank God. Some people didn’t though out west, so definitely our thoughts and our prayers with those people, for sure man.”
(Your participation last game, I think it was five catches for 62 yards – whatever it was, are you encouraged that that’s going to keep going? Or do you think that was just specific to the opponent? What do you think about that?) – “You got to continue to build on certain things as an offense and every week that may require more or maybe different roles from some guys, you know what I mean? This is a team game; it’s not about filling up the stat sheet. I’ve said that before, I’ll continue to say it. It doesn’t matter what the stat sheet does if you don’t win – that’s the most important thing, so we’re just focused on winning games and contributing as much as we can. Sometimes you may see that on the stat sheet, sometimes you may not; a lot of guys showed up last game and probably didn’t light up the stat sheet but was a huge part of that win, for sure. So it’s just about winning games in this league, man, and that’s what we’re focused on doing.”
(What have you noticed about how QB Tyler Huntley has picked this offense up and really just found his voice in it over the past couple of weeks?) – “I’ve definitely seen – I think we’ve all seen a big jump from the first week he was with us to the second one, and he’s gotten a lot more comfortable. (He’s) gotten a much better, comfortable spot leading from that position. We were able to go in there and win with him and we’ve showed that we can do that and that’s just the expectation. He’s a phenomenal, phenomenal player but a better person, so I’m glad to have that guy back there leading us.”
(We heard Head Coach Mike McDaniel earlier today say that he expects QB Tua Tagovailoa to come back and play football again in 2024. How much are you looking forward to catching balls from Tua?) – “Man, I think that’ll be very encouraging. Obviously, we have to do business as business is being done and focus on things week to week. Tua is a warrior, he’s a fighter. We already know what kind of player he is; we don’t have to speak on that, but he’s an amazing leader. He’s been here for a while – this is his home; this is his team. Obviously, this organization has committed a lot to Tua. We all have committed a lot to Tua – and not just Tua, but to one another. Obviously, that’ll be an encouraging thing for not us, but Tua – I know how much that could mean to him. Again man, like I said, we’re just kind of focused on what we’re doing now and focusing on Indy and we’re kind of letting the pieces play out how they may.”
(I know you guys don’t want to make excuses and you’re professionals, but it occurs to me over the last couple of months that you’ve caught passes from QB Tua Tagovailoa, from QB Skylar Thompson, from QB Mike White, from QB Tim Boyle and from QB Tyler Huntley. Does that make a difference for the offense?) – “I mean you always want some consistency in the NFL, obviously, but it’s the NFL – you’ve got to adapt. That’s the kind of league that it is, man. It’s 100% injury rate and guys are – we’re all guaranteed to get hurt, it’s just a matter of timing of how long that injury may be. That’s the kind of cards we’ve been dealt with, it is what it is and nobody’s crying about it. Nobody is pouting their faces and nobody is giving up. We’ve still got every expectation right in front of us. Everything is just kind of zeroed in onto this week, so that’s the main focus and that’s what we want to get to so we can get a win in Indy.”
(You’re a great athlete. If you had to do it all over again as a good athlete, would you choose this sport again?) – “(laughter) Man, I think it didn’t even have much to do with me, God blessed me with – I wasn’t 6’8”, you know what I mean? I wasn’t 6’8”. If anything, I grew up in Philly, so boxing was something – I’m a huge boxing fan, I love it. After football, that’s my favorite sport, and that’s something that was kind of there in me growing up in Philly, you know what I mean? Obviously, every kid in the neighborhood boxed, so that was something that I kind of daydream about still. But I mean, I ain’t blessed with a Mike Tyson hook either, so this is where I’m at. Although I think I could have developed into a nice, solid heavyweight, but this is where I’m at and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
(Do you ever talk to T Terron Armstead about boxing? You ever talk boxing with him?) – “T-Stead? No, I haven’t, man. What, is T-Stead a boxer, a big boxing fan?”
