Kenyan Drake – May 29, 2018
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Tuesday, May 29, 2018
RB Kenyan Drake
(What’s different this offseason compared to last offseason for you?) – “This year is different. It’s a different team, obviously, a different scenario. I’m kind of more of a person that has people looking up to me in terms of we have a lot more younger guys. As far as tenure on the team as a running back, I’m the longest tenured running back, which is pretty interesting. Last year or two years ago, I was coming in as a fresh face. Now to … It’s funny how time flies. I’m definitely embracing this role and trying to help this team win a lot more games in the coming years.”
(What have you learned about the NFL from a business side the last two years watching how everything has gone down?) – “I’ve learned that you definitely can’t take any week for granted. It’s a one-game season every week. ‘Any given Sunday’ is a cliché we like to use. From a personal standpoint, I feel like you just have to be where your feet are. From waking up one morning and you just realize you traded your starting running back so now you’re going to get a lot more bulk of the carries to the next person in front of you is injured for the rest of the season, so now you definitely have to have a lot more of the bulk. Then my rookie year, it was just a lot of big learning experiences because at the end of the day, I just wasn’t mentally prepared to handle the workload as if I was out there being an everyday starter, which I take personally because I was supposed to put myself in that position to do what I need to do to help this team win games and I came up short my rookie year. As the second year went on, I got a lot more special teams opportunities and I felt like that gave me a lot more confidence to go out there and be a football player. Once I got the ball in my hands, it was just natural again.”
(Since RB Frank Gore was brought into the fold, have you picked his brain?) – “I feel like when you look at the guy, you don’t think he’s 34 or 35 years old. I always remind him when he first came into the league I was in fifth or sixth grade. (laughter) It’s interesting to see how long he has really been the back he is. He works out like he’s (a) first year, second year guy. He comes in with that same attitude. I feel like if I could have just half the success in his career, I feel like that would be a win in my book, because he’s definitely the epitome of longevity in this league. Just having him on this team is going to help not just the running backs, but everybody see if you take the right steps … Obviously, he’s a – I guess you could say – once in a lifetime type of player, especially at this positon with the wear and tear you have on your body. He does it right every day. He just epitomizes that.”
(Over the last five games of the season, you had I believe more rushing yards than any back in the league. I’ve got to double check that, but I think it’s right. How sustainable is that? Do you think you can be one of the league’s leading rushers for 16 games?) – “I feel like with the people that I have around me, with how (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase and everybody calls the games on offense with the receivers, with Ryan (Tannehill) back, with the o-line that we have revitalized, I feel like the sky’s the limit for me and the rest of the guys in my room. We’re going to take it one day at a time. When that comes, that comes. We’re definitely moving in the right direction. There’s a lot of excitement about this team. We’re just ready to take everything full speed. It’s funny. Everybody likes to use that statistic – I had the most rushing yards – but it’s not like Todd (Gurley) didn’t play the last game or anything. I guess I got that by default.”
(We just talked to G/T Jesse Davis about continuity on the offensive line. In terms of your success, how important – if those five can stay healthy and running behind the same line to gel as a group – how important is it to your success?) – “My success is the team’s success. So as long as we’re winning games, I feel like at the end of the day, that’s a win in my book. The yards will come. If the responsibility of all 11 guys on the field, if they take care of their responsibility … I can’t go out there and do anything on my own at the end of the day. I feel like this year we’re going to take the right steps to make sure we do our 1/11th like (Special Teams Coordinator/Associate Head) Coach (Darren) Rizzi likes to say, because nobody can go out there and do it on their own. That’s why I love this game. It’s the ultimate team game. In basketball, you can have a superstar out there to lead a team as we see in the (NBA) Finals this year; but at the end of the day, football is not basketball. You have to have 11 guys collectively as a group go out there (and) do what you got to do.”
