Ndamukong Suh – August 13, 2017
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Sunday, August 13, 2017
DT Ndamukong Suh
(Now that we know LB Raekwon McMillan is going to be gone for the year, what gives you confidence that the run defense is still going to improve from last year?) – “I think it’s about execution, at the end of the day. No matter who’s in the game, what we need to do is execute. It’s very unfortunate that we lost Raekwon. Obviously, he’s a great talent and somebody that we were expecting to play. He still had to earn his position, at the end of the day, if he was going to play at a high level and be in the game for us; but at the end of the day, it’s all about execution. It doesn’t matter who’s in the game, whether it’s myself or anybody else.”
(Can you talk about LB Mike Hull and what he brings to the football team?) – “Mike Hull is a great talent. (He is) obviously somebody who’s underrated, but in my opinion, plays at a very, very high level. (He’s) a kid that knows what he needs to get done, is going to play 100 miles per hour, if not more. (He’s) somebody that I respect and I expect a lot out of him coming into this year, especially after what he did last year.”
(When did DT Davon Godchaux first catch your attention?) – “I don’t know if he ever caught my attention per se. I’ve always kind of been working with him. I talked to him when he first got drafted. (We have) been in constant communication and he’s just a willing learner, which is what I love the most about him. When people teach him things – whether it’s myself, Cam (Wake), (Andre) Branch, (Defensive Line) Coach ‘T’ (Terrell Williams), (Assistant Defensive Line) Coach ‘Dre (Andre Carter) – he just soaks it up and he implements it when we get into individual as well as team.”
(What stand out about DT Davon Godchaux on the field?) – “I think it’s his aggression. He’s a kid that’s very aggressive, gets off the ball (which is) primarily what our defense is built around – getting off the ball and being attack-style. I think he started to do a good job of that. It’s all about being consistent. Myself, I’ve got to be consistent. It’s not something that’s easy or comes easy so (we need to) continue to do that and get that repetition.”
(Are you pleased with the progression of the defensive line so far in training camp? What are you expecting for the defense heading into the season?) – “Honestly, it’s very hard to gauge. We’re going against ourselves. We understand how to game plan and do different things against ourselves. I think last Thursday was a good test for us; but at the end of the day, we still have a lot of work ahead of ourselves, because we didn’t all play an extended period of time. I’m not saying that’s a reason, but we need to go out there and continue to work on our craft and get better and not really focus on where we’re gauged at right now, because the true test at the end of the day is going to be how well we play against Tampa.”
(Defensive Line Coach Terrell Williams talked a lot about aggression and like you said earlier, he said it’s really important for you guys to knock those guards back. That’s what he really wants to see. How good and how consistent has DT Davon Godchaux been with that?) – “I think everybody across the board has done a pretty good job of it. But at the end of the day, we all need to be consistent. Even if you have a great play or two or three or five, it’s about being able to string those five or six plays (together) and have those be elite and then eight, nine and 10, 15, 20 (snaps) need to be just as powerful and just as aggressive and pushing your offensive lineman in the backfield.”
(Having said that, can you get a gauge or do you always reserve your thoughts until the real deal?) – “I’m always going to reserve myself for the real deal because at the end of the day, you get a good understanding of what you can and cannot do in the preseason as well as even in practice; but the true test is when you get out there on the football field and there are live bullets and there are guys that are … You’ve got every single option that’s coming at you. They can run 50 million different plays and kind of go from there. It’s how you react and adjust and how you go against it.”
(Did DE Charles Harris show you what you thought you would see last Thursday in his first game?) – “What was I supposed to see? (laughter)”
(You tell me.) – “I don’t know what I was supposed to see. (laughter) All I understood was (Charles Harris) had a job to do, and his job was to get off the ball, play at a high level and attack offensive lineman and make plays. I think for the most part, he was doing that; but like I said before, we’ve all got work to do.”
(With a guy like DE Charles Harris, you see him fly off the ball and he’s almost there, he’s making the guy move. When does it click to, ‘Okay, now I got to get a little more?’) – “I think one thing for him is that he’s always going to have that ability. But the special thing about this league is being able to finish. You see the great pass rushers all those guys have that instantaneous step to get to the quarterback and get him down. It’s not about getting close to him and getting him out of the pocket. It’s about getting him down. I think Charles has that. I think over time, it’ll become easier and faster. There are some alignment things and stuff that we’ve all talked about that we all need to work on, including himself.”
(Do you guys on the defensive line and defense overall feel any added pressure with QB Ryan Tannehill’s injury and QB Jay Cutler trying to get up to speed, or do you guys have that confidence already that the offensive side of the ball is going to be balanced enough to take some pressure off you guys?) – “We’re got a very high-powered offense. At the end of the day, we need to continue to do our job and that’s to stop the run and get after the passer. At the end of the day, I don’t believe there’s added pressure. I think nonetheless we have to get our job done. If we get our job done, we’ll be fine.”