(Yeah.) – “Me and T-Stead have talked about a lot, but we haven’t talked about boxing thought. But yeah, I think T-Stead, where’s he from, D.C.?”
(Illinois.) – “Illinois? OK, because I know D.C. is another big boxing town. That’s why I was saying that, but I haven’t yet. You might have sparked something there.”
(I don’t know how much of a fan he is; I know he boxes.) – “Oh, T-Stead box? A lot of guys do. Like in the offseason, especially offensive linemen, defensive linemen because you got to use your hands. There’s a lot of carry over with that, definitely a lot of carry over with that. And surprisingly, that’s something I haven’t implemented yet into my offseason plans, just because it’s more kind of offensive line, defensive line related with the hand use, as much as you use the hands. It would be more beneficial for them. For guys that just do it to kind of stay in shape in the offseason, it’s just more of a stamina thing. But after I’m done playing, might try to hop on a card and fight Jake Paul or something. Everybody’s doing it man. Everybody doing it. (laughter)”
(How’s the chin?) – “The chin is good – it’s all in the neck, you know what I mean? It’s all in there and I got a strong neck so it’s all in there. I got a pretty strong chin so I’m going to see what’s up, may check something out after that, man.”
(First game back for WR Odell Beckham Jr. a couple weeks ago, what did you see from him? What was it like to have him back?) – “It was big to have him back. It was big to have him back – he’s going to be a big piece of this offense, man. Not worried about one game, obviously. We just got to continue to be ready when our number is called, and that guy right there is going to give us a big lift. So excited to have him back, excited to see him going and excited where we’re headed.”
(What do you think of your alma mater having its stadium renamed Pitbull Stadium?) – “Yeah, that was crazy right there. Shoutout to Pitbull. I don’t know what to tell you on that, but shoutout to Pitbull. I was actually just there the other day watching the St. Thomas-Chaminade game and it’s funny looking up, because I practice in that stadium – man, I practiced on turf for four years straight. We weren’t Alabama or Oklahoma; we didn’t have that money, so at the time – they got a grass field now. But when I practiced there, it was just straight turf. Obviously I was in that stadium every day, so when I went back there Friday night, seeing Pitbull Stadium, it was a little bit different but shoutout to Pitbull, man.”
Calais Campbell – October 14, 2024
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Monday, October 14, 2024
DT Calais Campbell
(What’s the team’s mindset right now? You guys are coming off of a victory that you didn’t play that well, but you played good enough to win and kind of get things turned around. How are you guys feeling about your last game and looking ahead?) – “Yeah, I think everybody’s mindset is staying in the moment and looking forward to just this week. I don’t think – everything up to this point, kind of put it behind us. The bye week, that’s what that was for, to kind of steady ourselves, figure out what we did well, what we did bad and now it’s time, just looking forward.”
(What could getting back to 3-3 do for the locker room?) – “I think that’s good. Big. I think just stacking wins, too. I think just having two wins back-to-back is huge, but at the end of the day, you’re never worried about the actual record or anything else, you just try to be 1-0 for this week, that’s it.”
(You’ve been around Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver before in Baltimore, what’s impressed you about how he’s handled his first year here as a defensive coordinator and what stands out about him in general?) – “Yeah, ‘Coach Weave’ (Anthony Weaver), he’s very process-driven, and he really just has an excellence to him that he demands from all of us. I think sometimes when you’re in a new situation it kind of takes a while to get your processes established and how you want to do things, but I think we’re starting to get to that level where now we kind of can anticipate things, how players, everybody – the team we have – how we interact with each other, how we do things. So I think we should start seeing an uptick on everything, but I think he’s been great. He’s been a great coach as I expected, and I think he’s going to continue to help us be in a position to win ball games.”