(This is your third year now. We know a fair amount about you on the football side, but I don’t know how much people know about you on the personal side. What are your interests? Do you have family, people that are close to you on the team? Just tell us about you as a person.) – “I’m a laid back type of person, kind of reserved in a sense. I feel like nowadays, it’s a blessing and a curse to have a lot of stuff being readily accessible; but I feel like when it comes to my family, my personal life, I don’t like that stuff being really too personal out there. That’s just how I am. I know some people relish in that, especially in this type of lifestyle where I’m a professional athlete. Some people take that and run with it, but that’s not just my M.O. (modus operandi). I’m a fun-loving type of person. I love this game of football. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world, obviously, than down here playing for the Miami Dolphins. And I love to win. That’s why I went to Alabama, because I love to win. I love to be a competitor. (Head Coach Adam) Gase brought me here because he knows I’m a competitor and he knows that at the end of the day, I have that ability to make big plays in big games. Once I leave this field, I love the game, but I’m a human being at the end of the day.”
(What you said about the 11 teammates being interlinked, does QB Ryan Tannehill make you a better player?) – “Of course, of course. Jay Cutler, he definitely helped me out last year with his experience, because he played a lot of big games throughout his career. With his mannerisms and everything, he definitely helped me not be so animated sometimes. Obviously, it got the best of me at the end of the year last year, from a long season standpoint. And Ryan, with him being there every day last year when he was injured, that definitely helped me see the type of leader he is, the type of person he is, the type of quarterback he is. I feel like he’s definitely the guy that’s going to definitely lead us to a lot more wins this year.”
(Talk about Head Coach Adam Gase a little bit. He talked about your maturity, how much have you changed since your rookie year and what specifically has changed.) – “Honestly, it was just about growing up one day. Everybody has to take that step necessary to be the man that they want to be. Obviously, I’m nowhere near where I want to be, obviously, as a man, as a football player, because I feel like the sky’s the limit for me and for this team in general. I feel like that’s the M.O. (modus operandi) of this team and has been for me personally. Obviously, we’ve been a really young team and that was epitomized with the amount of mental errors we had the last couple years. That was just a whole M.O. for this team. But I feel like now with Ryan (Tannehill) itching to get back out there, the young DBs that we have, the last couple years getting the maturation process going, me going into three years now, the (offensive) line having a couple young guys and obviously bringing in veterans to come in and help mold that group a little bit more with ‘L.T.’ (Laremy Tunsil) on the edge and Ja’Wuan (James) on that other side, I feel like now we are just really going to hit our stride, because we don’t have that excuse that we’re young anymore. We’ve got the veterans that we have now coming back from injuries or that sort (and) the young guys with the experience that we have. I feel like it’s all going to mold together.”
(How have you approached this offseason differently knowing you’re the guy now at running back as opposed to last year when you probably weren’t even sure exactly?) – “How? Me personally or somebody else?”
(You personally.) – “I always try to approach it the same way regardless. I feel like now that I have a lot more experience in the offense in general, it gives me the ability to, obviously, know what I need to know from a simplicity standpoint but then also be able to focus on, ‘Alright now that I know what I have to do, now what is the line doing? Now what is the quarterback thinking on this play? How is the rotation of the safeties going to affect my run, how the line is going to run-fit, how the linebackers fit in this A gap or where is the three technique or the soft shade or whatever? Is he going to make a check from a run play to a pass play?’ I feel like my whole entire maturation process being in this offense, being in this league for two years now going on three, my approach to this year has just been, ‘Now, what else? How else can I expand my horizons?’”
(What is your sense on how fast Head Coach Adam Gase would like his offense to be?) – “I feel like every play he doesn’t want to huddle. He just wants to get up there and call the play from the sideline, get it to Ryan (Tannehill) as quick as possible and kind of get it to where when we get to the line, there’s 20 to 25 seconds on the play clock and then he can kind of see from there what the defense (is showing), how they’re lining up and how we can get to the best play possible. I feel like that’s something that obviously when you’re young and you don’t have a lot of experience with knowing the schematics of everything, you don’t really understand this is what he’s trying to do. Now that I’m in this offense to the point where I’m at now, I can sit back and say, ‘Alright, this is why he’s doing this.’ That’s really the approach that I’ve come to now is the why of everything. Obviously doing everything from knowing what I’ve got to do is the first part. Now, why is this happening?”
