Braxton Berrios – April 23, 2024
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Tuesday, April 23, 2024
WR Braxton Berrios
(What do you think of the new kickoff rules? What have you and Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman said to each other about it since it was implemented?) – “First and foremost, I love it. I think it brings back a really exciting play in a game where it was kind of eliminated the last few years, at least especially early in the seasons in the warmer conditions. So it’s exciting and yeah, just been bouncing off each other, strategies, what we think might happen, what we can see happening, what we think is the best way to go about it. I think Week 1 is going to be – that opening kickoff of the season is going to be very interesting all across the board. But yeah, just talking through it and seeing what we feel is best.”
(You’re a guy who has had bigger receiving numbers than you had last season. I’m wondering if you would go to Head Coach Mike McDaniel this offseason, or if there was a time you went to him last offseason, maybe just kind of nudged him and said, “Hey Mike, I can do more,” maybe we need more? Have you done that or will you do that?) – “No, I think everybody is out there doing everything they can. I think with this offense, with as much talent as there is across the board, I think everybody is grown men enough to realize you have one ball. And really all we can do across the board is when the ball comes to you, when that op – when you get it – make good on it. So no, I don’t foresee that happening.”
(What are your thoughts – and I’m not trying to pit you against the offense – your thoughts on having a more prominent No. 3 receiver whether it’s the slot receiver or the tight end, whether it’s you, TE Durham Smythe, TE Jonnu Smith? Would that help the offense? Is that necessary for the offense do you think?) – “I think that’s a question for up top and not for me. I think like I said, we have so many good elite skill guys that I think we can mix in a lot of different ways and fill ‘voids’ where we need them to, but I don’t think that’s for me to judge there.”
(I wanted to ask you based on the social media video that we saw – obviously you and the missus were very excited about rejoining the Dolphins – so I wanted to ask you just how important was it for you to be able to come back here to South Florida? Also if you could take us through what the free agency process was like?) – “The free agency process is funny, because it’s different every year and this one was just a lot of back and forth with my agent figuring things out. I’m probably not going to give up too much of what it was and what teams were involved and all of that, but at the end of the day, absolutely ecstatic to be back here. That was the hope and I’m really happy that it worked out.”
(You touched on earlier the new kickoff rule and how you and Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman kind of batted things around on what it might look like. I’ve got to tell you, when I looked at a chart, it almost made me dizzy trying to figure out how wild it looks. What’s your best guess on how it’s going to look and what might you be able to do to maximize your skills?) – “My best guess is just that, a guess. Like I said, opening kickoff Week 1, there’s going to be a lot of trial and error. I don’t think we’ll see much in preseason. I think everybody is going to pop it up and let your cover guys cover and see who can block on the return team. And I think Week 1 is going to be – everybody’s going to think they have the ace of cards up their sleeves. So I really truly don’t know what to expect. Obviously the zone is a lot tighter and I expect there’s going to be – there’s not as much drops on the kickoff return team. You’re going to get on guys earlier, and the cover team, they’re going to have to make decisions quicker and with way less of a running head start. So I think the good thing is, I think the holes will open up and they’ll be earlier and quicker. I think for the guys that hit them, I think it’ll be a good thing.”
(It’s draft weekend, I wanted to see your memories of your draft weekend?) – “Yeah, absolutely. Draft weekend was awesome. I hosted a bunch of my family down here actually in Miami. We rented out a house for the weekend, had everybody coming in from really all parts – my mom and them from North Carolina and my dad and them from Texas. Yeah, it was a really, really fun weekend, really cool experience obviously and something that you only get once.”
(Are you a draft follower as a player? Are you one that really engages? And if so, who do you want the Dolphins to take on Thursday?) – “No, I want them to take whoever they feel is best for this team. I really don’t. It’s kind of like college recruiting these days. It’s just a different world, and I think our focus is on who’s here right now. Obviously when we draft guys that they see fit, they’ll be inducted in a few weeks and we’ll get rolling with them. But no, I have full confidence they’ll do the best for the team.”
(I missed your first response to the kickoff rules change question so forgive me if you’ve kind of answered this part, but have you looked at or watched any of the UFL, XFL or USFL games or clips on YouTube?) – “Yeah, we have. That’s obviously the starting point for trying to figure out what’s going to happen. So in our meetings and on my own just been going through them and again, seeing what other teams did, what worked, what didn’t, trying to guess what the kickoff team is going to do to – I know the yardage is a little bit different as well. One returner, two returners, all those things are questions, but yeah, absolutely. You can try to look at that and get the best gauge. And at the end of the day, it’s kind of going to be what the kickoff team is trying to do and how do you respond to that.”
(The kickoff return percentages were much higher. How do you feel about that if in fact it happens in the NFL?) – “I think that’s what I opened (this) with – I’m very excited. The fact that I think it’s one of the most exciting plays in a game and over the last few years was definitely getting weaned out a little bit. The kickers can kick it through and you may get a little big higher percentage of returns later in the December, January, the playoffs because the weather gets colder and the ball doesn’t fly as far. But really for being down in Miami, those December, January – it’s kind of all the same. So I’m very excited, because I think it’s a big part of the game and a part that I love to do, so yeah, I want those percentages as high as possible.”
(I know everything obviously is gameplan-based and you have WR Tyreek Hill and WR Jaylen Waddle as studs playing opposite you, but your number of targets – 16 in the first four weeks, 17 after that. You’re a total team guy so you’re fine with anything, but Head Coach Mike McDaniel is obviously a communicator. Did he tell you late in the season or in your postseason meeting, “Look, I’d like to get you more involved in the passing game if we can more so than we did the final 13 weeks last year”?) – “I think that’s a question for him, and I’m obviously not going to be the one to divulge anything that we talk about in-house. I didn’t know that stat so that’s news to me, and at the end of the day – it’s kind of what I answered earlier as well – we have so many guys on this team that are elite, especially on the skill position, on the offensive skill position at that. So it becomes one of those things, it’s at the end of the day, it’s a numbers game, right. You have all these guys to feed. You have the running backs, the tight ends and obviously the two absolute elite receivers and sometimes it happens that way. And so, really that’s last year and I’m looking forward to this year.”
(Speaking of the offense, obviously some of those guys are heading into Year 3 with Head Coach Mike McDaniel and QB Tua Tagovailoa at the helm. I’m curious from your perspective, from your lens, how much different is it coming back this spring for offseason programs when you already have the year’s worth of tape and practices and you know the offense? Just how much different is it from last year to now?) – “It’s a lot. You’re learning everything for the second time. You’re getting introduced to it the second time and all the things that you harped on last OTAs, last camp and then throughout the season are just being repeated and drilled in a little bit better. So when you go out there the first day to run routes, you’re not asking which foot is up and which step is it or how deep is it. You kind of already know and from the top-down, that helps everything go more smoothly, and then more so than that, you can really get into the details of the offense, of the play, of exactly what we’re trying to do, exactly the timing. If you’re trying to pull somebody away for somebody else, you really, really get into the little details of the offense when everybody knows the basics. So I think it helps tremendously move us along throughout the spring and then camp.”