(QB Tyler Huntley is another guy that you know from Baltimore. He gets thrust into this leadership role as a new guy on the team just because of the position he plays, quarterback. Did you do anything for him when he came in just to help him along that path?) – “Yeah, I mean we have conversations all the time. I think he’s a great guy. I wouldn’t say I did anything to help him; I think he has all the tools, that’s why he’s been around, and he’s played in games and he consistently does what he’s supposed to do. But I mean I have a lot of respect for him. I think he’s the type of player you want – like I’ve told other guys around – I’ve won games with him before. I know we can win games with him and hopefully we win another one with him this week, but I just think he’s a special kind of talent. It’s hard to be a quarterback in this league, but then to be a backup for so long and have to have the mindset of preparing as a starter even when you might not play or not, he’s had to do that most of his career. And then every time his number is called, to show up and make the plays, it just says a lot about him as a person and hope to win another football game with him.”
(What have you seen from him in terms of earning that trust from this team?) – “He has a similar mindset as me; just go in there and connect with guys and just be the best version of himself. And I think he has natural leadership qualities, but the main thing is just being himself, he’s authentic.”
(RB Jonathan Taylor has been a little banged up, but he may play this week. Have you faced him before? I haven’t gone back and looked at your…) – “Yeah, I’ve faced him before. He’s arguably one of the best backs in all of football, especially in the last few years. But he’s one of the best I’ve ever faced – different level of speed, great vision, jump cut, acceleration, break tackle, he has it all. With the ball in his hands, he’s a threat to take it to the house every time. I’ve had some good games against him and some bad games against him and I don’t know what happens, I don’t know what his injury is. We just started to break the tape down on them, but if he plays, he’s probably the most talented back we’ll face all year.”
(Probably the ultimate test for the run defense that you guys think you’re better than what the stats might say right now, right?) – “We definitely think so, that’s for sure. And this will be a great test and their coach is committed to running the ball. We have to be prepared for a lot of runs, that’s just how it goes and it’s going to be definitely a big challenge for us, but we know that if we play together where we’re capable of playing it, it’s a challenge that we can live up to.”
(You played with LB Tyus Bowser in Baltimore, what do the Dolphins get in adding him?) – “He probably knows the defense better than anybody, better than everybody, honestly. He’s a real cerebral guy, very dependable. A lot of ball games, time shared on the field with him, and he’s probably been one of the most dependable teammates that I’ve had in my career.”
(Regarding CB Jalen Ramsey, potential gold jacket guy and somebody who has been used in a lot of different ways this season, what’s been his effect on the defense on the field and off the field?) – “Yeah, I think he’s a coach’s Swiss Army knife. ‘Coach Weave’ (Anthony Weaver) can do a lot of things with him, and he’s been pretty impactful everywhere, but I think when he gets in that nickel and we blitz him a little bit, sometimes I think that really messes with teams. But can do it all and he likes to do it all, and so obviously, he’s a gold jacket guy for a reason. Great player and great teammate.”
(As a Division II waiver claim, really no one has made more out of their skills what they were considered than DT Zach Sieler. What have you learned about Sieler being his teammate? What have you grown to appreciate about him and his skillset?) – “Sieler is a great player. It’s kind of funny because I see him as this great player; I’d never seen him as a Division II, guy that just barely made it. That’s kind of funny. Perspective is important, but he’s one of the reasons why I came here, right? I think he’s a great ball player. He’s a natural-born leader and he loves the game of football, plays it passionately with everything he has. I think some of the best things about a guy like him who had to – there’s a football term we like – ‘to get it from the mud,’ is undrafted, grind it out, work his way to being a starter after being a backup for a few years; is that you realize that it’s the small things done well that allow you that success. And so a lot of times, it’s just going back to the basics and doing it well versus when you have the guys like superstars early on and sometimes you think you can win on talent and not the work, so it’s good for a guy like him to understand that it’s always the work.”
