Cameron Wake – December 9, 2018 (Postgame)
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Postgame – New England
Miami Dolphins DE Cameron Wake
You’ve been around a long time.
CAM WAKE: You calling me old? (laughter)
No, just you’ve been around a long time and your thoughts on where that play, that won this game or finished this game, ranks?
CAM WAKE: Well, I’ll tell you, it was a lot of fun. I come in here and I tell you guys every week, you’ve got to play complementary football and it’s always going to come down to that one play. Now, of course, everybody is going to write about the last play, but there was a play before that that allowed that to be a possibility and there was a play before that and so on and so on down the line. From start to finish, it took every guy, every play, every stop, every time we got off the field, every touchdown, every conversion, all those things added up to the ability to even be on the field to have such a dramatic finish. It’s a great team win. We definitely make it exciting down here in South Florida. Give the fans their money’s worth, for sure.
That said, can you talk about the last defensive series where they had a first-and-goal on the 4, they could’ve gone in and got the touchdown and that would’ve been it. It took all the mettle you had to keep them out of the end zone, correct?
CAM WAKE: We say it all the time: as an offense. go puts points on the board, as a defense, we get the ball back to you guys. It probably would have been better to have more time on the field. It probably could have stopped them earlier. But at the end of the day, you have to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘Listen, we got to get off the field, give the offense a chance. Whatever chance it may be, just give them a chance.’ Like you said, it came down to everybody gritting their teeth and making plays. I think four or five different guys made different plays to stop them from getting in the end zone.
You get in the end zone, it’s over.
CAM WAKE: Like you said, that play doesn’t even exist. Obviously, (Kenyan) Drake had a tremendous, tremendous effort. Guys blocked for him and started the play off. Again, that started back on defense and (the) defensive stand started even before that and all over the field. It goes on and on. It took everybody literally every play down to the last one to seal the victory and that’s the way football is in the NFL.
What happened at the end of the half? Looked like the Patriots were going to at least get something out of that and you came in.
CAM WAKE: Again, that probably won’t make headlines but maybe they gets points there. Still, it’s a completely different game at the end. Again, you’ve got to treat every game or every play like this could be the play that is the factor later on. Maybe if they would have got seven points before the half, again, it wouldn’t even have been that Hail Mary type finish. It starts from the first snap of the game, and you have to be on top of it, start to finish. Offense, defense, special teams all have to work together, or else that play wouldn’t even happen.
Patriots QB Tom Brady said that he thought he had another time out at the end of the half. Does that illustrate some of the struggles that New England has here, the thing they can’t overcome when they come to Miami?
CAM WAKE: That would be a great question to ask him. Probably couldn’t care less. I just want to go out there … Again, I focus on us. I don’t care what their issues are or aren’t. I care about my guys and the guys who go out there and are making plays for us. Those guys, take my hat off to them making plays. But guys wearing a different color, blank, blank and blank.
Difficult year for this team, a lot of injuries, a lot of up and down. Can something like this, you’ve got three games left, what can a play like this do for a team from a mental standpoint?
CAM WAKE: Well, I can assure you … Who do we play next? I have no idea.
Minnesota.
CAM WAKE: They probably couldn’t care less either about whatever happens today. They are going to go at us just like we’re going to go at them. The confidence and the belief, yes, you can carry that on as far as believing in one another, the seriousness of each play, the intent and the execution that is required to play at this level. That’s what you can carry over. They are not going to change their approach and neither will we seven days from now. I think we’ll enjoy it. I tell you every time, we’ll enjoy it for the next 24, 36 hours, but come Tuesday afternoon, it’s over with and you have to move on to the next. I’m sure guys will enjoy this thoroughly for the next few hours.
You’ve been here for nine years. What has this season been like comparably speaking, in terms of the roller coaster?
CAM WAKE: Life in the NFL is a roller coaster. It’s so different from so many other sports. You think about … You have 16 opportunities, the only 16 opportunities that are promised, to go out there and perform. So many other sports, I don’t know, 80 games, 100. Each game doesn’t have the same kind of weight. Whereas, you put your entire season into 16 opportunities to go out there and make-or-break your season. Every game has its ups and downs. Every play means more. Every guy has a role. It’s not like we can just assign a superstar and all of a sudden you’re a lock-in for playoffs or whatever. You have every game, every player, every play is necessary. And like you said, we’ve had injuries, we’ve had record-long games. We’ve had a lot. But at the end of the day, you look at our team, and again, today is another example, just keep believing, keep swinging, and eventually if you keep your nose down and do your work, things will turn your way. With all the injuries and all the issues and all the things that have happened this season, today was another one of those days where you keep swinging, keep fighting and believing in the guys who are out there with you and good things will happen. I think today was a beautiful, beautiful example of that.
