Bruce Irvin – January 10, 2024
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Wednesday, January 10, 2024
LB Bruce Irvin
(Had Miami been in your mind at that point a couple weeks ago?) – “Not at first, but after the situation with the Lions and I got released, my people heard from them but there was nothing concrete. But after the injuries that happened this past Sunday, that’s when they really called.”
(Had you been watching the game Sunday night and saw LB Andrew Van Ginkel get hurt?) – “Yeah, I was watching it. I was definitely watching it and it’s very unfortunate for both of them. But that is part of the game.”
(With you having history with Clint Hurtt’s scheme back in Seattle, how much crossover is it from what you’re learning here?) – “It’s a lot of crossover. When I started going over plays with the coach this morning, it just felt like it was the same playbook, which is going to help a lot being it’s a short week and I just got here probably 24 hours ago. So that carryover is going to help me a lot and hopefully it transitions to Sunday.”
(Do you feel ready to play?) – “Is water wet? (laughter) I was just playing. It’s not like I was at home for a month or two. I was just playing last week so I’m definitely ready to play.”
(Where were you when you got the call?) – “I was at home in the living room about to take my kids to school, actually. Thank God. Being at home with them I think is way tougher than playing football. (laughter) So when they called me, I was with them taking them to school and I was on a flight about five or six hours later.”
(What are your first impressions of Miami, the facility and what you’ve seen so far?) – “It’s Miami. I thought the front lobby looked like the Fontainebleu. (laughter) But it’s a good vibe, great cafeteria food, great people, great equipment people, great trainers. I talked to a couple young guys. I was like, ‘man, I hope y’all know how good y’all got it around here because it’s a good place.’ They’re definitely doing it right and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
(At first did you know that you were signing up for minus-15 wind chill?) – “I did not know that. (laughter) I knew it’d be cold, but at the end of the day they’ve got to play in the same stuff we’ve got to play in, so at the end of the day it’s football and when the ball gets snapped, hopefully we don’t think about it too much.”
(I should’ve looked this up, but have you been able to sack Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes?) – “I don’t think I’ve sacked Mahomes. I think when we played them – I have sacked him twice actually when I was the Raiders. He’s a good crafty quarterback, knows how to make plays moving around and standing in the pocket, so it’s going to be a tough test for us.”
(At this stage of your career, what do you have to offer the Miami Dolphins? What can you bring to the table?) – “I’m a dawg. That’s what I can say. I’m a dawg. I don’t want to talk about nobody, but the league is different now from when I came in. I had older guys who really showed me the way. So it’s a little different. Social media wasn’t as big as when I came in and all that type of stuff, but I’m a dawg. I’m going to just show you. I feel like I might be 36, but I don’t move like it. So I just can’t wait to show y’all and can’t wait to see how y’all tell me, ‘dang, he was right.’”
(How much do you expect to play or how much…?) – “I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ve just all been rotating in. It’s really a special room to have this many good rushers on the same team at one time, so a lot of knowledge. I’ve been in the league 12 years, but you never can learn too much. ‘J. Houston’ (Justin Houston) is a guy I looked up to and I followed his career. Melvin Ingram, we got drafted the same year so I know a lot about him, so there’s just a lot of knowledge in the room and that’s pretty dope to be around and hopefully we can be together for longer than one week.”
(What do you think about this being now one of the most experienced…) – “The oldest. (laughter) The oldest. I told ‘J. Houston’ (Justin Houston) that yesterday. I said we’re going to have the oldest outside linebacker room in the league, but knowledge. A lot of knowledge, a lot of experience, a lot of sacks. In our room, I think it’s like 243 sacks combined. So if we all know one thing, we know how to get to the quarterback, so hopefully it can translate to Sunday.”
(How have you lasted so long in the league?) – “I told my boy Justin Ellis, because that’s one of my good friends, I said, ‘if I was a younger dude and I heard Bruce Irvin and Justin Houston were coming to the locker room, I would be in their back pocket picking their brain.’ Like ‘how did y’all manage to be in this thing so long?’ First and foremost, God. But just living right, taking care of your body, respecting the game like it’s going to respect you. I always say, ‘young guy, you can get everything out of this game as long as you respect the game.’ And the game has been great to me. I won a Super Bowl, made a lot of money, only been injured twice. So the game has been good to me so at this point in my career, I’m just playing for the love. I ain’t making no money. It ain’t about the money for me. It’s about being able to get sacks. You’ll never be able to replace that feeling, that high, of getting a sack and taking the quarterback down, so I’m just trying to ride it out as long as I can.”
(How did you know you had 243 sacks? Did you guys…?) – “They wrote it on the board this morning. The coach wrote it on the board this morning.”
(Did you have a bunch of overlap with LB Justin Houston at all before today or no?) – “Not really. Like I said, I know ‘Mel’ (Melvin Ingram) personally, but I’ve seen Justin Houston because we’re both from Atlanta so I’d seen him around, but I’ve never been actually in a room with him to really talk to him and pick his brain and stuff like that.”
(What city was home where you flew in from?) – “Atlanta. We all flew from Atlanta, me and him. We were on the same plane so that was interesting.”
(You and LB Justin Houston?) – “Me and Justin, yeah, we were on the same plane. Yep, yep.”
(Hopefully first class.) – “Yeah, it was first class.” (laughter)
(You guys saw each other at the airport waiting for the plane, then and started…?) – “He actually was late to plane. (laughter) He was like one of the last ones to get on and he walked past my seat. But I knew he was coming because I got a little birdy, so like I said, it’s a great experience and we’re both happy to be here with y’all.”