(Can you just detail the difference in preparation for QB Anthony Richardson as opposed to QB Joe Flacco?) – “We’ve got to prepare for both. That’s just more work for all of us, right? They both kind of played a few games this year, so at least there’s tape on both of them. But (Anthony) Richardson is probably the ultimate athlete and probably from a pass rusher standpoint, the biggest challenge we’ll have so far this season. And then you have Joe Flacco, who from the secondary stuff is different, but for us up front, he’s probably as close as you’re going to get to a statue in the NFL. I did see the game, he kind of actually scrambled for a few yards and was moving around pretty good, but now in this day and age and in this business, he’s the ideal guy you want to go after from a pass rusher standpoint, but he also has a brilliant mind and can make every throw and he has weapons and he knows how to use them and he’s been playing some good football, which I expected. So preparing for both of them is a challenge, but that’s just how it goes. But Joe Flacco is one of the few guys older than me out there, so we got drafted the same year and I got a lot of respect for him, but I’m looking forward to whoever plays, just going out there and competing.”
Austin Jackson – October 14, 2024
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Monday, October 14, 2024
OL Austin Jackson
(I’ve been asking everybody about the team’s mindset. You guys are coming off a victory, maybe not necessarily a pretty victory, but a victory nonetheless. Where are you guys as far as your game? Do you feel like you’re about to turn a corner, are you taking it day by day? How do you feel about this?) – “Our mentality is we’re always turning the corner, we’re always ready. Our mentality really though is just going 1-0 in the week, one day at a time that way you can be present doing everything you need to do without inviting extra clutter to your brain.”
(The offense, have you seen things that you guys are consistently doing well? I know obviously last week the run game went pretty well. You’ve had a lot of turnover, but are there things you guys are consistently doing well do you think?) – “Yeah, definitely. We’re definitely doing a good job of playing withing the means of our technique on offense, meaning we’re executing the technique. We have some issues here and there that are really unfortunate, but at least our technique has been pretty consistent, that’s one thing you can hang your hat on.”
(Have you seen parallels to this season compared to what you guys went through in 2021 when you started 1-7?) – “Kind of, literally Tua (Tagovailoa) went on IR both seasons in the second week, that’s really the biggest one. That’s really the biggest parallel (that’s) glaring.”
(What was it like for you guys upfront just to have the rushing output that you did in New England?) – “That’s what you live for, especially against the New England Patriot system. They kind of their own way of defending. They have their own techniques and that’s kind of what they hang their hat on, so it’s rewarding to get that against a good team like that.”
(We don’t know when OL Isaiah Wynn will be back, but when he does come back, what will he add to the offensive line unit?) – “He loves ball. He loves ball. His energy, his excitement and focus translates through his play. I think that will be great whenever he comes back.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned today that QB Tua Tagovailoa will be on the field at some point in 2024. What’s your reaction?) – “My reaction, I’m happy for him. Happy for the guy, great guy, we love him. We love him over here.”
(Can you detail maybe us some recent interactions you’ve had with him?) – “He’s in his own kind of schedule being hurt, so I talk to him here and there but he’s in good spirits. He’s in good spirits, really good spirits. He’s focused, talks a lot about staying focused and that’s good.”
(How have you seen QB Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley grow within this offense and the way he leads the team in the huddle during this stretch of games where he’s the quarterbacking team?) – “Shoot, just being extremely vulnerable in terms of like understanding that he’s taking in a new offense halfway through the season and he’s just gotten better at everything that he thinks he can get better at. He’s very confident leading the offense which is great. I think he’s just the type of guy that’s gets better every day, and in this league, that will be good for you.”
(How pleased have you been with your year so far? Are you happy with your play?) – “Yeah, definitely some things I can get better at, but that’s the league. I was taught once that if you’re not getting better in this league, you’re getting worse and I think that’s true. Everyone is working to get better every single day. So I think as long as I stay true to that, I’ll be pretty happy with how the season ended when it gets there. But for now, we’re still working.”
Jaylen Waddle – October 14, 2024
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Monday, October 14, 2024
WR Jaylen Waddle
(How did you spend your bye week?) – “I went home, chilled, seen family, watched football. That was about it.”
(What’s the team’s mindset as far as this game and how you guys, I guess are feeling? Are you very confident coming into this game coming off of that victory? Or what is the team’s mindset right now?) – “Yeah, we’re focused on the task at hand. Colts are a good team playing great football and yeah, it’s going to be difficult but got to go out there and play and compete.”
