Mike McDaniel – November 22, 2023
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Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(We were deeply concerned yesterday only because, we saw the injury report – of course, if you had practiced fully, you listed three offensive line starters as limited – OL Austin Jackson and OL Lester Cotton with new injuries – and obviously OL Robert Hunt. Of those three, are you optimistic that any or all will play on Friday?) – “I’m very optimistic that Austin and Lester will play. I feel pretty confident in that. Rob, I’m optimistic that he will be dressed. One of the trickiest things – short weeks are just a heart attack for you because right now it’s Wednesday. We’re all creatures of habit and in the NFL season, I’m not sure if people understand how labor-some Wednesday is in general. You have to get going. Well, this is the Thursday of our work week, so trying to decipher between bumps and bruises and injuries, it’s just a little difficult now. It’s pretty gray. We have to be very fluid as a coaching staff. There’s a lot still up in the air but that’s kind of how I view those three. But this would be the worst time to be like, ‘alright he said this, this is going to happen.’ There’s a lot of gray. And you have to embrace that and be fluid with a lot of stuff. There’s going to be a lot of things that will be up until gametime, including Rob Hunt.”
(What about RB De’Von Achane? Was it positive that he was limited?) – “I think it was a positive. Today’s a big day for him. We’ll have to make a decision that is going to have to be – he’s going to want to play. It’s not really a preventative decision on how much you can sustain and worry about further injury. It’s not that. It’s more the consequences of someone that when you go to a game on an active roster that’s very limited, and then you’re unable to fulfill your four-quarter duty, there’s a consequence on the team. As well as, I need to still make sure where his confidence level is at with something that I know is uncharted for him, because you want him to be his best self when he’s playing. There will be a little posturing on his part, I assume, and I’ll just be deciphering between his level of confidence and my confidence that he can play four quarters. Not saying that he has to because things happen all the time in the NFL that you can’t control. Just educated guesses that will come, and today will be a big day for that.”
(So it’s possible to bring back RB De’Von Achane on a limited snap count?) – “All things are up in the air. From a medical standpoint, there’s no risk in regards to, alright, this is pressing the envelope. That’s what I first established is like, is there inherent risk? Are we playing with fire? That has been communicated to me that we aren’t. So it’s more about his confidence, and yes there is a chance that he’ll play, for sure. But there’s a chance he won’t either. We have one practice opportunity to go full speed. That’s today, so obviously that will be very important.”
(A question on a possible follow up on RB De’Von Achane. On video it looked like he was tackled with hip-drop tackles when he hurt his knee versus the Giants and Raiders. Is that the case? If so, what are your thoughts on that technique?) – “You want me to make national headlines right now, don’t you? (laughter) You want me to go bold. You want me to call everybody out. (laughter) It’s an interesting debate. I operate so much in opportunity cost. If you’re spending time thinking about one thing, you’re not spending time thinking about the other. So I don’t really have an opinion – or the validity of hip-drop tackles and the recourse and whether it’s good for the game, I know that it’s good for the game for all players to be healthy. I know that it’s hard for me to envision a defender trying to tackle someone and while wrapped up, I think sometimes people aren’t intending to do that and it just happens. I don’t know. I haven’t really combed the tape that way or looked through that lens in terms of that being kind of the impetus for De’Von’s injury. Now that you say that, I can kind of picture the tackles and they probably were something similar. But it’s also just, you’re tackling offensive ball-carriers in the heat of battle. It’s a hard enough job to bring someone down. So I think rules should be based around protecting players as much as we can because the game benefits with all players being available. But with that being said, as long as you don’t violate the integrity of tackle football, I think things done towards player safety is a good thing. How do you enforce that, or, I put myself in a defender’s shoes and you’re tackling someone and you’re trying to bring them down, that generally is happening when they’re building momentum and they’re already progressing down the field, in theory. So it’s kind of tricky. It’s a really interesting topic that I spend absolutely zero time thinking about. But it doesn’t mean it’s not valid. That doesn’t mean it’s beneath me. It’s more that I’m not trying to meddle in stuff. I’ve got enough problems.”
