Mike McDaniel – September 11, 2024
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Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Just to address running backs first, do you expect to have RB Raheem Mostert and RB De’Von Achane on Thursday?) – “Raheem, no. De’Von, we’ll see how it plays out today. Thursday night games are probably the – it probably should be your triggering point, because I (don’t know). You got to realize – what is today? Today is Wednesday, right? OK, guys are just typically – when we do have padded practices, we don’t even have them until Thursday because typically, after an NFL game, Wednesday, guys are still working through their ailments from the game previous. So there’s several guys that we’ll be feeling out and we’ll go from there.”
(I asked you about this at the owners meetings with WR Tyreek Hill and his off-field adventures and had you guys talked to him about them. Have you talked to him after this latest episode? And what was the response, if you can share any of that with us?) – “Meaning like what?”
(The incident at the marina, and the incident with the social media influencer – just the things that he’s gotten into off the field. Have you talked to him about trying to straighten up or anything like that?) – “I talk to these guys about everything that occurs, good and bad. I talk to Tyreek (Hill) about all the days that he’s not in the headlines, because there’s a lot of those too. And I think it’s important to just as people, in my role, where I’m trying to find every way to squeeze out all the potential in the human being. The name of the name is growth, and I think a lot of times it is what it is, like you are held accountable for the things that people know. And when you are in the headlines in any negative way, that’s everyone’s timeline, that’s fair. However, there’s much more to that. Sometimes while you’re taking a lot of steps forward, there’s a step back. We talk through everything so that we can be our best versions of ourselves, which I think Tyreek is a different human being than when I first met him. He just continues to evolve, and I think that’s the nature of a lot of guys’ journeys right now.”
(What was your reaction to the body cam video?) – “I think I’m emotioned out, so I’m going to try to use words that don’t – I mean I just, enough people have seen me cry. But there was that. It wasn’t shock; it was sadness. Right when you see it, and then for an hour or two afterward, what was that Monday night? Spent time talking to some players on the phone and then spent some time talking to some staff members that I knew with our history together that had experienced similar things firsthand. You just don’t – not shock but sadness, for sure.”
(Now that you’ve seen the video, is there anything you think WR Tyreek Hill could have done differently in that situation?) – “Yeah, I mean there’s always things you can do. I think we are conditioned here in what we talk about everyday is things that you can improve upon. I think it’s important to say that – I mean that’s a totally separate conversation than I think should be the one focused on at hand – but for sure and absolutely. That’s the first thing you do when you’re talking to an individual directly. I think the conversation about what provoked unnecessary is trivial to the unnecessary.”
(With RB Raheem Mostert, when did the chest injury occur in the game?) – “It was early, and part of the procedure on our team, the working relationship that I have across the board, it’s very much need to know in a situation where, particularly running back, where we like to rotate. He was working through it during the game, and I’ve learned – honestly, might be the last guy I will ask if they’re good because he’s quite literally, case in point – his injury, not many people play with. So the information that I get from him when I ask him, he’s going to tell me he’s good. He showed his tough – he just gave his teammates another example of how he’s built different.”
(Is this an injury that is rest related, primarily for Thursday night’s game on a short week? Or is this an injury that could sideline him for a couple of weeks?) – “I would say closer to the former, but not ruling out the latter. But it’s like right – my sense is that it’s not something that time won’t take care of, however, I’m definitely not going to make him worse by setting forth my expectations of when he’s going to play again.”
(Is OL Liam Eichenberg OK?) – “(Liam) Eichenberg is always OK.”
(Can you take us through your hoodie? ‘Miami Different,’ it kind of seems like the saying – what does it represent inside this building?) – “I forgot what I was wearing, and it happens to be black on black, but it’s a t-shirt. I don’t know – the early attachment I made in life from my vantage point was a greatness is inherently different. So if you’re trying to win more than you lose, if you’re trying to do something that maybe the organization maybe hasn’t achieved in 24 years, if you’re trying to stand out in the world, I think different is an analogous with everybody that’s achieved anything is inherently different than the rest of the population. I think leaning into that, I think creating our own standard for what we think our football should look like, creating our own standard for how we treat each other and how we go about our brand of football. I think the Miami Dolphins, the word play Miami Different – all of it plays a part in it, but it’s something that I kind of have to lean into because have you seen me? I mean… (laughter) So it’s something that I think describes the way our group of players, coaches and the building, what they’re attempting, what they’re working towards is to be different.”
(Team-issued shirt, or a team-produced shirt?) – “Team-produced shirt, this was – I generally allow all information to come at me before we start doing designed shirts. I think this might have been a three in the morning the Tuesday previous to get it done before our first game.”
(Going back to WR Tyreek Hill for a second, we could hear him in the video saying I just had surgery on my knee and alluding to some discomfort he was in. What can you share about any surgery he’s had or if he’s expressed to you in the past few days of any discomfort that he’s been in?) – “Minor procedure that he makes sure that he takes care of and keeps out of a compromising position as best as he can control.”
(This happened before the season?) – “Yeah.”
(In the offseason?) – “Yeah.”
(DT Zach Sieler said yesterday, “It’s time to take the East, let’s go for it.” I’m assuming that with this being Bills week, that that is a theme and a mindset that you embrace and endorse?) – “If you want to do anything in this league, generally you can’t skip over the much-mandated step of winning your division. There is one team that has won the division consecutive years that you can say that they, by de facto, own the division until somebody takes it from them. I think it’s pretty obvious, but I think it’s also something that they have earned and we would like to be in the situation where we earn the same thing. There is one way to do that, you’ve got to beat your division opponents. We have our first of six division games.”
(Between CB Jalen Ramsey and LB Jaelan Phillips on the short week, could they play a similar snap count that you saw on Sunday? Could they have an uptick? Will you draw back a little bit, which one?) – “That is very much in all literal terms so we’re planning on the gray. We have to plan for uptick, same or downshift. In a short week, that’s what’s tricky is you kind of don’t know until they’re at the stadium. It just takes an extra layer of preparation that guys are definitely prepared for.”