(What have been your interactions with QB Tua Tagovailoa and what have you seen from him just whenever you’ve had the chance?) – “Yeah, same old. Me and Tua talk every day. He’s always around and yeah, we’re normally just talking ball, going through practice, things like that.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that he expects QB Tua Tagovailoa back at some point in 2024. What would it mean to have him back?) – “Tua’s our leader, our captain so having him back at any point in time would be lovely, obviously. He’s got to take care of himself first, but yeah, we’ve got a game ahead with Snoop (Tyler Huntley) at quarterback, so just got to go.”
(I’m doing something on penalties and you guys were pretty good last game – five penalties for 42 yards, I think it was. Head Coach Mike McDaniel said that he thought there was an effort in practice to kind of focus on that – tell me about that. Is that the sense that you got before the New England game, that you guys focused on?) – “Yeah, definitely. The games before we’ve been really killing ourselves with putting up good drives but getting a penalty and getting behind the sticks. And then it makes it a lot easier for the defense to guard us when it’s first-and-20 and were killing ourselves. That’s something he emphasized going throughout the week and something that’s going to be key for us continuing this year.”
(Have you kept in touch with your former Alabama and Dolphin teammate Raekwon Davis? And have you guys been texting and talking about this game?) – “Yeah, I talked to ‘Rae’ (Raekwon Davis) a couple of weeks ago. We always talk about Alabama football throughout the weeks and yeah, it’s going to be different with him on the other side, but excited to play against him.”
(It’s probably too early to tell how WR Odell Beckham Jr.’s presence will impact you and WR Tyreek Hill because it was just 11 snaps in his first game back, but do you ultimately expect it might possibly free you guys up a little bit when Odell shows he’s the Odell of old?) – “I mean, yeah. ‘O’ (Odell Beckham Jr.) has been doing good. He’s going to be great for us. Yeah man, you just got to respect a guy like that with that talent. I feel like defenses just feel his presence out there. It was his first game back and he looked real good so I’m excited to see him continue his journey this year.”
(You mentioned having another game with QB Tyler Huntley, how often do you see him improve running the offense from one game to his second game?) – “He did great. For being here for only a short time, he really came in and learned the offense and not only learned the offense, but you also got to learn new receivers and different players. So it’s tough coming in and then we’ve played some really good teams while he’s been (here). So just getting him used to throwing to us, timing, all these motions – he’s doing good, man, doing great.”
(Did you speak with him at all during the bye week? Did he reach out to you during the bye week?) – “He told me to come back a little early so we could throw before, so ‘Snoop’ (Tyler Huntley) be trying to get that work in.”
(Did you?) – “’GQ’ classified. (laughter)”
(You guys beat the Patriots by running the ball 41 times for 193 yards, but as a receiver, how do you process that information that we may need to run it 40 to 50 times for us to win?) – “Anything to win. It’s all about just getting that win, getting in the win column. If it’s running the ball 40, 50 times, that’s what we have to do. If it’s throwing the ball, if we got to do anything to win at this point – at any point, it’s key.”
(What’s so different about playing quarterback in this offense? You have the shifts and the motions and the quick go’s and throwing to super-fast receivers like you and WR Tyreek Hill. Tell me about the difficulties, what makes it so different than other offenses.) – “It’s difficult because Mike (McDaniel) puts a spin to a lot of things. He’s got a lot of different motions going in, shifts and all this complicated stuff that you got to do and that’s just pre-snap. Post-snap you got to read the defense and go into what makes you a quarterback, so it’s extremely tough.”
(QB Tyler Huntley got the ball some to you, some to WR Tyreek Hill, but also got the ball some to TE Jonnu Smith. What can his incorporation into the offense do for this group?) – “It’s going to be key. Man, we got a lot of weapons and the more we use all of our weapons, the more a defense has got to respect us and play true and not try to double-team ‘Reek’ (Tyreek Hill), try to run the easy side of coverages because anybody can ultimately go off and make you pay.”
