Andre Branch, June 13, 2017
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Tuesday, June 13, 2017
DE Andre Branch
(How do you spot running game improvements at this time of year?) – “I think everybody just doing their job and being in the right place. We can’t be as physical as we want to be; but at the same time, you can be in the right place and continue working to do your job.”
(Is that definitely better than at the end of last year?) – “No question, no question. We were still learning the defense last year.”
(What have you seen from DE Charles Harris?) – “Very explosive, and he wants to learn. That’s the biggest thing. He always ask questions. He’s not an ‘I know it all’ type of guy. He’s a kid that wants to learn and just keep getting better and wants the respect out of his brothers, and that’s what we are going to give him.”
(Any of the other younger guys standing out to you?) – “The whole group, they’re all willing to work. I don’t think that there is anyone that thinks they’re bigger than the team, so that’s always a great thing.”
(What have you seen from the DT Davon Godchaux’s and the DT Vincent Taylor’s that shows they can help you in terms of the interior players?) – “Get off. The get off and if they do something wrong, they want to get another rep. They don’t just go to the back of the line. If they mess up on their rep, they want to go again and correct it.”
(The last time we talked to you, you were critical of the run defense last year. It’s obvious why when you look at the numbers. Did your teammates say anything about your comments being so blunt about the run defense?) – “No, I think we all have one voice. We speak for each other. There is no one bigger than the defense, bigger than the team. If one person says it, we all agree on it. We know we have to improve on that and that’s an emphasis that we put on this offseason and we’re getting better each and every day.”
(Who are the ‘emotional leaders’ on this team and what does an emotional leader do for this football team?) – “This is a new group, so we’re still developing that. We look amongst each other. It might be me one day, it could be Cam (Wake), it could be Reshad (Jones), it could be (Ndamukong) Suh. You never know who it’s going to be that day, because at the end of the day, everybody’s going to have a down day; but we pick each other up and we make sure that we’re all on top of our stuff.”
(I envision that yourself, C Mike Pouncey and WR Jarvis Landry are the heart of most of it.) – “There are a group of guys that other people rely on to give them juice. I’m not going to say it’s me. You can ask my teammates who that is. If they say it’s me, then I appreciate it. I’m just out here to make my teammates better and make sure that I’m playing up to par.”
(Do football teams need such a…) – “No question, no question. There are players in the NFL that are amazing players, but they don’t voice everything. They can just do what they do and they can be a Pro Bowler without saying a word. But then there are other players who get things rolling and are very emotional and make sure people are doing what they have to do and speak their mind and have that voice for the defense, offense or special teams. You definitely need that, and that type of stuff is in my personality, and Pouncey for sure and Jarvis as well. It comes with it and if that’s what the team wants you to do, then you’ve got to do it.”
(Why do you think this team is so emotional?) – “I think this team just plays with a chip, at the end of the day. We just play with a chip on our shoulders and we compete with each other each and every day. We just want to make sure that we are the best that we can be. I think that’s the main part and no matter what, we know what we have in our locker room and we know we’ve just got to keep on going.”
(Your team competes against each other on a regular basis. Why do you think you guys compete any differently than Jacksonville does?) – “I have no clue. I’m on the Dolphins now. At the end of the day, my mindset is making the Dolphins better. I can’t speak for any other of the 31 teams; but I can speak for the Dolphins and say that we want to be the best team we can be when it comes to the beginning of the season.”
(Is it tougher at all this week because the offseason program, knowing right after this is your one big break before training camp?) – “No. If you do that, than your practice is going to be terrible. We have a coaching staff that will call you out on that. I don’t think it’s that. I think we just try to go into this thing attacking it each and every day, knowing what we have to do to get better each and every day. We’re going to compete until the end, and the same thing tomorrow and the same thing on Thursday. That’s how we are.”
(You mentioned the chip. Where does that come from?) – “I think it just comes from the players that we have in our locker room at the end of the day. There are a bunch of players that really want to be the best that they can be and that chip just comes with the territory.”
(Is it any disrespect from outside or anything?) – “I haven’t listened to anything outside my entire life. I listen to my family, my friends and my teammates. That’s all that matters to me. For me, I can’t say it comes from the outside, for me personally.”
(Is there more juice on this defense now with the investment the Dolphins have made by bringing in free agents and draft picks?) – “I would definitely say that the people they brought in definitely help. There are a bunch of long-term guys that have been in this league for a long time, playing at a high level. Then we have young guys that just bring it and want to be the best that they can be. That’s all you can ask.”
(A lot of people have the perception that football players, once mini-camp wraps, they’re just doing nothing. What does your offseason, three week break, entail?) – “MMA training three times a week, strength training five times a week, boxing four times a week. I have a chef that I eat very, very healthy. I only drink water and coconut water. PT (physical therapy) twice a week. A chiropractor three times a week. Pilates three times a week and yoga twice a week. Steam room every day.”
(You ever have a day when you don’t do anything?) – “Sunday.”
(What do you get out of things like MMA and boxing training?) – “I think you get to know your body. Well, boxing of course, is hand speed. That’s all it is when it comes … I’m going against a guy who’s bigger and stronger than me every play. So hand speed and leverage, that’s where the MMA comes in. Just knowing your body and knowing what position you can put your body in – no matter how big or strong they are – you being able to just leverage them and get them off of you.”
(Is that why you see the growth of MMA mostly in professional athletes?) – “I think so. I’m not about to, after I retire, be an MMA fighter, by any means; but it helps me on the field and that regimen I have – like you guys said, I have to be that emotional guy. For me, I have to play at a high level and also talk the entire game and not come out of the game. That type of regimen, I have to do that in order to do what the team asks of me.”
(That dedication, did that come from you or when you came into the league, a veteran took you under his wing?) – “No, I think … No, I wasn’t doing this my rookie year. I think around Year 2, it was like, ‘we need to do more.’ I just kept building from there. I’ve been doing MMA for three years, boxing for about three also. PT (physical therapy) and chiropractic work and all of that type of stuff, I do that every day. That didn’t come just right when I got in the league. I didn’t start getting in the cold tub until my second year in the league because I didn’t think it worked, because I just thought it was freezing me. But it definitely works.”
(Have you seen this early in the process with the young guys observing what you and the other veterans do and sort of emulating that?) – “There are some young guys out here that ask questions of what they should do, so that’s great. The earlier you get on it, the better. I wish I would’ve done it my rookie year. I might not have hit the wall so early. It’s great if you have a young guy that gets it; but it takes time. I know it definitely takes times because they have a ton of stuff going through their mind right now.”
(Why does it take them so long to get to understand what most of the older pros…) – “Because you’re not doing it … I’m not doing it in the building. I’m getting stretched in the building and I’m getting some body work done in the building; but most of the stuff is outside of the building, so they don’t see you doing it. They just think we’re probably leaving and going home. Plus, they are still in meetings and they’re still doing a ton of stuff. It’s tough, but once you get more free time, that’s when you start going through and experiencing different things.”
