Brock Osweiler – October 22, 2018
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Monday, October 22, 2018
QB Brock Osweiler
(Returning to Houston, could this possibly just be another game? Is there any emotion that’s involved in that respect?) – “No emotion. This really is just another game but it’s the most important game right now on our schedule because it’s the next one. Coming off a home loss to a good Detroit football team, this next game against Houston is very important to us. We need to get back in the win column and we know it’s not going to be an easy task.”
(How would you describe your tenure in Houston?) – “It was short. (laughter) It was one season. Other than that, I’m very proud of a lot of things that we accomplished. At the end of the day, in that one season, we won our division, we won a playoff game and that’s what I remember.”
(In what ways have your mechanics changed or improved between the middle of the 2016 season and the middle of the 2018 season?) – “I think just overall, my footwork and my mechanics have gotten a lot better because it’s something that we’ve stressed. When I say we, it’s this coaching staff as well as myself. It really even goes back to when I went to Cleveland. I was with a coach there by the name of David Lee. He coached here in Miami for a few years but he was the quarterbacks coach in Cleveland. He’s a stickler on fundamentals and I’m very appreciative for the time I had with him because he got me going on them again. Then when I came here to Miami this year, it was one of the reasons why I wanted to come here and play for this coaching staff because I knew fundamentals were very important to not only (Head) Coach (Adam) Gase but (Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Dowell) Loggains and (Quarterbacks) Coach (Bo) Hardegree. It’s something that we stress daily. We do the same routine every single day in practice to make sure that our fundamentals do stay sharp.”
(This offense is missing two big weapons at least for this week in WR Kenny Stills and WR Albert Wilson. How do you recover from that? How do you make up for that?) – “(It’s the) next man up. Those guys will certainly be missed because they’re very talented players. They’re great teammates and they’re great leaders. We will surely miss them. However, Coach Gase has stressed it since Week 1 of this football season. Injuries are going to take place and it’s all about the next-man-up approach. Whoever that guy is who is going to step into that role, he’s expected to play as though he is that starter. He’s expected to play at that level and I don’t doubt for a second that our guys will.”
(But you do lose some big-play capability. Do you need more extended drives now from that standpoint?) – “I’m going to leave the schematics to Coach Gase and Coach Loggains. They’re brilliant when it comes to putting game plans together. My job is to try to execute the plays that they call to the best of my ability (and) work through my progression. I can’t really tell you how they’re going to adjust the game plan but whatever they do, we’ll be ready for it and we’re going to go execute it.”
(You have experience, I guess, when you left Denver to go to Houston and you played the Broncos the next year. What did you sort of learn from that that you can use to get ready for this game?) – “Boy, that was a while ago. That was quite a few football games ago. Just initially drawing back on that experience, it’s really how I treated that Denver game when I went back. You really need to treat it just like it’s a normal football game because at the end of the day, that’s what it is. Obviously I think there’s going to be a lot of outside noise trying to make a situation bigger than what it really is; but at the end of the day, like I said, my one season I had in Houston, I look at it as a successful season. We won our division and we won a playoff game. There’s a lot of other teams in the National Football League that didn’t do that. At the end of the day, business decisions are made in this business and that’s what took place. There’s no hard feelings. There’s no ill-will. At the end of the day, my mind is focused just on playing a good football game Thursday and doing whatever this football team needs me to do to help them get a win.”
(What were your feelings when the mechanics of the trade happened, particularly with what they were giving up with you?) – “I paid no attention to that. In fact, I couldn’t even tell you what they did give up. The bottom line is I got a phone call. I was told I was going to Cleveland and I think you guys know me well enough at this point now (to know) that I don’t look in the past. I’m always looking forward to the future and the things that I can control and that’s really what I did in that moment.”
(Have you spoken to Texans Head Coach Bill O’Brien since that day?) – “I have not.”
(What are your feelings for Texans Head Coach Bill O’Brien?) – “I’m not really worried about that. Like I said, at the end of the day, I have great respect for him and that organization, everything involved there. There were business decisions that had to be made. They were made and we all moved on.”
(How fair or unfair is it that every NFL player is graded not just by how they do but against their salary cap number?) – “(laughter) I think that question is above my paygrade. I would just say life is unfair. At the end of the day, it’s all about focusing on things you can control. As far as whatever your money is against the cap or isn’t against the cap and how well you’re playing, that’s all just letters on paper. At the end of the day, as players, we’re focused on being great teammates, coming together, trying to find ways to win, having some fun along the way and that’s where our focus is.”