Mike McDaniel – October 14, 2024
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Monday, October 14, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(The QB Tua Tagovailoa meeting last week with experts, were the results positive enough where you’d expect Tua to begin practicing next week?) – “I think they’ve continued to be positive. There is still information that he’s seeking this week. As far as timelines go, I know he’s not playing this week and I do expect to see him playing football in 2024, but where that is exactly, we’ll let the process continue since we still have time before you even could entertain anything. We’ll make sure that he’s diligent this week and assess after that.”
(I know it must be a feeling of relief to have that feeling you are going to see him play football this year. Was there ever a time where it crossed your mind that maybe he wouldn’t?) – “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is for me as a head coach, it’s absolutely imperative that I control the controllables. It was so fast from him getting hurt to immediately going into all right, what’s the best thing for you, Tua, where are you at in allowing the process to really not get ahead of it. So I didn’t really allow myself any sort of contemplation moments on whether he would or wouldn’t; I was so concerned where he was at in his career for his family and everything that is true to be his and trying to operate on a next man up mentality from that. It is exciting that I do think he’ll play football this year – I never went down that rabbit hole of rather he would or wouldn’t, just because I’ve learned through circumstance how that’s the wrong question to be asking. The right questions are completely 100% toward the human being and the player as a result.”
(Do you have any of your IR guys you expect to have the window open for them this week?) – “There’s a couple of potentials but nothing that I would be able to firmly dig my heals into just because these days are vitally important. As you get closer and closer, there’s a couple of guys that theoretically I think the window could open, but it’s a little too early. We still have today and tomorrow before a traditional work week starts, so I’m going to reserve that to see how things play out particularly with guys that you’re trying to start a small window that your roster has to support. They have to be fully healthy and you have to take every day to make sure that’s the case to have a healthy 53.”
(Where is LB Bradley Chubb specifically in that process?) – “I don’t expect to see Bradley (Chubb) this week. As far as weeks moving forward, we’ll see but I don’t expect that to happen this week.”
(With LB Bradley Chubb, I guess the same question – you expect him to play at some point this year, right?) – “The way he’s attacked and the way he’s really come back from a pretty serious injury, I’m optimistic that I will, for sure, just because we haven’t had any setbacks or anything. I’m optimistic for that but I can promise you that whenever he is back, he couldn’t have been back any sooner. He is trusting our medical staff to make sure they’re his discipline for not overexerting or trying to make the time that he’s missed as small as possible. I’m very comfortable with where their working relationship is at and really the work that they’ve done knowing whenever we are able to see him that’s as soon as we could’ve gotten him. Just because of his sweat equity that he’s put in – you wouldn’t know as a teammate that he hadn’t practiced this year just because he’s been around for everything and made sure to keep himself involved and used his leadership voice for positive. I’ll be excited for when he gets back on the field, don’t know exactly when that will be.”
(Regarding penalties, what are you expecting coming off of a bye week? I know zero penalties is unrealistic, but big reduction in pre-snap penalties or can you quantify what you’re expecting?) – “I think the things that have – there’s two things that are going on each NFL game; sometimes teams win it and sometimes teams lose it. And part of offense, defense, special teams, self-inflicted wounds are absolutely at the forefront of our mind because those are how you lose games and being much more functional in that way allows you and enables you to be a team that wins game as opposed to just forfeiting downs and wins and losses. The only way that you improve on stuff of that nature is if 100% across the board people take full accountability for their part in it and there’s a deliberate focus and intent when you’re on air, when you’re in walkthrough, all of the available reps you are practicing that and you hold it in the regard it necessitates by how much you are convicted to that. So to me, I was very happy with our practice. I thought we got better before we played the Patriots, and my expectation is that we have a collective understanding of how that got better – not to be confused with what we want or our desired result. There was no magic fairy dust that got that better; our operation and our communication was better because we put the work in at that, and so my expectation is to see all of my teammates double down on that and to improve up what we improved upon. I think that’s the biggest thing that gets lost, especially in the first quarter of the NFL season, is there’s a couple teams that have zero or one loss, there’s a couple teams that only have one win and everybody else is doing the same thing – are we getting better or are we getting worse? We need to continue to get better. We don’t win the last game we played if we weren’t better at certain things that allowed us to overcome some mistakes that get you beat a lot of times. So I think there’s eye-opening growth in that from this team that needs to continue if we want the season to be a better reflection of what we think this team is. That’s not going anywhere; we are trying to clean up our football in every way, shape or form.”