(I want to talk a little bit about LB Jaelan Phillips and LB Bradley Chubb. This dynamic duo, they’ve said that they help each other out in ways when they’re frustrated within their game. Besides the stats, what also has impressed you the most about the two of them?) – “That they’ve also had internal battles through the season, battling the best problem you could possibly have the professional athlete, which is strong conviction and obligation to be an elite player for their team and themselves. That is obviously a positive thing, but it also can lead one to press. I think they have really relied on technique and fundamentals in orchestration with Vic’s (Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio) beliefs and (Outside Linebackers Coach) Ryan Slowik’s and (Senior Assistant) Wade Harman’s work with them. They’ve done an outstanding job building their game the right way within the structure of the defense, because for you to play good defense, individuals have to buy in so they’re not just stat chasing and running the hoop nine yards deep on first and second down, those types of things. Ultimately, they care a tremendous amount about being pillars to our team, and have learned and really grown right in front of my eyes, particularly this year, in understanding what that is. So they bring it every day. They are pushing themselves – watching those two in the fourth quarter is one of my favorite things, because they are tired and they don’t care. They are willing themselves. You can really see it with both of them. I think they expected this year to be the best football year of their lives so far, and I think they’re delivering on that in their journeys and knowing that there’s more on the table for them. It’s a huge part of our team and what drives us. Huge part of one of the reasons – I think last week we led the league in quarterback hits up until the game. I’m not sure where we’re at now. It’s a short week, so I have no information. But they’re a huge driving force for what we’re doing.”
(I want you to put your critics hat on for a minute. What is your unbiased review of Hard Knocks? What did you think?) – “Oh yeah, I didn’t see it. I was asleep. I think that that’s a compliment itself to a lot of people in the building, the relationships that we’ve built with the crew, my full belief in our communications department led by (Senior Director of Football Communications) Anne Noland. I didn’t anticipate that, but it was 8:30 and I fell asleep. (laughter) So I didn’t watch it. I don’t really have any critique, thus. What did you think? That’s what the people want to know. Give the people what they want. (laughter)”
(You were the star, by far.) – “Oh really? I don’t believe that.”
(Does Linebackers Coach Anthony Campanile come up with analogies and pep talks like that every week?) – “Oh yeah, that’s a Jersey thing, man. He’s got stuff in his back pocket that him and all his brothers – I mean, he’s one of however many football coaching brothers he has. So people responded to him well?”
(Yes. There needs to be a Dolphins shirt that says “Ass Whoop – Universal Language.”) – “Universal language. I’m fluent in that. I learned that in middle school on the bad end – just kidding. (laughter) No, that’s good. That’s kind of what I alluded to in a team meeting before about the unintended consequences. There’s some natural resistance to your safe place. We do things in a way that would – from a foundational standpoint, you try to do things not because it’s been done or the way that you’ve done it before, but what makes the most sense. When you’re doing stuff like that and you let your guard down, your guard is down because you’ve learned to let your guard down in the safe place. For that to be violated, it was kind of nerve wracking, but at the same time, I knew there were so many stories of people that – the idea that I’m the star of a show, I dislike that to the nth degree, just because that’s not team. Like I signed up for this from the beginning, getting into coaching, to be a part of a team. Within this team in particular, there are so many driving forces to make us who we are, and to be able to shed a little light on some of those dynamics, it’s therapeutic to me because I just know it’s the way things work, but you guys don’t get to talk to Anthony Campanile all the time. You’re forced to talk to me all the time. You do your best with what is in front of you, so I get that. But I’m glad to hear that you guys are fired up. You put a guy like Anthony Campanile in front of a room because of his connection to players and because he brings energy and brings passion and his conviction. Those type of people have a big residual towards our day-to-day process, which is what makes us who we are. I think so far so good. Remember, my job is problems, right? That’s what my job is, and people generally don’t tell me – sometimes they tell me some positive stuff, but most of the time, it’s like, ‘Hey, fix this.’ And I haven’t gotten any fix this conversation, so I feel pretty good about it. Just let me know if there’s something that I do (need to know). I’ll leave it to you guys. OK? Can we agree on this? If there’s something that I do that you’re like, ‘Oh, man, that’s terrible.’ You just let me know, because I probably haven’t seen it, so that I can adjust moving forward. Cool? (laughter)”