(How much do you think you continued to evolve yesterday from the first time you started and can you talk about the touchdown pass to WR Danny Amendola?) – “Yeah, I think things got better yesterday. I really do. I think we grew as an offensive unit. Kind of like I said yesterday after the game, I didn’t get any reps with the ones in OTAs or training camp or preseason games. So my first time playing with a lot of those guys – the majority of those guys – was against the Bears. Then my second go-around was obviously yesterday. The more time I can get with those guys, the better we’re going to be. That’s just the fact. I know there were some moments yesterday where I could anticipate some throws because now I know the body language of some of our skill guys more than I did a week earlier. As far as the play to Danny goes, it was something where we had a situation we were calling (that) was kind of a man-zone play. Detroit came out in man and Danny was actually on the back side of that read. I was able to get outside the pocket and Danny just did a tremendous job. It’s something we talk about all of the time in our skill position meetings is our scramble drill. That’s really what that was. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. He got to the right spot and it was truly just an effort play. He played as Coach Gase is always telling us to do: play until the end of the play; play to the whistle. That’s what Danny did. He took off, made a heck of a catch and made a huge play for this football team when we really needed one.”
(You’ve come in as a rookie and you had that first contract. You signed a big free agent deal. I can ask players across all sports. When they sign a big free agent deal, a big cap number, a big salary, do you feel that added pressure to perform up to that number?) – “I wouldn’t say there’s pressure. There’s no pressure. But at the end of the day, you want to live up to the hopes that the organization has for you, if that makes sense. You’re obviously given that contract expecting that you can come in and help take that franchise to maybe a place that they haven’t been before. I wouldn’t call that pressure because as players, that’s the situation we want to be in. You want to be in a situation where you’re playing for a great team and you have an opportunity to win championships. At least with my case with Houston, there was no added pressure; but certainly as a competitor, as a person, as someone who cares about the people that he’s around and the people that he works with, you want to do great by that organization.”
(You mentioned you didn’t really work with the ones before the past couple weeks. How much work have you gotten with WR DeVante Parker? Have you thrown to him at all before this week? How much have you worked with him?) – “We haven’t gotten a lot of reps together, to be honest with you. Ryan (Tannehill) has primarily taken all of those reps going back to the spring and summer; but I was able to get a couple with DeVante last week in practice. Hopefully I can get a few more this week before we hit the field Thursday.”
(WR DeVante Parker is obviously going to be an important part on Thursday. How do you build that chemistry in two days?) – “That’s the challenge, but that’s the challenge we look forward to. As professional athletes, these are the moments you dream of: playing on a big stage. We’ll be the only game on TV Thursday night. I’m sure a lot of people are probably counting us out with all of these injuries and new guys who are going to be playing, but that’s what makes this fun. We’re going to go into that stadium and it’s going to kind of be an us against the world mentality, and we’re going to have fun with it.”
(You’ve probably had more experience with the guys that are being forced to play now because of all the injuries, no?) – “You’re exactly right. I’m not exactly sure what we’re going to be doing with the roster, if anything. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of scrambling today with the short week. But if any of those guys are brought up from the practice squad, you’re exactly right. I’m very familiar with all of those guys. I’m very comfortable with them and we’ll be ready to go.”
(What does WR Isaiah Ford and WR Leonte Carroo bring to the team?) – “They just bring energy. They bring a spark. They’re young guys who are hungry to make big plays in this league. They’re hungry for their opportunity. If their number gets called this week, I know they’ll be ready to play. They’re going to do a tremendous job. They’re going to execute the plays just like coach wants them. When it’s time for them to make a play, I can promise you they’ll make it.”
(From what we saw of TE Mike Gesicki yesterday, could you call it a breakthrough or just another step on the ladder?) – “I wouldn’t call it a breakthrough. Mike is a tremendous football player. He really is. At the end of the day, there’s times where great football players, especially skill position guys, they just don’t see the ball. Maybe they’re No. 2, 3 or 4 in a progression and No. 1 is getting open all day or No. 1 and No. 2 is getting open all day and they’re No. 3 in the progression. Or they are finally No. 1 in the progression and the defense plays a great coverage so you have to move on. Mike’s done a tremendous job in games and in practice. I think yesterday you just saw an opportunity for him to make a couple of plays and he really did. He definitely made the most of his opportunities.”
(Since you became the starter, can you give me a good example of something that Head Coach Adam Gase has said to you that really resonates with you positively?) – “I think the biggest thing about playing football for Coach Gase as a quarterback is you know he has your back. He’s going to support you, he’s going to be there for you and he’s going to talk through things. One of the things he’s said to me is don’t try to do too much and just play within our system. That means a lot because I think a lot of times quarterbacks in this league, there’s too much pressure put on them to make plays when maybe other bad things are going on around them. I think there are some great coaches out there that say regardless of what’s going on around you, just focus on doing your job and play within our system, and if you do your job to the best of your ability, that’s all I can ask. That’s obviously not verbatim, the conversations we’ve had, but Coach (Gase) is a tremendous quarterbacks coach and he definitely supports us very well.”
(You’re reunited with Head Coach Adam Gase and you’re taking on this role as a starter now. What do you think the expectations are that the Dolphins have for you?) – “Well I would hope the expectations are for me to play tremendous football and to lead this football team to wins. If it’s anything but that, I shouldn’t be the guy behind center. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you’re the one, two, three or four in this business. This is professional football and we’re paid to be successful on game day and to help our football team win games.”