(I wanted to get some clarity on OL Isaiah Wynn. Obviously when he resigned, a lot of us expected him to be in the mix for training camp and he’s been on the PUP. Is there an expectation that he will be back before November? Is this still the quadriceps injury or is this another?) – “I think with Isaiah (Wynn), he would be included in the expectation of when he was going to be able to be available to play football. You could include him on your assumptions, and there were some lingering things that did come up that weren’t the quad based upon the quad injury, if that makes sense. So there’s residuals in the human body and stress in one area can lead to stress in another. So for me and for him, he’s been so unbelievable, thirsting for what he just got started last year, but understanding his own body and putting the daily work in. I’m not sure – I haven’t looked at the hand reader logs for this building in a while, but he’s in this building non-stop trying to get himself back on the field. So for me, I’m just embracing no setbacks and hope to get him on the field. I don’t know when that is, I’m not going to venture to guess and I definitely don’t want him thinking that way either because he’s had a long journey. But it’s been a very positive couple weeks for him, specifically, as we hope to get him back on the field and have the best version of the Miami Dolphins that we can have.”
(How much work were you able to get in with QB Tyler Huntley during this bye week? I’m not sure exactly what the rules are, but was he able to further acclimate into this offense?) – “Yeah, so it’s important in a bye week that guys use that time to regen for what’s upcoming. For a guy like Tyler (Huntley), the copy-paste norm of what a bye week would look like, it was a little different for him. It was just imperative that he could have more time on task to study and to review the footwork of some of our core concepts and core fundamentals, which he did a great job working through. I mean, a couple weeks ago, he hadn’t thrown any no hitch in-breaks that he’s thrown. Most of our explosives have come through stuff that he hadn’t done in his past, so that combination of being a quick study but then having – five days for him was like an eternity based upon the way he’s had to play catch up. So the cut ups, the practice film and some of the stuff to get ahead of what we’ll probably do with the Indianapolis Colts, as well as just the whys and what fors for our whole offense, he really got to jump into. It was a lot of pre-created cut ups from the coaching staff so that he could take full advantage of all the stuff that you’d typically guide him through during an offseason. So huge for him, some of the stuff that he’s been able to do – I promise you that you have to be a very, very well oiled professional to be able to command the offense the way he has and he’s improved every work week we’ve had. I’m excited for him because there’s so much that gets lost in an NFL game for a player to have confidence and conviction in what’s going on. And yes, you can know your assignment and you can know the details of it, but to own it and be able to turn a second language into a first language, which is kind of what you end up having to do at the quarterback position, that’s monumental. So I’m very excited for the offense for him to get another week under his belt to operate to its full steam because I thought we got better, not worse from his first start to his second and that’s what you want to see to his third.”
