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Duke Riley – January 11, 2024 Download PDF version

Thursday, January 11, 2024

LB Duke Riley

(What is the key to getting everybody up for this cold weather situation?) – “Just embrace it. Regardless if it is 100 degrees here in Miami or zero degrees wherever it is at, I’m going to be high energy. I’m going to be loving it and enjoying it. At the end of the day, it’s a chance for a lot of people to make a household name for themselves. When I think of the playoffs, I think of Raheem (Mostert) and what he did when he was in San Francisco and made a huge name for himself because a lot of people didn’t really know who he was and he showed them who he was. That’s the message I’ve been relaying to a couple of the guys. The weather doesn’t really matter. The place doesn’t really matter. What matters is the mindset of everybody in the room and on the team, and how consistent can we be and the effort we give. That’s really all that’s going to matter.”

(Kansas City got you guys earlier in the season. What would the feeling be to end theirs at their place?) – “It’s just going to be a surreal feeling. We all know that – I don’t know how long it has been since Miami has won a playoff game. But I tell everybody, why not us? Why not be the team that does that? Why not break that cycle? We’ve got a lot of guys in this room, even though we’re losing guys, we’ve still got a lot of guys who play some really good ball. We’ve brought some guys in to help us. We’re just taking it day by day. We’re enjoying the process every single day. I feel like a lot of guys are ready to play, especially with that feeling still in our gut from last week.”

(How do you avoid pressing when you guys are coming off back-to-back losses and you want to get that feeling out of your system but it is win or go home?) – “Win or go home. We understand that and it’s all about how we respond. It’s really just getting back to the fundamentals. When stuff goes wrong, just get back to the fundamentals and technique. Be huge on that. Be huge on communication. Over-communicate. I feel like a lot of guys have been doing that throughout the week and a lot of guys are ready to play. I know for damn sure that I am. I want to give my everything in the meeting or walkthrough or whatever it is, so I can be the best for the team.”

(How tough was it to see LB Jerome Baker again after coming right back?) – “I mean we all know ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) and we love ‘Bake.’ Just him going out there and playing through the stuff that he was going through just shows how strong of a person he is. This game is so crazy when things like that happen because he did it and he was still playing with it. I don’t know when he did it, maybe earlier in the game or the second quarter, and he said it was hurting, and he got it taped and he was just thinking it was something because things happen. You get hit and nine times out of 10, if you wake up with an injury, you don’t know when it happened or where it came from because that adrenaline is so high. So for him to even finish the game with that just shows you his strength, his courage and how much he really loves the team.”

(QB Patrick Mahomes, do you have some sleepless nights thinking about him?) – “Nah, I sleep really well every night.”

(What’s the challenge going against a former MVP?) – “The challenge is us being who we are and doing what we do. It doesn’t matter who a team has, one person can’t beat 11 if we’re all doing our job. Obviously I’m not going to ever discredit who Patrick Mahomes is. We all know he’s one of the greatest. I personally love Pat. I know him. We trained with the same guy coming out of college, so we have a lot of mutual respect. I definitely truly respect him. I think he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Statistic-wise, he’s won two Super Bowls already. He’s been in big games, so he’s going to be prepared and we know that. We just have to be ready and prepared just as much.”

(Is the frustration covering him the fact of what QB Patrick Mahomes can do with his legs? Or is it the arm angle?) – “Everything. He can extend plays and guys will have to plaster and cover guys. We have to do a good job of keeping him in the pocket, even if we’re pressed, because we know the magic he can do with the ball regardless if he’s on a run, doing circles, throwing no-looks. We all know what he can do. We’ve all seen it. We just have to play our game and be detailed and on our stuff.”

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