(I wanted to ask you about CB Jalen Ramsey. A lot of players have talked about how engaged he was in meetings, and how he’s so committed to the team, and how he brings food trucks on Fridays. How do you think that commitment while he was coming back physically has allowed him to drop into the defense and have this seamless comeback?) – “I think it’s absolutely everything. When I tell you, never in my career have I seen someone with a months not weeks injury, be as involved in a team. Mind you, he had two practices under his belt with this team. To have two practices and have the wherewithal to understand your impact on people and how your injury – I mean our team was in the tank until he talked to the team. He explained, ‘hey, I’m going to do this.’ And then he did it each and every day. When your most talented players epitomize your beliefs and how to do things as an individual with regards to yourself but also with regards to the entire team, when you have the most talent and you exhibit the exact model of Rudy, you are like wow. You have Rudy in a once in a generation type skillset for a guy that size, and there is no way to avoid the ramifications for the rest of the team. I think he comes back and it raises peoples’ level of game because he’s an elite player, but you also know what he did to get back here. So maybe you take an extra 30 minutes to review your tip sheet that you get from your coaches the night before the game. The residuals are endless. If you want to be a winning program, that has to happen. Or you’re just wishing and hoping. I can’t say enough good things about that guy. He’s one of my top three favorite players of all time. I’ve only been in game situations in what, four times? Three?”
(On a short week with less time on the grass for your gameplan, how does that add to the challenge of getting ready for an opponent?) – “It is a completely different challenge. You have to let go some of your idiosyncrasies as a coach to where maybe your plan just adjusts everything you do. You have to keep in mind you can’t have your cake and eat it to. You only have a certain amount of reps, so how do you do things within the realm of players comfort so that they are confident, but also give an element of edge that is necessary to beat any NFL team. You’re trying to balance a lot of things. It is a strain. You want to talk about something that no one talks about that is so real. We are a creature of habit. You have the same orchestration of work week, and that is where people live in the high-stakes world of professional football. Well, we are meeting all day and putting in so much stuff on Tuesday, which is the player’s day off, so that is the challenge that you enter into because they are conditioned – it doesn’t matter how bad they want to, they are tired. It’s like, ‘oh man, didn’t we just play?’ Yes, you did. So you have to really go after it that whole player day off, which is now your Wednesday and Thursday combined. All of that is hard. And then you have to get up and do it again the next day, except this time you’re practicing as you would on Thursday, on a Wednesday, which is different to the clock. Professional athletes have the most OCD routine and are more routine-oriented than anybody that I’ve come across. They are regimented. That’s the only way you can maximize your physical performance. Talking about meals, stretching, massages, treatment, pools, tubs, all the different things that go into it. That inherently is a challenge, but when it’s an uncontrollable, then it’s not about this is hard. It’s about how do we combat that? I feel very fortunate that we have a lot of competitors that when it’s explained to them through that lens, they are up for the challenge. I’m expecting some exciting football here today on the practice field.”
(I want to follow up on RB Jeff Wilson Jr. just because he’s a guy we expected to be a regular rotation player for you, and it hasn’t been the case. He was inactive last week. How has he been performing? Is it just health or performance why he hasn’t been contributing more?) – “The position at running back, we’ve, in my opinion, done a good job of making sure that position group has plenty of depth. That position in particular has an unpredictable injury flowchart. Honestly, I’m so excited for where Jeff is at because it has nothing to do with his performance in terms of not doing X, Y or Z. There are a multitude of variables. We get a lot out of our running backs, whether it’s you’re on first down, second down or third down, or you’re on special teams. I think one of the things that was really a part of SA’s (Salvon Ahmed) growth this year was his ability to contribute in a strong fashion on special teams. Not to say that Jeff can’t. It was more that you don’t know which position your pillars on special teams, or guys that are strong contributors, are coming from. And before that, that was a major role for Chris Brooks. When you have multiple players, that’s why he’s on the team but hasn’t really been able to bite the meat off the bone. When you stay patient, and you worry about the stuff you can control, the whole point of doing that is so that in moments like these, your game hasn’t suffered when the opportunity is right in front of you and as real as all get out. Jeff is ready, fully healthy and I’m excited for the people’s champ to get some action.”