(How is the dynamic between you and RB Frank Gore working out? Has he helped you with anything? Have you helped him with anything?) – “Yes. We both have the same, almost, type of personality where it’s laid back and not really a too flashy type of deal. I feel like we definitely feed off of each other. I can see how he’s been the way he is for so many years because of how he just kind of puts his head down and works. I think that’s something I want to definitely mold into my game just because obviously his longevity. He’s definitely one of the … Just knowing him for two months now, he’s definitely one of the more genuine people I’ve ever met.”
(In this day and age, how tough is it to be like that? You see guys on social media and they want to show when they become a big deal.) – “I feel like it’s easy, especially living down here in Miami, to kind of get caught up in a lot of different stuff; but you’ve just got to stay true within yourself. I always have people coming up to me and asking me if they can do videos of me working out and all of that type of stuff and I’m like I don’t really have to go out there and show people that I’m working. What’s going to show that I’m working is when I get on the field and I perform. I don’t have to do all the extra shenanigans and things like that. I just want to go out there and play football and just do it how I’m supposed to do it.”
(What have you seen from the youngster, RB Kalen Ballage?) – “He’s a freak. He runs so smooth that it doesn’t look like he’s really running fast. For him to be as tall (as he is) … It’s funny. Me being more of a long, tall back, I always had trouble running behind my pads; but he always seems to have kind of a natural bend and a natural ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. Obviously we don’t have pads on, so blocking is a different story when you get pads on; but he just seems to be definitely a three-tool type of player. I’m just looking to see his development.”
(How did you know that RB Todd Gurley didn’t play? Did you look that up or did you just at some point …) – “Well, it was in … they were like in the playoff hunt so there was no reason to put him out there. I just figured I know him and Kareem Hunt didn’t play. It was nice. I pat myself on the back sometimes but it was by default. (laughter)”
(Are you still going to be playing when you’re 35?) – “Shoot, man. God willing. I don’t know. By 35, I don’t know how my body will feel on this bum ankle and this bad arm.”
(It’s pretty amazing, huh?) – “Yes, it’s amazing. (Frank Gore) told me too that he had what, two ACL surgeries before he even got to the league? So to even battle through that, especially … Obviously he had a pretty good medical staff back then but medicine was different 15 years ago or however long ago he had those surgeries. The fact that he’s been able to battle through that is … It’s really inspiring, almost to a degree, because I don’t feel like he gets the credit he deserves because he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. You just never know because he doesn’t get that spotlight all of the time.”
(He doesn’t have the spotlight but RB Frank Gore is less than 100 yards away from being the fourth leading rusher.) – “Right. Exactly. I feel like people are like, ‘Really?’ But when you think about it, of course. He’s been playing for so long and he’s been so consistent, how could he not be up in that top area? I feel blessed to have the ability to share the room and share the backfield with somebody that’s obviously, in my opinion, and everybody in this room’s opinion, is going to be a Hall of Famer. Not a lot of people get to say that.”
(If RB Frank Gore tells you something, is it different hearing it from a player than a coach? He could tell you the same thing but because he’s been in the trenches?) – “For sure. Coaches obviously have their role because they’ve earned it, and he’s earned it too from a player standpoint. Obviously seeing somebody that you’ve grown up watching since you were however old, when you get into the same room as him at the same time, you get caught up in yourself. But then when they come to your team, you’re like ‘This is Frank Gore who’s done this and done that.’ You just see him and he’s like a regular guy; but then he goes out there and he puts the work in. He’s diligent with everything that he does. He obviously looks at me and he wants to compete with me too because we’re on the same team; but he’s like ‘You’re young man. You run around fast. I can’t keep up with you.’ He’s 35 but he goes out there and he’s right behind me, if anything. Obviously he’s not as fast as me. (laughter) But at the end of the day, he does what he does and I’m like at 35, I don’t even know if I’ll have that drive and will to keep up with some young 24-year-old. It’s cool to see it for myself.”
(What stood out to you about S Minkah Fitzpatrick during your one year together at Alabama?) – “Just a professional from the jump. It’s rare that you see a freshman come in and just have that mentality like, ‘I want to work. I want to be the best. I want to come here and definitely show that…’ He never looked at the five-star rating that he had or whatever the case was. He just came in, put his head down and was just a professional from the jump. I feel like he’s going to be in this league a very, very long time.”
