Cameron Wake – December 2, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Postgame – Buffalo
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake
What was your reaction when you saw the final play?
CAMERON WAKE: Yes! (laughter)
Can you take us through what happened?
CAMERON WAKE: He zigged left, he zigged right. I guess everybody knew it was going to be the last play of the game and he was doing whatever he could to buy time to get his receivers down the field. I don’t remember who it was, but I know I was one of the guys chasing him around. He kept giving ground and he launched it up there. I don’t know who it was. Was it (Charles) Clay? Buddy Charles back there in the end zone. He didn’t make the play, so I guess that’s pretty much it.
There are people I talked in the locker room that said they had no idea who he was throwing to because all the action was going to the left and there was nothing to the right.
CAMERON WAKE: I can assure you I wasn’t looking at receivers or coverage. I had a job to do at the time, so I didn’t know what was going on back there. I’m focused ahead. A win for the good guys.
I imagine that it’s a royal pain when there’s a guy back there holding a football and he’s doing that. But what is the toll that, that takes over four quarters?
CAMERON WAKE: I think it’s two sides of the sword. If you have a guy who … (If) the necessity is for him to do that, that means obviously your front is getting after him, there’s pressure, guys are winning. Getting back there, I don’t know, I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it wasn’t necessarily the issue. It’s once you get back there, now you have to go from pass rusher to linebacker and you’ve got to corral somebody who’s trying to not necessarily throw the ball but run and get yardage and there’s more of them blocking there than there is of us rushing. It’s going to be a lane somewhere and good guys are going to find it. He got out there a couple times. But again, pick your poison: you want them throwing it or you want them running it? I think over the course of a game you can look at it either way. But it was exciting to say the least. I’ll say that.
I know you guys get measured by sacks. But what you just said is true. You were winning at getting, kind of, to the quarterback. It’s just that he wouldn’t cooperate.
CAMERON WAKE: Just stay there. (laughter) Generally, that’s not the case. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Defensive line is hard. You’ve got to wait for the ball to snap. 300-pound man to deal with. And once you get him off of you, now you’ve got to contort your body and get to the point of point of contact. And once you contact, now there’s a whole other set of rules about how you contact. So it’s a lot, again. But at the end of the day, that’s our job. We got one part right, getting back there, but then we got to probably do a better job of getting them down. But yardage is yardage one way or another. That’s defense.
CB Xavien Howard is a guy who is making a name for himself this year. What have you noticed about him, maybe since training camp or since the offseason?
CAMERON WAKE: He must have a tremendous d-line that’s forcing some errant throws that he’s getting lots and lots of interceptions. (laughter) Make sure you tell him I said that. (laughter) No, I’ve said it all along, obviously we have a thing: left side, we want to make sure … I’m going to help him out, he’s going to help me out. But take nothing away from him. He’s a tremendous football player. We call them ball hogs. A pass rusher’s best friend is a great corner. I say it all the time. I’m going to do my best to keep getting errant throws and he’s going to do his best to keep getting quarterbacks to pump the ball. We work hand in hand. It’s not just him and I, but obviously that’s how it should work, complementary football – front to back, side to side. He’s been on a run and I have enjoyed watching every time he’s been out there and I’m looking forward to continue.
When you say the left side, how aware are you of the cornerback? Do you guys play off of each other?
CAMERON WAKE: We do. I tell him all the time, ‘You give me two and a half seconds and everything else after that is on me.’ As I’ve said all the time, again, you’re getting the quarterback to his second and third progression, that’s my job. You shouldn’t have to cover it for five seconds. If that’s the case, that’s not on you. These are elite receivers. That’s the d-line. I put it on my back that I should have been there by then. Now, if he’s getting the ball out in one and a half (seconds), hey, come on now, let’s tighten up, let me do my job. Again, that’s the way it’s supposed to work. He’s obviously doing a tremendous job at that and we’ve got to continue to help him out.
Big topic of conversations this week was missed holding calls.
CAMERON WAKE: Missed holding calls? That never happens. What are you talking about?
I feel like you got held by two different people on a potential safety. Do you remember that?
CAMERON WAKE: Just drawing a blank here. I can’t remember ever being held. It’s an interesting game. There’s some interesting calls that happened today. Obviously, football is changing. We had a couple … Was it helmet to helmet? I don’t know the actual … Kiko (Alonso). I don’t know what the word is that they used. Targeting or whatever. I think I had a personal foul today for shoving the quarterback, so o I got to stop doing that I guess. I don’t know.
It’s huge. Takes points off the board. There are two different guys that held you on the play.
CAMERON WAKE: I had two guys blocking me on the first play. It’s interesting. I told you this, was it Friday, I don’t ever want to put them in that position. You wouldn’t leave your keys in the car and leave it unlocked, because you don’t want it to get stolen. I try my best not to allow the holding to happen. If it happens, I can’t blame them. I’ve got to blame them myself. I let them do that. My job is to lock my car and eliminate that process from even getting started. You saw it. You said it. I didn’t.
Overall, having this win, still being in the picture for the playoffs, how can you take this and build on this the next couple of weeks?
CAMERON WAKE: You’re probably thinking much further down the line than I do. Especially in December, it’s a one-game season every week. I think everybody knows I’m not a statistical guy. I don’t count. I don’t look. But in December every game you’re playing is probably going to be meaningful. I say it all the time: it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. You’ve got about 24, 36 hours depending to enjoy it or to lick your wounds. Tuesday afternoon, you got to wipe your slate clean and get on to the next one. Playoffs and end of the season is not on my radar. I’m looking forward to, like I said, 24 hours of enjoying this win and then it’ll be on to the next game.