(How challenging is it when you’re not sure which quarterback you might be preparing for in a week? The Colts have been dealing with their own injuries and I guess how impressive QB Joe Flacco has been still doing it at 39?) – “I think it is a different set of problem solving that you try to do your best for all players involved, and when you’re trying to learn players on the fly, it does make it a little more challenging to have decisions that you feel absolutely, positively this is the best thing for this player or these players on this play. Those decisions, whether or not you do something under center, whether or not something is in shotgun, the type of run action that you’re trying to sell on a play pass, the types of scheme, all of those things, you do better – at least I’ve always done better when I have exact reasons for everything. It does make it challenging, but we’re quick studies here and I’ve been through the process to expedite that, so I think players are definitely better off when their coaches know the full breadth of their skill set. I think Joe Flacco has done a very good job, like he has the last couple of years, of being – the art of being a good backup quarterback, there’s a laundry list of things. One of those things is how much can your offense not miss a beat, so to speak, or how much can your offense adjust around a different quarterback. To Joe’s credit, I think he’s won two games this year doing exactly what the team needs him to do which is orchestrate the offense, be able to handle all the different motions and keep the offense on schedule, and then make the plays that the guys that are in there with the starting quarterback, what they’ve learned how to make plays on within that offense with a different guy at helm. So I think he’s done a very good job of executing what is one of the more difficult things in the National Football League, and that’s to be one of 22 players, or if you want to do special teams, 33 players on the field that are starters that you allow the other 32 sometimes to help win the game by being a professional, knowing when you have to make your plays and when you leave it up to the ball carrier or checkdown. I interviewed him when he was coming out of Delaware – happy to see him continue his career as he’s done in his opportunities in Indy.”
(You mentioned the quarter poll here, most teams are 2-3 or 3-2. First of all, is the bye week kind of a good time so you guys can sit back and realize, OK things haven’t gone great the first stretch but everything is still in front of us that we want?) – “This bye week was unique, because – I guess you could say a positive of frontloaded adversity for our team is that you kind of have to do stuff you do on the bye week before the bye week comes to really take a look at yourself and when your results aren’t matching the way you forecast, it forces you to really nail down some things. OK, what are we good at – we being this 2024 team – and what aren’t we good at; let’s focus on certain things for whatever gameplan reason that has to do with a collection of individuals out there and let’s lean in on that, and then what stuff have we tried, whether it was a great idea or not, and it’s not really worked out for us. I think what was interesting about this bye week was it was a couple layers deeper into something we were already doing before the bye week, just because that’s kind of how you operate when you’re trying to get a team right. You have to really deep dive in OK, how are we – at the time it was, how are we 1-3, what has led us to that, what would have given us a chance to win, what are the things, what are the positives, because it’s not all black and white, and how do you find ways to improve, because ironically, this season for the Miami Dolphins is no different than the two previous in my mind. How do I say something like that? Well, you win, you lose, you have stats that are favorable, you have stats that aren’t, but you have to find adverse situations to grow through as a team so that when you’re building up for however long – when you really think about it, single-elimination or elimination games, whether that’s to get into the playoffs or that you’re in the playoffs, those elimination games are buildup of a lot of work and you need a team that is used to high stress situations. One way you can induce stress is have a three-game losing streak early. I think the biggest thing is that there are some teams that have maybe zero, one or two losses, that in the NFL, you can get lulled to sleep in terms of you can get comfortable. You can be like, ‘All right, we’re winning some games,’ and you can lose – the most important, absolute, non-negotiable is you have to be playing your best football at the end of the year for you to like the results of the end of the year. I think although it’s not exciting or fun, it’s quite the contrary, I think what has to be done in this bye week is the same thing that’s had to be done in the last two, is that we have to as coaches and players collectively evolve and have our best football at the end of the season. There’s the pressure cooker that is the National Football League that when you come to work every day for, I think it was like 24 days in a row of trying to get something right and you don’t get it right, that’s the pressure cooker you need. Is that the best thing that happens to you or the worst thing, you allow your team to kind of dictate that, how they go to work every day and the results of the next coming games, but sometimes being 2-3 isn’t the worst thing in the world when you look at it the way I look at it. If the mission never changes, if you’re trying to make sure your best football is in December and January, what does that look like in September and October? It’s all in what the team makes it, so I think we’ve had a good understanding of how we got to where we’re at and how we need to continue to improve to have our record reflect what we think this team is. That’s a day-in, day-out job that takes the whole collective of the team for that to get done, and that’s what we’re trying to do here on Monday as we prepare for the Colts.”
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